The North Carolina well contractor certification has four written exam levels (A, B, C, and D) run through the N.C. Division of Public Health. Your application must be approved before you can schedule the closed-book written exam, which requires a passing grade of 70% and allows only a basic non-phone calculator. The exam tests the references on the official list for your level, plus North Carolina's well construction statutes and rules. Start by matching your work to a level, then study that level's references and the current state rules directly.
What this certification is and who runs it
The North Carolina Well Contractor Certification program operates under the state's Division of Public Health and certifies well contractors at four levels: A, B, C, and D. The application verifies you meet the experience requirements for the level you request.
You do not have to start at Level D and work your way up. You apply directly for the level that matches your experience and the work you intend to perform. Applications can take 45 to 60 days to process, so plan ahead.
One common mix-up is worth clearing early. Drinking water system operator certifications, including the credential often called C-Well, are administered separately by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. If you searched for that operator credential, this is a different program with a different exam.
Choose your certification level first
Each level defines which well contractor activities you are certified to perform, and each carries its own experience requirement: 18 months for Level A, 12 months for Level B, and six months for Levels C and D. Higher levels include the activities of every level below them.
Level A covers all well contractor activities, including air or mud rotary drilling, wet rock coring, sonic drilling, and geothermal loop installation. Geothermal wells and related loops require Level A. Level B covers most other activities, such as cable tool rigs, hollow stem auger, direct push, hydrofracturing, and jetting-in a well, but it does not include wet rock coring or rotary and sonic drilling.
Level C adds grouting, well abandonment, rehabilitation for biofouling, well development by pumping or surging, packer and liner installation, extending casing above land surface, and breaking the well seal. Level D covers breaking the well seal for work such as pump repair, well chlorination, or using a down-hole camera, plus pump and equipment installation and disinfection.
Practice deciding the level from the tasks, not from job titles. The exercise below uses only activities exactly as they appear on the official certification levels page.
Practice
Assume each contractor below performs only the tasks described, and each task is one of the activities listed on the official certification levels page. What is the minimum certification level each task set requires? Amara's crew installs geothermal loop wells using a mud rotary rig. Ben's crew operates a cable tool rig and a hollow stem auger, and also breaks well seals to install pumps and chlorinate wells. Cora's crew grouts new wells, develops wells by pumping and surging, and performs well abandonments, but never operates a drill rig.
Show answer
Amara needs Level A. Ben needs Level B. Cora needs Level C.
Geothermal loop installation and air or mud rotary drilling are Level A activities, so no lower level covers Amara's work. Ben's cable tool and hollow stem auger work sits in Level B, and Level B includes all Level C and D activities, so his pump installation and chlorination through the well seal are covered without needing Level A. Cora's grouting, development, and abandonment are Level C activities; because she never drills, the six-month Level C experience requirement is the entry point. Remember that you may apply directly at any level, so nobody in this case has to begin at Level D.
| Level | Experience required | Example certified activities |
|---|---|---|
| A | 18 months | All activities: air or mud rotary drilling, wet rock coring, sonic drilling, geothermal loop installation, plus all Level B, C, and D activities |
| B | 12 months | Cable tool rig, hollow stem auger (non-air rotary), direct push, hydrofracturing, jetting-in a well, plus Levels C and D; excludes wet rock coring, air rotary, mud rotary, and sonic drilling |
| C | 6 months | Grouting, well abandonment, biofouling rehabilitation, well development (pumping or surging), packer and liner installation, extending casing above land surface, breaking the well seal, plus Level D |
| D | 6 months | Breaking the well seal for pump repair, chlorination, or down-hole camera work; pump and other in-well equipment installation; disinfection |
Sources: Get Certified as a Well Contractor | Division of Public Health — NC DHHS Division of Public Health, well contractors certification program; Well Contractor Certification Levels | Division of Public Health — Certification Levels and Activities
From application to a scheduled exam seat
You submit an application for your desired level, and the program verifies your experience before you can test. Only after approval, and after completing the field observation if you are a Level A applicant, do you receive an admission ticket to the next scheduled exam.
Every application requires a notarized letter of reference, and the state publishes example applications and reference letters for the levels that need them. If you are licensed or certified in another state, a reciprocity process exists for requesting North Carolina certification.
Scheduling is tied to set exam dates rather than on-demand testing. If the next scheduled date does not work, you can request an out-of-cycle exam, which carries a $50 fee. Whether you test on a standard date or out of cycle, your completed exam request form and payment must reach the program at least 10 days before the exam.
- Apply for your desired level based on your experience.
- Include the required notarized letter of reference.
- Wait for written approval; Level A applicants also complete a field observation.
- Receive your admission ticket to the next scheduled exam.
- Submit the exam request form and payment at least 10 days before the exam date.
Exam day format and scoring
The assessment is a closed-book written exam with a passing grade set at 70%. You must present your admission ticket and photographic identification, and the only electronic device allowed is a basic calculator that is not a phone.
Results are mailed to you as pass or fail. The retrieved official pages do not state how many questions the exam contains or how long it lasts, so treat any number you see elsewhere as unconfirmed; the program's exam staff at (919) 707-5882 can answer process questions.
Leave everything else electronic at home. The reference document is explicit that all other electronic devices are not allowed into the exam, so a phone-based calculator app is not an option even in flight mode.
