Alabama Electrical Contractor Exam Day: Prov, Four Books, and Pacing 5 Hours
What to expect on the Alabama Electrical Contractor exam with Prov: which four books you can bring and how they can be marked, the calculator question, 110 questions in 300 minutes, the 75% pass mark and the retake rules.
Contents
Alabama Electrical Contractor Exam Day: What to Expect
Prov delivers the Alabama electrical exams for the Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors. You need Board approval before you can test, and for the contractor exam that approval lasts one year. 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. Four references are listed:
- NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code
- American Electrician's Handbook, 17th edition
- NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, 13th or 14th edition
- Alabama Supplement to the Contractors Guide, 2014, sold by Prov
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, across all four books. You can't mark them once the exam starts.
The Supplement is dated 2014, and the Board's rules were replaced in February 2026, so the Supplement predates the rules now in force. See what is on the exam for how that affects the licensing questions.
Which NEC to bring
The bulletin says older and newer editions are always permitted in the room, but that doesn't settle which edition your questions are based on.
The October 31, 2026 bulletin lists the 2023 NEC. The Board has voted to move testing to the 2026 NEC on January 1, 2027. The current bulletin doesn't mention the switch, and nothing published says whether candidates approved in 2026 who test in 2027 stay on 2023. If your test date is near the switch, confirm with the Board at (334) 679-1020.
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 load, estimating and payroll math on a simple 4-function calculator in the meantime.
The clock
110 questions in 300 minutes (5 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 about 2 minutes 45 seconds per question, a little less than the journeyman exam's 3 minutes, with four books to search instead of two.
- Know all four books before you go in. The bulletin doesn't say which book each question comes from, so know your way around the NASCLA guide and the Supplement as well as the NEC and the handbook.
- Answer every question. With no guessing penalty, a blank gains you nothing.
- Flag and move on. If a lookup is taking too long, choose your best answer, flag it and come back.
- Check the clock at the halfway mark: about 55 questions done at 2 hours 30 minutes.
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 25 areas add up to 110.
If you do not pass
- Wait 30 days before retesting.
- Get new Board approval for each attempt.
- Pay the $165 exam fee again.
Also remember that your application expires one year after approval. If you haven't passed and met the licensing requirements by then, you submit a new application.
For context, the state's sunset reports show pass rates of 48% in 2023, 49% in 2024 (through September 30) and 50% in FY2025 (through May 14, 2025). Those figures are unaudited and count attempts, including retakes.
You do not take the separate Business & Law exam. The 30 business and law questions inside this exam cover it.
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 eligibility, see Alabama Electrical Contractor requirements.
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