Usually yes — two exams. Roofing is a Division II category, so a certified roofing contractor normally passes General Trade Knowledge (80 questions, 5 hours) and Business & Finance (120 questions, 6.5 hours). But there is a real exemption. Rule 61G4-16.0015(3), F.A.C. states that a current active certified Division I licensee applying for a Division II license "shall not be required to take the business and finance portion of the exam." If you already hold a certified general, building or residential contractor license, you sit the roofing trade exam only.
Why roofing takes two exams in the first place
Florida's Construction Industry Licensing Board splits contractor categories into two divisions. Division I is the general, building and residential contractors. Division II is the trades — roofing, sheet metal, plumbing, air conditioning, pool and the rest.
Rule 61G4-16.001(7), F.A.C. sets out the roofing examination directly: "The certification examination shall consist of two tests." Test one is the business and financial management of a contracting firm. Test two is general knowledge of the roofing trade, divided into the nine content areas this site is built around.
The part candidates most often get wrong is the pass mark. Rule 61G4-16.001(37), F.A.C. requires a score of at least seventy percent "on each of the required tests." That is not an average. A 92% on the trade exam does nothing for a 64% on Business & Finance — you retake Business & Finance. Two exams means two independent hurdles, and budgeting your study time as though it were one combined score is a common and expensive mistake.
The exemption, and exactly who it covers
Rule 61G4-16.0015 is titled "Exemption from Business and Finance Test," and subsection (3) is the one that matters to roofers. It exempts a current active certified Division I licensee — excluding Traditional Thatched Structure — who is applying for a certified Division II licensure examination, from the business and finance portion.
The exemption is conditional. The rule requires that the licensee is not under investigation or prosecution in any jurisdiction for an action that would violate Chapter 489, Part I, Florida Statutes, and has not been disciplined beyond a notice of noncompliance, a letter of guidance or a citation.
Read the words carefully: current, active, and certified. A lapsed license is not current. A registered contractor is not certified — registration is a different thing entirely, covered on our page about license requirements. And the exemption runs one direction only: it excuses Business & Finance, never the trade exam. Nobody skips General Trade Knowledge.
So which are you?
If you are a certified general, building or residential contractor adding roofing: you sit one exam, the roofing General Trade Knowledge test. Your entire preparation is the nine content areas — built-up roofs, shingles and shakes, architectural metal, single ply, modified systems, concrete and clay tile, membrane waterproofing, drains and gutters, and equipment and safety. Confirm your own eligibility with the DBPR before you rely on it, then put all your study time here. Our sister site flcgcprep.com covers the Division I trade exams if you are going the other way.
If you are coming from the field without a Division I license: you sit both. Plan for two separate registrations, two separate seats, two separate fees and two independent 70% bars. Business & Finance is the longer paper — 120 questions in 6.5 hours — and it is a different subject entirely: estimating, accounting, lien law, payroll and Chapter 489. Our sister site flbizfinprep.com is built for exactly that exam.
There is a second, much narrower waiver
Section 489.113(1), Florida Statutes contains a separate provision that works the opposite way round. An applicant who has "received a baccalaureate degree in building construction from an accredited 4-year college, or a related degree as approved by the board by rule, and has a grade point average of 3.0 or higher" is "only required to take and pass the business and finance portion of the examination."
That waives the trade exam and leaves Business & Finance. It is a narrow path — a four-year accredited construction degree with a 3.0 average, not a prep course or a trade school certificate — and it applies to very few roofing candidates. Do not assume any classroom course triggers it.
What this means for your money
Each test carries its own examination administration fee. Rule 61G4-12.009(1)(a), F.A.C. sets the application and examination fee at $335, made up of $135 on scheduling, $80 for each test administered, and $40 for processing after you pass. One test rather than two is one $80 administration fee saved — and, far more valuable, an entire subject removed from your study plan. Our cost breakdown walks the whole sequence. Confirm current amounts with the DBPR before applying; fees are set by rule and are revised over time.
Whichever group you are in, the trade exam is not optional
Nobody skips General Trade Knowledge. Start with the free questions — no account, no payment — then unlock all 361 for $49 for 3 months or $89 for life.