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Liens, bonds, payroll, labor burden, markup vs. margin, plan reading, contracts, OSHA ladders and trenches. Each topic on its own page: the drawing first, then the numbers to remember, so you know where to look when the clock runs. 66 illustrated pages.
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Every page has one big drawing and a box with the numbers and deadlines you need to know:
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These are real pages from the book. The table of contents is the full one: 8 parts and 62 topics.
It's 10 p.m. at the kitchen table. The practice question reads: a carpenter makes $30 an hour. What does he really cost you? You've paid crews for years, and the number still won't come.
The reference book spreads it over three dense pages: FICA, FUTA, state unemployment, workers' comp, liability, benefits. Every piece sits in a different paragraph, and none of them adds up to a rate.
In this book, labor burden is one page. The wage at the bottom, each cost stacked on top like courses of block, and the total in a box: $30 an hour plus 35% burden is $40.50 an hour.
Same with the payroll calendar, how a mechanics' lien runs, markup vs. margin, the set of plans and the ladder rules: each one has its own page.
You see where the $40.50 comes from, and on exam day you know what the question is asking and what to look up.
The exam and the books, setting up the business, payroll and taxes, insurance, bonds and liens, contracts and project management, plans and estimating, OSHA jobsite safety and exam-day review: 66 pages, all illustrated.
Think of it this way:
You're bidding a $200,000 remodel and you want 20% to stay in your pocket. Do you add 20% or 25%? On the exam, that same question comes with four answers, and one of them is the usual mix-up.
You open the markup vs. margin page and see the same dollars drawn as two bars: $100,000 cost, $25,000 on top, $125,000 price. Markup is 25% of cost; margin is 20% of price.
Same with liens, bonds, labor burden, the payroll calendar and trench protection at 5 feet: each one on its own page.
Contractor License Illustrated is 8 parts and 66 illustrated pages, one topic each, with a page of key numbers and an exam-day checklist at the end.
What you see drawn, you don't have to memorize.
The Trade and Business & Law exams, why the clock is the real test, how to tab your reference books and how each page works.
Sole prop, LLC or corporation, licenses and numbers, balance sheet, income statement, current ratio, percentage of completion, depreciation, cash flow and records.
Employee vs. independent contractor, W-4 and I-9, FICA, FUTA, the 941, 940, W-2 and 1099-NEC calendar, labor burden, prevailing wage and overtime.
Contractor insurance, workers' comp and the EMR, the three parties of a bond, bid, performance and payment bonds, the Miller Act, mechanics' liens, lien waivers and retainage.
What makes a contract valid, lump sum to GMP, delivery methods, change orders, liquidated damages, breach and disputes, bid day, CPM scheduling and float.
The plan set sheet by sheet, scales, CSI MasterFormat, markup vs. margin, concrete, board feet, masonry and drywall, earthwork, the full bid and equipment.
OSHA 1926, fall protection at 6 feet, ladders, scaffolds, trenches and soil types, HazCom and SDS, GFCI and lockout, OSHA 300 logs, lead and stormwater.
The numbers to keep at hand, frequent Business & Law mistakes, how the questions are worded and an exam-day checklist.
At the end of the book: A printable page of key numbers, the frequent Business & Law mistakes and an exam-day checklist.
Exam-style questions on Business & Law, estimating and safety, each with the answer and the page where it's explained, so you know what you've got and what to go back to.
Before-and-after pages of the mistakes that cost contractors money and points: markup confused with margin, missed lien deadlines, the wrong bond, an unprotected trench.
📄 This is a digital PDF book sent to your email: nothing is printed or shipped.
PDF by email: We email you Contractor License Illustrated as a PDF, together with the two free books. It's a single payment: no installments, no extra charges.
Every piece of the business side on its own page, so liens, bonds and payroll stop being a pile of small print and start making sense.
The numbers page and the review part show you what to look for and in which kind of reference book, so you're not hunting while the clock runs.
Markup vs. margin, labor burden and the lien steps drawn plainly, to check a bid before you sign. Print the pages and keep them in the truck.
📄 This is a digital PDF book sent to your email: nothing is printed or shipped.
Try Contractor License Illustrated for 30 days, bonus books included.
We refund everything if the file won't open, if the book isn't what you see here, if you were charged twice or if the email doesn't arrive. Just email us.
You pay once. No subscriptions.
Yes. It assumes you know the trade and explains the business, law and paperwork side, one topic per page, in plain words.
From OSHA 29 CFR 1926 and 1904, IRS employer publications, the IBC, CSI MasterFormat, the NASCLA candidate information and state board rules. Amounts and deadlines that change by state or by year are marked so you can check them with your state board.
No. It's an independent study book, not published or approved by NASCLA, the ICC, OSHA or any state board. It doesn't replace the reference books your exam allows, and you can't take it into the testing center: you use it before the exam, to understand each topic and know which reference book to reach for.
No. It's study material to use alongside your course and reference books. It doesn't come with a certificate or continuing-education credit, and it isn't legal, tax or accounting advice.
No. They're written for this book, in exam style, each with the answer and the page where it's explained. They're not official questions from any exam.
The book and the 2 bonus books come as PDFs by email, to the address you enter at checkout. It's a one-time payment, with no subscription.
It covers what Business & Law and general contractor exams have in common: federal payroll and taxes, OSHA 1926 jobsite rules, bonds, liens, contracts and estimating. Lien deadlines, license amounts and other rules that change by state are marked on the page so you can check them with your state licensing board.
Yes, you can print it at home or at a print shop: the whole book or just the pages you want to take to the job.
You have 30 days. We refund everything if the file won't open, if the book isn't what you see on this page, if you were charged twice or if the email doesn't arrive: just email us.
No more rereading pages that don't stick.
Labor burden, liens and markup: you see them drawn and you've got it.
You walk into the exam knowing what each question is asking and which book to reach for.
Drawings make studying faster.
The book is right below.
One-time payment: US$ 27 · Guarantee: 30 days · PDF by email
YES, I WANT CONTRACTOR LICENSE ILLUSTRATED FOR US$ 27📄 This is a digital PDF book sent to your email: nothing is printed or shipped.
