South Carolina Residential Electrical Exam Day: PSI, Open Book, 60 Questions in 3 Hours

South Carolina Residential Electrical Exam Day: What to Expect

PSI gives the Residential Builders Commission's exams. To get the Residential Electrician license you pass two: the Residential Electrical trade exam covered here and Business Management and Law for Residential Builders.

Before you can book

Apply to the Residential Builders Commission first. Once it approves your experience, it sends an examination eligibility letter, valid for one year. Only then can you schedule with PSI.

Scheduling

Schedule online at test-takers.psiexams.com/scrb or by phone at (855) 340-3701.

• PSI charges $75 for one portion or $94 for both, so book both exams together if you can.
• South Carolina test centers include Columbia, Greenville, North Charleston, Beaufort and Myrtle Beach. No remote option is offered.
• Cancel or reschedule at least two days before your appointment to keep the fee. A no-show, a late cancellation or arriving late forfeits it.

What to bring

• Identification as PSI's bulletin specifies.
• Your reference books. The exam is open book on:
  • the NEC with South Carolina modifications (2023, or 2020 until July 1, 2027, or the NEC Handbook)
  • the International Residential Code (2024, or 2021 until July 1, 2027; the South Carolina edition or the commentary also qualify)
  • Tom Henry's Key Word Index
  • Ugly's Electrical References
  • 29 CFR 1926, OSHA's construction standards

Books may be highlighted, underlined and indexed, but not written in, and they may not hold loose or attached papers. Tabs must be permanent (they would tear the page if removed). Post-its must come out before you start.

• A calculator that is silent, battery powered, non-programmable, with no paper tape and no alphabet keyboard.

PSI will not have the books at the test center. Arrive about 30 minutes early to sign in.

During the exam

• 60 scored questions in 3 hours, on a computer: 3 minutes a question.
• PSI also includes a few unscored experimental questions, and they count against your time. Don't spend long on any single question.
• Services, feeders and branch circuits (15) and general electrical knowledge (13) are almost half the exam, and many of them are calculations. Work those carefully.

The pass mark

You need 44 correct (73.3%), higher than most electrical exams. Your score appears when you finish.

Retakes

You have three attempts within the 12 months of your eligibility, and both exams must be passed in that time. After a third failure you wait 12 months from that attempt before you can test again. Each attempt costs the PSI fee again.

After you pass

Send the Commission your PSI results and the $220 license fee. Add a $10,000 surety bond before taking on projects over $5,000. Residential Electrician requirements has the details.

Get ready first

With three attempts and a 73.3% bar, practice under time before you book. Try our free South Carolina Residential Electrical practice test, then the full 60-question practice exam. What's on the exam lists every area.