Idaho Journeyman Electrician Exam

Idaho Journeyman Electrician Exam: Your Complete Guide to Passing

You know the trade. You've pulled wire, set boxes, and trimmed out more panels than you can count. Now you need to prove it on paper. The Idaho Journeyman Electrician Exam is a PSI-administered, code-based test, and it does not care how long you've been in the field — it cares whether you can find the right section in the NEC and read it correctly under time pressure.

This guide lays out what's on the exam, what the questions look like, what books you need, and how to work through it without running out of clock.

What to Expect on the Idaho Journeyman Electrician Exam

Here are the basics for the exam, straight from the official bulletin:

On exam day

• You must present one current, government-issued photo and signature ID (such as a driver's license, state ID card, passport, military ID, or alien registration card) to be admitted.
• Arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time.
• Only the specific Code editions listed are used for Code-based questions, other editions are used at the candidate's own risk, and candidates must bring their own references without writing in them during the exam.
• Pre-exam highlighting, underlining and permanent indexing are permitted, while temporary markers such as Post-its are prohibited and no writing is allowed during the exam.
• A silent, non-printing, non-programmable calculator may be used during this exam.
• Only approved items may be brought into the exam room; all other personal belongings, including electronics, writing devices, bags, food and drinks, must be placed in secure storage.

References you may bring

• NFPA 70 - National Electrical Code (2020 (ISBN-13: 9781455922970) OR 2023 (ISBN-13: 9781455929368))
• Ugly's Electrical References (2023)
• Ferm's Fast Finder Index (optional) (2020 (ISBN-13: 9781890659950) OR 2023 (ISBN-13: 9798856713786))
• Key Word Index by Tom Henry (optional) (2020 (ISBN-13: 9781733462143) OR 2023 (ISBN-13: 9798987883754))

Scheduling, changes and retakes

• You may schedule online through PSI's registration website or by calling PSI at 855-340-3713.
• You may cancel and reschedule without forfeiting your fee if PSI receives your cancellation notice 2 days before the scheduled examination date, done by website or by phone (not voicemail or email).
• If you miss your appointment, arrive after the examination start time, cancel late, or lack proper ID, your registration is invalid and you forfeit your examination fee.
• Your score is shown on screen at the end of the exam and a score report is provided, with a diagnostic report of strengths and weaknesses if you fail.
• If you do not pass, you may retake the exam as many times as needed, paying an examination fee for each attempt.

Source: Examination Scheduling Procedures / Examination Guide (Idaho PSI Candidate Bulletin), Effective 7/9/2026. Check the bulletin before test day: fees and rules can change.

Topics Covered on the Exam

Seven topic areas make up the exam. Here's each one with its item count and what it covers.

Wiring and Protection — 25 items (25%)
The heaviest topic on the test, and it's where most of your code time should go. Questions cover conductor ampacity and the correction and adjustment factors in Article 310, grounding and bonding under Article 250, overcurrent protection under Article 240, and service conductors under Article 230. Expect to size a service conductor for a dwelling, identify what is not acceptable as the sole bonding means at service equipment, and know where overcurrent devices may not be located. Underground cover depths from Table 300.5(A) and the bored-hole clearance in 300.4(A)(1) show up here too. You'll also see feeder sizing — noncontinuous load plus 125 percent of the continuous load, per 215.2(A)(1).

Wiring Methods and Materials — 19 items (19%)
Start with box fill. Know how to count conductors, devices, and grounds against Table 314.16(B), and be able to check whether a given box is compliant. Beyond that: which wiring methods nonmetallic boxes are permitted with, why round boxes can't take locknuts on the side, what to do when more than one ampacity applies to a circuit length, sealing spare raceways, bushings where conduit terminates underground, and how to handle direct-buried cable subject to frost movement.

Equipment for General Use — 19 items (19%)
Article 410 luminaire rules dominate: damp and wet location marking near bathtubs and showers, thermal protection for recessed units, minimum supply-wire temperature marking, heavy-duty lighting track over 20 amperes, and the 90°C insulation rule for conductors within 3 inches of a ballast or driver. Article 406 receptacle replacement rules come up — weather-resistant in wet locations, GFCI protection on replacements. Article 404 covers switch ratings and the grounded conductor at switch locations.

General Electrical Knowledge — 13 items (13%)
Ohm's Law and the power formula, series circuit rules, and Article 90. You'll calculate current from watts and volts, total series resistance, and voltage drops around a series loop. On the code side, know that mandatory rules use "shall" and "shall not" per 90.5(A), and that compliance with either SI or inch-pound numbers satisfies the Code per 90.9(D).

Special Occupancies — 12 items (12%)
Hazardous location classification and the wiring that goes with it. Commercial garage classification from Table 511.3(C), minimum height for fixed lighting over drive lanes, emergency shutoff distances at motor fuel dispensing facilities, conduit seal distance from an explosionproof enclosure in Class I Division 1, and the Class I Division 2 boundary around an outdoor dispenser. Health care includes the wiring methods required for life safety and critical branches in patient care spaces, along with essential electrical systems and patient care space grounding, bonding and receptacles. Mobile and manufactured homes (with panelboard ratings under 550.11(A)), swimming pools and spas, and assembly occupancies round it out.

Special Equipment — 6 items (6%)
Small topic, easy points if you flag the articles. Cranes and hoists (minimum 16 AWG external to motors and controls), elevator supply voltage limits, electric sign branch circuits that supply no other load, and neon secondary current ratings.

