Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

What the state publishes

What Is on the Minnesota Electrician Exam, Area by Area

Minnesota gives candidates a question count, a clock, a pass mark and a list of what is in the room. It does not publish a subject outline or a weighting, so this page separates what the state says from what we say.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

What DLI actually publishes

The Licensing Examination Guide gives the shape of each paper and nothing about the topics.

• Class A master electrician and Class A journeyworker electrician: 80 questions.
• Power limited technician: 80 questions.
• Maintenance electrician: 70 questions.
• Lineman: 50 questions, and the only one taken on the National Electrical Safety Code.
• Class B and satellite system installer: 25 questions.

The time allowed is five and a half hours for all examinations and the passing score is 70 percent for all examinations. There is no published subject matter outline and no published weighting. We are not going to print a list of areas and percentages that the state never issued.

Reading the room as a map

What is in the room is a subject list of a kind. The guide names three things you may use during the entire examination: the code book, a Laws and Rules Booklet and an electronic calculator.

A calculator means calculation questions. A Laws and Rules Booklet means Minnesota law and rule questions, drawn from material representing the laws and rules in effect at the time the examination is administered. The code book means the National Electrical Code is the spine of the paper, or the National Electrical Safety Code if you are sitting the lineman examination.

That is as far as the state's own documents take you. Everything below this line is ours.

The code areas we would work, in our order

This ordering is ours and follows where trade exam candidates lose marks, not any published Minnesota weighting. Section numbers are the 2026 edition, which is the edition Minnesota examinations moved to on September 8, 2026.

1. Grounding and bonding. Article 250, including what qualifies as an electrode at 250.52 and the service grounding rules at 250.24.
2. Conductor sizing and ampacity. Article 310, the ampacity table at 310.16, the termination temperature rule at 110.14(C) and the small conductor limits at 240.4(D).
3. Load calculations. Article 120 in the 2026 book, which is where the material from Article 220 now lives.
4. Boxes and fill. Box fill at 314.16 and raceway fill from the Chapter 9 tables.
5. Motors. Article 430, where conductor sizing, overload and short circuit protection each use a different table.
6. Overcurrent protection. Article 240, plus transformer protection, which is 450.5 in the 2026 book and was 450.3 in the 2023 edition.
7. Branch circuits and receptacles. Article 210, including ground fault protection at 210.8, arc fault protection at 210.12 and dwelling receptacle outlets at 210.52.
8. Special occupancies and equipment. Pools at Article 680 and agricultural buildings at Article 547.

Find each of those by subject in the book DLI hands you and note the number it carries there. We cite section numbers and describe what a rule covers, and we do not reproduce code text or tables.

The Minnesota half

The Laws and Rules Booklet is supplied, which is not the same as free. Reading it cold in a five and a half hour paper costs time you would rather spend on calculations.

Minnesota Statutes chapter 326B and Minnesota Rules chapter 3800 are public law and free to read now. The parts worth knowing before the day are the definitions in 326B.31, the licensing requirements and supervision ratio in 326B.33, and the licensing rule parts in chapter 3800.

Our license pages cover the same ground from the reader's side, with the statute sections named.

What differs by license

The power limited technician paper sits on the same 80 question, five and a half hour shape as the master and journeyworker papers, but the license itself is defined around technology circuits, which Minnesota Statutes 326B.31, subdivision 29 describes as class 2, class 3 or class 4 circuits for remote control, signaling, control, alarm and audio signal.

The maintenance electrician paper is 70 questions and the license is defined around maintaining and repairing. The two 25 question installer papers sit on narrow licenses. DLI does not publish content outlines for any of them, so match your preparation to the scope in the statute.

The lineman paper is a different book entirely. Our practice material is written to the National Electrical Code and does not cover the safety code.

Finding your own weak areas

Guessing at them is slow. Sit something timed and let the score do it.

The free diagnostic runs 24 questions across the main areas and orders them worst first. The timed practice test gives you 30 questions under a clock with the working shown on every miss.

Then take the two worst areas into the topic sets and work them with a clean code book, because a clean book is what you will have on the day.

Questions people ask

Does Minnesota publish an exam content outline?

No. The Licensing Examination Guide gives question counts, a five and a half hour limit and a 70 percent pass mark, and publishes no subject matter outline or weighting for any electrical examination.

How many questions is the Minnesota electrician exam?

Eighty for the Class A master, Class A journeyworker and power limited technician papers, 70 for maintenance electrician, 50 for lineman and 25 for the Class B and satellite system installer licenses.

Is the Minnesota exam open book?

You do not bring a book, but you have one. DLI provides a code book in soft cover format without tabs or other aids, plus a Laws and Rules Booklet, and both may be used during the entire examination.

Are there calculation questions on the Minnesota exam?

The guide allows an electronic calculator during the entire examination, which is the state's own signal that there are. It does not say how many.

Is Minnesota law on the exam?

A Laws and Rules Booklet is supplied for the examination, in the department's current format, representing the laws and rules in effect at the time the examination is administered. Minnesota Statutes chapter 326B and Minnesota Rules chapter 3800 are the underlying material and both are free to read.

What edition are the questions written to?

The 2026 National Electrical Code. DLI states that electrical licensing exams transitioned to that edition beginning September 8, 2026.

What this page cites

• DLI Licensing Examination Guide Every question count, the 5.5 hour limit, the 70 percent pass mark and the list of what may be used during the examination. source
• Minnesota Statutes 326B.31 The scope definitions each examination is built around, including technology circuits or systems. source
• Minnesota Statutes 326B.33 The licensing requirements and supervision rules the Laws and Rules material draws on. source
• Minnesota Rules chapter 3800 The Board of Electricity licensing rules, including examination and experience at 3800.3520. source
• DLI electrical codes and standards The September 8, 2026 examination transition to the 2026 National Electrical Code. source