What people come here for
Every page below is on this site, and every figure on it carries the board page, the rule or the bulletin it came from.
The path
- North Carolina Electrician Questions - Answered and Cited
Twenty North Carolina electrician questions answered in the words people type, each tied to the Board, the licensing statute or the exam handbook.
- North Carolina Electrical Apprenticeship - How to Start
A North Carolina electrical apprenticeship is a job with class hours. The state registers programs through ApprenticeshipNC and issues no apprentice card.
- How to Become an Electrician in North Carolina - Steps
To become an electrician in North Carolina you get hired by a licensed contractor, learn in a program, log hours, then sit a Board exam for a class.
- North Carolina Electrician License - Requirements 2026
A North Carolina electrician license is a business license in the Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited or a special restricted class. Hours, exam and fees.
- NC Electrical License Experience - Hours and Credit Rules
NC electrical license experience is counted in two buckets: total hours and a primary floor inside them, from 3,000 hours at Limited to 9,000 at Unlimited.
The licenses
- North Carolina Electrical Contractor License - The Rules
The North Carolina electrical contractor license goes to the business, with a listed qualified individual behind it, an exam at 70 and a yearly fee.
- Journeyman Electrician North Carolina - What Exists Here
A journeyman electrician in North Carolina holds no state card. The word means an experience credit, an apprenticeship card or a Raleigh certificate.
- NC Electrical License Classifications - What Each Allows
NC electrical license classifications run Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited plus seven special restricted classes, each with its own dollar limit.
Rules and money
- NC Electrical License Lookup - How to Verify a License
An NC electrical license lookup runs on the Board's free public search. Here is what it shows, how to read a class and when a paid verification applies.
- NC Electrical Continuing Education - Hours and Classes
NC electrical continuing education is 8 hours a year for Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited and SFD, 4 for special restricted, half of it in a classroom.
- NC Electrical License Fees and Renewal - Every Amount
NC electrical license fees start at $125 to apply and sit, then run $100 to $200 a year by classification, with a $25 late renewal fee.
- NC Electrical License Reciprocity - Ten States and a Test
NC electrical license reciprocity covers ten states. The technical exam is waived, but a 25 question North Carolina laws and rules test still applies.
The exam
- NC Electrical Contractor Exam Questions - Answered
Twenty questions about the NC electrical contractor exam and the code, each answered in a few sentences and cited to the Board, PSI or the state code page.
- NC Electrical Exam Book Rules - Tabs, Marks and Books
NC electrical exam book rules: bound references only, no loose leaf, no post-it tabs, marking done before the session, and no writing during the exam.
- What Is on the NC Electrical Contractor Exam - By Area
What is on the NC electrical contractor exam: the Board prints a subject matter scope in its handbook, and its reference list shows what the paper covers.
- NC Fire Alarm and Low Voltage Exam - 50 Questions, 3 Hours
The NC fire alarm and low voltage exam, SP-FA/LV, is 50 multiple choice questions in three hours, open book, with the 2020 NEC and NFPA 72 allowed.
- NC Intermediate Electrical Contractor Exam - Format
The NC Intermediate electrical contractor exam is 100 questions in six hours, open book. It needs 5,750 hours, and the license needs a bonding statement.
- NC Limited Electrical Contractor Exam - 100 Questions
The NC Limited electrical contractor exam is 100 multiple choice questions in up to six hours, open book, and 70 out of 100 passes. Here is the format.
- NC Residential Dwelling Electrical Exam - SP-SFD Format
The NC Residential Dwelling exam, SP-SFD, is 40 multiple choice questions in three hours, open book. It needs 3,000 hours with 2,000 of them primary.
- Failed the NC Electrical Exam - Retakes and the Wait
Failed the NC electrical contractor exam? The wait is three months in the same classification, the re-apply form is separate, and a review costs $25.
- NC Special Restricted Electrical Exams - Format and Fee
NC special restricted electrical exams for SP-PH, SP-WP, SP-ES and SP-EL run 40 questions in three hours, open book, at a minimum grade of 70.
- NC Swimming Pool Bonding Exam - 25 Questions, 1 Hour
The NC Swimming Pool Bonding exam, SP-SP, is 25 multiple choice questions in one hour, open book, on the 2020 NEC, with a minimum grade of 70 to pass.
- NC Electrical Exam Day - ID, Centers and What to Bring
What to bring to the NC electrical contractor exam: two signature bearing IDs, one with a photo, your own bound books, and the seven PSI center addresses.
