Important Tennessee NASCLA fact: Tennessee does not issue a license called the "NASCLA General Contractor License." NASCLA is the national trade-examination pathway. For Tennessee commercial building work, the relevant state classification is generally BC-B Commercial Contractor Building. Passing NASCLA can satisfy the trade-exam component, but the Tennessee Board still decides whether the company qualifies for licensure.
The NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors is a standardized national trade examination created for commercial general building contractors seeking licenses in participating jurisdictions.
Instead of taking a completely different commercial trade examination every time a contractor applies in another participating state, a passing NASCLA result can be transmitted through the NASCLA National Examination Database to agencies that accept the examination.
Tennessee accepts the NASCLA National Commercial exam. For Tennessee licensing, the exam is relevant to the BC-B Commercial Contractor Building classification.
BC-B covers commercial building work, including buildings intended for public use or occupancy and qualifying residential construction with more than four units or buildings exceeding three stories.
Exam: NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors.
Tennessee classification: BC-B Commercial Contractor Building.
Scored questions: 115.
Time: 330 minutes / 5.5 hours.
Passing requirement: 81 correct scored answers.
Format: open book and computer based.
Experimental items: PSI may include additional unscored questions.
Tennessee Business and Law: required for new Tennessee contractor applicants.
For structured preparation, review the Tennessee NASCLA Commercial General Building Contractor Online Exam Prep Course and practice moving between code books, construction manuals, OSHA, project-management references, and trade publications under a timer.
Passing NASCLA handles the commercial trade-exam portion. Tennessee still controls the company license and the BC-B classification.
| Step | Authority / Requirement | What to Verify |
|---|---|---|
| Classification | Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors | Confirm BC-B Commercial matches the work the company intends to perform |
| Business Entity | Applicant company | Determine the exact entity that will hold the Tennessee contractor license |
| Qualifying Agent | Tennessee Board | Identify the owner, officer, partner, or qualifying full-time employee responsible for trade qualification |
| NASCLA Application | NASCLA National Examination Database | Submit the NASCLA application and receive exam eligibility |
| Commercial Trade Exam | NASCLA examination program | 115 scored questions, 330 minutes, open book, 81 correct to pass |
| Business & Law | Tennessee / Prov | 50 questions, 150 minutes, open book, 73% passing |
| Financial Qualification | Tennessee Board | Requested monetary limit and current financial-statement or surety-bond route |
| Insurance | Tennessee Board | General liability and workers' compensation documentation or applicable exemption |
| Final Application | CORE / Tennessee Board | Submit scores, experience, financial information, insurance, entity documents, QA information, and the current application fee |
The NASCLA examination, Tennessee BC-B classification, Tennessee Business and Law examination, and state contractor application are separate pieces of the licensing process.
| Verified Point | Authority | Current Result |
|---|---|---|
| Tennessee NASCLA acceptance | Tennessee Board / NASCLA | Tennessee accepts the NASCLA National Commercial examination |
| Tennessee classification | Tennessee Board | NASCLA Commercial is acceptable for the BC-B Commercial Contractor Building trade-exam path |
| Scored questions | NASCLA / PSI | 115 |
| Passing requirement | NASCLA / PSI | 81 correct scored answers, or 70% |
| Time | NASCLA / PSI | 330 minutes |
| Format | NASCLA / PSI | Open book |
| NASCLA application | NASCLA | $65 application fee, one-year eligibility, up to three attempts during the eligibility period |
| Tennessee Business & Law | Prov | 50 questions, 150 minutes, 73% passing, open book, $53 |
| Initial Tennessee contractor fee | Tennessee Board | $250 |
| Contractor renewal | Tennessee Board | $200 |
License threshold: Tennessee generally requires a contractor license before bidding, offering to engage, negotiating a price, or contracting as a prime contractor on qualifying projects of $25,000 or more.
The current examination assigns 115 scored questions across 12 subject areas.
The largest category is Procurement and Contracting Requirements with 31 questions. That area can include estimating, bidding, contracts, project delivery, procurement, documentation, change management, project administration, and contractor responsibilities.
General Requirements contains 25 questions. Site Construction contains 15. Those three categories alone account for 71 of the 115 scored questions.
Concrete, Metals, and Mechanical and Plumbing Systems contain 6 questions each. Wood, Thermal and Moisture Protection, and Finishes contain 5 each.
Masonry and Doors, Windows, and Glazing contain 4 questions each. Electrical Systems contains 3.
This is why the exam can feel enormous. A commercial contractor may move from contracts to excavation, then accessibility, then steel joists, then roofing, then mechanical coordination before lunch. The books are open, but they are not going to volunteer which one has the answer.
Study by weight and by reference. This exam has a large library, so preparation should teach you which book is likely to contain the answer before you begin turning pages.
Procurement and Contracting: review estimating, bidding, contracts, procurement, subcontracts, project delivery, scheduling, documentation, changes, risk, closeout, and contractor responsibilities.
General Requirements: study building-code concepts, accessibility, OSHA safety, project management, quality control, jobsite administration, construction documents, and general commercial construction.
