- 100 scored questions, up to 10 unscored, 240 minutes, 75% to pass - no exceptions.
- Excavation including Blasting carries the most weight at 13 questions of 100.
- Board approval is required before you can even schedule with PSI.
- Eligibility lasts six months with unlimited attempts, but not two in one day.
Exam Snapshot: The Numbers You Must Memorize
Before you open a single practice question, lock these figures into memory. The Hawaii Contractors License Board (under DCCA PVL) owns the license; PSI Services LLC delivers the exam. The official exam is titled A - General Engineering Contractor, tied to contractor classification A, and this site uses "HI-GEC" purely as a shorthand identifier for that exam.
- Fee: $85 per attempt
- Format: 100 scored questions plus up to 10 unscored experimental items
- Time: 240 minutes, with experimental-question time excluded from the stated limit
- Passing score: 75%
- Delivery: computer-based, closed-book, available at a PSI test center or remote-proctored
If you want the reasoning behind why the score line sits where it does, see HI-GEC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. For the full fee breakdown across application, exam, and renewal stages, check HI-GEC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Domain Weight Cheat Sheet
The HI-GEC exam draws from 11 content domains covering heavy-civil construction and fixed works. The official allocation across the 100 scored questions is 10, 12, 13, 12, 10, 10, 12, 6, 8, 6, and 1. Print this table and tape it to your desk.
| Domain | Topic | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridges/Miscellaneous Structures | 10 |
| 2 | Sitework including Layout and Surveying | 12 |
| 3 | Excavation including Blasting | 13 |
| 4 | Utilities | 12 |
| 5 | Heavy Equipment and Sitework | 10 |
| 6 | Canals, Reservoirs and Flood Control | 10 |
| 7 | Asphalt and Concrete Pavement | 12 |
| 8 | Estimating and Plan Reading | 6 |
| 9 | Steel Erecting and Welding | 8 |
| 10 | Safety OSHA | 6 |
| 11 | Metal Barriers, Striping, Signs, and Fences | 1 |
Notice that four domains - Sitework/Layout, Excavation/Blasting, Utilities, and Asphalt/Concrete Pavement - combined make up nearly half the scored exam. If you're deciding where to spend limited review hours, start there. A full walkthrough of each content area, including likely question angles, lives in HI-GEC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 11 Content Areas.
Excavation including Blasting (Domain 3)
This is the single largest domain at 13 questions. Expect content on soil classification, shoring and trench safety, blasting sequencing, and site conditions that affect excavation methods.
- Trench protective systems and sloping requirements
- Blast planning basics and vibration/safety considerations
- Soil types and their effect on excavation equipment choice
Metal Barriers, Striping, Signs, and Fences (Domain 11)
At just 1 question, this domain deserves a light pass - read the terminology once and move on. Sinking hours here at the expense of Excavation or Utilities is a common cheat-sheet mistake.
Registration and Fee Mechanics
The path to sitting for the exam is not "pay and schedule." The Board must approve your application first. Only after approval can you book a seat with PSI.
- Application fee: $50 (separate from exam fees)
- Trade exam fee: $85 per attempt (A - General Engineering Contractor)
- Business and Law exam: $80, required separately for new applicants
- Combined exam fees before licensing/prep costs: $165
Sole proprietors and Responsible Managing Employees (RMEs) both must be at least 18, show good character, and document four years of qualifying on-site supervisory experience within the preceding ten years, backed by at least three notarized experience certificates and a chronological project list. RMEs must be employed and formally appointed by the contracting entity. Sole proprietors have additional hurdles - financial-statement review, credit checks, applicable tax-clearance, and insurance documentation. For the complete eligibility checklist, read HI-GEC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Study References vs. Test-Day Materials
This is a closed-book exam - none of the following references can be brought into the testing room. They are listed as study sources by PSI, meaning your prep materials should draw from them, not that you'll have them open during the test:
- International Building Code (2018)
- Hawaii Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction (2005)
- Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2009)
- Modern Welding, 11th Edition (2013)
Notice how these map directly onto specific domains: the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices ties to Domain 11 (Metal Barriers, Striping, Signs, and Fences), Modern Welding maps to Domain 9 (Steel Erecting and Welding), and the Hawaii Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction touches Domains 2, 3, 6, and 7. If you're building a study plan from scratch, HI-GEC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt breaks down how to allocate reading time against these four references by domain weight.
