Is this a salesperson license?

No. North Carolina issues a broker license. New licensees are provisional brokers until 90 hours of postlicensing are done. This page is that entry status; the companion page is the non-provisional broker / BIC path.

Can I practice without a BIC?

Not on active provisional status. Affiliation with a Broker-in-Charge is required to go active.

North Carolina Provisional Broker License Requirements

Required education: 75-hour North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course
Exam fee: $63
Published fees: $168
Typical timeline: Typically 2–4 months after starting the 75-hour course if the criminal-record report and Pearson seats cooperate

What to know first

North Carolina does not issue a salesperson license. The only license is a broker license, and every new person comes in as a provisional broker. That vocabulary is not marketing. A provisional broker must affiliate with a Broker-in-Charge to be active, cannot operate independently, and must complete 90 hours of postlicensing (three 30-hour courses) within 18 months of licensure. If the deadline is missed, NCREC places the license on inactive status until the requirements for activation are completed; provisional status does not simply disappear. The official entry title is provisional broker.

Prelicensing is a 75-hour North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course from a Commission-certified provider, with a mandatory end-of-course exam, completed within three years prior to the license application. NCREC materials have long said the course is provided by certified education providers (in-state delivery rules have been a recurring applicant trap — read the live RELINC booklet before you buy an out-of-state online product that cannot report electronically). You then file the license application with a $105 application fee (21 NCAC 58A .0302, effective April 1, 2026; it was $100 immediately before), a criminal record report from the Commission's named channel (ncreccheck.com is the address NCREC has published), and character-and-fitness disclosures. NCREC reviews the file and sends a Notice of Examination Eligibility. Only then do you pay Pearson VUE.

The exam is two parts: National and State. NCREC's Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina booklet publishes $63 for the two-part comprehensive exam and $53 for a single section, paid to Pearson each sitting. Passing is 75 on each section. Commonly published item counts are 80 national and 60 state; trust the live booklet if those counts move. You must pass both within the eligibility window the Commission prints. Character review can continue after you pass; a clean exam does not override a criminal-history problem. A Petition for Pre-Determination is available before you spend 75 hours if you already know the criminal record is messy.

Activation requires a License Activation / Affiliation form with a BIC. Annual CE is 8 hours (General Update plus an elective; BICs take BIC Update instead of General Update). Renewal is due by June 10. Florida's mutual-recognition list does not include North Carolina, and there is no New York-style DOS exam. Out-of-state licensees who have been active within three years can often waive the 75-hour course and the national section and sit only the North Carolina state section — still as a provisional broker unless NCREC places them in a status equivalent to the other state's full broker.

Your path to the license

Follow these steps in order. Deadlines and affiliation requirements can make a passed exam unusable if they are missed.

Complete the 75-hour NC Broker Prelicensing Course at a certified provider

Confirm the school reports electronically to NCREC.
Order the criminal record report, then apply and pay $105

Do not let the report expire while the course is unfinished.
Wait for the Notice of Examination Eligibility

Then schedule Pearson VUE. $63 comprehensive. 75 on each section.
Affiliate with a BIC to go active

License Activation / Affiliation form.
Finish three 30-hour postlicensing courses within 18 months

Then keep 8 hours of CE each license year and renew by June 10.

Education and eligibility

Minimum age: 18 years old
Identification: A Social Security number is required. An ITIN is not confirmed as a substitute.
Residency and identification: Not required. The 75-hour course must be one NCREC will actually accept (certified provider, electronic reporting). Out-of-state licensees use the waiver path in RELINC rather than inventing reciprocity.
Qualifying education: Commission-certified education provider, mandatory end-of-course exam, completion within three years prior to application. Equivalent education/experience options exist in RELINC (Options 2–4) for people NCREC finds equivalent.
Education or filing deadline: 75-hour course: three years prior to application. Exam eligibility is a Commission notice with its own clock. Application fee $105 effective April 1, 2026.
After licensing: 90 hours of postlicensing (three 30-hour courses) within 18 months of licensure to remain eligible for active status and remove provisional status. Missing the deadline makes the license inactive. This is not CE; annual CE is a separate 8 hours.
Character review: NCREC character-and-fitness review, including a criminal record report. A Petition for Pre-Determination is available before you enroll.
Background process: Criminal record report through the Commission-named vendor (NCREC has published ncreccheck.com). Report timing matters; a report that expires before you apply is a reprint. This is not TREC IdentoGO and not Georgia GCIC-at-PSI.
Experience: No experience required for the initial (provisional) broker license. Affiliation with a Broker-in-Charge is required for active status.
Broker affiliation: A provisional broker must affiliate with a Broker-in-Charge to be active. The BIC is a status held by a non-provisional broker who has completed BIC education and eligibility, not a separate license number type.

Documents to prepare

Electronic 75-hour completion from a certified provider
Criminal record report
$105 application

The licensing exam

Pearson VUE, after NCREC eligibility: national section and North Carolina state section, 75 to pass each. Comprehensive fee $63; single section $53, per NCREC's RELINC booklet. State items test the License Law, Commission rules, trust-account guidelines, and North Carolina agency and disclosure practice. This is not a PSI paper and not a DRE unified exam. Pass both sections inside the Commission's eligibility window.

