South Dakota Journeyman Electrician Exam Day: ICC at Pearson VUE, Your Books, and Pacing 4 Hours
What to expect on the South Dakota journeyman exam (ICC 531) at a Pearson VUE center: the 90-day testing window, the 2023 NEC, Ugly's and NEC Handbook you may use, pacing 80 questions in 4 hours, the 70% pass mark and the retest waits.
South Dakota Journeyman Electrician Exam Day: What to Expect
ICC gives the South Dakota Journeyman Electrician exam (531) at Pearson VUE test centers. The fee is $115. Here is what the day looks like.
Before you go
- Get approved first. You apply to the South Dakota Electrical Commission ($60) before you book. Once you are approved, you have 90 days to test.
- Read ICC's South Dakota candidate bulletin for the current ID, arrival and rescheduling rules before you book.
- Use the 2023 NEC. South Dakota's exams moved to it on December 2, 2024. If you studied on an older book, check the load-calculation tables in what is on the exam; several were renumbered.
Open book: your references
The exam is open book with:
- NFPA 70, 2023 edition (the NEC),
- Ugly's Electrical Reference, in any edition, and
- if you prefer, the hardcover NEC Handbook.
Being allowed the books does not mean you have time to read them. Know the NEC's layout well enough to go straight to the right article and table, and know what is in Ugly's so you reach for it only when it is faster.
The questions
Every question is multiple choice with four options and one correct answer. There are 80 questions in 4 hours.
Pacing
That is 3 minutes per question.
- Answer the ones you know quickly and bank the time for lookups and calculations.
- Do not let one long lookup eat ten minutes. Make your best choice and move on.
- Answer every question.
- Check the clock at the halfway mark: about 40 done at 2 hours.
Scoring and after
You need 70% to pass. If you do not pass, South Dakota requires a 30-day wait before you retest, and 90 days after a second failure.
Before you go
Sit a full-length practice exam first. Our free practice test gives you 10 questions on the 2023 NEC, and the full exam prep has a timed full-length practice exam weighted like the ICC outline, with every answer citing its NEC section. For eligibility, see South Dakota Journeyman Electrician requirements.
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