PassProfessor’s electrician program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog. We are building practice on the NEC core that most state journeyman and master exams share, with state-specific supplements to follow. Join the notify list and we will email you when enrollment opens — then use this guide to plan your path to the exam your state actually gives.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
Electrician licensing exams, in one paragraph
There is no national electrician exam. In the United States, journeyman and master electrician licenses are issued by state licensing boards — and, in some places, by local jurisdictions — and each authority sets its own exam: its format, question count, time limit, open-book rules, passing score, experience requirements, and fees all vary. What the exams share is their foundation, the National Electrical Code® (NEC®), NFPA 70®, published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). This guide explains the structure that repeats from state to state, the parts that never do, and — as one fully documented example — exactly how Texas runs its journeyman and master exams through its contracted testing provider, PSI.
Who can take an electrician licensing exam?
Eligibility is state law, not exam policy, and it is built on supervised experience. The recurring pattern across states:
- Documented on-the-job hours under a licensed supervisor. Electrician licensing is an apprenticeship trade: boards require thousands of hours of verified work experience, typically under a master electrician, before a journeyman candidate may test or be licensed — and substantially more, plus time holding the journeyman license, before a master candidate may test.
- Board approval before scheduling. In the pattern Texas follows, you apply to the board first; only after the board reviews your application and experience documentation and notifies you that you are approved do you schedule with the testing provider.
- A deadline to finish. Boards commonly give applicants a fixed window to satisfy every requirement, exam included. Texas gives applicants one year from the date TDLR receives the application to complete all requirements for the license.
- Background and record checks. Boards review criminal history as part of licensure; Texas, for example, conducts a background check on applicants and reviews convictions case by case against its published guidelines.
The Texas numbers, from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR):
| Texas license | Experience required | Other requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Journeyman Electrician | At least 7,000 hours of on-the-job training under a Texas-licensed master electrician lets you take the exam; the full 8,000 hours is required for the license itself | Experience documented and signed by each supervising master on TDLR’s verification form; $30 application fee |
| Master Electrician | 12,000 hours of on-the-job training under a Texas-licensed master electrician | Must have held a journeyman electrician license for at least two years; $45 application fee |
Treat those figures as Texas’s, not the trade’s. Another state’s hour requirements, supervision rules, and documentation will differ — the board where you will work is the only authority on yours.
The exams, piece by piece
Because there is no national exam, there is no national blueprint. What can be described honestly is (1) the subject territory nearly every state outline covers, because it comes from the NEC itself, and (2) one state’s complete, current outline as a worked example.
The shared NEC territory
State outlines are organized differently, but they draw on the same code. Texas’s published outline — a fair sample of the genre — divides each exam into these subject areas: definitions, theory, and plan reading; electrical services, service equipment, and separately derived systems; electrical feeders; branch circuits and conductors; wiring methods and materials; equipment and devices; motors and generators; control devices and disconnecting means; special occupancies, equipment, and conditions; and renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaics and electric vehicle chargers. Grounding and bonding, load calculations, and conductor sizing run through several of those areas at once. A candidate who can work confidently across that territory is prepared for the core of most state exams — the state-specific law, amendments, and format still have to be learned state by state.
Worked example: the Texas exams
Per PSI’s Texas Electrician Candidate Information Bulletin (updated September 15, 2026), both Texas exams were reformatted into two separately timed, separately passed portions — NEC Knowledge and Calculations. Both are multiple-choice and taken on a computer at a PSI test site.
Texas Journeyman Electrician — 70% required on each portion; unused time does not roll over between portions.
| Portion | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|
| NEC Knowledge | 59 items, including 3 non-scored | 130 minutes |
| Calculations | 26 items, including 2 non-scored | 110 minutes |
NEC Knowledge subject areas (scored items): definitions, theory, and plans — 3; electrical services, service equipment, and separately derived systems — 6; electrical feeders — 3; branch circuits and conductors — 10; wiring methods and materials — 10; equipment and devices — 10; motors and generators — 5; control devices and disconnecting means — 1; special occupancies, equipment, and conditions — 6; renewable energy technologies — 2.
Calculations subject areas (scored items): calculations and theory — 2; services and service equipment — 4; feeders — 3; branch-circuit calculations and conductors — 4; wiring methods and materials — 2; equipment and devices — 2; motors and generators — 2; control devices — 1; special occupancies and conditions — 3; renewable energy technologies — 1.
