What's on the Rhode Island Electrical Contractor (Certificate A / Class A) Exam?

Rhode Island's Department of Labor and Training (DLT) writes and gives the electrical contractor exam itself. The license is Certificate A in the Board's rules, the Class A license to most electricians. It is a written exam of 80 questions in 4 hours on the 2023 NEC, closed book by rule unless the Board permits otherwise, and you need 70%. DLT's study list for electricians names only the "Current National Electrical Code Book – Latest State Approved Edition" and "General Trade Knowledge."

No official outline

The exam is 80 questions in 4 hours, but DLT publishes no content outline or area weights, and no business-and-law section is documented. Our practice exam matches that format, and its area counts are our own blueprint. A contractor sizes services and feeders, motors and equipment for whole jobs, so it weights load calculations, motors and special occupancies and equipment more heavily than our journeyperson blueprint:

Area (our blueprint, not official)	Questions
Branch Circuits, Feeders, Services and Overcurrent Protection	12
Wiring Methods and Materials	10
Calculations	10
Grounding and Bonding	8
Motors, Motor Circuits and Controllers	7
General Requirements and Definitions	6
Equipment for General Use	6
Special Occupancies	6
Special Equipment	6
Electrical Theory and Fundamentals	5
Special Conditions and Communications Systems	4
Total	80

The edition: 2023 NEC

The exam is on the NEC edition the state has adopted at the time of the exam: the 2023 NEC, which became the Rhode Island Electrical Code (510-RICR-00-00-5) on December 1, 2025. For calculations, note what moved from the 2020 edition: non-dwelling lighting loads are in Table 220.42(A) and the lighting demand factors in Table 220.45, receptacle demand factors in Table 220.47, and EV charging loads enter at 7,200 VA or the nameplate, whichever is larger (220.57).

What Rhode Island changes

Rhode Island adopts the 2023 NEC with a handful of changes, all in Article 90 and Chapter 2:

90.6 is deleted, and 90.10 reads references to the I-codes as Rhode Island's own codes.
210.25(B): common-area smoke and CO alarm circuits in an existing three-family dwelling may stay on a unit's equipment, with written proof of uninterrupted service, until the service is upgraded or a meter is added. Otherwise the national rule applies.
230.24(A) Exception No. 5 (3 ft above a guarded roof) is deleted.
230.82 is rewritten: the list of equipment allowed on the supply side of the service disconnect, and a meter disconnect that must be rated to interrupt the load, carry a short-circuit current rating at least equal to the available current, be marked "METER DISCONNECT NOT SERVICE EQUIPMENT", and still be followed by a separate service disconnect.

Chapters 1 and 3 through 9 are adopted unchanged, and our question pool stays off the provisions Rhode Island changes.

How to study

Calculations from memory. Dwelling and non-dwelling service and feeder loads, demand factors, motor full-load currents and branch-circuit protection, conductor sizing with correction and adjustment, and voltage drop. Know the steps well enough to work them without the book.
Answer before you look. Work each practice question cold, then check the cited section. Use the area scores to decide what to drill.
Know the service rules. Services, feeders and grounding carry the most weight in our blueprint, and they are where Rhode Island's own changes sit.
Ask about the book. The rule allows books only with the Board's permission. When your exam notice arrives, ask DLT at (401) 462-8580 whether the code book is allowed at your sitting.

Practice for the exam

Our Rhode Island Electrical Contractor practice test follows the blueprint above on the 2023 NEC. For eligibility and fees, see the contractor license requirements.

What's on the Rhode Island Electrical Contractor (Certificate A / Class A) Exam?