North Dakota Master Electrician

Like the journeyman exam: a 1-hour closed-book part and a 3.5-hour open-book part in Bismarck, 70% to pass, on fundamental electricity, North Dakota’s laws, rules and wiring standards, and the NEC. A master plans and supervises work and may contract, so our blueprint gives load calculations and North Dakota’s contracting, wiring-certificate and inspection rules more weight than the journeyman exam.

10,000 hours of experience, or, as a licensed North Dakota journeyman, one year and 2,000 hours working as a journeyman under a contracting master or master of record. The application fee is $50. After passing, a master chooses a status: contracting master (with proof of liability insurance), master of record for one company, or noncontracting master.

Only from Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. You need a passed written exam, the license held continuously for a year, and 10,000 hours under a contracting master. The application and license fees are $50 each. Masters from other states may qualify for a North Dakota journeyman license by reciprocity instead.

No. A master electrician who wants to contract chooses contracting status: register the business with the North Dakota Secretary of State (NDCC 43-07), file the Board’s contracting application and carry public liability insurance of at least $500,000. There is no business-and-law exam.

From the December 2026 exams, the 2026 NEC and the 2026 North Dakota Laws, Rules, Wiring and Conveyance Standards. The state adopted the 2026 NEC on July 1, 2026, and the Board’s exam page says the December 2026 exams are the first on it. If you test on November 16–17, 2026, expect the 2023 NEC and the 2023 booklet (effective July 1, 2024); confirm with the Board if your date is close. Every question here cites the 2026 edition.

Both. The Board lists a 1-hour closed-book part and a 3.5-hour open-book part for the journeyman and master exams. You do not bring your own books: the Board provides the code books, calculators and pencils. That means you will work from a clean, untabbed NEC, so know your way around it.

Our practice exam is one 80-question set and cannot split into closed- and open-book parts. For the closed-book hour, answer before you look anything up: theory, definitions and the rules you use every day should come from memory, and the area scores show where you are weak. For the open-book part, practice finding each section quickly in the 2026 NEC and the North Dakota booklet; every explanation names the section, so look it up and learn where it sits.

No. The Board says only that the exam covers fundamental electricity, North Dakota’s laws, rules and wiring standards, and the current NEC. Our 80-question blueprint is our own: NEC chapter weighting like comparable state exams, with electrical theory, calculations and about 10% North Dakota law. Prep providers often quote 80 questions, but the Board has not published a number. Treat our area counts as a study guide, not the real split.

Yes. The exam covers the Laws, Rules and Wiring Standards of North Dakota: NDCC chapter 43-09 (licensing, contracting, inspections, penalties), the Board’s rules in NDAC title 24.1 (licenses, apprentices and supervision, continuing education, wiring certificates) and the Electrical Wiring Standards in NDAC 24.1-06, North Dakota’s changes to the NEC. Those change real answers: three 20-ampere small-appliance circuits in a dwelling instead of two, one bathroom receptacle circuit for no more than two bathrooms, no feeder surge protection in dwellings, electric heat at 125% in service and feeder calculations, and no EMT in contact with the earth. The booklet is a free PDF on the Board’s website.

Only at the Board’s office in Bismarck, on paired days each month: November 16–17 and December 14–15, 2026, then monthly through December 2027. There is no remote option. Apply and be approved first; your invitation lists the open dates, and you must test within six months of it. A cancellation or no-show means a new application and fee.

You need 70%. With a score of 60 to 69 you can retake with no waiting period; 50 to 59 means a 3-month wait, and 0 to 49 a 6-month wait. Each retake needs a re-exam application and fee. The Board has not offered exam reviews since July 11, 2012, so you will not see which questions you missed.

Every year: journeyman licenses expire March 31 ($25) and master licenses April 30 ($50). You need 8 hours of continuing education each two-year cycle in Board-approved classes, at least half of it on the 2026 NEC. An expired license costs a reinstatement fee equal to the annual fee, and a license not renewed for three consecutive years means taking the exam again.