Is the Journeyman Electrician Test Open Book? State Rules
Most journeyman electrician exams are open book for the National Electrical Code (NEC) sections, but “open book” does not mean the same thing everywhere. Texas, Florida, and Georgia let you bring your own NEC copy under specific rules. California is open book too, but the state hands you the codebook at the test center and takes it back when you leave. Always confirm the current rule with your own state board before test day.
The NEC itself is a single national reference published by the NFPA, but the exam rules around it are set by each state licensing board, not by the code itself. That’s why two candidates studying the same code sections can walk into two different testing rooms with completely different rules about what they’re allowed to carry, tab, or write in.
Why does the open-book rule vary by state?
Each state licensing board picks its own exam vendor (commonly PSI or Pearson VUE) and writes its own candidate information bulletin covering references, tabs, and identification. The NFPA writes the National Electrical Code, but it has no say in how a state tests on it. A board can decide candidates bring their own copy, a board can decide to supply a clean copy at the test center, and a board can restrict which edition or which companion products (like the NEC Handbook) are allowed. None of that is standardized nationally.
The result is that “is this exam open book” is really two separate questions: can you reference the code at all, and can you bring your own annotated, tabbed copy. Most states answer yes to the first and vary widely on the second.
What does the Texas journeyman exam allow?
Texas lets candidates bring their own soft-bound 2023 NEC to the exam, and the book can already be highlighted, underlined, and noted before the test session starts. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) confirms the exam is open book and lists exactly what counts as a compliant reference.
Tabs have to be permanent index tabs manufactured or provided by the NEC book’s publisher; homemade or DIY tabs are not allowed and will be removed before you test. Loose-leaf, spiral-bound, or ring-bound NEC copies are rejected outright, and so is the NEC Handbook (the annotated version with commentary), since it isn’t the plain code book TDLR references its questions against. Once the exam starts, you can’t write, highlight, or mark the book further. As of 2026, Texas’s journeyman written exam runs as two separately scored parts: a 59-question NEC Knowledge portion (130 minutes) and a 26-question Calculations portion (110 minutes), each requiring a 70% pass, a format TDLR phased in starting March 11, 2025.
What does California allow, and what changed for 2026?
California’s electrician certification exam is open book, but you don’t bring your own reference. The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) supplies the NEC, NFPA 70E, and the Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide for the Construction Industry at the test center, and candidates use those copies only during the session.
For exams scheduled on or after June 1, 2026, California moved exam administration to CPS HR Consulting, delivered through Pearson VUE test centers, after years of PSI running the program. The passing score stays at 70%, and the exam remains 100 questions. Because California never lets you bring a personal copy, tabbing your own book at home builds the lookup skill but won’t transfer to the exam room the way it does in Texas.
What does Florida allow?
Florida has no statewide journeyman electrician license; electrical work is licensed at the Certified (statewide) or Registered (county and city) contractor level instead. The closest comparison is the Certified Electrical Contractor exam, administered through Pearson VUE, which is open book across both its Business and Technical/Safety sections.
Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) allows candidates to bring their own 2023 NEC copy with permanently attached tabs, but Post-it notes, pull-off labels, and removable tabs are barred, and only original bound editions are accepted, no photocopies or loose notes. The current candidate information booklet sets a 75% passing score on both the 100-question Technical/Safety section (5 hours) and the 50-question Business section (2.5 hours). Florida plans to move its NEC reference to the 2026 edition effective August 21, 2027, later than most other states.
What does Georgia allow?
Georgia licenses electrical contractors statewide (Class I restricted and Class II unrestricted) rather than issuing a separate journeyman credential, and its exam is open book with a wider reference list than Texas or Florida allow. Candidates may bring the 2020 NEC or the NEC Handbook with commentary, plus trade references like the American Electricians’ Handbook and Ugly’s Electrical References, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Electrical Contractors reference list.
References can be highlighted, underlined, or tabbed with permanent tabs, but photocopied pages and handwritten notes pasted into a reference book are not allowed. Georgia is the rare state on this list that permits the NEC Handbook, which Texas and Florida both explicitly ban.
State-by-state comparison
| State | Open book? | Own copy or provided? | NEC edition (2026) | Tabs allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | Yes | Own soft-bound copy | 2023 (moving to 2026 on Sept. 1, 2026) | Permanent, publisher-made only |
| California | Yes | Provided at test center | 2023 | N/A, no personal copy allowed |
| Florida | Yes (Certified EC exam) | Own copy | 2023 (moving to 2026 on Aug. 21, 2027) | Permanent, no Post-its or pull-offs |
| Georgia | Yes | Own copy, wider reference list | 2020 (per current published list) | Permanent tabs only |
Which NEC edition should you actually study?
Study the edition your state currently references, not the newest one on the shelf. The NFPA published the 2026 National Electrical Code on August 20, 2025, but as of mid-2026 most state licensing boards, including Texas and Florida, still test against the 2023 edition while they work through their own adoption timelines.
Tabs and study guides are edition-specific. A 2023 NEC tab set will not line up correctly with a 2026 code book, so buying the wrong edition wastes prep time and can get a mismatched book flagged at check-in.
How do you prepare for an open-book NEC exam?
Preparing for an open-book code exam is a navigation drill, not a memorization exercise. You’re being tested on how fast and accurately you can find the right article, table, or exception under time pressure, since every state above still enforces a hard time limit per section.
Tab your code book at least a few weeks before test day and practice timed lookups daily until locating an article becomes automatic. If your state allows your own copy, use the exact edition and only the tab type your board permits (permanent, publisher-made tabs in every state on this list, never handwritten sticky notes). A practice tool that mimics the real question format, like the one built into AmpExam’s prep course, helps more than re-reading the code cover to cover, because it forces you to search under the same time pressure you’ll face on exam day.
FAQ
Can I write in my NEC book before a journeyman exam? It depends on the state. Texas allows highlighting, underlining, and notes made before the exam session starts, but nothing added during the test itself. Florida and Georgia allow permanent tabs and highlighting under similar pre-exam rules. Always check your state’s current candidate bulletin, since these rules change between printings.
Do all states test on the same NEC edition? No. Most states, including Texas, California, and Florida, still reference the 2023 NEC as of mid-2026, even though the NFPA published the 2026 edition in August 2025. Georgia’s most recently published reference list cites the 2020 edition. Adoption timelines vary by one to several years per state, so confirm the exact edition before you buy a code book or tab set.
Can I bring the NEC Handbook instead of the plain code book? Usually not. Texas and Florida both explicitly bar the NEC Handbook (the version with added commentary) because their exam questions are written against the plain code, not the commentary. Georgia is an exception and lists the Handbook as an acceptable reference alongside the standard NEC.
What happens if my code book doesn’t meet the state’s rules on exam day? In Texas, a candidate who shows up with a noncompliant book (wrong binding, DIY tabs, or the Handbook) can test without it, remove the noncompliant tabs on the spot, or forfeit the exam fee and reschedule with a compliant book. Other states apply similar consequences, so check your bulletin’s reference rules a few days before your appointment, not the morning of.