What's on the Ohio Electrical Contractor Exam? All 9 Areas and How to Study Them
The PSI outline for the OCILB electrical contractor trade exam: 100 scored items across nine areas, all on the 2023 NEC, no Ohio law in the trade exam, and a study plan built on the published weights.
Contents
What's on the Ohio Electrical Contractor Exam?
PSI's candidate bulletin for the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB) publishes the electrical contractor trade exam as nine areas, with the number of scored items in each. You need 70% overall.
The outline (100 scored items)
| Area | Items |
|---|---|
| General Electrical Knowledge | 10 |
| Transformers and Equipment | 12 |
| Services, Feeders, and Branch Circuits | 16 |
| Raceways, Boxes, and Panelboards | 10 |
| Conductors and Cables | 12 |
| Control Devices | 8 |
| Motors and Generators | 12 |
| Utilization Equipment | 8 |
| Special Occupancies and Equipment | 12 |
These counts are published by PSI. The exam also carries 10 unscored pretest items, for 110 questions in all. You will not know which are pretest, so answer everything as if it counts.
The bulletin gives area names and counts only. It does not say which NEC articles fall under each area. Any article mapping, including the one in the study plan below, is our reading, not PSI's.
Which code: the 2023 NEC
The exam is written to the 2023 NEC (NFPA 70-2023). You may bring the 2023 NEC, the 2023 NEC Handbook, or both. The bulletin is explicit that Code questions are based only on the edition listed, so a 2020 or 2026 book is the wrong book.
That matches what Ohio enforces. The Ohio Building Code references NFPA 70-2023, and the Residential Code of Ohio moved to the 2023 edition in 2024. We found no announced Ohio adoption of the 2026 NEC and no notice of a bulletin change.
Ohio's own amendments to the NEC (for example, the Building Code keeps 210.8(F) Exception No. 2 from expiring) are not listed as exam references. Study the NEC as printed.
No Ohio law in the trade exam
All nine areas are technical. Ohio licensing law, liens, tax and insurance sit in the separate Business & Law exam, which has its own reference provided at the test center. Our practice exam covers the trade exam only.
The bulletin also notes that the exam "may also contain questions based on trade knowledge or general industry practices," so not every answer is a Code lookup.
Where the weight is
- Services, Feeders, and Branch Circuits is the biggest single area at 16 items. Expect load calculations, branch-circuit and feeder sizing, service rules and overcurrent protection.
- Equipment-heavy areas add up. Transformers and Equipment (12), Motors and Generators (12), Control Devices (8) and Utilization Equipment (8) are 40 of 100 items between them. This is a contractor exam, and it leans toward commercial and industrial equipment.
- Conductors and Cables (12) and Raceways, Boxes, and Panelboards (10) cover the wiring-methods chapter: ampacity, conduit fill, box fill and the cable and raceway articles.
- Special Occupancies and Equipment (12) is broad: hazardous locations, health care, pools and the rest of the special chapters.
- Control Devices and Utilization Equipment are the smallest at 8 each. Do not skip them, but do not start there.
A study plan built on the weights
- Services, feeders and branch circuits first. Sixteen items. Work dwelling and commercial load calculations, Article 210, 215, 220, 230 and 240 until you can find each table fast.
- Then motors and transformers. Twenty-four items between the two areas. Article 430 motor sizing (FLC tables, conductor and overcurrent sizing) and Article 450 transformer protection are classic contractor-exam material.
- Conductors, raceways and boxes. Twenty-two items. Know Table 310.16, the ampacity adjustments, Chapter 9 conduit fill and 314.16 box fill cold.
- Special occupancies and equipment. Twelve items. Learn how the Chapter 5 and 6 articles are organized so you can navigate them quickly.
- Control devices, utilization equipment and general knowledge. Twenty-six items between them. Ugly's 2023 is allowed in the exam and covers the theory and formulas.
- Tab and highlight your 2023 NEC. Highlighting, underlining and tabs are allowed; writing in the book is not.
- Sit a timed, full-length exam. 110 questions in 4 hours is just over 2 minutes each.
Our free practice test gives you a feel for the questions on the 2023 NEC. The full exam prep has full-length practice exams weighted to these nine areas, with every answer explained. For eligibility and the application, see Ohio Electrical Contractor requirements, and for the day itself, Ohio Electrical Contractor exam day.
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