17.2 Test Day and Final Practice

Why Test-Day Logistics Matter

Knowing the code is half the battle. The other half is showing up with the right book, the right ID, and a confirmed appointment — and arriving having used your final week on the right kind of practice. A candidate who brings a spiral-bound NEC or arrives without photo ID is turned away before question one. This section covers the PSI logistics, the open-book policy restated, eligibility, fees, the pass-rate context, and a concrete final-week study plan.

PSI Scheduling and Test Centers

PSI Services LLC administers the exam for TDLR.

• Schedule online: test-takers.psiexams.com/tdlnrp
• Schedule by phone: (833) 333-4741
• Test centers: 16 locations in Texas
• Languages: English and Spanish versions
• Results: immediate pass/fail at the test center

Schedule early — popular test centers and weekend slots fill weeks ahead, especially near the end of a TDLR eligibility window.

What to Bring and What Is Prohibited

You may bring your own calculator, within limits. The PSI Candidate Information Bulletin permits only non-programmable calculators that are silent, battery-operated, have no paper-tape printing capability, and have no keyboard containing the alphabet. A basic solar/battery scientific calculator without alphabetic keys qualifies; a graphing calculator, a phone, or anything programmable does not and will be stored with your other belongings.

Open-Book Policy Restated

The open-book rule is narrow and the proctor enforces it strictly:

• Soft-bound 2023 NEC only. No loose-leaf, spiral, or ring-bound editions.
• Publisher tabs + pre-existing highlight are OK. Homemade tabs and any writing added during the exam are not.
• No NEC Handbook. The Handbook edition includes commentary and illustrations not in the standard code book; it is banned.

If your NEC has stray pencil marks from a study session, erase them or buy a clean soft-bound copy before exam day.

Fees

The $78 PSI fee covers both the NEC Knowledge and Calculations parts in a single sitting. The $30 TDLR application fee is separate and non-refundable.

Eligibility Recap

• 8,000 hours of on-the-job training under a Texas-licensed Master Electrician.
• Early-exam option at 7,000 hours — you may sit for the exam, but the journeyman license is not issued until the full 8,000 hours are complete.
• Experience must be documented on TDLR form ELC017, signed by each supervising Master Electrician.
• 12-month window — all requirements must be met within 12 months of application.
• Criminal history check is required.
• Apprentice license is available at 16 years old.

If you are sitting under the 7,000-hour early-exam option, remember that passing the exam does not put a license in your hand — you still owe the remaining 1,000 hours of OJT before TDLR issues the journeyman license.

The Pass Rate as Calibration

TDLR's FY2025 statistics report the two portions separately: NEC Knowledge — 1,402 passed of 5,731 attempts (24.46%), and Calculations — 1,301 passed of 6,328 attempts (20.56%). Roughly 4 in 5 Calculations attempts fail. These numbers are not a scare tactic — they are a calibration. The Calculations portion carries only 26 items but fails more candidates than Knowledge does, which tells you exactly where the final week belongs: timed calculation drills and NEC table navigation, not another read-through of the code. Preparation is the differentiator.

Final-Week Study Plan

The timed mock run on Day 5 is the single most important exercise in this plan. It exposes whether your time budget from Section 17.1 actually holds under exam conditions.

Mindset and Common Failure Modes

• Running out of time on Calculations. 4.2 minutes per question sounds generous until you hit a multi-step motor load. Drill timed calculation sets until the budget feels comfortable.
• Misreading the question. Watch for the qualifiers: "maximum," "minimum," "required," "not permitted." Circle the qualifier before you look up the rule.
• Looking up the wrong Article. A question about "service entrance conductors" lives in Article 230, not Article 250. Confirm the keyword in the Index before committing to an Article.
• Second-guessing easy wins. The last 5 minutes are for verifying that your bubbled answers match your flagged list — not for re-solving a question you already answered confidently.

2026 NEC Re-Referencing Note

TDLR is re-referencing exam items to the 2026 NEC; updated exams are scheduled to republish September 1, 2026. The 2023 NEC remains the reference through most of 2026. Before you sit, confirm the reference edition with TDLR or PSI. Do not bring a 2026 NEC to a 2023-referenced exam (or vice versa) — the proctor will reject the wrong edition.

Review Pool — Cross-Reference the Other Chapters

Use the final week to revisit the chapters that map to the 10-area content outline:

If your Day-5 mock run flags a weak area, the table above tells you which chapter to revisit on Day 6.