Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05
SP-FA/LV
NC Fire Alarm and Low Voltage Exam: 50 Questions, 3 Hours
Fire Alarm and Low Voltage is one of the Board's seven special restricted classifications, and it gets its own paper: 50 questions in three hours rather than the 100 in six that the Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited candidates sit. It is also one of the few special restricted exams that lets you bring NFPA 72.
Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed
On this page
The classification
The Board lists Fire Alarm / Low-Voltage, coded SP-FA/LV, among its special restricted classifications. The annual license fee for a special restricted classification is $100.
The scope of each special restricted license is set in Section .0800 of the Board's rules, Title 21 NCAC 18B. We have not reproduced that scope here, because the exact boundary of what an SP-FA/LV license permits is the kind of thing you should read in the rule itself rather than in a summary.
G.S. 87-43.3 is the statute that lets the Board create special restricted licenses at all, for a specific phase of electrical contracting of a special, limited nature, and for people whose primary business is not electrical contracting.
The paper
Fifty multiple choice questions, a maximum of three hours. A minimum grade of 70 out of a possible score of 100 to pass, the same standard every classification uses.
Three hours for 50 questions works out at three minutes thirty six seconds each, which is the same per question pace as the 100 question papers. The Board has kept the rate and cut the length.
It is open book, like every examination this Board runs.
The books, and the NFPA 72 line
The 2020 National Electrical Code is required for every examination, this one included.
The 2013 edition of NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm Code, is allowed for Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited, SP-SFD and SP-FA/LV only. This is one of the classifications that gets it, which is unsurprising given the subject and is worth planning around: two books, two lookup habits.
Those two are the whole of what you carry. The licensing law in Chapter 87 Article 4, the Board's rules in 21 NCAC 18B and the NASCLA business guide are closed book references, studied in advance. Lighting and Power Plans are printed in the handbook for Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited only, so they do not reach this paper.
Note that the NFPA 72 edition allowed is 2013, which is older than the 2020 NEC beside it. Do not sit with a newer printing and assume it is close enough.
Who can sit for it
Age 18, a filed application and two written character statements, as with every classification.
The experience floor is at least 3,000 hours, of which at least 2,000 hours must be primary experience. SP-FA/LV sits with SP-SFD in the group that does not carry the extra employment verification the other special restricted classifications require.
Primary experience is defined by the Board's rules as time engaged directly in installing wiring and equipment governed by the National Electrical Code, or work directly related to it. Read the hours page for the credit percentages.
Money, booking and the wait
The application and examination fee is $125 and is not refundable, in this classification as in all of them. The annual license fee for a special restricted classification is $100. An examination review is $25.
PSI schedules the seat after the Board approves the application, and approval gives you 90 days. Cancelling two days ahead protects the fee.
A failure carries the same wait as every other classification: three months from the date of the failed examination before you can sit that classification again.
How to prepare for it
The Board offers no prep class and will not recommend one. Its published advice is the handbook, the subject matter scope inside it, an hour a day and practice at calculations.
For this classification the practical advice is to know both books. Fire alarm circuits are covered in the National Electrical Code as well as in NFPA 72, and a question that spans them is a question about which book to open first.
The free topic sets on this site are general electrical sets rather than fire alarm sets, so use them for the code half and use your own NFPA 72 for the rest. The study plan says how to split the weeks.
Questions people ask
How many questions is the NC SP-FA/LV exam?
Fifty multiple choice questions with a maximum of three hours. The pass standard is a minimum grade of 70 out of a possible score of 100.
Can I bring NFPA 72 into the fire alarm exam?
The handbook allows the 2013 edition of the National Fire Alarm Code for Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited, SP-SFD and SP-FA/LV. The 2020 NEC is required alongside it.
How many hours of experience does SP-FA/LV need?
At least 3,000 hours, of which at least 2,000 hours must be primary experience. That is the same floor the Limited classification uses.
What does the SP-FA/LV license allow me to do?
The scope of each special restricted classification is set in Section .0800 of the Board's rules in Title 21 NCAC 18B. Read the rule itself, because the boundary matters and a summary is not the rule.
What does the license cost?
The annual license fee for a special restricted classification is $100. The application and examination fee is $125 and is not refundable.
How long do I wait if I fail?
Three months from the date of the failed examination before you can sit again in the same classification. The Board's examinations page states the same rule as 90 days.
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 classifications The Board's list of the Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited and seven special restricted classifications, with the annual license fee for each. Read 5 September 2026. source
- NCBEEC Examination Information Handbook The Board's own candidate handbook. Source for the item counts, the time limits, the reference list, the marking rules, the identification rules and the retake wait. Read 5 September 2026. source
- NCBEEC examination application for new applicants The application that sets the age, the character statements and the experience hours for each classification. Read 5 September 2026. source
- G.S. 87-43.3, the classifications The statute that sets the classifications and the project value limits, with the words as established by the Board. Read 5 September 2026. source
- Title 21 NCAC Chapter 18B, the Board's rules The rule set behind the experience hours, the definitions of primary and secondary experience and the minimum grade of 70. Read 5 September 2026. source
- NCBEEC fees and services The fee schedule as the Board prints it, including the $125 application and examination fee and the $25 examination review. Read 5 September 2026. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.