Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

Twenty questions, answered

Wisconsin Electrician Exam Questions: Answered Here

The questions people type before a Wisconsin trades exam, answered short and cited. Where two official sources disagree, both are named. Where DSPS publishes nothing, the answer says so rather than repeating a figure from a forum.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

How many questions is the Wisconsin electrician exam?

DSPS does not publish a question count. No DSPS page, DSPS PDF or Pearson VUE handbook we read states one for any Wisconsin electrician exam.

Numbers circulate for the journeyman and master papers and they are consistent across independent secondary sources, but no official source states them. Treat them as unpublished.

How long is the Wisconsin electrician exam?

Four hours of seat time, on the Pearson VUE Computer-Based Trade Exam Fee Schedule, for the journeyman, residential journeyman, industrial journeyman, master and residential master exams.

The UDC electrical inspector exam is three hours on the same schedule, and the commercial electrical inspector exam is four.

What score do I need to pass?

Seventy percent. SPS 305.09 says "A grade of 70% or greater in each part of a license, certification or registration examination shall be considered a passing grade."

All five electrician exam pages repeat it: "The exam is open book, and the passing score is 70%."

Is the Wisconsin electrician exam open book?

Yes, and generously so. You may carry up to four reference items into the room, and two of them are Wisconsin's own code chapters.

Open book is not the relief it sounds like. With four hours and a stack of books, the paper is testing how fast you find a rule rather than whether you memorised it.

What book do I take into the Wisconsin electrician exam?

The edition the DSPS exam page for your credential names on the day you book. On September 7, 2026 that was the "2017 National Electrical Codebook (NEC) or Handbook," on all five electrician exam pages and on the permitted materials PDF stamped June 2025.

DSPS expects exam updates to the 2023 edition to be completed by October 1, 2026. Check the page again the week of your appointment.

Can I use a highlighter in the Wisconsin electrician exam?

No. The Pearson VUE trades exam FAQ says "Highlighters and architect or scale rulers are permitted for plumbing exams only."

Marking your own book before the day is a different matter, and nothing we read prohibits it.

Can I bring printed notes and tabs?

Notes yes, in the binder. "For all exams printed notes are allowed, as long as they are three hole punched and placed in the binder." Practice or previous exams do not qualify as notes and are not allowed.

Tabs, only the right kind. "Tabs are acceptable if they come with a bound code book. Three ring paper dividers with tabs are permitted." Removable tabs, sticky notes, paperclips and loose papers are not.

Is it three reference items or four?

DSPS says both. The journeyman and residential journeyman exam pages say "the following four reference items," and the master and residential master pages say "three." All four then print the same three numbered entries, whose third allows two books.

The standalone permitted materials PDF settles the practical question by marking every electrician row "Up to 4 items."

How much does the Wisconsin electrician exam cost?

Table 305.02 sets the state examination fee at $30, alongside a $35 application fee. Pearson VUE's fee schedule prints $95.00 for every electrician exam under a column headed "Total Candidate Fee Payable to Pearson VUE (USD)."

DSPS's own news release says candidates registering with Pearson "will pay a small administration fee to the testing service in addition to the state trades exam fee." One document calls the $95 a total, the other says the Pearson charge is on top. We could not confirm which is right, so we print both.

How do I schedule a Wisconsin trades exam?

Through LicensE, and the application comes first. DSPS: "To schedule an examination, applicants must have an open application in LicensE."

For a DSPS sitting, SPS 305.09 requires the application to reach the department at least 30 calendar days before the day of the examination.

Can I switch from Pearson VUE back to a DSPS location?

No. DSPS: "Once you select Pearson Exam location as your testing option, you will not be able to revert to a DSPS exam location." The Pearson VUE trades exam FAQ prints the same rule in its own words.

It applies to retakes as well as first attempts, so the decision is worth making deliberately.

Where are the Wisconsin exam locations?

DSPS names six Pearson VUE cities: Eau Claire, Madison, Brookfield, Kenosha, Ashwaubenon and Milwaukee. Its 2023 news release says the partnership added 54 sites in Wisconsin, six Pearson VUE owned centers and 48 at third party sites.

