What's on the Oklahoma Journeyman Electrician Exam? All 13 Areas and the Oklahoma Amendments
The PSI outline for the Oklahoma unlimited journeyman exam: 100 items across 13 areas on the 2023 NEC as adopted by the OUBCC, the two Oklahoma amendments that change answers, and a study plan built on the weights.
Contents
What's on the Oklahoma Journeyman Electrician Exam?
The PSI candidate bulletin for the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board publishes the Unlimited Electrical Journeyman outline as 13 areas with the number of scored items in each. It is 100 scored items, and you need 70 to pass.
The outline (100 items)
| Area | Items |
|---|---|
| General Knowledge | 4 |
| General Electrical Knowledge | 10 |
| Electrical Installation Requirements | 10 |
| Services, Feeders, and Branch Circuits | 10 |
| Overcurrent Protection | 9 |
| Grounding and Bonding | 10 |
| Conductors and Cables | 8 |
| Raceways and Boxes | 7 |
| Special Occupancies and Equipment (Including Swimming Pools) | 10 |
| Low Voltage, Alarms, Signaling Systems, and Communications | 2 |
| Lighting and Signs | 10 |
| Safety (29 CFR 1926) | 4 |
| Motors and Transformers | 6 |
| Total | 100 |
These counts are PSI's own. The bulletin lists subtopics under each area but no item counts for subtopics and no NEC article numbers. Up to 10 unscored experimental questions are added on top, so treat every question as if it counts.
The Unlimited Electrical Contractor trade exam uses this same outline, area for area and count for count.
Where the weight is
- The weight is spread evenly. Seven areas carry 9 or 10 items each, and no single area is more than 10% of the exam. You cannot pass by mastering one chapter.
- General Electrical Knowledge (10) is the theory area: series, parallel and combination circuits, power and heat lost in a circuit, single- and three-phase AC theory, cost of power, and troubleshooting. It also folds in NEC definitions, temporary wiring, cranes and hoists, and elevators and escalators.
- Lighting and Signs (10) is heavier here than on most state exams: fixture installation, grounding and wiring, recessed fixtures, systems under 30 volts, and neon and electric signs.
- Special Occupancies and Equipment (10) runs from Class I, II and III hazardous locations, garages and fuel dispensing, and spray areas to health care, places of assembly, mobile homes and RV parks, floating buildings, and pools, fountains and hot tubs.
- Grounding and Bonding (10) names grounding electrode conductor and equipment grounding conductor sizing specifically. Know Tables 250.66 and 250.122.
- Raceways and Boxes (7) has the longest subtopic list (22 items, from every raceway type to conduit fill and box fill) for only 7 questions. Learn where the tables are rather than memorizing every article.
- Low Voltage, Alarms, Signaling, and Communications is just 2 items. Do not spend a week on it.
- Safety (4) comes from 29 CFR 1926: PPE, excavation, ladders, scaffolds, fall protection, emergency action plans and similar job-site rules.
On the 2023 NEC, as amended in Oklahoma
The exam tests NFPA 70, 2023 edition, "as revised and adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission" (OUBCC). The OUBCC's 2023 NEC took effect September 14, 2024, and after a 90-day grace period, exam questions moved from the 2020 NEC to the 2023 NEC on December 14, 2024. No switch to the 2026 NEC has been announced: the OUBCC's 2026 review committee has begun meeting, but no adoption date is published.
The bulletin also says that when two legal requirements conflict, the state-specific code overrides the national one. Oklahoma makes only two changes to the Code's rule text, and both can change an answer:
| NEC section | Oklahoma change |
|---|---|
| 210.8(F), dwelling outdoor outlets | Exception No. 2, "GFCI protection shall not be required for listed HVAC equipment," is kept with no expiration date. In the national 2023 NEC that exception expired September 1, 2026. In Oklahoma it is permanent. |
| 422.16(B)(5), gas-fired central furnaces (added) | A gas furnace supplying a dwelling unit may be cord-and-plug connected (so it can run on a temporary generator). The cord needs an equipment grounding conductor and a grounding-type plug, enough ampacity and protection from damage, and may be no longer than 9 feet. |
Two more things the Oklahoma adoption does:
- None of the informative annexes is adopted. Annex C conduit-fill tables and the Annex D examples are still printed in your book and useful for lookups, but they are not Oklahoma law.
- The OUBCC has not incorporated any published errata or Tentative Interim Amendments (TIAs) to the 2023 NEC.
A study plan built on the weights
- Theory first. Ten items, and Ugly's Electrical References (any edition is allowed) is where the formulas are. Work Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits, power, three-phase and cost-of-power problems until they are quick.
- Then the 10-item Code areas in order: installation requirements (Article 110 and 300), services, feeders and branch circuits (Articles 210 through 230, plus 424, 426, 427 and 440), grounding and bonding (Article 250), lighting and signs (Articles 410, 411 and 600), and special occupancies (Chapter 5 and Article 680).
- Overcurrent protection (9), mostly Article 240.
- Conductors, raceways and boxes (15 combined). Practice conduit fill and box fill with Chapter 9 and Article 314.
- Motors and transformers (6), Articles 430 and 450.
- Safety (4) from 29 CFR 1926, and a quick pass over Chapter 7 and 8 topics for the 2 low-voltage items.
- Learn the two Oklahoma amendments cold. They are short and they flip answers.
- Tab and highlight your books. Permanent tabs, highlighting and underlining are allowed; writing in the books is not.
- Sit a timed, full-length exam. 100 questions in 4 hours is 2.4 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 this outline, with every answer explained. For the day itself, see Oklahoma Journeyman Electrician exam day.
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