1.2 Exam Format, Open-Book Rules & Pearson VUE

How the two sittings are delivered

Quick Answer: Apply and pay through Professional Testing, Inc. (PTI) at floridaexam.com (phone 407-264-0562). After PTI processes the file, schedule the computer-based test with Pearson VUE at 888-204-6230. HVAC Trade Knowledge and Business & Finance are Daily CBT, open book, multiple choice. Passing is 70% with no rounding. Confirm current fees at registration — DBPR does not publish a single official exam-fee dollar amount on the Examinations at a Glance chart.

You are not walking into a CILB meeting with a blue book. PTI is the Board's examination contractor. Pearson VUE is the test-center network. Mixing those roles is a common first-week mistake: calling Pearson VUE before PTI has approved you wastes a phone tree. PTI's own registration notice tells computer-based candidates to wait 10 to 14 business days after submitting the application before calling Pearson VUE.

Plumbing Trade Knowledge is still a paper-and-pencil Orlando event on the construction calendar. Air Conditioning A, Air Conditioning B, and Business & Finance are not. They are daily CBT. You pick a date, time, and Florida Pearson VUE site after approval. Examinations are offered in Spanish if you request Spanish on the application.

What “open book” actually allows

The official Air A Contractors Trade Knowledge Exam Reference List, valid January 2026 – December 2026, is the controlling document for what may enter the room for Class A trade (Class B has its own matching list; Business & Finance has a separate B&F list). Core rules from that list and the Candidate Information Booklet:

• Answers are based on the editions listed. Some items also draw on field experience and trade practice.
• You may bring an earlier or later edition at your own risk. Only one copy of each reference is allowed.
• Original edition materials only, except references the list specifically marks as available as PDF.
• All reference materials and PDF copies must be bound and remain bound. Bound means permanently bound (stitching or glue) or securely fastened by fasteners that penetrate all papers. Bound PDFs may use ring binders, brads, plastic snap binders, spiralbound notebooks, or screw posts — not staples. Writing tablets and electronic tablets are not allowed.
• Underlining with pen and highlighter is allowed. Handwritten and typewritten notes are not. Existing handwritten notes must be blackened out or removed so they are not legible. Moveable tabs (Post-it Flags) are not allowed. You may not make marks in the references during the administration.

Highlighter and permanent (non-moveable) indexing that does not add notes are how open-book candidates survive a 7.5-hour sitting. Loose printouts, sticky flags, and a spiral of handwritten “cheat sheets” are how candidates get stopped at the proctor's table.

All candidates must bring an architect's scale including 1/4" and 1/8" for Trade Knowledge. That sentence is printed at the bottom of the official 2026 Air A list. Plan-reading and duct-layout items assume you can read 1/4" = 1'-0" and 1/8" = 1'-0" drawings. Showing up with only a tape measure is not a substitute.

Check the current Candidate Information Booklet for the approved calculator (typically a handheld, cordless, silent, non-printing model with a numeric, non-alphabetic keyboard) and for other permitted aids such as pencils, page magnifiers, and bookends. When the booklet and the reference list disagree, follow the document that governs the item — the reference list for books, the CIB for personal equipment.

2026 listed trade editions you must not “upgrade” on your own

The January–December 2026 Air A list includes, among others:

• R12 Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Troubleshooting Handbook, 2nd Edition, 2003
• R46 OSHA 29 CFR 1926, July 1, 2025
• R50 Contractors Manual, 2025 (includes Circular E 2025)
• R82 Pipefitters Handbook, 3rd Edition, 1967
• NFPA 90A Installation of Air Conditioning and Ventilating Systems, 2015
• NFPA 90B Installation of Warm Air Heating and Air Conditioning Systems, 2024
• NFPA 96 Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations, 2021
• SMACNA Fibrous Glass Duct Construction Standards, 8th Edition, 2021 (bound PDF allowed)
• SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards — Metal and Flexible, 4th Edition, 2020 (bound PDF allowed)
• SMACNA Energy Systems Analysis and Management, 2nd Edition, 2014
• Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Technology, 9th Edition, 2021
• Trane Ductulator, 1976 or later
• Energy Efficient Building Construction in Florida, 2024
• Florida Building Code – Mechanical, 2023
• Florida Building Code – Energy Conservation, 2023

Do not treat a 9th Edition / 2026 Florida Building Code as the exam edition unless DBPR's current list says so — the 2026 list does not. Business & Finance has its own list (Florida Statutes Chapter 455, 2025, with a bound PDF allowed; Builder's Guide to Accounting, 2001; Contractors Manual 2025 in use beginning February 1, 2026; AIA A201-2017, A401-2017, A701-2018). Always download the current PDF lists from MyFloridaLicense before you pack the crate.

Scoring, retakes, and what you walk out with

The Candidate Information Booklet states that all questions are equally weighted, scores are percentages, the minimum passing score is seventy percent (70%), and scores are not rounded. You receive an official photo-bearing exam result report immediately after you finish. Verify the report before you leave the center.

Worked passing lines:

• Business & Finance: 84 / 120 = 70.00%. 83/120 = 69.17% — fail.
• Class A trade: 91 / 130 = 70.00%. 90/130 ≈ 69.23% — fail.
• Class B trade: 56 / 80 = 70.00%. 55/80 = 68.75% — fail.

Fail one part and you retake that part; you do not automatically retake the part you already passed. Passing a part is not a license. DBPR's exam checklist is explicit: a passing grade alone does not qualify you for licensure. Confirm the current score-validity window with DBPR/PTI when you apply — this guide will not invent a year count that the Examinations at a Glance chart does not print.

Fees: Third-party schools quote PTI and Pearson VUE dollar amounts that change. The official Examinations at a Glance PDF does not list a fee. Confirm the current PTI registration amount and the Pearson VUE administration amount when you register. Do not memorize a blog's "$295" figure.

Florida scenario: the Orlando sitting that almost did not start

James books a Thursday Class A trade appointment at a Pearson VUE center near Orlando International. He packed the crate on Wednesday night. Two problems are sitting in that crate. First, his Florida Building Code – Mechanical is the brand-new 9th Edition his supply house sold as “the 2026 code.” The official Air A list valid January 2026 – December 2026 still names FBC Mechanical 2023 and FBC Energy Conservation 2023. The list allows a later edition only at his own risk — every keyed answer was written to the 2023 tables. Second, he flagged SMACNA duct tables with Post-it Flags. Moveable tabs are not allowed. He did do two things right: the SMACNA fibrous-glass and metal/flex PDFs are in ring binders (the list permits a bound PDF of those two titles), and he has an architect's scale with 1/4" and 1/8". The proctor pulls the Post-its. James keeps the 2023 Mechanical volume he also brought as a backup, sits the 7.5-hour CBT, and needs 91 of 130. Open book is not “any book you own.” It is the listed bound edition, marked the allowed way, plus the scale the list requires.

Traps: (1) Calling Pearson VUE the day you hit submit on floridaexam.com. (2) Bringing the Service Pool 60-question mindset to a 120-question B&F sitting. (3) Handwritten indexes. (4) Assuming highlighter is banned — it is allowed; notes are not. (5) Leaving the architect's scale in the truck.