An electrician in San Antonio has worked under the same master for years and wants to start bidding work in their own company name. They search for a “Texas electrical contractor exam” and find nothing, because there is not one.
Here is the plain answer. In Texas, the Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) licenses the people and the business separately. People earn the Journeyman Electrician license, then the Master Electrician license, and each of those has a PSI exam. The Electrical Contractor license is the business license. It has no exam. Instead, the business must employ a Master Electrician of record, carry the required liability insurance, and settle its workers’ compensation status.
So the real path to running your own shop is journeyman, then master, then the contractor license, or hiring a master to qualify the business. Everything below is checked against TDLR’s pages and the current PSI candidate bulletin, both read today.
The path at a glance
- Journeyman Electrician: 7,000 hours of supervised on-the-job training to test, 8,000 to be licensed. PSI exam in two portions.
- Master Electrician: a Journeyman Electrician license held at least two years, plus 12,000 hours of supervised training. PSI exam in two portions.
- Electrical Contractor: no exam. A Master Electrician of record, liability insurance and a workers’ compensation filing.
Step 1: Journeyman Electrician
Hours and application
TDLR’s journeyman application page says you need at least 7,000 hours of on-the-job training under a Texas-licensed Master Electrician to apply. That lets you take the exam before you reach the 8,000 hours required for the license itself.
Each master who supervised you signs an Experience Verification Form. You apply by mail with a non-refundable $30 application fee. Once TDLR approves the application, you are cleared to test.
The exam
PSI gives the journeyman exam in two separate portions, and you must pass each one at 70 percent. The current PSI candidate bulletin, updated September 15, 2026, lists:
- NEC Knowledge portion: 59 items, including 3 non-scored, in 130 minutes.
- Calculations portion: 26 items, including 2 non-scored, in 110 minutes.
Time does not roll over. Finishing the knowledge portion early does not add minutes to the calculations portion. The exam fee is $78 for both portions, and a retake is also $78.
The biggest knowledge blocks are Branch Circuits and Conductors, Wiring Methods and Materials, and Equipment and Devices, at 10 items each. Our Texas Electrical Journeyman exam prep follows the two-portion format.
The code book changed on September 1, 2026
The bulletin says that effective September 1, 2026, the exams are referenced to the 2026 National Electrical Code. If you studied from a 2023 NEC, switch books now. Questions are based on the edition TDLR has adopted.
What you can bring
- Allowed: any soft-bound edition of the NEC, highlighted, underlined or with notes added before the exam.
- Tabs: only permanent index tabs made or supplied by the NEC publisher. Homemade or third-party tabs are not allowed.
- Not allowed: loose-leaf, spiral-bound or ring-bound copies, the NEC Handbook, and any extra paper.
- Provided: an electronic notepad.
Show up with homemade tabs and PSI gives you three choices: test without the book, pull the tabs off on the spot, or forfeit the fee and come back another day.
Step 2: Master Electrician
Eligibility
TDLR’s master application page says you must have held a Journeyman Electrician license for at least two years and show 12,000 hours of on-the-job training under a Texas-licensed Master Electrician. Journeyman Industrial Electrician experience does not count toward it. The application fee is $45.
Applicants have one year from the date TDLR receives the application to meet every requirement, including passing the exam, according to TDLR’s exam information page.
The exam
The master exam is also two portions at 70 percent each:
- NEC Knowledge portion: 75 items, including 5 non-scored, in 150 minutes.
- Calculations portion: 33 items, including 3 non-scored, in 170 minutes.
The fee is $78 for both portions, with a $78 retake. The same book rules apply. See our Texas Master Electrician exam prep.
Step 3: The Electrical Contractor license
TDLR’s FAQ says contractor licenses do not require examinations. The requirements on the Electrical Contractor application page are structural:
- Master Electrician of record: the business must employ one. The master can also be the owner.
- One business per master: a master may be assigned to only one Electrical Contractor, unless they own more than 50 percent of the business.
- Liability insurance: at least $300,000 per occurrence and $600,000 aggregate for property damage and bodily injury combined, plus $300,000 aggregate for products and completed operations.
- Workers’ compensation: proof of coverage, a certificate of authority to self-insure, or an election not to carry it, filed online with the Texas Department of Insurance.
- Application fee: $110, non-refundable.
If your master leaves
You must notify TDLR and name a new Master Electrician of record within thirty business days of the separation. Plan for this before it happens. A one-master shop is one resignation away from a deadline.
Renewal and continuing education
TDLR says electrician licenses are valid for one year and renew annually. Individual electricians have continuing education requirements to renew, set out on TDLR’s continuing education page. TDLR’s FAQ says contractors are not required to complete continuing education. The master of record still is, as an individual electrician.
How to prepare for a two-portion exam
Splitting knowledge from calculations changes how you should study. A single blended score used to let strong code lookup cover for weak math, or the other way around. Now each portion has to clear 70 percent on its own.
- Find your weak portion first. Take a timed practice test of each portion separately. The diagnostic report PSI gives after a fail breaks results down the same way, so it pays to know before test day.
- Practice knowledge questions with the book, against the clock. The journeyman knowledge portion gives you a little over two minutes per item. That is enough for a lookup, not for reading an article end to end.
- Practice calculations without the shortcuts you use at work. The outline covers service and feeder load calculations, branch circuits, conductors and motors. A missed step there costs the whole question.
- Tab a clean 2026 NEC with publisher tabs and add your highlighting and notes well before the exam. Nothing can be marked once the session starts.
- Book the exam after you are approved, and keep the one-year application window in mind for the master license.
Mistakes that slow people down
- Studying the wrong NEC. The exam moved to the 2026 edition on September 1, 2026.
- Bringing a spiral-bound code book or homemade tabs.
- Treating the two portions as one exam. Each needs 70 percent, and the clocks are separate.
- Counting industrial hours toward master. TDLR does not accept them.
- Starting a contracting business on a master who works for someone else. Unless they own more than half your company, they cannot qualify two businesses.
Questions electricians ask
Can I get the contractor license without being a master?
Yes, if your business employs a Master Electrician of record. The license belongs to the business, and the master qualifies it.
Can I take the journeyman exam before 8,000 hours?
Yes. TDLR lets you apply and test at 7,000 documented hours, but the license is not issued until you reach 8,000.
Where do these figures come from?
From the TDLR pages and the PSI bulletin linked above. Our page on how we source our exam facts explains how we check them.
Next step
Pick your exam on our Texas exam prep page and study from the 2026 NEC from day one.