1.1 About the Texas Journeyman Electrician Exam
Key Takeaways
- The Texas Journeyman Electrician exam is administered by PSI Services LLC under contract with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and is referenced to the 2023 NEC until the 2026 NEC takes over on September 1, 2026.
- In TDLR FY2025 just 24.46% of NEC Knowledge attempts (1,402 of 5,731) and 20.56% of Calculations attempts (1,301 of 6,328) passed — the Calculations portion is the harder gate.
- The exam is open-book: a soft-bound 2023 NEC is the only reference allowed; the NEC Handbook, loose-leaf, spiral, and ring-bound editions are prohibited.
- Passing earns the legal authority to pull permits under a Master Electrician and to supervise unlicensed workers on commercial and residential jobs in Texas.
- If you fail only one portion you keep the passing portion and retake just the failed one; PSI charges the same $78 retake fee for one portion or both.
What the Texas Journeyman Electrician Exam Is
Quick Answer: The Texas Journeyman Electrician exam is an open-book licensure test administered by PSI Services LLC under contract with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). It is based on the 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) and consists of 85 items (80 of them scored) split across two separately-scored portions. You must score 70% on each portion to pass. In TDLR FY2025 — the first fiscal year to include the two-part format — 1,402 of 5,731 NEC Knowledge attempts passed (24.46%) and only 1,301 of 6,328 Calculations attempts passed (20.56%) — making it one of the hardest electrical exams in the United States. If you fail only one portion, you retake only that portion.
The Texas Journeyman Electrician license is the state credential that authorizes a person to install, alter, repair, and supervise the installation of electrical wiring, fixtures, and apparatus under the employment of a Texas-licensed Master Electrician. Without this license, an individual may only perform electrical work as an apprentice under direct supervision, or as a Master Electrician if they hold that higher credential. The journeyman tier is the workhorse of the Texas electrical trade — the person on the ladder pulling conduit, landing conductors, and making the code-compliant decisions that keep buildings safe.
Who Administers It
Two organizations share responsibility for the exam:
| Role | Entity | What They Do |
|---|---|---|
| Regulator | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) | Sets eligibility rules, approves applications, issues licenses, publishes pass-rate statistics |
| Test Vendor | PSI Services LLC | Delivers the exam at PSI centers in 16 Texas cities, collects the $78 exam fee, reports scores immediately |
TDLR is an independent Texas state agency, governed by the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, that enforces the state's electrical licensing law (Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305 and 16 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 73). PSI is the private vendor TDLR contracts to handle test scheduling, proctoring, and score reporting. You apply to TDLR for eligibility; you schedule and sit the exam with PSI.
The NEC 2023 Basis
Every question on the current exam is written against the 2023 edition of the NFPA 70 National Electrical Code. The NEC is updated on a three-year cycle, and Texas adopts each new edition by rule. The 2023 NEC is the legally binding reference for both the NEC Knowledge and Calculations parts of the exam, and it is the only book you may bring into the testing room.
The exam is open-book, but with strict limits. Only a soft-bound 2023 NEC is permitted — no loose-leaf, spiral-bound, or ring-bound editions, and no NEC Handbook (the Handbook contains explanatory commentary that the exam does not test). Publisher-supplied tabs and pre-existing highlighter marks are allowed; homemade adhesive tabs and any writing during the exam are not. You will not have time to look up every answer, so knowing the structure of the NEC — Chapter, Article, Section, Table — is as important as knowing the content.
Why the Pass Rate Is So Low
These pass rates are not typos. TDLR publishes exam statistics every fiscal year, and in FY2025 it reported the two portions separately for the first time: 5,731 NEC Knowledge attempts with 1,402 passes (24.46%) and 6,328 Calculations attempts with 1,301 passes (20.56%). The Calculations portion is measurably the harder gate. (For historical comparison, the last full year of the old single blended exam — FY2024 — ran at 27.86%, or 2,365 passes out of 8,490 attempts.) Several factors drive the failure rate:
- The two-part split requires 70% on each portion independently. A candidate who aces the 59-item NEC Knowledge portion but stumbles on the 26-item Calculations portion does not earn the license until the Calculations portion is retaken and passed.
- Time pressure is severe — roughly 2.2 minutes per question on Knowledge and 4.2 minutes on Calculations, but calculation questions demand multi-step Ohm's Law, conductor sizing, and motor full-load current lookups.
