NASCLA Electrical Contractor Exam: Format, NEC Edition, and Which States Accept It

The NASCLA Accredited Trade Examination for Electrical Contractors is a national, open-book trade exam, given mostly by PSI. Participating state boards accept it in place of their own electrical trade exam. It has 100 scored questions and a 4½-hour limit. You need 75 correct to pass. It uses the 2020 NEC or the 2023 NEC. You still apply to each state and meet its other requirements.

How it works

NASCLA, the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies, offers three electrical trade exams: Electrical Contractor (Master/Unlimited), Journeyman, and Residential. It's not a license or certification. Your passing result goes into NASCLA's National Examination Database (NED). You send it to each state that accepts it, then apply to that state for the license.

1. Check the state list below for your license.
2. Apply on NED and pay the $65 fee. No experience is required. Applications are usually processed within 7 business days.
3. PSI emails your candidate ID, which starts with NASCC. Book with PSI and pay the $125 exam fee. You can test at any PSI center that offers the exam. You don't have to live in the state you're applying to.
4. You get 3 attempts within 1 year of approval. If you use all 3, reapply after the year ends. Each retake costs $125.
5. After you pass, create one account on NED. NASCLA links your score in about 5–6 business days. Buy a $45 transcript for each state. The state can view it for 2 years.
6. Apply to the state board for your license.

Some boards give the NASCLA exam themselves (marked "gives it" below). You can apply through that board instead, and its bulletin sets the fee. To use that score in another state, send your score report to NASCLA at info@nascla.org so it can be added to NED.

Want to see where you stand first? Try 25 free 2020 NEC practice questions.

Exam format

The 10 unscored questions are tryouts for future exams and don't count toward your score.

Electrical Contractor topics: General Code Requirements 17, Wiring and Protection 17, Wiring Methods and Materials 16, Equipment for General Use 13, Electrical Theory and Principles 11, Safety 9, Project Design and Management 8, Special Occupancies, Equipment and Conditions 8, and Communication Systems 1. Safety and project management make up 17 questions. Code and theory make up the other 83.

NEC edition, books and tabs

PSI's bulletin allows the 2020 or 2023 NEC, or the NEC Handbook for either year. Code questions are based only on those editions. PSI lists one version of the exam, so there's no edition to pick when you book. Either edition is allowed in the exam room, so bring the one you studied. If that's JCR's 2020 NEC course, your book is the 2020 NEC, because the course follows that edition.

Electrical Contractor references: the NEC, OSHA 29 CFR 1926 and 1910 (2024), NFPA 70E (2024), the PMBOK Guide (7th edition), ASHRAE 90.1-2022, the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management (Basic 14th Edition), Ugly's Electrical References (2023), and Mike Holt's Understanding Electrical Theory for NEC Applications. Ferm's Fast Finder Index and Tom Henry's Key Word Index are optional, but only if they have no marks, highlights or tabs. PSI hands out a diagram and blueprint packet at the test center.

Except for code books, you can use older or newer editions of the listed references at your own risk. PSI does not supply books.

Book rules: you may highlight, underline and use permanent tabs. You may not write in the book, bring loose or attached papers, or use Post-its or other temporary tabs. Calculators must be silent, battery-powered, nonprinting and nonprogrammable, without an alphabet keyboard.

Which states accept it

This is NASCLA's participating-agency list. "Contractor" means the Electrical Contractor/Master Electrician exam. Each state still has its own application, fees, and other requirements, such as a business and law exam.

• Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors: Contractor, Journeyman. Gives it.
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors: Contractor, Residential. Gives it.
• District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection: Contractor, Journeyman.
• Florida Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board: Residential only, for endorsement on the Certified Specialty Electrical Contractor classification. You must already hold a similar license in another state. First-time applicants take the Florida exam.
• Idaho Electrical Board: Contractor, Journeyman.
• Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction: Contractor, Journeyman. Your score must be within 3 years.
• Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors: Contractor.
• Mississippi State Board of Contractors: Contractor (gives it), Residential. It can take the place of the Master Electrician trade exam. You still take Law and Business. See JCR's Mississippi guide.
• Missouri Office of Statewide Electrical Contractors: Contractor, Journeyman. Gives it.
• Nebraska State Electrical Division: Contractor, Journeyman, Residential. Gives it. You must take it through Nebraska, with an exam date after August 1, 2025.
• New Mexico Construction Industries Division: Contractor, Journeyman, Residential, in place of the trade exam for the EE98 license and Journeyman certificate. You also need a letter of good standing showing 1 year licensed in another state.
• North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors: Contractor qualifies you to apply for SP, Limited, Intermediate or Unlimited. Residential qualifies you to apply for SP-SFD. See JCR's North Carolina guide.
• South Carolina Contractors' Licensing Board: Contractor (gives it), in place of the SC Electrician exam for the commercial license. PSI charges $116. You still pass Business Management and Law. Your score must be within 3 years.
• South Carolina Residential Builders Commission: Residential (gives it), in place of the SC Residential Electrical exam. PSI charges $116. You still pass Business Management and Law for Residential Builders. Your score must be within 3 years. See JCR's South Carolina guide.
• Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors: Contractor, Journeyman. Tennessee also gives the Contractor exam through Prov for $53, with Prov's own scoring and book rules. Prov lists it among Tennessee's contractor exams, so it can stand in for the CE trade exam. You still take Business and Law. Confirm with the board before you book. See JCR's Tennessee guide.
• Utah Division of Professional Licensing: not accepted on its own. You may qualify by endorsement if you've held a license for 12 months from a state where you used the NASCLA exam, and meet Utah's other endorsement rules.
• Vanderburgh County, Indiana (Evansville): Contractor, Journeyman. No transcripts. You must take the exam in Evansville through Prov.
• Virginia Board for Contractors (DPOR): Contractor, Journeyman. See JCR's Virginia guide.
• West Virginia Contractors Licensing Board: Contractor.

Trade exam vs. business and law exam

The NASCLA electrical exams cover the trade portion only. If a state also requires a business and law exam, that exam is the state's own, booked through the state's testing company (PSI in Mississippi and South Carolina, Prov in Tennessee). NASCLA doesn't give state business and law exams and doesn't send transcripts for them.

NASCLA does publish the state editions of the Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management that several of those exams use, such as the Mississippi 6th Edition and the Tennessee 4th Edition. The NASCLA Electrical Contractor exam lists a different book among its references: the Basic 14th Edition.

Related: All state license guides · Missouri · Idaho