What's on the Oregon General Journeyman Electrician Exam?

What's on the Oregon General Journeyman Electrician Exam?

The Oregon General Journeyman exam has 52 questions in 3 hours, open book, and you need 75%. The Electrical and Elevator Board writes it and the Building Codes Division gives it on paper.

There is no official outline

Unlike PSI or Prov exams in other states, Oregon publishes no content outline, no item counts and no percentages. Candidates who fail get a report of their strong and weak areas, but the category names are not published. What is known:

• The questions are code look-ups drawn from the NEC as Oregon amends it, plus Oregon's electrical rules and statutes, which are on the approved reference list.
• The exam follows the 2026 Oregon Electrical Specialty Code (OESC): the 2026 NEC with the changes in Table 1-E, in force since October 1, 2026. The program chief told the Board in September 2026 that the exam bank would switch to it by that date.

How we weight our practice exam

Because there is no official blueprint, the weights below are ours. They follow the NEC's chapter structure, as the published outlines in other states do, with a share for Oregon's own rules.

Where Oregon changes the 2026 NEC

Table 1-E rewrites, deletes or delays parts of the national code. A study guide written for the national 2026 NEC will teach some rules Oregon does not enforce. A few that come up in everyday work:

• GFCI in dwellings (210.8(A)): Oregon limits the rule to 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles; covers only unfinished basement areas and kitchen receptacles that serve the countertop; and does not adopt 210.8(A)(8), areas with sinks and food or beverage preparation.
• AFCI (210.12): Oregon adds an exception for a separate circuit to optional, dedicated receptacle outlets where nuisance tripping has occurred.
• Surge protection (215.18 and 230.67): not adopted until October 1, 2027.
• Emergency disconnects for outside feeders (225.41): not adopted.
• Existing water pipe electrodes (250.52(B)): at a service upgrade, an existing metal underground water pipe may be used as an electrode only if it is verified suitable, and it must be bonded to the new grounding electrode system.

How to study

1. Use the Oregon version of the code. Mark every Table 1-E change in your NEC. BCD allows short margin notes that cross-reference a state amendment.
2. Learn ORS 479 and OAR 918 at a glance. Know who needs which license, what a journeyman may do, permits and supervision.
3. Tab the book you will carry in. BCD allows tabs and highlighting, but no practice tests, class notes or worked calculations in the room.
4. Practice look-up speed. You have about 3½ minutes per question, which is plenty if you know where each rule lives.

Practice for the exam

Our Oregon General Journeyman practice test follows our weighting above, and every question cites the 2026 NEC section, or the Oregon rule where Oregon changes it. For test-day logistics, see the Journeyman exam day.