Montana Journeyman Electrician

One computer exam of 60 questions in 3 hours, open book, and you need 70% (42 correct). PSI lists two content areas, the National Electrical Code and General Trade Knowledge & Theory, without question counts. State law sets 60 questions as the minimum and names the NEC and the Board’s rules and laws as the subjects (MCA 37-68-305).

One of: an approved electrical apprenticeship; a training program run by a bona fide union or trade association; 8,000 hours of practical experience wiring, installing and repairing electrical equipment; or 20,000 hours in electrical maintenance with your employer’s certification, at least 8,000 of them practical experience (MCA 37-68-305). The 2025 Legislature changed the apprenticeship rules, so confirm your route with the Board before you apply.

Montana licenses by substantial equivalency rather than reciprocity agreements. Its current list accepts journeyman licenses from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Confirm with the Board before you apply.

It depends on your exam date. Montana’s exams move to the 2023 NEC on January 1, 2027. If you test before then, you are tested on the 2020 NEC, with Montana’s 2020 amendments, and you bring the 2020 book. Our question pool is built on the 2023 NEC as Montana amends it (Montana adopted the 2023 NEC on September 26, 2026), so it matches exams from January 1, 2027; for an exam in 2026, expect some rules to carry different section numbers in your 2020 book. Check PSI’s bulletin for the edition on your exam date.

Yes. You may bring the NEC edition your exam is on (tabs or indexes allowed), Montana’s building codes amendments, copies of Montana’s statutes and rules for electricians, “Printreading” by David L. Hittinger for that NEC edition, and a silent, non-programmable calculator that is not built for electrical calculations (an “Electrical Estimate Pal” is not allowed). Your own highlights, underlining and notes in those books are fine; writing in them during the exam, or bringing loose papers, is not (ARM 24.141.503(5)).

By computer at a PSI test center: Montana sites are in Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Kalispell and Missoula, and you can also use any PSI center elsewhere in the U.S. The Board approves your application first and sends an admission letter; then you pay and schedule with PSI online or at (855) 746-8173. Remote testing for these exams is not confirmed.

A $190 application to the Board for a license by exam (it includes the original license fee), plus PSI’s exam fee: $75 for Residential or Journeyman, $85 for Master. PSI fees are non-refundable and good for a year; cancel or reschedule at least two days before your appointment to keep the fee.

You need 70% on the Residential and Journeyman exams and 75% on the Master (ARM 24.141.503). Your score shows on screen when you finish. If you fail, you can pay and take the next exam; after a second failure, you must attend a Board-approved 8-hour code seminar before a third try. You have one year from Board approval to pass, or you apply again. PSI may also add a few unscored experimental questions, which count against your time but not your score.

Yes. With the 2023 NEC, ARM 24.301.401 drops GFCI protection for kitchen refrigerators and freezers in dwellings and the 250-volt receptacle references in 210.8(A) and (B), excludes outdoor outlets for septic alarms and wells, takes kitchens out of the AFCI rule and adds unfinished basements, allows up to six service disconnects (230.71), lets the feeder surge protector sit in the distribution board (215.18(B)), and allows SER cable to a manufactured home with outside service equipment (550.33(A)). Our code questions avoid the sections Montana changes, and a separate set of questions covers the amendments.

Every two years; the renewal fee is $140 for a master, journeyman or residential license. You need 16 hours of continuing education for each year of the renewal cycle, at least 8 of them on NEC updates (ARM 24.141.2102). New apprenticeship graduates are exempt for their first renewal.

Neither the State Electrical Board nor PSI publishes pass rates for the Montana electrician exams.