Texas Master Electrician — 70% required on each portion.
| Portion | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|
| NEC Knowledge | 75 items, including 5 non-scored | 150 minutes |
| Calculations | 33 items, including 3 non-scored | 170 minutes |
The master’s knowledge portion covers the same subject territory at greater depth (services alone carry 11 scored items, branch circuits 11), and its calculations portion is visibly heavier where master-level responsibility lies: 8 scored items on services, service equipment, and separately derived systems, and 6 on motors and generators.
Three structural lessons from the Texas example that generalize:
- Calculations can be a separate gate. Texas does not let a strong code-knowledge score compensate for weak math: each portion must be passed at 70% on its own. If your state splits its exam this way, your study plan must too.
- Non-scored items are built in. A handful of questions in each Texas portion are tryout items that do not count. You cannot identify them, so the only strategy is to treat every question as scored.
- Open book does not mean easy book. Texas allows the NEC in the room (rules below), which converts part of the exam into a speed-of-lookup test across a very large document.
Which NEC edition governs your exam?
The NEC is NFPA 70, published by the National Fire Protection Association. NFPA’s current edition is the 2026 NEC: it was issued by the NFPA Standards Council on August 20, 2025, with an effective date of September 9, 2025, when it became available for federal, state, county, and municipal governments to update their electrical regulations.
Publication is not adoption. Each state — and, where adoption is local, each jurisdiction — decides which edition it enforces and which edition its licensing exam references, on its own schedule. NFPA’s enforcement data shows how uneven that is: as of August 3, 2026, the 2026 NEC was in effect in six states, the 2023 NEC in 20 states, the 2020 NEC in 15 states, the 2017 NEC in three states, and the 2008 NEC in two states, while some states leave adoption to local jurisdictions entirely.
Two practical consequences:
- Study the edition your board names. PSI’s bulletin states that, effective September 1, 2026, Texas electrician examinations are referenced to the 2026 NEC. A candidate in a state still examining on an earlier edition who studies only the newest book is preparing for the wrong test in the details that changed.
- Exam reference and jobsite enforcement are separate questions. The edition your exam references and the edition your local inspector enforces can differ. Confirm both, from your board and your local authority respectively.
One boundary this guide observes throughout: NFPA 70 is a copyrighted document. We describe the topics it covers and the subjects exams test; we do not reproduce its text, and you should be suspicious of any study product that does.
The passing standard, explained
There is no national passing standard to explain — each board sets its own, and the honest guide says so. The patterns you will meet:
- A percentage on the whole exam, or on each portion. Texas requires 70% on each portion of its journeyman and master exams: NEC Knowledge and Calculations are passed separately, and a failing portion is what you retake.
- Different bars for similar-looking exams. The International Code Council’s Contractor/Trades program — an independent assessment program whose results some licensing agencies use — will offer two exam suites from December 1, 2026, one at a 70% passing score and one at 75%, with the required score identified in the exam ID. ICC itself directs candidates to verify with their jurisdiction which score their license requires.
- Your score report is diagnostic if you fail. In Texas, your score is shown on screen at completion and an official report is printed at the site; a failing report indicates your strengths and weaknesses by examination area — the starting point for a retake plan.
Do not import another state’s number into your planning. The passing standard that applies to you is printed in your board’s candidate bulletin.
Fees and registration, step by step
Fees split into kinds, and the kinds matter more than the amounts, because the amounts are state-set: an application fee paid to the board, an examination fee paid to the testing provider for each attempt, and later license and renewal fees. Texas’s current figures, per TDLR and PSI: a $30 journeyman application fee or $45 master application fee, paid to TDLR; and a $78 examination fee covering both portions of either the journeyman or the master exam, paid to PSI — with the same $78 charged again to retake one portion or both.
The sequence, in the order Texas runs it (the shape is typical; the details are your board’s):
- Apply to the board first. Submit the license application with your documented experience — in Texas, the application and your supervisors’ signed experience verification forms, by mail, with the application fee. TDLR reviews criminal history as part of the process.
- Wait for exam eligibility. TDLR notifies you — by email or mail — when you are approved to sit. Your one-year window to satisfy all licensing requirements runs from the date TDLR received your application.
- Schedule with the testing provider. Texas candidates schedule with PSI online or by phone once eligible. The name on your registration must match exactly the information TDLR has on file and the government ID you bring.
- Prepare your code book. Texas exams are open book against the 2026 NEC, and you bring your own copy — see the test-day rules below, because Texas’s book rules are specific and enforced.
