What's on the Colorado Journeyman Electrician Exam? All 13 Areas and How to Study Them

What's on the Colorado Journeyman Electrician Exam?

PSI's candidate bulletin publishes the Journeyman Wireman outline as 13 content areas and the number of scored items in each. Every one of them is the NEC or electrical theory — Colorado has no state law section — so the outline tells you exactly where to spend your study time.

The outline

Up to 10 more questions are unscored pretest items, with 30 minutes added for them. You will not know which they are, so answer everything.

What each area means in the code

• Grounding and Bonding (14) — Article 250 end to end: system grounding, the grounding electrode system and electrode conductor sizing (Table 250.66), bonding, and equipment grounding conductor sizing (Table 250.122). It is the single biggest area — one question in six.
• General Electrical Knowledge (11) — Articles 90, 100 and 110: definitions, approval and listing, working space and access, plus electrical theory.
• Services, Feeders, and Branch Circuits (9) — Articles 210, 215, 225 and 230: GFCI and AFCI protection, required outlets, conductor sizing, and service disconnects.
• Electrical Calculations (9) — Ohm's law and power, load calculations (now Article 120), conductor ampacity with correction and adjustment, box and conduit fill, voltage drop, motor and transformer currents. PSI supplies a formula page; you still need to know which formula to reach for.
• Conductors and Cables (8) — Article 310 ampacity tables, conductor identification (Article 200), flexible cords (400) and cable types such as NM, MC and SE.
• Overcurrent Protection (6) — Article 240: standard ratings, the next-size-up rule, small-conductor limits and tap rules.
• Special Equipment (6) and Special Occupancies (5) — signs, elevators, EV charging and pools (Chapter 6), and hazardous locations, health care, assembly and temporary installations (Chapter 5).
• Motors (6) and Transformers (4) — Article 430 and 440 circuits, and Article 450 overcurrent protection, which the 2026 NEC moved to 450.5.
• Raceways and Boxes (5), Electrical Devices (5) and Photovoltaics (2) — Chapter 3 wiring methods, receptacles, switches and luminaires (Articles 404–411), and Article 690.

The 2026 NEC changes to watch

Colorado moved to the 2026 NEC on August 1, 2026. Prep material written for the 2023 code cites rules that have moved:

• Load calculations: Article 220 → Article 120
• Dwelling general lighting load: 3 VA/ft² → 2 VA/ft² (120.41)
• Transformer overcurrent protection: 450.3 → 450.5
• Box fill table: Table 314.16(B) → Table 314.16(B)(4)

A study plan built on the weights

1. Start with grounding and bonding. Fourteen items — the largest area by three, and nearly one question in six.
2. Practice the calculations until they are routine. Nine items, and each one is a place to lose time.
3. Learn the NEC's layout, not just its rules. PSI hands you an unmarked book — no tabs, no highlighting — so you find everything through the index and the table of contents. Practice that way.
4. Do not skip the small areas. Transformers and photovoltaics are six items together, and they are quick points if you have read Articles 450 and 690.
5. Take a timed, full-length practice exam. 90 scored questions in 4 hours is about 2.7 minutes each.

Our free practice test gives you 10 questions weighted like the PSI outline and scores each area. The full exam prep has a 90-question practice exam on the 2026 NEC, with every calculation worked out step by step.