3.1 The Statutes & Rules Exam (SRE)

What Is the Statutes & Rules Exam (SRE)?

Quick Answer: The SRE is an open-book online training course and exam sold by GMetrix for $61 that requires a 70% passing score. It tests Arizona contractor law and cannot be waived. AZ ROC does not publish how many questions it contains.

The Statutes & Rules Exam (SRE) is the first of two exams every new Arizona Registrar of Contractors (AZ ROC) applicant must pass. It is delivered online by GMetrix (not at a PSI testing center) and follows a self-paced training course that concludes with the scored test. Because it covers Arizona-specific statutes and administrative rules, the SRE exists to confirm that every licensed contractor in the state understands the legal framework governing their license — regardless of how much field experience they have.

SRE Format at a Glance

Reference Materials

The SRE is open-book. You may consult the following sources during the training course and the test:

• A.R.S. Title 32, Chapter 10 — the Arizona Revised Statutes governing contractors (licensing, qualifications, disciplinary actions, recovery fund).
• AAC Title 4, Chapter 9 — the Arizona Administrative Code rules promulgated by the ROC.
• AZ ROC SRE Glossary — the Registrar's official glossary of terms used in the exam.

What the SRE Covers

The SRE draws its questions from the statutes and rules in your reference set. The high-frequency topic areas include:

• License classifications and scopes — the distinction between A (General Engineering), B (General Residential), B-1/B-2 (General Commercial), B-3 (Remodeling & Repair), KB-1/KB-2 (Dual Building), and the CR-/C-/R- specialty families.
• The $1,000 contracting threshold — the rule that a contractor license is required for any construction, alteration, or repair where total project cost exceeds $1,000.
• Qualifying party requirements — the 4-year experience minimum, the 2-years-within-the-last-10 rule, and the designation of a qualifying party who is regularly employed and actively engaged in the work.
• The Recovery Fund — the consumer protection fund, the assessment paid by dual (KB) licensees, and the statutory limits on consumer recovery.
• Disciplinary actions — the ROC's authority to issue citations, fines, suspensions, and revocations for abandonment, fraudulent acts, code violations, and working without a license.
• Application requirements — background check via AccusourceHR, license bond, and legal entity formation.

Because these topics map directly to the statute and rule sections in your tabbed references, knowing where each topic lives in A.R.S. Title 32 Ch 10 and AAC Title 4 Ch 9 is more valuable than memorizing the text word for word.

Who Must Take the SRE?

The SRE is required of every new applicant who has NOT served as a qualifying party on an Arizona contractor license within the preceding 5 years. If you have been a qualifying party on an AZ contractor license within that window, the SRE requirement does not apply to you — but this is a scope limitation on who is considered a "new applicant," not a waiver.

Critical rule: Unlike the trade exam, the SRE cannot be waived — not by experience, not by an out-of-state license, not by a NASCLA exam. For anyone who is required to take it, it is Arizona-specific law and must be passed. There is no alternate path around it.

Sequencing the Two Exams

AZ ROC does not publish a rule forcing you to pass the SRE before booking a PSI trade exam, and PSI's bulletin describes the trade exam as a second test taken "in addition to" the SRE. What AZ ROC does require is that both original score reports accompany the license application, and that the application reach the Registrar within two years of the date you passed. Most applicants still take the SRE first, because it is self-paced, cheaper, and teaches the licensing rules that the rest of the application depends on. A practical order:

1. Submit your ROC application and complete the background check through AccusourceHR.
2. Register for and pass the SRE through GMetrix ($61).
3. Schedule your PSI trade exam ($66 for one exam, $116 for two) — or the NASCLA Commercial exam if you qualify for it and want multi-state portability.
4. Submit both original score reports to the ROC with your license application, within two years of passing.

Study Approach

Because the SRE is open-book and self-paced, the most effective strategy is familiarity, not memorization:

• Build a tabbed reference set. Print or bookmark A.R.S. Title 32 Ch 10 and AAC Title 4 Ch 9 with permanent tabs on the major articles (license classifications, qualifying party requirements, recovery fund, discipline). Speed of lookup matters more than recall.
• Read the SRE Glossary first. The glossary defines the terms the exam questions use; misunderstanding a defined term is the most common reason candidates miss questions they otherwise know.
• Take the GMetrix training course in full. Do not skip straight to the test. The course mirrors the exam's structure and flags the rules most likely to be tested.
• Focus on the high-frequency topics: license classifications (A, B, B-1/B-2, B-3, KB-1/KB-2, CR-, C-, R-), the $1,000 contracting threshold, qualifying party experience requirements, recovery fund assessments, and disciplinary triggers.
• Practice looking up answers quickly. Because the course includes only one exam attempt, you cannot treat the first sitting as a diagnostic run — work through the whole course, then test.

Common SRE Pitfalls

• Confusing classification letters. B is residential, B-1/B-2 is commercial, KB-1/KB-2 is dual. Mixing these up costs easy points.
• Conflating the SRE scope with the trade-exam waiver. The SRE is required of new applicants who have NOT been a qualifying party on an AZ contractor license within the last 5 years — this is not a "waiver" and the same-or-comparable-classification condition does not apply to it. The trade exam waiver, by contrast, requires that your prior qualifying-party experience be in the same or comparable classification.
• Assuming the SRE can be waived by an out-of-state license. It cannot. Only the trade exam has a waiver path (A.A.C. R4-9-106(E), same or comparable classification within the preceding five years). The SRE tests Arizona-specific law that every AZ licensee must know.
• Carrying PSI's retake rules over to the SRE. The 30-day wait and 3-attempt limit come from PSI's Candidate Information Bulletin and govern the trade exam. GMetrix sells the SRE course with a single exam attempt and one year of access; failing it means buying the $61 course again.
• Quoting an item count you read on a prep site. Third-party pages assert 50 questions; others assert 80. AZ ROC publishes neither. If an exam-day question hinges on the SRE's own length, the honest answer is that the count is not published.

Quick Answer: Pass the SRE through GMetrix ($61, 70%, one attempt included), then take your PSI trade exam or the NASCLA Commercial exam. The SRE is never waived, and both original score reports must reach AZ ROC within two years.