Site Construction: review excavation, grading, earthwork, utilities, stormwater, site development, erosion control, and jobsite planning.
Structural Systems: practice concrete, reinforcing steel, masonry, precast construction, post-tensioning, structural steel, steel joists, steel deck, wood framing, and wood trusses.
Building Envelope: review roofing, waterproofing, thermal protection, doors, windows, glazing, gypsum, finishes, and exterior systems.
Building Systems: review the general contractor's role in coordinating mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems.
The Tennessee NASCLA Commercial General Building Contractor Highlighted & Tabbed Book Package helps organize a very large commercial-construction reference library for repeated open-book practice.
A good NASCLA strategy starts by identifying what kind of problem you are looking at. A contract question, accessibility question, concrete question, roofing question, OSHA question, and steel-deck question may live in six completely different books.
Tennessee NASCLA Commercial General Contractor exam-prep illustration for contracting, commercial code, site construction, structural systems, and project management.
Move from BC-B classification selection through NASCLA eligibility, commercial trade testing, Business and Law, financial qualification, insurance, and Tennessee Board approval.
Use BC-B when your intended scope is commercial building construction, including qualifying buildings for public use or occupancy and residential structures outside the normal BC-A limits.
Determine which company will hold the license and which owner, officer, partner, or qualifying full-time employee will handle the required examination qualification.
Submit the NASCLA Commercial exam application through the National Examination Database and receive approval before scheduling.
Organize the IBC, OSHA, accessibility, management, structural, roofing, excavation, building-system, and NASCLA business references used for the commercial examination.
Prepare for 115 scored questions, 330 minutes, open-book testing, and 81 correct scored answers to pass.
New Tennessee contractor applicants complete the separate Tennessee Contractor Business and Law examination.
Establish the requested monetary limit and submit the required financial documentation or qualifying surety bond, plus applicable insurance information.
Apply through CORE, provide the required documents, pay the current $250 initial fee, and wait for the Tennessee Board to issue the license before performing regulated contracting work.
The current examination distributes 115 scored questions across the following 12 subject areas.
Study priority: Procurement and Contracting Requirements, General Requirements, and Site Construction combine for 71 of the 115 scored questions. That is more than 60 percent of the scored exam, so those subjects should receive a large share of your preparation time.
The NASCLA Commercial exam uses a large reference library. Always verify the current NASCLA or examination-provider bulletin before buying or preparing books.
| Reference | Primary Study Use | Preparation Role |
|---|---|---|
| International Building Code, 2021 or 2024 | Occupancy, construction type, fire protection, means of egress, special inspections, structural provisions, and commercial building code | Core commercial code reference |
| NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Basic 14th Edition | Procurement, contracts, estimating, project management, business operations, risk, and contractor responsibilities | Core procurement and contracting reference |
| Construction Jobsite Management, 4th or 5th Edition | Jobsite planning, scheduling, coordination, quality, safety, documentation, and field management | General requirements and management |
| Construction Project Management, 4th or 5th Edition | Project delivery, contracts, planning, scheduling, cost, risk, quality, and project administration | Project-management reference |
| ICC A117.1-2017 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities | Accessibility, accessible routes, clearances, doors, toilets, facilities, and dimensional requirements | Accessibility reference |
| OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926 | Construction safety, fall protection, excavation, scaffolds, ladders, PPE, tools, and jobsite hazards | Construction safety reference |
| Mechanical and Electrical Systems for Construction Managers, 4th Edition | Mechanical, plumbing, electrical, building-system coordination, and construction management | Building-system coordination |
| ACI 318-14 or ACI 318-19 | Structural concrete, reinforcement, design requirements, placement, and concrete construction | Concrete reference |
| Modern Masonry, 9th Edition | Brick, block, stone, mortar, masonry construction, and installation practices | Masonry reference |
| BCSI Guide to Good Practice for Wood Trusses | Handling, installation, restraint, and bracing of metal plate connected wood trusses | Wood construction reference |
| Pipe and Excavation Contracting | Excavation, grading, utilities, trenching, sitework, and underground construction | Site-construction reference |
| Roofing Construction and Estimating | Roof systems, materials, installation, flashing, estimating, and weather protection | Thermal and moisture protection |
| Gypsum Construction Handbook, 7th Edition | Gypsum systems, interior construction, walls, ceilings, assemblies, and finishes | Finish systems |
| Principles and Practices of Commercial Construction, 11th Edition | Commercial construction methods, materials, structural systems, building practices, and trade coordination | Broad commercial construction reference |
Large-library warning: the complete NASCLA reference set includes additional publications for reinforcing steel, precast erection, post-tensioning, steel deck, steel joists, stormwater pollution prevention, green building, carpentry, EIFS, and other commercial construction topics. Use the current candidate bulletin as the final reference-list authority.
Current PSI reference rules: authorized references may be highlighted, underlined, and indexed, but otherwise must remain unmarked. Additional loose or attached papers are not allowed. Permanent tabs are allowed. Temporary tabs such as Post-it notes are not. A silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator is permitted under the current exam rules.
