What's on the Maryland Master Electrician Exam? All 8 Areas and How to Study Them
The PSI outline for the Maryland master electrician exam: 90 scored items worth 100 points, 30 points of calculations, 20 of electrical theory and no law section, all on the 2020 NEC, plus the 2023 renumberings to avoid and a study plan.
Contents
What's on the Maryland Master Electrician Exam?
PSI's candidate bulletin for the Maryland State Board of Master Electricians publishes the master outline as eight areas and the points in each. The exam has 90 scored questions worth 100 points, and you need 70 points to pass. It is one exam with one passing score.
The outline (100 points)
| Area | NEC articles | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Calculations | 30 | |
| Electrical Theory (ten 2-point items) | 20 | |
| Wiring and Protection | 100–285 | 14 |
| Wiring Methods and Materials | 300–398 | 13 |
| Equipment for General Use | 400–490 | 9 |
| Special Occupancies | 500–590 | 8 |
| Special Equipment | 600–695 | 4 |
| Special Communications | 700–708, 720–830 | 2 |
Every item is worth one point except the ten theory items, which are worth two each. That is how 90 questions add up to 100 points.
The exam also carries 5 to 10 unscored pilot questions. You will not know which they are.
Where the weight is
- Calculations and theory are half the exam. 30 points plus 20 points: you cannot pass on Code lookups alone.
- Each theory item is worth double. Ten questions on Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits, power and power factor, motors, transformers and voltage drop carry 20 points. Missing one costs as much as missing two Code questions.
- Calculations (30) are the single biggest area, and they are worked from the 2020 NEC's tables. That is where an edition mix-up does the most damage (see below).
- Chapters 1 through 3 are 27 points. Wiring and Protection (14) and Wiring Methods and Materials (13).
- Special Communications is only 2 points, against 6 items on the journeyperson exam.
- No Maryland law or rules. That section is 0% of the exam.
How it differs from the journeyperson exam
| Area | Journeyperson (items) | Master (points) |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical Theory | 20 | 20 |
| Wiring and Protection | 20 | 14 |
| Wiring Methods and Materials | 12 | 13 |
| Equipment for General Use | 6 | 9 |
| Special Occupancies | 4 | 8 |
| Special Equipment | 2 | 4 |
| Special Communications | 6 | 2 |
| Calculations | none | 30 |
The journeyperson exam has no calculations section. On the master exam it is the largest area.
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 the tables a load calculation runs on:
| 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 |
With 30 points on calculations, practicing on 2023 tables is practicing for a different exam.
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
- Calculations, on the 2020 tables. Thirty points. Work them until you know which table each step comes from.
- Theory. Twenty points across ten double-value questions, with no book to fall back on. Drill the formulas.
- Chapters 1 through 3. Twenty-seven points between Articles 100–285 and 300–398.
- Chapters 4 through 6. Twenty-one points: equipment for general use, special occupancies, special equipment.
- 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. 90 questions in 4 hours is about 2 minutes 40 seconds each, tighter than the journeyperson exam, and calculations take longer than lookups.
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. Every calculation answer is computed from the 2020 NEC tables, with a worked explanation, and theory questions are grounded in the formulas from Ugly's Electrical References. For the day itself, see Maryland Master Electrician exam day.
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