Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05

No project limit

NC Unlimited Electrical Contractor Exam: 100 Questions

Unlimited is the classification that lets a business take an electrical contracting project of any value. The paper is the same 100 questions over six hours that every classification above the special restricted ones sits. What guards it is 9,000 hours, two witness statements and a bonding statement.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

What Unlimited actually means

The Board's licensing page describes the Unlimited classification as engaging in any electrical contracting project regardless of value. The annual license fee is $200.

There is no dollar conflict to work around here. The Limited and Intermediate ceilings differ between the Board's page and the statute, but a classification with no ceiling has nothing to disagree about.

The license still belongs to the business. Passing the examination makes you a qualified individual, and a listed qualified individual is the person on a licensee's certificate who carries the duty and authority to supervise and direct the electrical contracting that licensee performs.

Who can sit for it

Age 18, a duly filed application, and written statements from at least two people about your character. Those are common to every classification.

The hours are the highest the Board sets: at least 9,000 hours of experience, of which at least 8,000 hours must be primary experience. At 2,000 hours to a creditable year, that is four and a half years counted with four of them primary.

Unlimited adds a requirement no other classification has. Written statements from at least two people attesting to your ability to supervise and direct all electrical wiring. The Board's Supervise and Direct form is the document those witnesses sign, and it names co-workers, employers and professional associates as acceptable witnesses.

The gap between 9,000 total and 8,000 primary is 1,000 hours. Secondary experience, the kind that counts at 80, 50, 20 or 10 percent, has very little room in this application.

The paper itself

One hundred multiple choice questions, a maximum of six hours, a minimum grade of 70 out of a possible 100, open book.

The format is identical to Limited and Intermediate. The Board does not publish separate item counts or separate time limits for the three, and it does not publish the weighting between them.

What the Board does publish is a reference list, and on an open book paper the reference list is the closest thing to a content map you get. See what is on the exam for how to read it that way.

The books you are allowed to carry

Two books go into the examination center: the 2020 National Electrical Code, which is required, and the 2013 edition of NFPA 72, the National Fire Alarm Code.

The licensing law in Chapter 87 Article 4, the Board's rules in 21 NCAC 18B and the NASCLA Contractors' Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, North Carolina Electrical Edition, are closed book references. Study them in advance, because you answer their questions without them in front of you.

Lighting and Power Plans are printed at the back of the handbook, for Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited only. The special restricted papers do not use them, which tells you the Unlimited paper expects you to read a drawing under time.

Binding, marking and tab rules are strict and are enforced at the door. Book rules covers all of it.

The bonding statement

A statement of bonding ability is required to activate a license in the Unlimited classification. The amount on the Board's 2025 application is $150,001.

It is a license activation requirement rather than an examination requirement, so a candidate with no bonding relationship can still sit and pass.

If you are being hired as a listed qualified individual, the company carries this. If you are licensing your own business, start early, because a surety's underwriting timetable is not the Board's.

Money, booking and the clock

The application and examination fee is $125, non-refundable, in every classification. The Unlimited annual license fee is $200. An examination review costs $25.

PSI schedules once the Board approves the application, and approval gives you 90 days to sit. Cancel two days ahead and the fee survives; miss the appointment and it does not.

The seven centers are Asheville, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.

If you do not pass

Three months from the date of the failed examination before another attempt in the same classification, printed as 90 days on the Board's examinations page.

One route people take after a failed Unlimited attempt is to license at a lower classification and work up, because the Board publishes upgrade and downgrade applications. Read retakes and the classifications together before you decide.

How to prepare for it

The Board runs no prep class and recommends none. Its own advice is the handbook cover to cover, the subject matter scope as the map, about an hour a day, and practice at calculations.

An hour a day against 9,000 hours of field experience is a fair trade. Most Unlimited candidates fail on speed and on the parts of the paper that are not code, rather than on wiring they have done for years.

Work the timed practice test first to find where the clock hurts, then the topic sets for the areas it names. The study plan puts them in order.

Questions people ask

How many hours do I need for the NC Unlimited license?

At least 9,000 hours of experience, of which at least 8,000 hours must be primary experience. The Board's rules treat 2,000 hours as one creditable year.

How many questions is the Unlimited exam?

One hundred multiple choice questions with a maximum of six hours. It is the same paper format as the Limited and Intermediate examinations.

What are the supervise and direct statements?

Unlimited applicants must file written statements from at least two people attesting to their ability to supervise and direct all electrical wiring. The Board publishes the form, and it names co-workers, employers and professional associates as acceptable witnesses.

Do I need a bond before I sit?

No. The statement of bonding ability, for $150,001 on the Board's 2025 application, is needed to activate an Unlimited license rather than to take the examination.

What does an Unlimited license allow?

The Board's licensing page describes it as any electrical contracting project regardless of value. The annual license fee is $200.

Is the Unlimited exam open book?

Open book for two references only. The 2020 NEC is required and the 2013 edition of NFPA 72 is allowed. The licensing law, the Board rules and the NASCLA guide are closed book, and the Lighting and Power Plans are printed in the handbook.

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
• NCBEEC supervise and direct statement The witness form the Unlimited classification requires, on which two people certify the applicant can supervise and direct electrical wiring. Read 5 September 2026. source
• NCBEEC new license application, 2025 The license application, carrying the statement of bonding ability amounts for the Intermediate and Unlimited classifications. Read 5 September 2026. source
• G.S. 87-43, the licensing requirement The statute that makes electrical contracting a licensed activity in North Carolina and requires a listed qualified individual at each place of business. Read 5 September 2026. source