ICC Journeyman Electrician Exam Day (R17): Pearson VUE, Your Two Books, and Pacing 4 Hours
What to expect on the ICC Standard Journeyman Electrician exam (R17) at a Pearson VUE center: the 2023 NEC and Ugly's, four-option questions, pacing 80 questions in 4 hours, the 70% pass mark and the 10-day retest wait.
ICC Journeyman Electrician Exam Day (R17): What to Expect
ICC gives the Standard Journeyman Electrician exam (R17) at Pearson VUE test centers. The fee is $120. Here is what the day looks like.
Before you go
- Confirm the series with your jurisdiction. ICC gives this exam on four NEC editions: F (2014), G (2017), T (2020) and R (2023). R17 is the 2023 series. Your city or county decides which it accepts, so check before you book.
- Read ICC's National Contractor/Trades candidate bulletin for the current ID, arrival and rescheduling rules.
- Use the 2023 NEC. It is the edition R17 is written on. If you studied on an older book, check the load-calculation tables in what is on the exam; several were renumbered.
Open book: two references
The exam is written against two references:
- NFPA 70, 2023 edition (the NEC), and
- Ugly's Electrical Reference, in any edition.
ICC allows any bound, copyrighted book at the test site, but these two are the ones the questions come from. Being allowed the books does not mean you have time to read them. Know the NEC's layout well enough to go straight to the right article and table, and know what is in Ugly's so you reach for it only when it is faster.
The questions
Every question is multiple choice with four options and one correct answer. There are 80 questions in 4 hours.
Pacing
That is 3 minutes per question.
- Answer the ones you know quickly and bank the time for lookups and calculations.
- Do not let one long lookup eat ten minutes. Make your best choice and move on.
- Answer every question.
- Check the clock at the halfway mark: about 40 done at 2 hours.
Scoring and after
You need 70% to pass. If you do not pass, you must wait 10 days before you can retest.
Passing earns an ICC certification, not a license. Whatever license follows, and its renewal, comes from your jurisdiction.
Before you go
Sit a full-length practice exam first. Our free practice test gives you 10 questions on the 2023 NEC, and the full exam prep has a timed full-length practice exam weighted like the ICC outline, with every answer citing its NEC section. For eligibility and who accepts the exam, see ICC Journeyman Electrician requirements.
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