Sources: Get Certified as a Well Contractor | Division of Public Health — NC DHHS Division of Public Health, well contractors certification program; List of the Exam References (PDF) — Rev. 6/2023
What the written exam tests
The exam questions are drawn from a published reference list, and the list differs by level. It combines technical publications on well construction and pumps with North Carolina statutes and administrative rules that govern well location, construction, repair, alteration, and abandonment.
On the technical side, Level A and B candidates are tested on Groundwater & Wells, Third Edition, by Robert J. Sterrett. Level C candidates study the NGWA Manual of Water Well Construction Practices, Third Edition, and Levels C and D add The Pump Book by Bob Pelikan. The Franklin Electric AIM Manual, 2023 Edition applies to all levels.
The regulatory side is the same core set for everyone: the North Carolina Well Construction Act, the statute creating the Well Contractors Certification Commission, the certification rules in Title 15A NCAC 27, and the well construction standards in Title 15A NCAC 2C, including private drinking water well permitting. The injection well standards apply only to Levels A and B. The state rules are available online through the program's Rules page, so you can study the actual rule text rather than a summary.
Getting the right edition matters. The reference list carries a June 2023 revision marker, so check the current list on the program's study guide page before you buy or borrow anything.
| Reference | Applies to levels |
|---|---|
| Groundwater & Wells, Third Edition (Sterrett) | A and B |
| Manual of Water Well Construction Practices, Third Edition (NGWA) | C |
| The Pump Book (Pelikan) | C and D |
| Franklin Electric AIM Manual, 2023 Edition | All levels |
| NC Well Construction Act and certification statutes; Titles 15A NCAC 27 and 15A NCAC 2C | All levels (injection well standards: A and B only) |
Drilling methods and well development fundamentals
USGS describes the basic construction methods and the purpose of well development. Use this as supplementary background alongside the references assigned to your certification level.
Bored wells use earth augers turned by hand or power, and are the modern equivalent of a hand-dug well. Driven wells are made by driving a casing fitted with a screened drive point, and jetted wells are excavated with a high-pressure jet of water. Cable tool drilling, also called percussion, alternately raises and drops a heavy chisel-bit weight that shatters rock, with the cuttings removed as a slurry by bailer.
Rotary methods behave differently. In the normal hydraulic rotary method, drilling fluid circulates down the drill pipe and up the annular space, cooling the bit and carrying cuttings out; the reverse rotary method circulates the fluid the opposite way. The air rotary method works the same way as hydraulic rotary but uses air instead of mud as the fluid.
Once construction ends, well development begins. Its objective is to remove clay, silt, and fine-grained sand from the area next to the screen or open hole so the well produces sediment-free water. Development is also listed as a Level C certified activity, which shows how the reference knowledge and the level activities connect.
Specific capacity is pumping rate divided by drawdown measured at the same time. The original exercise below practises that definition with explicit readings.
Practice
Two hours into a pumping test, a well is pumping at a rate of 24 gallons per minute, and the drawdown measured at that same moment is 6 feet. What is the well's specific capacity, and what does the number tell you?
Show answer
Specific capacity is 24 divided by 6, which is 4 gallons per minute per foot of drawdown.
Specific capacity is defined as the yield per unit of drawdown, determined by dividing the pumping rate by the drawdown at the same time during the test. The same-time condition is the point of the exercise: pairing a rate from one moment with a drawdown from another produces a meaningless number. Also keep the metric's limits in mind: a specific capacity figure from a short test describes that test, and by itself it does not prove the well's long-term sustainable yield or select a pump for you.
Sources: USGS Basic Ground-Water Hydrology (Water-Supply Paper 2220) — Selected descriptive fundamentals, printed pages 52, 53, and 58; Well Contractor Certification Levels | Division of Public Health — Certification Levels and Activities
Building your study plan from the official materials
The program publishes its own study aids, so build your plan around those first and add your reading of the level references and state rules. Everything below is preparation advice, not a program requirement.
The program links an exam-reference list, disinfection equation sheet, sample questions and test-taking tips. Use the current official versions to supplement your level’s references.
A workable sequence as advice: read your level's reference book or its relevant sections first, then go through the North Carolina statutes and the 15A NCAC 2C rules on the program's Rules page, then close with the sample questions and the disinfection sheet. If you come from a pump-focused background (Level D work), weight The Pump Book and the AIM Manual; if you drill (Levels A and B), weight Groundwater & Wells and the construction standards.
The written exam sits alongside the required work experience and, for Level A, a field observation. Use the linked practice set to review what you have studied and return to the official references when an explanation is unclear.
Sources: Get Certified as a Well Contractor | Division of Public Health — NC DHHS Division of Public Health, well contractors certification program; List of the Exam References (PDF) — Rev. 6/2023
If you do not pass
A failed written exam is not the end of your application. You can request a free exam review if you still hold an active application and can register for a future exam before that application expires, and you make the request within 12 months of the failed exam.
The review is scheduled with program staff and takes place in Raleigh, normally starting at 9 a.m. unless otherwise noted. Use it to see where your understanding of the references and rules fell short, then reschedule while your application remains valid.
Because applications take 45 to 60 days to process, watch your application's clock. If it is close to expiring, renewing or reapplying promptly protects both your eligibility to retest and your access to the free review.
Sources
Facts checked: