Iowa Residential Master Electrician Exam Day: PSI, One Book, and Three Hours

Iowa Residential Master Electrician Exam Day: What to Expect

The Iowa Residential Master exam (listed by PSI as Master Residential Electrician) is a computer-based PSI exam. Iowa's PSI centers are in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Sioux City and West Des Moines, and you can use any other PSI center in the US. By the time you sit it, you already hold a Residential Electrician or Journeyman license, so the format may be familiar. The timing is not: this exam gives you noticeably more time per question.

Booking

You need the Electrical Examining Board's sponsorship letter with your PSI registration code. It is valid for two attempts or six months.

• Book online or at (855) 746-8173, as late as the day before, until 6:00 pm Central.
• The fee is $87, non-refundable and non-transferable, valid for six months after payment.
• Cancel or reschedule at least two days ahead. Voicemail and email do not count.

Your reference

One book, open book:

• 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; bring none).

Book rules:

• Highlighting, underlining and indexing are allowed before the exam only.
• No writing in the book.
• Permanent tabs only; remove Post-its.
• No loose papers.
• A downloaded copy must be bound.

Mind the edition gap. As a residential master you will know Iowa's 2026 HF 2800 changes well: no AFCI under 210.12(B) for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses, narrower GFCI rules, and 230.67 surge protection excluded. The exam does not use them. It is written to the 2023 NEC as printed, so answer from the book you brought.

Calculator and scratch paper

PSI provides an online calculator. Your own is allowed if it is silent, battery-operated and non-programmable, with no paper tape and no alphabetic keyboard. You get one sheet of scratch paper and a pencil, returned at the end.

The clock

Pacing

Three minutes per scored question, just under 3 counting the pretest items. That is more than any other Iowa electrical exam, and it changes the strategy:

• Look things up. With this much time, a quick check in the Code on any item you are not sure of is worth it.
• Do the dwelling load calculation carefully. Wiring and Protection is 15 items, and Article 220 calculations reward working them step by step on your scratch sheet.
• Still cap single lookups. If one search passes five minutes, pick your best answer and return to it later if time allows.
• Answer everything. Six items are unscored, and you cannot tell which.
• Halfway check: about 33 items done at 1 hour 37 minutes.

Scoring

You need 70%, which is 42 of 60 scored items. The result appears on screen right away; a fail comes with a diagnostic report by content area.

If you do not pass

Call PSI the next day and you can retest as early as two days later, seat permitting, on your letter's second attempt. Each attempt is $87. Then the limits apply:

• After two fails: six months' wait plus 12 hours of Board-approved NEC continuing education for two more attempts.
• After four fails: the same again, for attempts five and six.
• After six fails: only by approved petition, after another six months.

Before you go

Work a full-length, timed practice exam first. Our free practice test shows 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 residential master exam.