- Take the exam and get your result on site. Your score appears on screen at completion, PSI prints your official report at the test site, and results are transmitted to TDLR electronically — there is nothing for you to mail.
For your own state, substitute your board’s application route, your provider’s scheduling system, and your bulletin’s fees. The order of operations — board approval before scheduling — is the part most candidates get wrong by trying to book first.
Retakes and score validity
- Texas retakes. TDLR states you may retake each exam as many times as needed until you pass, paying additional examination fees with each attempt; PSI’s fee for retaking one portion or both is $78. Texas candidates test within their eligibility period, and the one-year deadline to satisfy all licensing requirements still applies — retakes are unlimited in number, not in calendar.
- A passed portion is banked in Texas’s two-portion structure in the practical sense that the retake fee and the retake sitting concern the portion or portions not yet passed — confirm your exact standing on your score report and with PSI before rescheduling.
- Elsewhere, everything varies: waiting periods, attempt limits, and how long a passing score stays valid are board rules. Your candidate bulletin is the only source worth trusting for them.
Test day
Texas’s rules, per TDLR and the PSI bulletin, illustrate what test-day enforcement actually looks like:
- Arrive 30 minutes early. Late arrival means no admission and a forfeited fee. You must bring one valid government-issued ID — driver’s license, state ID, or passport — bearing your photograph, signature, and date of birth, matching exactly the information TDLR has on file.
- The book rules are checked. The Texas exam is open book: you may reference the National Electrical Code, 2026 edition, and you are responsible for bringing your own. Any soft-bound edition may be used; loose-leaf, spiral-bound, or ring-bound copies are not allowed, and the NEC Handbook is not allowed. Your book may be highlighted, underlined, and contain notes made before the session, and it may be tabbed only with permanent index tabs manufactured or provided by the NEC publisher — homemade tabs are not permitted, and you may not write in or mark the book during the exam. Candidates arriving with a non-compliant book may be offered the choice of testing without it, removing the offending tabs, or forfeiting the fee and retesting another day.
- Calculator and conduct rules. Only non-programmable calculators that are silent, battery-operated, without paper-tape printing and without an alphabetic keyboard are allowed. Personal items go into secure storage; prohibited items in the exam room can invalidate your result and are reported to the board.
- During the exam. The test is delivered by computer, one question at a time, with a tutorial (up to 15 minutes) that does not count against your time. You may return to questions and change answers within a portion’s time. Texas exams are available in English and Spanish at no additional cost.
- Results are immediate. Your score appears on screen when you finish, and your printed official report is handed to you at the site.
Your state’s test-day rules will differ in detail — especially the book rules. Read your bulletin’s reference-materials section the week before, not the night before.
How to study for an electrician exam
The syllabus is your state’s published outline plus the NEC edition it names. A plan built on that structure:
- Start with your board’s bulletin, not a book. Confirm your exam’s portions, its NEC edition, its open-book rules, its passing standard, and your eligibility window. Those five facts shape everything else; they are also the five facts national study marketing most often blurs.
- Build the core in outline order. Services and service equipment, grounding and bonding, feeders, and branch circuits are the spine of outlines like Texas’s. Definitions and theory are small in item count but underpin everything; plan reading shows up inside other questions.
- Treat calculations as a separate subject. Load calculations, conductor and ampacity work, voltage drop, motor and transformer calculations: study them with worked problems at exam pace. In Texas they are 24 of the journeyman exam’s 80 scored items and 30 of the master’s 100 — and a separately passed portion in both.
- Learn the code book as an index, not a novel. Open-book exams reward candidates who can navigate: know the article layout for the big topics, use the index and tables fluently, and practice finding rules under a clock. Do your tabbing and highlighting during preparation, within your state’s rules — in Texas only publisher tabs are allowed and no marking may happen during the exam.
- Ignore exceptions unless the question invokes them. PSI’s Texas bulletin instructs candidates, as a general exam convention, not to consider code exceptions or optional calculation methods unless the question specifically directs it — and to treat conductors as copper unless a question notes otherwise. Conventions like these are printed in your bulletin; collect yours.
- Drill special occupancies and renewables last but not never. Pools, hazardous locations, emergency systems, photovoltaics, and EV charging are small, bounded, concrete areas — in Texas’s journeyman knowledge portion they carry 8 of 56 scored items between them. They are winnable points candidates leave behind.
- Sit full timed portions before the real one. Texas gives you 130 minutes for 59 knowledge items — about two minutes each, most of it lookup — and 110 minutes for 26 calculations. Pacing is a separate skill from knowledge, and it is trained only at full length.
