Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

An open question

Minnesota Exam Format Change: What DLI Has Not Published

One sentence in the Licensing Examination Guide puts a date on the current examination format and then stops. There is no before and after anywhere in the document, and we are not going to invent one.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

The sentence

Quoted exactly from the Licensing Examination Guide:

The examination question format, degree of difficulty and length of examination has been in effect since Sept. 8, 2026.

That is the whole of it. The guide does not say what the format is now, what it was before, or what the difference is.

What the guide does not say

There is no before and after in the document. We read it looking specifically for a description of the change and found this one sentence and nothing else.

Note also what the sentence does not claim. It does not say the format is new. It says the current format has been in effect since that date, which is a date stamp on a specification rather than an announcement of a change.

So there are two readings. Either something changed on September 8, 2026, or the department re-dated a statement that describes what it was already doing. The guide does not tell you which.

What we do know about that date

September 8, 2026 is also the date DLI gives for the examinations transitioning to the 2026 National Electrical Code. The most obvious reading is that the paper was re-cut onto the new edition and the format statement was re-dated at the same time.

That is an inference and no state document says it. We are printing it as a hypothesis, labeled as one, and not as an answer.

What has not changed is everything the guide states elsewhere. Question counts still run 80 for master, journeyworker and power limited technician, 70 for maintenance electrician, 50 for lineman and 25 for the Class B and satellite installer papers. The time allowed is still five and a half hours and the passing score is still 70 percent.

Why an undocumented format change matters

Because preparation is built on format. How many calculation questions a paper carries, whether items are single answer, how the code lookups are worded, all of that decides what practice is worth doing.

A candidate who prepared to an older description of the paper has no way to know whether that description still holds, and no state document tells them.

It also matters for anybody selling study material. A product written to a format nobody has published cannot honestly claim to match it.

How to get an answer

Ask DLI. The examination contacts recorded from the personal electrical license examination application form are 651-284-5034 and [email protected]. A targeted read of the guide itself on September 7, 2026 found no phone number or email inside the guide.

If you get an answer, we would like to see it. Send it to us with the source and we will put it on this page with the date, and log the change on our corrections page.

What to do while it is open

Prepare for what the guide does state, because those parts are not in doubt. Five and a half hours, 70 percent, the question count for your license, the department's own code book with no tabs, and a common desk type calculator.

Then prepare for the edition, since September 8, 2026 is a date we can tie to something concrete. Work the 2026 numbering and check what moved between the two books.

Sitting a timed practice test is still the fastest way to find out how you handle a clock, whatever the item format turns out to be.

Questions people ask

What changed in the Minnesota electrician exam on September 8, 2026?

DLI has not published it. The Licensing Examination Guide dates the current question format, degree of difficulty and length of examination to that day and gives no before and after. We are not going to guess at the answer.

Did the Minnesota exam get harder?

There is no published basis for saying so. The guide names degree of difficulty in the dated sentence but does not describe any change, and no other state document we read covers it.

Did the number of questions change?

The guide states the current counts: 80 for master, journeyworker and power limited technician, 70 for maintenance electrician, 50 for lineman and 25 for the Class B and satellite installer licenses. It does not say whether any of those numbers moved on September 8.

Did the time limit change?

The guide states the current limit as five and a half hours for all examinations and does not say whether it changed. The passing score is stated as 70 percent for all examinations.

Is the format change related to the 2026 NEC?

September 8, 2026 is also the date DLI gives for the examinations transitioning to the 2026 National Electrical Code, so the two are likely to be the same event. That is our inference and no state document states it.

Who can tell me what changed?

DLI. The examination contacts recorded from the personal exam application form are 651-284-5034 and [email protected]. The Licensing Examination Guide itself carries no phone number or email.

What this page cites

• DLI Licensing Examination Guide The source of the dated format sentence, and of every question count, the 5.5 hour limit and the 70 percent pass mark. source
• DLI electrical codes and standards Gives September 8, 2026 as the date the examinations transitioned to the 2026 National Electrical Code. source
• DLI personal exam application The form the examination phone number and email address were recorded from. source
• CCLD licensing fee schedule Confirms which licenses carry an examination fee, which is how we read the guide's reference to a Class B examination. source