Pearson VUE (after NCREC Notice of Examination Eligibility) · Fee: $63

Part	Questions	Minutes	Pass
National	80	—	75%
North Carolina state	60	—	75%

Comprehensive $63; single section $53, paid to Pearson each sitting (NCREC RELINC). Pass both sections inside the eligibility window. Confirm current minute limits in the live booklet.

What to study

Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (RELINC)

NCREC / Pearson VUE

Application, $105/$63 fees, exam sections, waiver options.
North Carolina Real Estate License Law and Commission Rules

NCREC

The state-section statute book.

Application costs

These are commission or testing-vendor amounts we can cite. School tuition and optional preparation products are private-market prices.

Fee	Amount
Application	$105
Examination	$63
Initial license	$105
Renewal (every year)	$50

NCREC: original application $105 effective April 1, 2026 (21 NCAC 58A .0302). Pearson comprehensive $63 / single section $53. Renewal fee $50 effective the same rule package (was $45). Confirm the live renewal invoice.

Commission	North Carolina Real Estate Commission North Carolina Real Estate License Law; 21 NCAC 58A
Pre-licensing	75-hour North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course Commission-certified education provider, mandatory end-of-course exam, completion within three years prior to application. Equivalent education/experience options exist in RELINC (Options 2–4) for people NCREC finds equivalent. 75-hour course: three years prior to application. Exam eligibility is a Commission notice with its own clock. Application fee $105 effective April 1, 2026.
Post-license education	90 hours of postlicensing (three 30-hour courses) within 18 months of licensure to remain eligible for active status and remove provisional status. Missing the deadline makes the license inactive. This is not CE; annual CE is a separate 8 hours.
Sponsoring broker	A provisional broker must affiliate with a Broker-in-Charge to be active. The BIC is a status held by a non-provisional broker who has completed BIC education and eligibility, not a separate license number type.
Fingerprints	Criminal record report via the NCREC-named channel, not a generic FBI channel from another state board. Timing: the report must still be valid when NCREC reviews the application.
CE / renewal	8 hours each license year for active status: General Update plus one elective (BIC-eligible brokers take BIC Update plus an elective). Postlicensing is separate and due within 18 months.
Recovery fund	NCREC discipline and civil judgments are the consumer path described in the License Law. Do not invent a recovery-fund dollar cap that RELINC does not print as an application line item.

Mistakes that delay applicants

Buying a 75-hour course NCREC will not accept

The course must be the North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course at a certified provider that reports electronically. A Georgia 75-hour certificate is a waiver discussion, not an automatic seat.
18-month postlicensing clock

Three 30-hour courses. This is how you stop being provisional. It is not CE and it is not optional if you want to stay on the track the Commission published.
Letting the criminal-record report expire

Order it too early and you reprint; order it too late and the $105 file sits. Sequence the report after the course is about to report.

Reciprocity and recognition

Partner / path	Accepted exam	Conditions
No formal bilateral reciprocity is published for this credential.

Not a compact. An applicant who holds a current license in another state (or U.S. territory or Canadian jurisdiction) that has been on active status within three years and is equivalent to NC provisional or full broker may waive the 75-hour course and the national section, then pass the NC state section, often remaining provisional and still owing postlicensing unless NCREC places them in an equivalent full-broker status. California, New York, and Texas licensees should read RELINC Option 4 rather than a blog titled reciprocity.

Renewal and staying active

8 hours each license year for active status: General Update plus one elective (BIC-eligible brokers take BIC Update plus an elective). Postlicensing is separate and due within 18 months.

Renew by June 10. CE is how you stay active, not how you leave provisional status.

Applicant checklist

75-hour NC course at a certified provider
Criminal record report, then $105 application
Pearson VUE after eligibility, 75 each section
BIC affiliation to activate
90-hour postlicensing inside 18 months
8-hour CE and June 10 renewal every year

How North Carolina is different

North Carolina and Illinois are notable broker-entry jurisdictions. Illinois uses a managing-broker supervisor title and a 45-hour first-renewal post-license; North Carolina uses a BIC and 90 hours of postlicensing in 18 months. Georgia, the neighbor, has a salesperson license, a 25-hour first-year postlicense, and a PSI exam. Florida's 45-hour post-license can make the license null and void; missing North Carolina's 18-month deadline instead places the provisional broker license on inactive status. Application $105 plus $63 Pearson is in the same low-board-fee neighborhood as New York and Pennsylvania, far below California's $100+$350.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a salesperson license?: No. North Carolina issues a broker license. New licensees are provisional brokers until 90 hours of postlicensing are done. This page is that entry status; the companion page is the non-provisional broker / BIC path.
Can I practice without a BIC?: Not on active provisional status. Affiliation with a Broker-in-Charge is required to go active.

Primary Sources

Regulatory requirements on this page are drawn from the official board, statute, and exam-provider materials listed below.

Verified 2026-09-02 · Next scheduled review 2026-12-01