What's on the Maryland Journeyperson Electrician Exam? All 7 Areas and How to Study Them
The PSI outline for the Maryland journeyperson electrician exam: 70 scored items, 20 on electrical theory, no law section and no calculations section, all on the 2020 NEC, plus the 2023 renumberings to avoid and a study plan built on the weights.
Contents
What's on the Maryland Journeyperson Electrician Exam?
PSI's candidate bulletin for the Maryland State Board of Master Electricians publishes the journeyperson outline as seven areas and the number of scored items in each. It is one exam with one passing score: you need 49 of 70 in total.
The outline (70 items)
| Area | NEC articles | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical Theory | 20 | |
| Wiring and Protection | 100–285 | 20 |
| Wiring Methods and Materials | 300–398 | 12 |
| Equipment for General Use | 400–490 | 6 |
| Special Communications | 700–708, 720–830 | 6 |
| Special Occupancies | 500–590 | 4 |
| Special Equipment | 600–695 | 2 |
The exam also carries 5 to 10 unscored pilot questions. You will not know which they are, so treat every question as if it counts.
Two things that are not on it
- No Maryland law or rules. The law section is 0% of the exam, so every scored item is theory or the Code.
- No calculations section. Unlike the master exam, which puts 30 points on calculations, the journeyperson outline has no separate calculations area. Expect to work with numbers inside the theory items all the same.
Where the weight is
- Theory and Chapters 1 and 2 are 40 of 70 items. Electrical Theory (20) and Wiring and Protection, Articles 100–285 (20), together are 57% of the exam.
- Theory is the one area the Code book cannot answer for you. It is Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits, power and power factor, motors, transformers and voltage drop, and you need to know it cold.
- Wiring and Protection covers definitions, branch circuits, feeders, services, overcurrent protection, and grounding and bonding: the articles every other part of the Code leans on.
- Wiring Methods and Materials (12), Articles 300–398, is next.
- Special Communications (6) outweighs Special Occupancies (4). Do not skip Chapters 7 and 8.
On the 2020 NEC, not the 2023
The exam tests the 2020 NEC, and it is the only book you may bring. Much current study material is written for the 2023 edition, which renumbered these rules:
| Topic | 2020 NEC (your exam) | 2023 NEC |
|---|---|---|
| Dwelling general lighting load (3 VA/ft²) | 220.12 / 220.14(J) | 220.41 |
| Non-dwelling general lighting unit loads | Table 220.12 | Table 220.42(A) |
| Lighting load demand factors | Table 220.42 | Table 220.45 |
| Non-dwelling receptacle demand factors | Table 220.44 | Table 220.47 |
| Class 1 circuits | Article 725 | Articles 722 and 724 |
If your prep cites the right-hand column, you will be looking in the wrong place on exam day.
Maryland has a proposed rule to enforce the 2026 NEC from August 31, 2026, and the Board's exam committee is writing 2026-edition questions, but no exam cutover date has been announced. The exam is 2020 today. Watch for the switch.
A study plan built on the weights
- Theory first. Twenty items and no book to fall back on. Work Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits, power, power factor, transformers, motors and voltage drop until they are automatic.
- Chapters 1 and 2 next. Twenty items from Articles 100–285. Know where definitions, branch-circuit, feeder, service, overcurrent and grounding rules live.
- Then Chapter 3. Twelve items on wiring methods and materials.
- Cover Chapters 4 through 8 in proportion: 18 items between them, with Special Communications the largest.
- Tab and highlight your 2020 NEC. Highlighting and permanent tabs are allowed; writing notes in the book is not.
- Sit a timed, full-length exam. 70 questions in 3½ hours is 3 minutes each, and pilot questions take time too.
Our free practice test gives you a feel for the questions on the 2020 NEC. The full exam prep has full-length practice exams weighted to this outline, with theory questions grounded in the formulas from Ugly's Electrical References and every answer explained. For the day itself, see Maryland Journeyperson Electrician exam day.
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