Alabama Electrical Business & Law Exam Day: Prov, Your Books, and Pacing 2 Hours
What to expect on Alabama's Electrical Contractor Business & Law exam with Prov: registering without a Board application, the two books you can bring and how they can be marked, the calculator question, 40 questions in 120 minutes, and unlimited retakes.
Contents
Alabama Electrical Business & Law Exam Day: What to Expect
Prov delivers the Alabama electrical exams for the Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors. The Business & Law exam is the one you book without Board approval: you register and pay the $86 fee to Prov directly. Here is what the day looks like.
Where you test
The bulletin lists 19 computer-based test centers in Alabama. You can also use any Prov center nationally, or test remotely through Examroom.ai. The exam is in English.
To cancel, give at least 3 days' notice or you forfeit the fee. The previous bulletin said 3 business days, so cancel early to be safe.
What you can bring
The exam is open book. Two references are listed:
- NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, 14th edition
- Alabama Supplement to the Contractors Guide, 2014, sold by Prov
The NEC is not a reference for this exam.
Section 10.2 of the bulletin sets the rules for how your books can be prepared:
| Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|
| Permanent tabs | Post-it notes |
| Pen highlighting | Handwritten notes |
| Formula sheets | |
| Tom Henry or Kelly indexes | |
| Marking in your books during the exam |
Get your tabs and highlighting done before exam day, since you can't mark your books once the exam starts.
Which edition of the NASCLA guide
The bulletin lists the 14th edition for this exam and says older and newer editions are always permitted in the room. So a 13th edition is allowed in, but the exam lists the 14th, and figures such as dollar thresholds and rates can differ between editions.
The Supplement is dated 2014, and the Board's rules were replaced in February 2026, so it predates the rules now in force. See what is on the exam for how that affects the licensing questions.
Calculator
Confirm this one before you go. The current bulletin doesn't mention calculators. The previous bulletin and Prov's site FAQ said only a simple 4-function calculator, but that guidance is not in the current document, and the current bulletin sends pens and pencils to storage. Ask Prov at (801) 733-4455 what is allowed, and practice your estimating, payroll and financial math on a simple 4-function calculator in the meantime.
The clock
40 questions in 120 minutes (2 hours). The exam is computer-based, each question has 4 options, there is no penalty for guessing, and you can flag questions and return to them.
Pacing
That is 3 minutes per question, the same pace as the journeyman exam, with two books to search.
- Know both books before you go in. Seven of the 11 areas carry 4 questions each, so no area is safe to skip.
- Answer every question. With no guessing penalty, a blank gains you nothing.
- Flag and move on. If a question is taking too long, choose your best answer, flag it and come back.
- Check the clock at the halfway mark: about 20 questions done at 1 hour.
Scoring
You need 75% to pass. The exam is graded on completion, and the result is forwarded to the Board.
The bulletin doesn't describe any unscored items in this exam's table, where the counts for the 11 areas add up to 40.
If you do not pass
- Wait 30 days before retesting.
- Retake as many times as you need. The bulletin allows unlimited attempts at this exam.
- No new Board approval is needed, unlike the trade exams.
For context, the state's sunset reports show pass rates of 84% in 2023, 93% in 2024 (through September 30) and 98% in FY2025 (through May 14, 2025). Those figures are unaudited and count attempts, including retakes.
If you are taking a NASCLA exam too
The bulletin says both NASCLA electrical exams are retiring at the end of 2026, with details of the replacements promised for late December. If you are qualifying through NASCLA, check which version you will sit. If you are taking the state Alabama Electrical Contractor exam instead, you don't need this exam at all.
Before you go
Sit a full-length, timed practice exam with your own books. Our free sample test gives you a feel for the questions, and the full exam prep lets you keep practicing. For who needs this exam, see Business & Law requirements.
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