- Code fluency is tested, not memorization. You must locate the right Article and apply its exception or condition, not recite it.
- The NEC is dense. At roughly 900 pages, with cross-references that hop between Chapter 2 (wiring), Chapter 3 (methods), Chapter 4 (equipment), and the Special Occupancies in Chapters 5–7, a candidate who cannot navigate quickly will run out of time.
Why This Exam Matters for Licensure
Passing the journeyman exam is a legal prerequisite to working unsupervised as an electrician in Texas. With the license you may:
- Pull permits under a Master Electrician's signature
- Supervise unlicensed apprentices and helpers on the job site
- Perform electrical work anywhere in the state without holding a separate local license (state law preempts most local licensing)
- Progress toward the Master Electrician credential, which requires 12,000 total hours of on-the-job training, at least two years holding a journeyman license, and a separate two-part exam
Without the license, you are limited to apprentice-level work, cannot legally supervise others, and cannot serve as the responsible electrician on a job. For most electricians in Texas, the journeyman exam is the single highest-leverage credential in their career.
Exam Facts at a Glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Regulator | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) |
| Test Vendor | PSI Services LLC |
| Code Basis | 2023 NEC (soft-bound only) |
| Total Questions | 85 items (59 Knowledge + 26 Calculations); 80 scored |
| Total Time | 240 minutes (4 hours) |
| Knowledge Part | 59 questions, 130 minutes |
| Calculations Part | 26 questions, 110 minutes |
| Passing Score | 70% on EACH part independently |
| Exam Fee | $78 (covers both portions; retake $78 for one portion or both) |
| Application Fee | $30 non-refundable to TDLR |
| Format | Open-book, multiple-choice, proctored at a PSI test center |
| Languages | English and Spanish |
| Results | Immediate — the PSI proctor hands you a score report at the test center; PSI reports the official result to TDLR electronically |
| FY2025 Pass Rate — NEC Knowledge | 24.46% (1,402 pass / 5,731 attempts) |
| FY2025 Pass Rate — Calculations | 20.56% (1,301 pass / 6,328 attempts) |
The 10-Area Content Outline
The PSI Candidate Information Bulletin publishes a ten-area content outline with an exact item count for each area on each portion. Both portions sample all ten areas. The table below is the real weighting — study time should follow these counts, not intuition.
| # | Subject area (CIB wording) | Knowledge | Calculations | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Definitions, Theory, and Plans (Calculations and Theory) | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | Electrical Services, Service Equipment, and Separately Derived Systems | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Electrical Feeders | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Branch Circuits and Conductors (Branch Circuit Calculations and Conductors) | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| 5 | Electrical Wiring Methods and Electrical Materials | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| 6 | Electrical Equipment and Devices | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| 7 | Motors and Generators | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | Electrical Control Devices and Disconnecting Means | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Special Occupancies, Equipment, and Conditions | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 10 | Renewable Energy Technologies | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Scored items | 56 | 24 | 80 |
Three patterns fall out of the numbers. Branch Circuits and Conductors is the single biggest area at 14 of 80 scored items, followed by Wiring Methods and Equipment/Devices at 12 each — those three areas alone are just under half the exam. On the Calculations portion the heaviest areas are Services (4 items) and Branch Circuit Calculations (4 items), not motors. And Control Devices and Disconnecting Means is only 2 items total — real, but not worth days of study.
This guide follows that outline. Each subsequent chapter maps to one or more of these areas, with NEC article references and worked examples matched to what the exam actually tests.
A Note on the 2026 NEC Transition
The PSI Candidate Information Bulletin carries a banner on its cover page: "Effective September 1, 2026, the examinations will be referenced to the 2026 NEC." Until that date, the 2023 NEC remains the sole reference for both portions of the exam. If you are testing in 2026 before September 1, study the 2023 NEC; if you are testing on or after September 1, confirm which edition your test date uses before booking. This guide is written to the 2023 NEC throughout, with notes where the 2026 code is expected to change a rule.
In TDLR FY2025, which portion of the Texas Journeyman Electrician exam had the lower pass rate, and roughly what was it?
Which edition of the NEC is the legal reference for the Texas Journeyman exam through most of 2026, and what binding format is required in the testing room?
Who delivers the Texas Journeyman exam and who issues the license?