Exam structure, reference use, and license routes

Six separate examinations

Oregon's Landscape Construction Professional examination has six separately scored sections. Laws, Rules and Business Practices, Plants & Turf, Hardscaping, Design/Grading/Drainage, and Backflow each contain fifty scored questions with one hundred minutes allowed. Irrigation contains one hundred scored questions with two hundred minutes allowed. Passing requires seventy-five percent on each required section. There is no compensating aggregate score: a strong Irrigation result cannot offset a failed Backflow result.

For All Phase, the total is 350 scored questions and 700 scheduled minutes across the six sections. This is an arithmetic total, not a promise that all six are one continuous appointment. PSI may include experimental questions that do not count toward the score; follow the bulletin's instructions on those items and timing. A fifty-question section requires at least thirty-eight correct scored responses to reach seventy-five percent, since thirty-seven is seventy-four percent. Irrigation requires at least seventy-five of its hundred scored questions.

Standard requires LRB and the three general sections. Planting Only requires LRB, Plants & Turf, and Design/Grading/Drainage. Irrigation and Backflow Only requires LRB, Irrigation, and Backflow. Modified requires LRB with its scope limits; Arborist requires the applicable ISA credential and LRB. Probationary requires all six within its special deadline. Confirm the phase before paying for appointments, because study-guide breadth does not dictate which sections a particular applicant must take.

Open book and closed book

Five sections permit the approved reference materials. Backflow is closed book. A backflow reference on the study-material list does not make that section open book; it describes preparation material. Learn definitions, hydraulic capabilities, hazard selection, and installation relationships well enough to answer without searching a reference during that section.

For in-person PSI testing, reference books are provided at the testing site; candidates cannot substitute their own books. For remote testing, candidates supply the approved printed references and follow PSI's restrictions. LCB and PSI prohibit internet printouts, photocopies, and loose papers for virtual testing. Downloaded preparation material is not an approved substitute for the required examination references. Check the latest bulletin for permitted tabs, markings, calculator, identification, and remote room rules. A digital copy on another monitor is not an approved printed reference.

Some prescribed examination references use older editions, including the listed 2011 plumbing reference. Distinguish the exam's designated reference from the current code governing field work. This guide uses current Oregon administrative requirements for current licensing facts and identifies the exam-reference issue; it does not silently treat an old printed edition as the current construction code. Bring or use only what PSI approves for the actual appointment.

Scheduling, fees, and deadlines

PSI's bulletin lists seventy-five dollars for the first section and ten dollars for each additional section taken the same day. Thus three sections scheduled together cost ninety-five dollars under that fee rule, while three first-section appointments on separate days can cost more. These are testing charges, separate from LCB application, license, renewal, and business charges. Confirm the fee at booking, particularly for retesting or a different testing route.

Passed sections generally remain valid for twenty-four months. Probationary candidates must pass all six within one year of the first sitting. Record the actual dates and eligibility expiration rather than assume a failed attempt restarts every deadline. PSI permits cancellation or rescheduling without forfeiting the fee when notice is received two days before the appointment; its example allows Saturday notice for a Monday appointment. A voicemail is not an accepted cancellation. Use the website or speak to the registrar and preserve confirmation.

LCB also recognizes specified SBDC course-exam and NALP Exterior Technician certification routes. These do not create a blanket exemption from all sections or make Backflow unnecessary. The SBDC option's eligibility restrictions and the exact NALP certification matter. A course attendance certificate is not the same as the accepted industry certification. Compare the intended route with LCB's current table before relying on an alternative.

Preparation that fits the examination

Start with the LRB rules and license phase, then study plant and soil fundamentals, construction, drainage, irrigation, and backflow. Irrigation has twice the scored items of each other module, and its design topic is especially substantial. Practice calculations with units and a written pressure or quantity ledger. In open-book practice, learn where a provision lives and distinguish its conditions rather than repeatedly search an entire book. In closed-book practice, compare assembly capabilities and explain why a plausible alternative fails.

Finish preparation by checking current LCB logistics, PSI reference instructions, and the documents attached to the appointment. Passing required sections does not authorize contracting until the individual and business licensing requirements are satisfied. LCB exam page and PSI candidate bulletin support the route and logistics above.

Reference table

The PSI bulletin specifies a one-inch-to-twenty-feet grading plan for Design/Grading/Drainage and calculations rounded to two decimal places. Keep precision through intermediate work, convert units explicitly, and round the reported result as instructed. Verify the permitted calculator before the appointment.