Texas Master Electrician Exam: What's on the Test and How to Pass It
A complete guide to the Texas Master Electrician license exam — exam format, content areas, business and law topics, and how to study effectively.
Published April 15, 2026
The Texas Master Electrician exam is the highest level of individual electrical licensing in Texas, administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Passing it authorizes you to supervise other electricians, pull permits, and operate as an electrical contractor. It is a significantly harder exam than the journeyman — broader NEC coverage, more complex calculations, and a substantial business and law component.
What the License Authorizes
A Texas Master Electrician license authorizes you to plan, lay out, and supervise electrical work, pull electrical permits, and serve as the responsible master for an electrical contracting business. Unlike a journeyman license, the master license allows you to work independently and supervise other licensed and unlicensed workers. In Texas, an electrical contracting company must have at least one licensed Master Electrician as its responsible party.
Exam Format
- Questions: 100 multiple-choice questions
- Time limit: 5 hours
- Format: Open book — NEC codebook permitted
- Passing score: 70%
- Administered by: PSI at testing centers across Texas
- Cost: $74 per attempt
The master exam is longer and harder than the journeyman exam. The additional questions cover more complex NEC applications and a business and law section that the journeyman exam does not include. Five hours is sufficient time for well-prepared candidates — it is not sufficient for candidates who need to look up basic code requirements.
Experience Requirements
To sit for the Texas Master Electrician exam you must hold a current Texas Journeyman Electrician license and document an additional 12,000 hours (six years) of electrical work experience after obtaining your journeyman license. TDLR requires employer verification of this experience. The total experience requirement from apprentice through master is effectively ten years of documented electrical work.
What the Exam Covers
Advanced NEC Applications
The master exam covers the full NEC at a deeper level than the journeyman exam. Complex load calculations — commercial occupancy demand calculations, optional calculation methods, service sizing for large facilities — are tested at a level that requires both NEC fluency and calculation accuracy. Article 220 (branch circuit, feeder, and service calculations) and Article 430 (motors) are the most calculation-intensive areas. Expect multi-step problems that require applying several NEC tables in sequence.
Special Occupancies
NEC Chapter 5 special occupancy requirements — hazardous locations (Class I, II, III), health care facilities, places of assembly, agricultural buildings, marinas, and temporary installations — are tested at the master level with more depth than the journeyman exam. Know which articles govern each special occupancy and the key requirements that differ from standard installations.
Special Equipment and Systems
Electric vehicle charging equipment, solar photovoltaic systems, energy storage systems, and generators and standby power systems are increasingly tested as these technologies become more common in Texas. Article 625 (EV charging), Article 690 (solar PV), and Article 700-702 (emergency and standby power) appear regularly on recent exam administrations.
Texas Electrical Law and Business
The business and law section is unique to the master exam and catches candidates who prepared only with NEC materials. This section covers TDLR licensing requirements for electricians and electrical contractors, permit requirements and who can pull permits, supervision ratios (how many apprentices a journeyman or master can supervise), continuing education requirements, disciplinary procedures, and contractor business requirements. Study the Texas Occupations Code provisions on electrical licensing and TDLR administrative rules directly — these are the source material for this section.
Plan Reading and Project Management
Master electricians are expected to plan and lay out electrical work from construction documents. Questions covering electrical plan symbols, load schedule interpretation, panel schedule reading, and project sequencing appear on the master exam and not the journeyman exam. Basic familiarity with electrical drawings is assumed.
How the Master Exam Differs from the Journeyman
Journeyman candidates who underestimate the master exam are the most common failure pattern TDLR testing data reflects. The additional difficulty comes from three places: more complex multi-step calculations that require applying several NEC articles in sequence; the business and law section that requires specific knowledge of Texas law rather than NEC; and the special occupancies and special equipment content that appears minimally on the journeyman exam but substantially on the master.
How to Study
Tab Your NEC More Thoroughly
If you tabbed your NEC for the journeyman exam, add tabs for Chapter 5 special occupancies and the Article 690/625/700 series. The master exam will take you to parts of the code your journeyman preparation did not cover. Know where those sections are before exam day.
Study Texas Law Separately
The business and law section requires studying sources other than the NEC. Download the current TDLR electrical licensing rules from the TDLR website. Read the Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305 (Electrical Work). Know the specific supervision ratios, permit requirements, and contractor registration requirements cold — these are fixed facts that should not require a code lookup on exam day.
Practice Complex Load Calculations
The master exam load calculation problems are harder than journeyman problems. Practice commercial load calculations using Article 220 Part III, optional calculation methods, and demand factor applications. Time yourself — a complex load calculation should take no more than 4 minutes including finding the relevant NEC sections.
Review Recent NEC Code Cycles
EV charging, solar PV, and energy storage questions reflect the construction landscape Texas electricians actually work in. These sections of the NEC are updated frequently and exam questions in these areas are increasingly common. Spend dedicated time on Articles 625, 690, and 700-702 even if these topics were not on your journeyman exam.
After You Pass
Your Master Electrician license is renewed annually with 8 hours of continuing education. To operate as an electrical contractor in Texas, you or your business must also obtain a separate Electrical Contractor license from TDLR — the master license alone does not authorize you to contract directly with customers. With a master license you can also mentor journeymen and apprentices, and serve as the responsible master for multiple electrical contracting entities under specific TDLR rules.