NASCLA Electrical Contractor Exam Day: What to Expect at PSI
What happens on the day of the NASCLA Accredited Electrical Contractor exam: ID, which books you can bring and how they may be marked, the blueprint packet, the calculator, pacing 100 questions in 270 minutes, and sending your transcript.
Contents
NASCLA Electrical Contractor Exam Day: What to Expect at PSI
The NASCLA Accredited Electrical Contractor exam is 100 scored questions in 270 minutes, open book, at a PSI test center, and you need 75. Here is what the day looks like, from PSI's national NASCLA bulletin.
Before you leave
- Your PSI confirmation. You can only book after NASCLA has approved your application.
- Government-issued photo ID with a signature, matching the name on your PSI account exactly. Without it you cannot test, and the fee is not refunded.
- Your books. The 2020 or 2023 NEC (or NEC Handbook), 29 CFR 1926 and 1910, the NASCLA Contractors Guide (Basic 14th), NFPA 70E (2024), Ugly's Electrical References (2023) and Holt's Understanding Electrical Theory for NEC Applications.
- A calculator: silent and non-programmable, with no printing.
Marking your books
Highlighting and underlining are allowed. Tabs must be permanent; sticky notes and other temporary tabs have to come out before the exam starts. You may not write in the books, and loose or attached papers are not allowed. Plan your tabs around the 2027 outline: Articles 220, 240, 250, 310, 430 and the Chapter 5 to 7 articles get the most use.
At the test center
Arrive early for check-in. Phones, smart watches and other electronics stay out of the testing room, and you will be asked to empty your pockets. If you arrive after the start time, you miss the exam and forfeit the fee.
PSI hands out a diagram and blueprint packet at the center for the plan-reading questions. You cannot bring your own plans.
Pacing
270 minutes for 100 scored questions is about 2 minutes 40 seconds each. PSI may add one to ten unscored experimental questions, and they count against your time, so budget for 110. Look up what you need, and do not reread a whole article for one answer. Mark the long calculations and come back to them.
After the exam
Your result goes to NASCLA's National Examination Database (ned.nascla.org) within about 72 hours. From there you buy and send your transcript to each participating agency as you apply for its license. If you do not pass, you can try again within the same year: NASCLA allows up to three attempts in the year after it approves you.
See what is on the exam and how to apply.
Practice for the exam
Our NASCLA Electrical Contractor practice test is weighted like the 2027 outline, so you can see which areas need more time before test day.
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