What's on the Tennessee Alarm Contractor Exam: Topic Breakdown and Study Plan

The Tennessee Alarm Systems Contractor (Fire Alarm) Qualifying Agent exam is PSI-administered and open-book. Reference scope: NFPA 72, NEC Article 760 (Fire Alarm Systems wiring), Tenn. Code Ann. Title 62 Ch. 32 state licensing rules, and battery/secondary-power load calculations.

This post breaks down each reference area, what to focus on, and how to leverage the open-book format effectively.

Exam format at a glance

Spec	Value
Format	Open book, multiple choice
Vendor	PSI Services
Booking portal	test-takers.psiexams.com/tncon
Question count, time limit, passing score	Per the current PSI candidate bulletin
Allowed references	NFPA 72, NEC, Tenn. Code Title 62 Ch. 32

Open-book sounds forgiving, but on PSI's TN Alarm Contractor exam it rewards a different skill set than closed-book exams: reference navigation speed. Candidates who pass first-try know which book holds which type of answer and can find the citation in under a minute. Candidates who fail are usually the ones who treated the open book as a safety net and didn't tab their references in advance.

NFPA 72 — the core code

NFPA 72 is the heart of the exam. A handful of chapters carry most of the question weight:

Chapter 17 — Initiating Devices. Smoke and heat detector spacing, mounting, location requirements. Manual pull stations. Waterflow and tamper. Even open-book, the questions here are designed to be answered quickly if you know where to look — and slowly if you don't.

Chapter 18 — Notification Appliances. Candela ratings, mounting heights, audibility calculations, strobe sync. Look-up-friendly if your tables are tabbed.

Chapter 23 — Protected Premises (Wiring & Circuits). This is the wiring chapter — Class A vs. Class B, pathway designations, survivability levels. Expect a steady stream of questions referencing these definitions.

Chapter 14 — Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance. Frequencies, test methods, documentation. Open-book exams love ITM-frequency questions because they reward candidates who can find Table 14.4.5 quickly.

Chapter 12 — Circuits and Pathways / Survivability. Pathway survivability levels (Level 0, 1, 2, 3) — what they mean, where they apply.

NEC Article 760 (Fire Alarm Systems wiring)

The National Electrical Code governs how you wire fire alarm circuits, and Article 760 is the section devoted specifically to fire alarm systems. The key concepts:

Power-limited vs. non-power-limited circuits. PLFA vs. NPLFA distinctions, the marking requirements, allowable cable types, and the separation rules between each circuit class and other building wiring.

Allowable wiring methods. Which cable types can be used where (FPL, FPLR, FPLP), conduit fill, support spacing.

Where Article 760 dovetails with NFPA 72 Chapter 23. The two references overlap. Questions sometimes test whether you know which document governs in a conflict — NFPA 72 generally specifies the system, NEC specifies the wiring methods.

Tenn. Code Ann. Title 62 Ch. 32 state rules

This is the state-specific reference, and the one most out-of-state candidates underestimate. The exam asks a meaningful number of questions on:

• The three-tier license structure — Company, Qualifying Agent, Registered Employee. Who holds what, what the fees are, who can sign off on what work.
• The 30-day Registered Employee requirement — every tech must be registered within 30 days of hire. Expect a question.
• Classification definitions — what work falls under fire alarm vs. burglar vs. monitoring.
• Criminal-history disqualifiers under § 62-32-303 — felony categories that prevent licensure.

Tab this one too. Title 62 Ch. 32 is short relative to NFPA 72, but the questions on it are gimmes if you've read it and misses if you haven't.

Battery and secondary-power calculations

A reliable, high-yield calculation topic. Expect at least one full calculation question, sometimes more.

The standard sizing formula:

Battery capacity (Ah) ≥ (standby current × 24 hours) + (alarm current × 5 to 15 minutes, depending on system type)

Then apply derating factors for temperature, age, and aging margin (typically 1.20× safety factor).

What to drill:

• Standby current totals from a device list
• Alarm current totals (usually higher — strobes draw significantly more than supervisory loads)
• The 24-hour standby + 5-minute (most systems) or 15-minute (mass notification / ECS) alarm duration
• Battery selection from a sized result

Calculation questions take 2-3 minutes each. Don't get bogged down on a single calc — flag and move on if you're stuck.

Topic-by-topic study plan

Week	Focus	References
1	NFPA 72 system design + initiating	Ch. 10, Ch. 17
2	NACs, wiring, survivability	NFPA 72 Ch. 18, 23, 12
3	NEC Art. 760 + ITM	NEC 760, NFPA 72 Ch. 14
4	TN Title 62 Ch. 32 + battery calcs + practice	Title 62, calc drills

The final week is where the open-book strategy comes together: tab every reference, time yourself on practice questions, and verify you can find any answer in under 90 seconds.

What to do next

The TN Alarm Contractor exam doesn't reward candidates who plan to read NFPA 72 cover-to-cover during the exam — it rewards candidates who arrive with tabbed references and know where every answer lives.

Our Tennessee Alarm Contractor practice tests cover NFPA 72, NEC Article 760, Tenn. Code Title 62 Ch. 32, and battery calculations, with questions tagged to specific references so you can drill reference-navigation speed alongside content. Plans include detailed answer explanations with codebook references.

Want to gauge your readiness first? Take our free 10-question Tennessee Alarm Contractor sample test — no commitment, just a quick calibration on the open-book format.