Special Conditions — 6 items (6%)
Protection techniques by class — dust ignitionproof for Class II, explosionproof for Class I. Zone classifications under Article 506. Solar PV dc voltage limits for circuits on or attached to buildings, and the restriction for one- and two-family dwellings.

Sample Practice Questions for the Idaho Journeyman Electrician Exam

Work these cold, then test yourself on more questions in the free practice exam. Answers are not printed here on purpose — look them up in your code book, the way you will on test day.

1. In a multiwire branch circuit, the continuity of the grounded conductor shall not depend on which of the following?

A. Wire nuts or approved splice connectors
B. Terminal bars in junction boxes
C. Pigtail connections to devices
D. Device connections such as receptacles where removal would interrupt continuity

Tests whether you know how neutral continuity must be maintained in a multiwire branch circuit — Article 300.

2. When calculating box fill for conductors, each conductor that originates outside the box and terminates or is spliced within the box shall be counted how many times?

A. Once
B. Twice
C. Based on conductor size
D. Not counted

Tests the conductor counting rules in 314.16(B) — the foundation of every box fill calculation on the exam.

3. General-use dimmer switches and electronic control switches shall be used only to control permanently connected loads unless listed for the control of other loads and installed accordingly, and they shall be marked by their manufacturer with their current and voltage ratings and used for loads that do not exceed their _____ rating at the voltage applied.

A. wattage
B. voltage
C. temperature
D. ampere

Tests switch marking and load limits in Article 404.

4. A panelboard has a continuous load of 80A. What is minimum OCPD size?

A. 80A
B. 90A
C. 100A
D. 110A

Tests continuous load sizing for an overcurrent device.

What Types of Questions to Expect

Our practice questions fall into two broad kinds.

Lookup questions. These hand you a rule and ask you to complete it or identify the exception. "Luminaires within the outside dimension of a bathtub to a height of 8 ft shall be marked suitable for what?" You don't memorize these — you find them. Your speed depends entirely on how well you know your index and how fast you can get to the right article.

Calculation questions. Box fill, conductor sizing, ampacity with correction factors, Ohm's Law, continuous load sizing, conduit fill. These take longer. Some are multi-step: find the calculated load, round to the next standard overcurrent device, apply the dwelling service allowance, then read the 75°C column of Table 310.16.

Practice questions also appear as job-site scenarios — a building owner wants a sign circuit to share with parking lot lights, and you have to say what the Code actually requires. Read those carefully. In this one, the owner's plan is the wrong way to do it.

Required and Recommended Study Materials

The exam is open book. That makes your references part of your toolkit, not a backup plan.

Required:

• NEC 2023 — the National Electrical Code. Use it every study session.
• Ugly's Electrical References, 2023 Edition — Ohm's Law, power formulas, series circuit rules, and distribution system basics in one pocket reference. Several General Electrical Knowledge practice questions draw on material like this.

Recommended:

• 2023 Key Word Index by Tom Henry — every keyword in the 2023 Code book indexed with page numbers. Built to cut your lookup time. Check the page count note before ordering so you get the right edition.
• Ferm's Fast Finder Index: Based on the NEC 2023 — an alphabetized index of terms and phrases in the 2023 NEC, with cross-references to UL, NEMA, and other standards.
• Redi-Tag Permanent White Tabs — printable laser tabs for building your own index. Durable, strong adhesive, and they don't curl.

Optional:

• Ferm's Fast Finder Index
• Tom Henry's NEC Key Word Index
• Non Programmable Calculator — a basic eight-digit unit for the arithmetic on calculation questions.

Proven Study Tips for Success

Put your hours where the items are. Wiring and Protection is a full quarter of the exam. Wiring Methods and Equipment for General Use are close behind. Together those three run well over half the test. Special Equipment and Special Conditions are small — learn the handful of articles and move on. Don't spend three nights on crane conductors while your box fill is shaky.

Open book does not mean easy. Open book means the exam expects you to look things up fast. If you have to hunt for an article, you're already behind. Practice lookups until you can go from question to section in under thirty seconds on the common ones. Know cold: Article 250, Article 300, Article 310 tables, 314.16, Article 410, and Chapter 9.

Drill the calculations until they're automatic. Box fill and conductor sizing should be muscle memory. Work them on paper, the same way every time, so you don't lose steps under pressure.

Pace yourself deliberately. You get about 2 minutes 42 seconds per question. Some questions are quick lookups; others are multi-step calculations. Keep the quick lookups quick so the multi-step calculations get the time they need. Never let one conductor-sizing problem eat five minutes of your clock.

Take full-length practice runs. Sitting for 100 questions in one stretch builds the endurance you need. Our NEC 2023 Practice Exam mirrors the real topic weights, so your weak spots show up before test day instead of during it.

Know your target. You need a minimum score of 70. Track your practice scores by topic and chase the gaps.

Start Your Preparation Today

Serious Idaho electrical journeyman test prep starts with the code book open on the table. Get the NEC 2023 and get your hands on a real set of practice problems.

Start with our free practice exam — 10 questions to see where you stand. Then move to full-length sets for real PSI Electrician test prep under timed conditions.

For licensing details and program information for your Idaho Electrical License, including the common question of How long does it take to become a journeyman electrician in Idaho?, go to the licensing agency website. Read the official bulletin all the way through before you schedule. When you're ready to sit for the Journeyman Electrician Exam, register through PSI.

Study the heavy topics, learn your book, watch the clock. That's the job.