DSPS runs its own 2026 sittings at Pewaukee, Appleton, Deforest, Eau Claire and Weston. The addresses and dates are on the test day page.

How long do I wait to retake the Wisconsin exam?

No mandatory waiting period appears in SPS 305.09 or on any DSPS electrician exam page we read.

What the rule does set is a partial pass clock. You retake "only those parts failed," unless you do not pass all required parts within one year, in which case all parts have to be retaken and passed.

What happens if I do not turn up?

SPS 305.09 says an applicant who "fails to appear at a scheduled license, certification or registration examination without giving notice to the department at least 24 hours before the examination shall be considered to have failed the examination and shall be required to submit a re-examination application and examination fee."

Pearson VUE's handbook asks candidates who want to cancel or reschedule without penalty to do so "at least forty-eight (48) hours before the examination."

How long does a pass last?

Three months. SPS 305.09 lets a successful applicant "submit an application... within 3 months after the date the department had mailed the results," and failing that the entire examination has to be retaken.

So do not pass the exam and then sit on the paperwork for a season.

Which NEC edition is on the Wisconsin exam?

The 2017 edition, as every DSPS electrician exam page read on September 7, 2026. From October 1, 2026 it is expected to be the 2023 edition.

The two wordings differ. DSPS says it "expects exam updates to be completed by October 1." EC&M says "Starting October 1, the code changes will be reflected in questions on the trades exams." We print both on the edition page and do not resolve them.

Which NEC edition does Wisconsin enforce?

The 2023 National Electrical Code with Wisconsin amendments, in force from September 1, 2026 under rule CR 26-016 amending ch. SPS 316.

That means the work moved before the exam did. For the month of September 2026 the code in the van is newer than the code on the paper, which has its own page.

Why do the DSPS exam pages still say 2017?

They had not been updated when we read them, six days after the field code changed. The permitted materials PDF is stamped June 2025.

The same DSPS information page still carries a stale line about another trade: "Exams will be administered under the updated plumbing code starting in November 2023." Take that as a sign of how quickly these pages are maintained.

What did the 2026 Wisconsin code change actually do?

Beyond swapping editions, CR 26-016 created exceptions to the emergency disconnect requirements in NEC 225.41 and NEC 230.85 for one and two family dwellings, clarified that a permit is required to install wiring on vacant land or in any structure unless exempted, created a municipal recordkeeping requirement for inspections, created new receptacle outlet requirements at islands and peninsulas, and repealed Wisconsin's prohibition on electrical metallic tubing in direct earth contact and underground applications at SPS 316.358.

It also repealed the whole run from SPS 316.511 to SPS 316.701, which covered commercial garages, agricultural buildings, recreational vehicle parks, elevators, irrigation machines, swimming pools, emergency systems and legally required standby systems. The change page goes through it.

Are the SPS chapters examinable?

They are on the reference list, and the exam pages introduce that list with the sentence "The exam will cover information listed below." Item 1 is one binder holding Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305, Wis. Admin. Code SPS 316 and printed notes.

Both chapters are public law, so you can print them in full for nothing and carry them in. That makes the binder the cheapest advantage in this exam, and it is the one most candidates skip.

What this page cites

• SPS 305.09, examinations The 70 percent pass mark, the 30 day deadline, the retake rules, the no-show rule and the three month window after a pass. source
• DSPS Journeyman Electrician exam page Open book, 70 percent, the four reference items, the binder and tab rules and the 2017 code book line. source
• DSPS permitted trades exam materials The Up to 4 items cap, the June 2025 stamp and the rule that practice exams are not notes. source
• Pearson VUE trade exam fee schedule Four hours of seat time and the $95.00 candidate fee for each electrician exam. source
• DSPS Pearson VUE news release, October 4, 2023 The 54 added sites and the statement that the Pearson fee is in addition to the state exam fee. source
• DSPS report to the legislature, CR 26-016 What the 2026 rule created, amended and repealed in ch. SPS 316. source