Iowa Journeyman Electrician Exam Day: PSI, One Code Book, and Pacing 3 Hours

Iowa Journeyman Electrician Exam Day: What to Expect

The Iowa journeyman exam is a computer-based PSI exam. Iowa's PSI centers are in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Sioux City and West Des Moines, and any other PSI center in the US also works if you are testing from out of state. Here is the day, start to finish.

Before you can book

You need the Electrical Examining Board's sponsorship letter, which arrives by email with a PSI registration code. It covers two attempts or six months, whichever comes first. With it:

• Book with PSI online or at (855) 746-8173, as late as the day before, until 6:00 pm Central.
• Pay $87. The fee is non-refundable, non-transferable and valid six months from payment.
• Cancel or reschedule two or more days out, by the proper channel. Voicemail and email do not count, and a late cancellation forfeits the fee.

What you can bring in

One code book, either:

• NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2023 edition, or
• NFPA 70, National Electrical Code Handbook, 2023.

Ugly's Electrical References is not allowed. The bulletin lists the 2011, 2014 and 2017 editions by name; do not bring any edition.

Rules for your book:

• Highlight, underline and index it before the exam. Nothing gets added on the day.
• No handwritten notes in it.
• Permanent tabs only. Pull any Post-its.
• No loose papers tucked inside.
• A printed download must be bound.

Bring the 2023 NEC as published. Iowa's HF 2800 changes (to GFCI, AFCI and several dwelling rules) apply to installations from June 2026, but the exam is written to the 2023 NEC, so the book in front of you is the answer key.

Calculator and scratch paper

There is an online calculator on screen. You may also bring a silent, battery-powered, non-programmable calculator with no paper tape and no letter keyboard. PSI supplies one sheet of scratch paper and a pencil, collected when you leave.

The clock

Item	Journeyman
Scored questions	80
Time for scored questions	180 minutes
Unscored pretest questions	8, with 30 extra minutes
Total seat time	210 minutes
Tutorial	up to 15 minutes, not counted

Pacing

You have 2.25 minutes per scored question, about 2.4 counting the pretest items and their extra time. That is a little tighter than the master exam's pace.

• Chapter 2 is a quarter of the exam. Tabs on Articles 210, 220, 230, 240 and 250 pay off.
• Answer theory and arithmetic items without the book and keep the lookups for Code questions.
• Cap any single lookup at a few minutes. Pick your best answer and move on.
• Answer everything. Eight items are unscored, and you cannot tell which.
• Halfway check: about 44 items done at 1 hour 45 minutes.

Scoring

The pass mark is 70%, and you see your result on screen right away. A failing result comes with a diagnostic report by content area.

If you do not pass

Call PSI the next day; you can retest as soon as two days later if there is a seat, on the second attempt your sponsorship letter allows. Each retake costs $87. After that, Iowa's limits apply:

• Two fails: a six-month wait plus 12 hours of Board-approved NEC continuing education unlocks two more attempts.
• Four fails: the same again for attempts five and six.
• Six fails: only with an approved petition to the Board, after a further six months.

Use the diagnostic report to decide where your study goes next.

Before you go

Take at least one full-length, timed practice exam. Our free practice test shows you the question style on the 2023 NEC, and the full exam prep has full-length practice exams weighted to the PSI outline. For what each area covers, see what is on the Iowa journeyman exam.