Administered by Contractors State License Board (CSLB)
The general engineering classification (Business and Professions Code 7056): fixed works requiring specialized engineering knowledge and skill, among them water supply, sewers and sewage treatment, flood control, pipelines, dams, highways, bridges and earthwork.
For the owner, responsible managing officer or responsible managing employee who qualifies a California contractor license through the Contractors State License Board, covering the shared Law and Business exam and the three trade classifications a water, sewer or pipeline contractor most often holds: Class A general engineering, C-34 pipeline and C-42 sanitation system.
A qualifying individual (the owner, a responsible managing officer, member, manager or a responsible managing employee) with at least four years of experience at the journey level, or as a foreman, supervising employee or contractor, in the classification applied for, within the ten years immediately before the application (Business and Professions Code 7068 and 16 CCR 825).
Up to three of the four years may be credited for technical training, apprenticeship training or education, documented as CSLB's regulations require; at least one year must be practical experience.
The experience must be certified by someone in a position to know it firsthand, such as an employer, a licensed contractor the applicant worked under, or a union representative.
The applicant must be at least 18 years old, pass a criminal background check by fingerprint, and, before the license issues, file the contractor's bond and proof of workers' compensation insurance or a valid exemption.
Which exams you sit
An original license applicant sits two exams: Law and Business, which is the same for every classification, and the trade exam for the classification applied for. The Registrar may waive the exams for an applicant who is, or within the past five years was, the qualifying individual on a license in good standing in the same classification, or who passed both exams for that classification within the past five years; CSLB also considers waivers in some family-business cases. A qualifier for a classification added to an existing license must also have passed both exams, so one who has already passed Law and Business normally needs only the new trade exam.
CSLB's A General Engineering study guide is effective for exams scheduled on or after February 1, 2025.
How the A General Engineering exam is weighted
Content area
% of the exam, approximate
Planning and Estimating
15
Structural Principles
6
Earthwork and Surveying
15
Subsurface, Surface, and Elevated Piping Work
21
Foundation and Concrete Construction
11
Buildings, Structures, and Related Work
9
Roadwork and Paving
5
Safety
18
Class A exam format
Format: computer-based, closed-book multiple choice with four choices per question at a PSI test center, calculator provided
Time: 3.5 hours per exam
Questions: not published by CSLB; the mock exam in this app uses the app's own practice length and says so
Results: a passing score report shows no score; a failing report shows the overall score, the number answered correctly and a breakdown by section
Pass score: not published; a passing score report does not show the score
Fees: see CSLB's own pages; this site does not print them
Class A sample question
Earthwork: storage volume · an original practice item, not a real exam question
A rectangular detention basin has a flat bottom 180 ft by 120 ft and vertical sides, and it will hold water 6 ft deep. About how many acre-feet does it store?
0.50 acre-ft
2.98 acre-ft
26.8 acre-ft
129,600 acre-ft
Answer and working
B. 2.98 acre-ft
Volume = 180 ft × 120 ft × 6 ft = 129,600 ft³. One acre-foot is 43,560 ft³, so 129,600 ÷ 43,560 = 2.98 acre-ft. 129,600 is the cubic-foot figure left unconverted; 0.50 is the bottom area in acres (21,600 ÷ 43,560) with the depth forgotten; 26.8 divides by 4,840, the square yards in an acre, instead of the cubic feet in an acre-foot.
Class A questions answered
What do I need to qualify for the A General Engineering exam?
A qualifying individual (the owner, a responsible managing officer, member, manager or a responsible managing employee) with at least four years of experience at the journey level, or as a foreman, supervising employee or contractor, in the classification applied for, within the ten years immediately before the application (Business and Professions Code 7068 and 16 CCR 825). Up to three of the four years may be credited for technical training, apprenticeship training or education, documented as CSLB's regulations require; at least one year must be practical experience. The experience must be certified by someone in a position to know it firsthand, such as an employer, a licensed contractor the applicant worked under, or a union representative. The applicant must be at least 18 years old, pass a criminal background check by fingerprint, and, before the license issues, file the contractor's bond and proof of workers' compensation insurance or a valid exemption.
Do I also have to take the Law and Business exam?
An original license applicant sits two exams: Law and Business, which is the same for every classification, and the trade exam for the classification applied for. The Registrar may waive the exams for an applicant who is, or within the past five years was, the qualifying individual on a license in good standing in the same classification, or who passed both exams for that classification within the past five years; CSLB also considers waivers in some family-business cases. A qualifier for a classification added to an existing license must also have passed both exams, so one who has already passed Law and Business normally needs only the new trade exam.
How is the A General Engineering exam weighted?
Planning and Estimating 15%; Structural Principles 6%; Earthwork and Surveying 15%; Subsurface, Surface, and Elevated Piping Work 21%; Foundation and Concrete Construction 11%; Buildings, Structures, and Related Work 9%; Roadwork and Paving 5%; Safety 18%, per the CSLB study guide effective February 1, 2025. The largest section is Subsurface, Surface, and Elevated Piping Work.
What this exam covers
Class A: Planning & Estimating
Class A: Structural Principles
Class A: Earthwork & Surveying
Class A: Subsurface, Surface & Elevated Piping
Class A: Foundation & Concrete Construction
Class A: Buildings, Structures & Related Work
Class A: Roadwork & Paving
Class A: Safety
How to study for it here
Practice quizzes — filter to any topic above and work through it with explanations.
Flashcards — spaced repetition over terms, formulas and regulations.
Mock exam — a timed run at this grade.
Official formula sheet — a link to the sheet the certifying body publishes for this exam, where it publishes one, so you study from the real thing.
Free, no account, and progress stays in your browser.
Topic coverage follows CSLB examination study guides: Law and Business (effective 1 December 2021), A General Engineering (1 February 2025), C-34 Pipeline (1 November 2023) and C-42 Sanitation System (1 June 2023) (Contractors State License Board).
Practice questions are written to that outline and checked against
the regulations and references it cites;
they are not real exam questions, which are confidential.
Check current application requirements, fees and exam dates on the
certifying body's own page: official certification page.
Questions, flashcards, and explanations are AI-written under a sourcing policy that builds on the exam content outlines and candidate materials each certifying body publishes without restriction and the regulations and technical references they cite, and that excludes actual exam questions, recollections of any exam sat by the author, other study products, and any handbook or document released under a confidentiality agreement. Any item found outside that policy is rewritten from primary sources or removed. Content is then put through repeated review — regulatory values checked against primary sources, every calculation recomputed, and errors corrected — plus spot checks by the author, who holds California water operator certifications and a California civil engineering license. Those spot checks are sampling, not a professional review: nothing here is stamped, sealed, or offered as engineering advice, and not every item has been individually verified, so mistakes can still slip through.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), its Division of Drinking Water (DDW) or Wastewater Operator Certification Program (WWOCP), the California-Nevada American Water Works Association (CA-NV AWWA), the California Water Environment Association (CWEA), the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG), the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), or the American Public Works Association (APWA). All questions, flashcards, and references are independent study aids; verify against the official exam materials.