Chicago Masonry Contractors License Benefits

Becoming a licensed masonry contractor in Chicago gives you the freedom and independence to have jobs awarded to your company. This helps when you’re awarded a tuckpointing masonry restoration job for a building. You go directly to the City of Chicago, Department of Buildings, with a copy of your mason license and request a permit that allows you to carry out masonry work (i.e., including other documents such as your insurance). That means your company becomes the Prime Contractor and “NOT the Subcontractor”.

The examination application process can vary by individual. You can find the application on the Continental Testing Center Inc. website. The cost of each exam is $95.00. That is the Brick and/or Concrete Masonry Contractor.

 Some choose to submit the application to Continental and take the exam based on their experience as a mason in an attempt to pass the exams. Others choose to take the mason exam training courses, such as the one provided by US-BES Mason Exam Prep. The advantage of taking the training study course before taking the exams is that it triples the chances of passing. If you take the exams based on your personal experience as a mason, you have a 50/50 chance of passing at best! Keep in mind that the exam questions are confusing and misleading at times. There is an art to taking multiple-choice examinations. With the mason training courses that US-BES provides, you are provided with streamlined study guidebooks that include sample quizzes and exams that closely emulate the actual examination. These resources further increase the chances of passing the masonry contractor exams. We also go over the studying and learning techniques to use with a combination of note-taking and illustration (i.e., visualization) for retaining information for the tests.

After passing the Chicago contractor license examination provided by Continental Testing Center Inc., you submit the letter from The City of Chicago, Department of Buildings, Bureau Of Licensing and Registration showing your passing score for the Brick Masonry Contractor B Card and/or Concrete Masonry Contractor C Card. Include two checks, each for $500 made payable to The Chicago Department of Revenue with two (2) 1-1/2” by 1-1/2” inch photographs, and print your name on the back of the photos. Mail the above to Chicago Trade License, P.O. Box 388259, Chicago, IL 60638. Their phone number is 800-350-1313 for further questions.

If you pass both exams, you will receive the Masonry Contractor A Card. The passing score is 70 or higher.  

“4-376-020 License – Required: Any person engaged in, or desiring to engage in, the business of masonry or mason work, either as contractor, subcontractor or employing mason, in the city, shall submit to an examination and shall obtain a license as a mason contractor or employing mason; provided, that whenever a firm or corporation consists of more than one master employing mason, it shall not be necessary for more than one member of said firm or one officer of said corporation to undergo such examination in order to obtain a license for such firms or corporation. (Prior code § 151-2; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465), from the Municipal Code of Chicago, IL.”

Note: The City of Chicago requires that a mason performing masonry construction work in brick, concrete, stone, terra-cotta, tile, or masonry fireproofing must be licensed.