| Who runs it | TDLR, administered by PSI |
| Format | TWO portions: NEC Knowledge + Calculations |
| Knowledge portion | 75 questions - 150 minutes - 70% to pass |
| Calculations portion | 33 questions - 170 minutes - 70% to pass |
| Open book? | YES - bound NEC only (no Handbook) |
| Code edition | 2023 NEC now; 2026 NEC effective Sept 1, 2026 |
| Experience required | 2+ years as a Texas journeyman AND 12,000 hours OJT |
The master exam is 75 knowledge questions in 150 minutes plus 33 calculation questions in 170 minutes - each portion scored separately at 70%. The content areas look similar to the journeyman outline, but the questions cut deeper: services and separately derived systems, transformers, motor circuits, hazardous locations, health care facilities, emergency systems.
The heavy areas per the official outline: services/service equipment (11 of 75 knowledge items), branch-circuit conductors (11), special occupancies (8), equipment (8), motors and generators (7). If your day-to-day work doesn't touch Article 517 patient care spaces or Article 700 emergency wiring independence, those are the questions that get you - and they're all learnable.
33 calc items with services/feeders making up a third of them: service loads, feeder sizing, motor calculations. Every one is a procedure you can drill until it's mechanical.
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