Calculator and Delivery Rules
PSI provides an on-screen calculator built into the testing interface, so you are not required to bring your own. If you prefer a physical unit, the rules are specific:
- Must be silent and battery-operated
- Nonprogrammable and nonprinting
- No alphabetic keyboard
Both test-center and remote-proctored delivery are offered through PSI. Choose whichever environment removes the most friction for you - a quiet home office with a stable connection works fine for remote proctoring, but test-center delivery avoids any tech-check hassles on exam day.
Eligibility Window and Retest Rules
Once the Board approves your application, your examination eligibility lasts six months. Within that window you get unlimited attempts - but there's a catch: a failed exam cannot be rebooked the same day. A retest may be available within two business days, subject to seat availability at PSI.
Key Takeaway
Treat your six-month window as a hard deadline. If you fail, immediately check PSI's scheduling system for the earliest available retest slot rather than waiting, since availability is not guaranteed and the clock keeps running.
If you're still weighing how difficult this exam actually is relative to your background, How Hard Is the HI-GEC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and HI-GEC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows go deeper into what the pass/fail data and format actually mean for candidates.
A One-Week Cram Map by Domain
If you're using this cheat sheet in the final stretch before your exam date, sequence your remaining review time by question weight rather than by domain number. This isn't a generic study calendar - it's built directly around the HI-GEC blueprint.
Highest-weight domains first
- Excavation including Blasting (13 questions)
- Sitework including Layout and Surveying (12 questions)
- Utilities (12 questions)
Second-tier weight
- Asphalt and Concrete Pavement (12 questions)
- Bridges/Miscellaneous Structures (10 questions)
- Heavy Equipment and Sitework (10 questions)
- Canals, Reservoirs and Flood Control (10 questions)
Lower-weight but still scored
- Steel Erecting and Welding (8 questions)
- Estimating and Plan Reading (6 questions)
- Safety OSHA (6 questions)
Final review
- Metal Barriers, Striping, Signs, and Fences (1 question) - quick pass only
- Full practice run under 240-minute timing on the practice test platform
Who Actually Needs This Card
Class A concerns heavy-civil construction and other fixed works - this is not a professional-engineer license. Candidates pursuing this credential typically fall into two paths: sole proprietors establishing their own contracting entity, and Responsible Managing Employees appointed by a contracting company to satisfy the qualifying-party requirement. Both paths require the same four years of qualifying on-site supervisory experience and the same notarized documentation.
Employers hiring for heavy-civil roles - bridge work, excavation, utility installation, road and pavement contracts - look for this classification specifically because it signals verified supervisory experience across the domains listed above. If you're curious how this credential translates into job opportunities and compensation, HI-GEC Jobs and HI-GEC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis cover that ground, while Is the HI-GEC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 weighs the licensing investment against long-term career value.
Run a timed simulation that mirrors the real 240-minute, 100-question structure over at the HI-GEC practice test hub before your scheduled date - it's the closest thing to a dress rehearsal you'll get.
FAQ
100 questions count toward your score. Up to 10 additional experimental questions may appear, but time spent on those is excluded from the stated 240-minute limit and they do not affect your result.
Excavation including Blasting carries the most weight at 13 of 100 questions, followed closely by Sitework including Layout and Surveying, Utilities, and Asphalt and Concrete Pavement, each at 12.
PSI provides an on-screen calculator, so it's not required. If you bring your own, it must be silent, battery-operated, nonprogrammable, nonprinting, and without an alphabetic keyboard.
You cannot retest the same day. A retest may be available within two business days, subject to seat availability, and you retain unlimited attempts within your six-month eligibility window.
Yes. New applicants must also pass the separate $80 Business and Law examination, bringing combined examination fees to $165 before application, licensing, and preparation costs.