- NC Unlimited Electrical Contractor Exam - 100 Questions
The NC Unlimited electrical contractor exam is 100 questions in six hours, open book. It needs 9,000 hours and two supervise and direct statements.
- Which NEC Edition Is on the NC Electrical Exam - 2020
The NC electrical contractor exam is written on the 2020 National Electrical Code, with NFPA 72 2013 where that book is allowed. Here is what that changes.
The code
- North Carolina 2023 Electrical Code - Adopted, Delayed
The North Carolina 2023 electrical code is adopted but not in force. Its published status is an indefinite delay from an original date of 1 January 2025.
- North Carolina Electrical Code Amendments - What Changed
North Carolina electrical code amendments sit in two published documents for the 2020 edition, and one of them redefines selective coordination.
- North Carolina Electrical Code - Which NEC Edition Now
The North Carolina Electrical Code in force is the 2020 edition, the 2020 NEC with state amendments, effective 1 November 2021 and still marked current.
Study
- NC Electrical Contractor Exam Study Plan - Six Weeks
A six week NC electrical contractor exam study plan built on the Board's own advice: the handbook, the 2020 code book, an hour a day and timed practice.
- NC Electrician Practice Questions - Free, by Topic
Free NC electrician practice questions by topic, with the working and the code section on every miss, plus a timed practice test and the $79 bank.
- NC Electrician Exam Tools - Calculators, Games and Labs
Free NC electrician exam tools: eight calculators, six games, four labs and five drills that show the working, plus the hours calculator for eligibility.
Your city
What a person in each of these eight cities does to get licensed, the training programs there, the nearest test center and the local wage.
- Charlotte NC Electrician License - Classes and Exam Site
A Charlotte electrician license comes from the state Board, not the city. Here are the apprenticeships, the college program, the test center and local pay.
- Raleigh NC Electrician License - Classes and Exam Site
A Raleigh electrician license means a state Board classification, and Raleigh also runs its own journeyman certificate. Classes, test center and pay.
- Greensboro NC Electrician License - Classes and Exams
A Greensboro electrician license comes from the state Board. Here is the college program, the nearest test centers, and what electricians earn locally.
- Durham NC Electrician License - Classes and the Exam
A Durham electrician license comes from the state Board. Here are the training center and college program in the city, the nearest test site and local pay.
- Winston-Salem NC Electrician License - Classes and Exam
A Winston-Salem electrician license comes from the state Board. Here is the college program, the PSI test center and what local electricians earn.
- Fayetteville NC Electrician License - Classes and Exam
A Fayetteville electrician license comes from the state Board. Here is the college program built for it, the PSI test center and local electrician pay.
- Wilmington NC Electrician License - Classes and Exam Site
A Wilmington electrician license comes from the state Board. Here is the four year Cape Fear apprenticeship, the PSI test center and local pay.
- Asheville NC Electrician License - Classes and Exam Site
An Asheville electrician license comes from the state Board. Here is the five year IBEW apprenticeship, the college program and the PSI test center.
Hands-on labs
In a lab you drag the conductor, turn the dial or drop conductors into a box, and the page answers with the number it just changed and the code section behind it. All four are free and none of them asks for an account.
- Conduit bending simulator
Offsets, saddles and 90s, worked live.
- Switch wiring lab
3-way and 4-way, drag the wires.
- Box fill lab
Drop conductors in and watch it fill.
- Grounding electrode lab
Build it, bond it, size the GEC.
How it works
- Sit thirty questions against the clock. The practice test is timed and scored by content area. Thirty questions are free, they run with no account and no network, and every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the section named.
- Work the area you lost. The score report names the area you are weakest in. Practice questions by topic holds 54 topics with 25 questions each, free.
- Open the bank when the free set runs out. $79 once opens the other 470 questions and the seven remaining rungs of the calculation ladder. One payment, no subscription, no account, and no email address on file with us.
Thirty free questions, timed, with the working shown
Every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the code section named, so you learn the trap and not just the answer. No account.
All questions here are original. They are not actual exam questions, and no question bank can promise you a pass.
What this page cites
- NCBEEC licensing page The three classifications, the special restricted list and the annual license fees. source
- NCBEEC Examination Information Handbook Item counts, time limits, the reference list including the 2020 NEC, and the three month retake wait. source
- G.S. 87-43.1 The employee exemption that lets a person do electrical work for a licensee without a license of their own. source
- Office of State Fire Marshal, state electrical code The 2020 North Carolina Electrical Code in force from 1 November 2021, and the 2023 edition adopted with an indefinite delay. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.