The Tennessee BC-B Commercial Contractor Building classification covers commercial building construction.
The classification includes buildings intended for use or occupancy by the general public and qualifying residential construction with more than four units or structures exceeding three stories.
Tennessee's BC building classifications also encompass the Board's building subcategories, including areas such as carpentry, drywall, foundations, glass, masonry, structural steel, concrete, roofing, excavation, demolition, insulation, and related building construction work.
BC-B is a commercial classification. It should not be confused with BC-A Residential, BC-C Industrial, or the broader combined BC classifications.
Project amount: the BC-B classification defines the type of work, while the monetary limit assigned to the contractor license controls the maximum project amount the company may bid or contract, subject to Tennessee's applicable rules.
Choose the classification based on the type and size of construction your company plans to perform.
| Classification | Main Scope | Trade Exam Path | Important Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC-B | Commercial building | Tennessee BC-B exam or accepted NASCLA Commercial exam path | Commercial buildings, public-use buildings, and qualifying larger residential structures |
| BC-b(sm) | Small commercial | State small-commercial examination | Current classification monetary limit may not exceed $1,500,000 |
| BC-A,B | Residential + full commercial | Combined Tennessee examination | Adds full residential BC-A authority to commercial BC-B |
| BC-B,C | Commercial + industrial | Combined Tennessee examination | Adds industrial BC-C authority to commercial building work |
| BC | Residential + commercial + industrial | Full combined Tennessee examination | Broad building classification covering BC-A, BC-B, and BC-C |
2026 surety-bond option: Tennessee permits its Board-approved Contractors' Surety Bond as an alternative to the CPA-reviewed or audited financial statement when current requirements are met. The bond must generally be at least 50 percent of the monetary limit requested.
Renewal: the current contractor renewal fee is $200.
Build commercial construction knowledge, contract-management skill, and open-book reference speed together.
The NASCLA Commercial exam is challenging because it covers both the field side and the management side of commercial construction.
A candidate may need to understand contracts, estimating, scheduling, OSHA, accessibility, commercial building code, excavation, concrete, masonry, steel, wood framing, roofing, finishes, mechanical systems, plumbing systems, and electrical coordination.
The exam gives you 330 minutes for 115 scored questions, or about 2.87 minutes per scored question. Experimental questions can reduce the practical time available per item even further.
The biggest trap is assuming field experience alone will carry the exam. A contractor can know exactly how to build the project and still lose time because the exam wants the reference-supported answer, the contract rule, the code section, or the management standard.
Open book helps only when you already know which book to open. Otherwise it becomes a 5.5-hour library tour with a very unfriendly checkout policy.
Pacing tip: 115 scored questions in 330 minutes gives you roughly 2 minutes and 52 seconds per scored question. Use construction knowledge to answer familiar questions quickly, then spend your saved time on contract questions, calculations, code lookups, and difficult multi-reference questions.
Need a complete owned reference library? The NASCLA Commercial General Building Contractor Complete Book Set includes the commercial construction references used for open-book preparation.
Need a rental? Review the Tennessee NASCLA Commercial Building Contractor Books & Courses Rental Package .
Tennessee Business and Law: view Tennessee Business and Law Exam Prep .

This Tennessee-specific 1 Exam Prep credential image is directly related to the NASCLA Commercial General Building Contractor exam pathway.
• Tennessee NASCLA Commercial General Building preparation
• 115 scored questions
• 330-minute / 5.5-hour examination
• 81 correct scored answers required to pass
• Open-book computer examination
• Procurement and contracting
• Commercial building code and accessibility
• Sitework, concrete, masonry, steel, wood, roofing, and finishes
• Mechanical, plumbing, and electrical coordination
• Tennessee BC-B licensing after trade qualification
Prepare for the whole commercial project. NASCLA expects you to understand how a project is estimated, contracted, scheduled, built, coordinated, inspected, managed, and closed out. That is a lot of hats, so fortunately nobody is asking you to wear all of them at once.
Tennessee NASCLA Licensing
NASCLA Exam Basics
Exam Topics
References and Open-Book Rules
Tennessee Business and Licensing
1 Exam Prep
Watch this directly related 1 Exam Prep video focused on the Tennessee NASCLA General Contractor exam. Use it to reinforce open-book exam strategy, reference organization, commercial construction topics, highlighting and tabbing, lookup speed, and exam-day preparation.
Study tip: watch the video with your commercial references nearby. When contracts, sitework, IBC, OSHA, concrete, masonry, steel, roofing, or project management comes up, practice identifying which reference you would open during the real exam.
Combine current NASCLA, PSI, and Tennessee Board information with structured 1 Exam Prep courses, reference packages, rental options, Business and Law preparation, and contractor licensing support.
Build faster commercial-reference navigation, stronger procurement and contracting knowledge, better project-management skills, confidence with the International Building Code, OSHA, accessibility, sitework, concrete, masonry, steel, wood construction, roofing, finishes, mechanical and electrical coordination, Tennessee Business and Law, and BC-B contractor licensing.
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Tennessee NASCLA Commercial Exam Prep