Iowa Master Electrician Exam Day: PSI, the 2023 NEC, and Pacing Four Hours

Iowa Master Electrician Exam Day: What to Expect

PSI gives the Iowa electrical exams for the Electrical Examining Board, at PSI test centers in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Sioux City and West Des Moines. You can also test at any other PSI center in the US. Here is what the master exam day looks like.

Scheduling

You need the Board's sponsorship letter first. It carries your PSI registration code and is valid for two attempts or six months. Then:

• Book online or by phone at (855) 746-8173. You can book up to the day before the exam, until 6:00 pm Central.
• The fee is $87, non-refundable and non-transferable, and good for six months from payment.
• Cancel or reschedule at least two days ahead, or you lose the fee. A voicemail or email does not count as a cancellation.

Your one book

The exam is open book. You may bring one of these, and nothing else:

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

Ugly's Electrical References is not allowed. The bulletin names the 2011, 2014 and 2017 editions. Leave every edition at home.

How you may prepare the book:

• Highlighting, underlining and indexing are allowed, but only before the exam.
• No writing in the book.
• Permanent tabs only. Post-it notes and other removable tabs must come out.
• No loose papers inside it.
• A downloaded copy must be bound.

Bring the 2023 edition as printed. Iowa's 2026 statutory changes to the NEC (HF 2800) apply on the job, but the exam is based on the 2023 NEC itself, so answer from the book.

Calculator and scratch paper

PSI provides an online calculator on screen. You may also bring your own if it is silent, battery-operated and non-programmable, with no paper tape and no alphabetic keyboard. PSI hands you one sheet of scratch paper and a pencil, which you return at the end.

The clock

Item	Master
Scored questions	100
Time for scored questions	240 minutes
Unscored pretest questions	10, with 30 extra minutes
Total seat time	270 minutes
Tutorial	up to 15 minutes, not counted

Pacing

That is 2.4 minutes per scored question, about 2.5 minutes once you count the pretest items and their extra time.

• Know your tabs. Wiring and Protection (Chapter 2) is a quarter of the exam. Article 220, 240 and 250 should open in seconds.
• Do theory and calculation items from memory and save lookup time for Code questions.
• Do not let one search eat five minutes. Mark your best answer and move on.
• Answer every question. You will not know which ten are unscored.
• Check the clock at the halfway mark: about 55 done at 2 hours 15 minutes.

Scoring

You need 70%. Your score appears on screen as soon as you finish. If you do not pass, you get a diagnostic report showing how you did in each content area.

If you do not pass

You can call PSI the next day and retest as early as two days later, if a seat is open, using the second attempt on your sponsorship letter. Each retake is $87. Iowa limits attempts:

• After two fails: wait six months and complete 12 hours of Board-approved CE on the NEC. That allows two more attempts.
• After four fails: another six months and another 12 CE hours, for two more.
• After six fails: only by Board-approved petition, after another six-month wait.

Use the diagnostic report to aim your study at the weakest areas.

Before you go

Sit a full-length, timed practice exam first. Our free practice test shows you the style of question 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 master exam.