Bring the code book your exam actually uses. Most JCR students test on the 2020 NEC. A few states still use 2017. Check your state before you buy a book.
JCR sells the 2020 National Electrical Code and permanent NFPA 70/72 tabs. Permanent tabs are allowed in most testing centers. Removable tabs are not.
North Carolina
Limited, Intermediate, and Unlimited exams use the 2020 NEC (open book) and NFPA 72 2013 (open book). Laws, board rules, and business questions are closed book. You bring your own books. The board does not hand you a code book at the test center.
How to get an NC electrical license
Virginia
Journeyman and Master exams use the 2020 NEC. Also bring Virginia's tradesman regulations and the other references named in the current PSI bulletin.
How to get a Virginia electrical license
South Carolina
Commercial Electrician uses the 2020 NEC plus South Carolina's official code modifications. The residential state exam uses the 2017 NEC. Both routes also have a separate business-law exam.
How to get a South Carolina electrical license
Tennessee state exams vs. Memphis/Shelby County
Tennessee’s state-administered LLE and CE trade exams use the 2017 NEC. Memphis/Shelby County follows a separate local ICC T16/T17 path based on the 2020 NEC. Do not mix those two. Compare the Tennessee 2017 NEC path with the Memphis/Shelby 2020 NEC path before buying a code book.
Other 2017 exam states
Wisconsin and Nevada also still test on the 2017 NEC. If that is your exam, buy the 2017 book, not 2020.
Not sure which book you need? Start with your state how-to, or see the 50-state requirements page.