Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07
Where the marks are
What Is on the Wisconsin Electrician Exam: By Subject
DSPS does not publish a subject outline, a weighting or a question count for any Wisconsin electrician exam. What it does publish is a reference list, and a reference list is a map if you read it properly.
Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed
On this page
What DSPS does not publish
No DSPS page, DSPS PDF or Pearson VUE handbook we read states how many questions any Wisconsin electrician exam has. There is no published subject outline and no published weighting either.
Question counts circulate for the journeyman and master papers, and they are consistent across independent secondary sources. No official source states them, so we are not going to print them as facts and let you plan against a number DSPS has never confirmed.
What is published is four hours of seat time, a pass mark of 70 percent, an open book format and a reference list. That is enough to work with.
The reference list, read as a subject map
The exam pages introduce the permitted items with a sentence worth noticing: "The exam will cover information listed below." The list is not only a packing list. It is DSPS telling you what the paper draws on.
Item 1 is Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305, Wis. Admin. Code SPS 316 and your printed notes, in one binder. Item 2 is a National Electrical Code book or handbook. Item 3 is up to two printed bound reference books.
So three bodies of material are in scope: the national code, Wisconsin's credential rules and Wisconsin's own changes to the code. Two of those three are Wisconsin specific, and both are free to print.
What SPS 305 covers
SPS 305 is the credentials chapter. Subchapter IV runs from SPS 305.40 Electricians through Terminology, Electrical contractors, the master and journeyman grades, Registered electricians, Electrical apprentices and Reciprocity at SPS 305.47.
The parts most worth knowing cold are the ones that describe who may do what: the nine lawful roles in SPS 305.40, the supervision wording attached to each grade, and the ratio limiting registered beginning electricians on a site.
Around them sit the administrative sections: SPS 305.02 fees, SPS 305.06 terms, SPS 305.07 renewal, SPS 305.08 continuing education and SPS 305.09 examinations. Our license types page works through the credential sections in plain words.
What SPS 316 covers
SPS 316 is the electrical code chapter, and its subchapter IV is titled "Changes, Additions or Omissions to the NEC®". That subchapter is where Wisconsin differs from the national document.
Its subject list runs through branch circuits, branch-circuit and feeder and service calculations, outside branch circuits and feeders, services, grounding and bonding, wiring methods, conductors, boxes and enclosures, nonmetallic-sheathed cable, flexible cords, receptacles, and more. Our SPS 316 page lists the sections with their titles.
Be careful with the older section list, though. CR 26-016 repealed a large part of subchapter IV on September 1, 2026, and the codified chapter text has not caught up. Treat the list as a subject index rather than as current wording, and read what the rule change did.
What open book actually tests
Four hours of seat time, a code book, a binder and up to two reference books. The skill being tested is not recall, it is how fast you can find a rule and read it correctly under time pressure.
That changes how you prepare. Working questions with the book closed teaches you the wrong habit. Working them with the book open, against a clock, teaches the one the paper rewards.
It also means your reference stack should be small and familiar. Two books you have used for a month beat four you bought last week.
The edition question changes what you study
The exam pages still name the 2017 National Electrical Code, and DSPS publishes no date on which that edition stops. DSPS expects exam updates to the 2023 edition to be completed by October 1, 2026, and the trade press reports the change as starting on that date.
Section numbers moved between editions, and we do not hold a record that reaches a 2017 book. Our own material carries the 2026 numbering, and what we hold on the moves compares the 2026 edition with the 2023 one.
So find every rule by subject in your own copy and note the number it carries there. That habit protects you in either edition, and it is the only method that survives an exam date near the boundary.
How to find your own weak areas
Guessing at them is slow. Sit something timed and let the score do the work.
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 your own code book open beside you.
Questions people ask
Does Wisconsin publish an exam content outline?
No. No DSPS page or PDF we read publishes a subject outline, a weighting or a question count for any Wisconsin electrician exam.
How many questions is the Wisconsin electrician exam?
DSPS does not publish a question count. Figures circulate for the journeyman and master papers, no official source states them, and we will not print them as facts.
Is the exam only about the National Electrical Code?
The reference list also names SPS 305 and SPS 316, which are Wisconsin's credential rules and Wisconsin's own changes to the code. Both are permitted in the room and both are examinable subject matter.
How long do I get per question?
That cannot be worked out, because the question count is not published. What is published is four hours of seat time for every electrician examination.
What is the pass mark?
A grade of 70 percent or greater in each part of the examination, under SPS 305.09. Every DSPS electrician exam page repeats it.
Should I study the 2017 or the 2023 code?
It depends on your test date. The exam pages named 2017 on September 7, 2026, and DSPS expects updates to the 2023 edition to be completed by October 1. Learn each rule by subject so the section number matters less.
Thirty free questions, timed, with the working shown
Every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the code section named, so you learn the trap and not just the answer. No account.
All questions here are original. They are not actual exam questions, and no question bank can promise you a pass.
What this page cites
- DSPS Journeyman Electrician exam page The sentence that the exam will cover the information listed, and the reference list itself. source
- SPS 305 subchapter IV The credential sections that are examinable and permitted in the room. source
- SPS 316 chapter contents The Wisconsin amendment subchapter and its section titles. source
- SPS 305.09, examinations The 70 percent pass mark applied to each part of the examination. source
- Pearson VUE trade exam fee schedule Four hours of seat time for every electrician examination. source
- DSPS report to the legislature, CR 26-016 The rule change that repealed part of the SPS 316 amendment subchapter on September 1, 2026. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.