Alaska Electrical Administrator (Unlimited Commercial Wiring)

100 scored questions in 4 hours, open book, and you need 70%. Grounding and bonding, services, feeders and branch circuits, raceways and enclosures, and conductors and cables carry 13 questions each, then general electrical knowledge (9) and special occupancies (8). Five questions are on Alaska statutes and regulations and five on safety (29 CFR 1926). PSI gives it at test sites in Alaska or, since October 20, 2026, remotely with an online proctor.

The 2020 NEC, NFPA 72 (2013), 29 CFR 1926 (or PSI’s 1926 selections) and the free Alaska PDFs: the centralized licensing statutes and regulations, the construction contractor statutes and regulations (AS 08.18; 12 AAC 21) and the electrical administrator statutes and regulations (AS 08.40; 12 AAC 32). You may highlight, underline and tab them beforehand with permanent tabs, but not write in them during the exam. A printed PDF must be bound.

Every registered electrical contractor in Alaska must be, or employ, a licensed electrical administrator, and one administrator may qualify only one contractor (AS 08.18.026; AS 08.40.130). The administrator supervises the work and must personally inspect it unless it is simple, standardized work under 24 man-hours (AS 08.40.195). Unlimited Commercial Wiring covers all inside wiring, including the residential, inside communications and controls categories (12 AAC 32.165).

Four of the last six years as a journeyman electrician in inside commercial wiring, as a field superintendent in inside wiring, or a combination. An electrical engineering degree or Alaska PE registration with a year of recent field experience also qualifies, as do three years as a journeyman plus a year as an inspector or instructor (12 AAC 32.145). A year of experience means at least 1,500 hours in 12 consecutive months. Commerce approves your application ($150) and sends a PSI eligibility letter good for one year.

A $150 application fee to Commerce for each license category, $150 to PSI for each exam attempt, and a $170 license fee for the first two-year period (12 AAC 02.210). Renewal is $170 every two years.

You can book again as soon as the next day, paying PSI’s $150 fee each time, for as long as your one-year eligibility lasts. Commerce’s rule allows no more than three attempts at the written exam in 12 months (12 AAC 32.046). If you fail, your score report shows your strengths and weaknesses by area.

Not through a reciprocity list. If you hold an equivalent electrical administrator license in another state, meet Alaska’s experience requirements and passed an equivalent exam, Commerce waives the exam (AS 08.40.120(b); 12 AAC 32.025).

Every two years, for $170, with at least one 8-hour approved NEC workshop (or equivalent approved study) each license period, unless you passed a licensing exam on that code during the period (12 AAC 32.315). A license lapsed for more than two years means taking the exam again (AS 08.40.135).

The 2020 NEC. Alaska adopts it by reference with no amendments (8 AAC 70.025(a)), and PSI’s Electrical Administrator bulletin lists the 2020 NEC and says code questions follow only the listed edition. No move to the 2023 NEC has been announced. Every question here cites the 2020 section, so if your study material is on the 2023 edition, watch the rules that moved, such as the load-calculation tables and Class 1 circuits.

They are different credentials. Anyone doing electrical work under the NEC in Alaska needs a certificate of fitness from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Mechanical Inspection: a trainee card while you earn hours, then the journeyman certificate after the Mechanical Inspection exam. An electrical contractor must be, or employ, an electrical administrator licensed by the Department of Commerce, who supervises and certifies the work (AS 08.18.026; AS 08.40.195). The administrator exam is given by PSI.