PassProfessor’s electrician program is being built on this same NEC core — the subject areas above, at journeyman and master levels — with state supplements to follow. The Electrician Exam Prep program page describes the coverage plan, and the notify list there will email you when the program opens.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a national journeyman or master electrician exam? No. Licenses are issued by state boards and, in some places, local jurisdictions, and each authority sets its own exam. Programs offered nationally — such as the International Code Council’s Contractor/Trades examinations — are assessment programs whose results a licensing agency may choose to accept; passing one does not itself grant a license anywhere.
Who publishes the National Electrical Code? The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The NEC is formally NFPA 70. NFPA describes it as setting the foundation for electrical safety in residential, commercial, and industrial occupancies, and states and local jurisdictions adopt it — frequently with amendments — as their electrical code.
Which NEC edition will my exam use? The edition your state board names in its candidate bulletin. The newest edition is the 2026 NEC (issued August 20, 2025), but NFPA reports the 2023, 2020, 2017, and even 2008 editions still in effect in various states as of August 2026, because adoption follows state schedules. Texas references the 2026 NEC for its electrician exams effective September 1, 2026.
How many questions are on the Texas journeyman electrician exam? 85 items across two separately timed portions: 59 NEC Knowledge items (3 non-scored) in 130 minutes and 26 Calculations items (2 non-scored) in 110 minutes. You must score 70% on each portion; time does not carry over between them. The Texas master exam is larger: 75 knowledge items in 150 minutes and 33 calculations items in 170 minutes, also at 70% per portion.
Is the electrician exam open book? It depends on the state. Texas’s journeyman and master exams are open book against the 2026 NEC: bring your own soft-bound copy; loose-leaf and spiral-bound copies and the NEC Handbook are not allowed; only publisher-manufactured permanent tabs may be used; and no marking the book during the exam. Other states set their own reference rules — check your bulletin.
What does the Texas electrician exam cost? The examination fee is $78 for both portions of either the journeyman or the master exam, paid to PSI; retaking one portion or both costs another $78. Separately, the license application fee paid to TDLR is $30 for journeyman and $45 for master. Other states’ fees differ.
How much experience do I need to become a journeyman electrician? Your state sets the number. In Texas you may take the journeyman exam after at least 7,000 hours of on-the-job training under a Texas-licensed master electrician, but the license itself requires the full 8,000 hours, documented on verification forms signed by your supervising masters. For the Texas master license: 12,000 supervised hours plus at least two years holding a journeyman license.
What happens if I fail one portion of the Texas exam? You retake the portion or portions you have not passed, at a $78 retake fee, and TDLR permits as many attempts as needed — but your one-year window to satisfy all licensing requirements, running from the date TDLR received your application, continues to apply. Your failing score report shows strengths and weaknesses by area; rebuild your study plan around it.
How long is my passing score good for? Under Texas’s process, your exam result lives inside the one-year application window: all requirements, including passing the exam, must be satisfied within one year of TDLR receiving your application. Other states set their own validity periods.
Can I take the exam in Spanish? In Texas, yes — PSI offers the electrician examinations in English and Spanish at no additional cost, selected when you schedule. Availability of other languages, and the rules for translation dictionaries, are in the candidate bulletin. Other states and providers differ.
Does passing an ICC electrician exam give me a license? No. ICC describes its Contractor/Trades program as an independent assessment: it informs licensing agencies about a candidate’s qualifications, agencies may use the results toward their testing requirements, and participation does not guarantee that any agency will award a license. The license decision always belongs to the jurisdiction.
Are study questions that quote the NEC word-for-word legitimate? Be careful with them. NFPA 70 is a copyrighted document, and legitimate preparation describes its topics, teaches navigation of the book you bring, and writes original questions around its subject matter — it does not reproduce the code’s text wholesale, and it never contains actual exam questions, which candidates agree not to disclose.
When will PassProfessor’s electrician program open? It is in development now — NEC-core practice for journeyman and master candidates first, state supplements to follow. Join the notify list on the program page and we will email you when it opens. We are not taking enrollment or publishing a launch date yet.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, PSI, Pearson VUE, the International Code Council, or any state or local licensing board. NFPA®, National Electrical Code®, and NEC® are registered trademarks of the National Fire Protection Association. This guide is general information about electrician licensing exams, current as of October 2026; your licensing board’s current publications govern if anything here differs from them. Only your licensing authority can issue you a license.