New Jersey Electrical Contractor Exam Day: Three PSI Exams, One Clean NEC, and Pacing

New Jersey Electrical Contractor Exam Day: What to Expect

PSI gives the New Jersey electrical contractor exams for the State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors. The Board approves you; PSI runs the test centers. Your first sitting is a long day: all three exams are taken on the same day, and each is scored on its own.

That is up to about nine hours of testing time. Plan food, water and breaks around it.

Booking

After the Board approves you, it sends an Examination Eligibility Notice. You then pay PSI and schedule online at test-takers.psiexams.com/njel or by phone at (855) 340-3713. You must take your first attempt within two years of approval.

PSI's New Jersey test centers are in Brick, Hamilton Township, Linwood, Marlton, New Providence, North Brunswick, Parsippany and Secaucus. The bulletin does not offer remote testing.

To cancel or reschedule without losing your fee, PSI must hear from you at least two days before the exam (by Saturday for a Monday exam), on the website or by speaking to a representative; a voicemail does not count.

Arrival and ID

• Arrive 30 minutes early. Late arrivals may be turned away and forfeit the fee.
• Bring one valid, unexpired photo ID with your signature: a driver's license, state ID card, U.S. passport, military ID, alien registration card or Canadian government ID. The name must match your PSI registration exactly.
• Personal items go in the secure storage. Phones, smart watches and other electronics are not allowed in the testing room.
• PSI gives you an online calculator, a sheet of scratch paper and a pencil, all returned at the end.

The books

Electrical Contractor exam: the NEC is provided, and it is clean. PSI supplies the 2023 NEC at the test center. You may not bring your own, and you may not write in, highlight or tab the copy you are given. If you studied with a tabbed book, spend your last week practicing in an untabbed one.

Alarm Systems and Business and Law: you bring the other references. Alarm Systems uses the provided NEC plus NFPA 72 (2022), the NTC Blue Book (Low Voltage Systems Handbook and Security System Design and Installation, 2025), the NTC Yellow Book (Video Security Systems Handbook, 2025) and CCTV from Light to Pixels (3rd edition). Business and Law uses the NASCLA Contractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, New Jersey 2nd edition. Your own books may be highlighted, underlined and permanently tabbed, but not written in. Post-it notes and loose papers are removed, and a downloaded reference must be bound.

Our practice exam covers the Electrical Contractor trade exam only; Alarm Systems and Business and Law are not covered yet.

Pacing the trade exam

255 minutes for 100 questions is about 2.5 minutes a question. PSI's tutorial (up to 15 minutes) does not count against that.

• Answer the quick lookups first. Definitions, clearances and "which article" questions should take under a minute. Flag anything that needs a long calculation and come back.
• Budget the calculations. Motor circuits, grounding conductor sizing, load calculations and conduit fill take longer. Grounding and bonding (16 items) and motors and controls (12) are the two biggest areas, so expect plenty of both.
• Never leave a question blank. There is no penalty for a wrong answer.
• Keep energy for the other two exams. If you sit the trade exam first, you still have Alarm Systems and Business and Law to go.

Results and retakes

You get your results at the test center when you finish, and PSI sends them to the Board.

• You retake only the exam you failed, after waiting six months from the test date.
• All three must be passed within three attempts. Failing a section a third time forfeits your passing scores and you retake all three.
• Everything must be passed within five years of your approval date, or you reapply.

Practice

Get comfortable with the 2023 NEC under time pressure: try the free practice test or the full New Jersey Electrical Contractor exam prep. For eligibility and fees, see New Jersey Electrical Contractor requirements, and for the outline, what is on the exam.