Oklahoma Residential Electrical Contractor

One PSI trade exam of 80 questions in 3½ hours, open book, and you need 70%, or 56 correct. It has the same 12 areas and counts as the Residential Journeyman exam: general electrical knowledge is the largest at 12, installation requirements and services, feeders and branch circuits carry 10 each, and special occupancies covers only mobile homes, RVs and pools. There is no motors and transformers area.

One- and two-family dwellings: a single structure with no more than two dwelling units and at least five feet of separation from any other dwelling or structure, such as a house or a duplex. Apartments, motels and multi-family townhomes need an unlimited license (OAC 158:40-7-2).

The 2023 NEC as adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission (OUBCC), which Oklahoma exams have used since December 14, 2024. Two Oklahoma amendments change answers: listed HVAC equipment keeps its exemption from the outdoor-outlet GFCI rule in 210.8(F) with no expiration date, and an added 422.16(B)(5) lets a gas-fired central furnace in a dwelling be cord-and-plug connected with a cord no longer than 9 feet. None of the informative annexes is adopted. OUBCC's 2026 NEC Technical Review Committee began meeting on September 9, 2026, but no adoption or effective date has been set. When Oklahoma moved to the 2023 NEC, CIB gave a 90-day testing grace period before the exams switched.

Yes, with three books: the 2023 NEC (no NEC Handbook and no spiral-bound copies), 29 CFR 1926 (the OSHA construction standards, or PSI's selections from them) and Ugly's Electrical References, any edition. Highlighting, underlining and permanent tabs are allowed; writing in the books is not. Bring a silent, non-programmable calculator.

Yes. Every Oklahoma electrical contractor license takes two passed portions: this trade exam and the separate 50-question Electrical Business and Law exam, each at 70%. A passed portion stays good for three years from the date CIB approves you to test; after that you retake both. If you already hold an Oklahoma electrical contractor license and passed Business and Law for it, a new contractor category does not require it again.

PSI charges $92 per portion, so $184 for the trade exam and Business and Law together. You need 70% on each. After a failed attempt you wait 30 days before any electrical exam, and no attempt limit is stated. Up to 10 unscored experimental questions may be added, and their time does not count against you.

CIB charges a $30 contractor application fee and $300 for the initial license (Senate Bill 1732 raises the initial contractor license to $480 from July 1, 2028). An active license also needs a $5,000 license bond, a general liability certificate of at least $50,000 combined single limit with CIB as certificate holder, and proof of workers' compensation coverage or an exemption. Without them CIB issues an inactive contractor license, which lets you work as a journeyman but not contract.

Every year, by the last day of your birth month: $200, or $300 if you renew more than 30 days late. You need 12 hours of continuing education every 3 years, 6 of them on the codes OUBCC adopts, and you are exempt for the first 3 years after passing your exam. From November 1, 2026, a license expired for more than a year can be reinstated without retesting by paying the renewal fee and a $200 penalty and completing the missed continuing education.

You must be 18 or older, have passed the residential or unlimited journeyman exam, and show two years as a licensed journeyman with at least 4,000 hours as a residential or unlimited journeyman employed and supervised by an unlimited or residential electrical contractor.

No. The exam lists only the 2023 NEC, OSHA 29 CFR 1926 and Ugly's. Our questions answer strictly from the NEC as Oklahoma adopts it.

Oklahoma's published reciprocity agreements cover journeyman licenses: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, for a license earned by exam and held at least a year. A contractor who qualifies under a written contractor agreement is first licensed as a journeyman and becomes a contractor after passing the Oklahoma Business and Law exam and filing the bond and insurance. From a state with no agreement, CIB may approve exam equivalency, which waives this trade exam but not Business and Law.