Mississippi Master Electrician (Commercial Electrical Contractor)

One PSI trade exam of 80 questions in 3 hours, open book, and you need 70% (56 correct). Services, feeders and branch circuits and conductors and cables carry 10 questions each; grounding and bonding, raceways and boxes, and special occupancies 7 each; general electrical knowledge, electrical power, motors and overcurrent protection 6 each; safety 5; lighting and fire alarm systems 3 each; low voltage and illuminated signs 2 each.

Yes. The references are the 2020 NEC, OSHA’s construction standards (29 CFR 1926, or PSI’s 1926 selections) and Ugly’s Electrical References (2011, 2014 or 2017; later editions at your own risk for non-code questions). You may highlight, underline and add permanent tabs, but not write in the books; Post-it tabs and loose papers are not allowed. Bring a silent, non-programmable calculator.

Mississippi licenses electrical contractors, not individual journeymen or masters. A contractor needs the Board’s commercial license with the Electrical classification for commercial jobs of $50,000 or more. The company names a qualifying party, an owner, officer or responsible managing employee, who takes the exams for it. Below $50,000, and for individual electrician cards, city and county rules apply.

Yes. The Board accepts the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Electrical Contractors (100 questions, 4.5 hours, 75% to pass, 2020 or 2023 NEC) instead of the Master Electrician exam. It is accepted by several other states too but covers a different outline. You still pass Law and Business Management. We have a separate NASCLA practice exam.

Apply to the Board first. The commercial application ($400) needs at least three completed electrical jobs, three reference letters (one from your bank), a CPA-reviewed or audited financial statement showing a net worth of at least $50,000 for the Electrical major classification, general liability insurance of at least $300,000 per occurrence and $600,000 aggregate, and proof that the qualifying party works for the company. The Board then tells PSI you are eligible.

PSI charges $120 per exam ($240 for the trade exam and Law and Business Management together). The Board’s commercial application fee is $400, and the license renews every year for $400 ($450 once expired).

For some. The Board waives the electrical trade exam, not Law and Business Management, for licensees by exam from the Alabama Electrical Board, the North Carolina Electrical Contractors Board, the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, the South Carolina Contractor’s Licensing Board and the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, and it still accepts Louisiana exam scores. Each has conditions such as a current license and no recent discipline, and there is a $50 fee per exam waived. Mississippi also recognizes out-of-state licenses under its Universal Recognition of Occupational Licenses Act and for military families.

The 2020 NEC. PSI’s bulletin lists it for both electrical trade exams and says code questions follow only the listed edition, which is also the only edition allowed in the test room. 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.

Yes. Every Mississippi applicant, commercial or residential, passes Law and Business Management: 50 questions in 2 hours, 70% to pass, open book on the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Mississippi 6th edition. It is a separate exam that we do not cover yet; our practice exam is the trade exam only.

As often as you need within 6 months of the Board making you eligible: PSI allows unlimited retakes in that window, at $120 per attempt. If you have not passed after 6 months, you reapply to the Board.

At a PSI test center. PSI’s Mississippi center is in Jackson, and Mississippi candidates can also test at PSI centers in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport, Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and elsewhere. No remote option is offered. Cancel or reschedule at least 2 days ahead to keep your fee; call PSI at (855) 557-0619 or use its website.

Neither the Board nor PSI publishes pass rates for Mississippi’s electrical exams.