Utah’s contractor exams are administered by Prov for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, and two of them are not what their names suggest. If you are budgeting study time by license title, you can end up preparing for the wrong exam entirely.
The Master Electrician exam is a law exam
This is the one that surprises people. Utah’s Master Electrician written exam is a Rules and Laws paper: 80 questions, 240 minutes, 75 percent to pass, open book. It draws on the 2023 NEC with Utah amendments alongside the DOPL Licensing Act and administrative rules.
A journeyman moving up who prepares as though the master exam is simply a harder technical paper has misread it. The step up is toward regulation, licensing and administration, not toward more conduit fill calculations. The Journeyman Electrician exam, by contrast, is the 100-question technical paper you would expect.
Plumbing exams have a hands-on portion
Both the Journeyman and Master Plumber exams run a 120-question theory paper: 4 hours, 70 percent to pass, open book, against the 2021 IPC as adopted by Utah.
Theory is only part of it. Both licenses also require a separate hands-on practical, and no multiple-choice preparation touches that. Treat them as two different kinds of readiness with two different practice regimes.
The HVAC exam presents more questions than it scores
The Utah HVAC written exam presents 110 items, of which 100 are scored. The other 10 are unscored pilot questions being trialed for future papers. They are not identified during the exam, so you answer everything as though it counts.
The practical consequence is arithmetic: your pass mark is measured against the 100 scored items, not the 110 you see. Candidates who compute their target against the presented total aim higher than the exam requires.
Business and Law is its own exam
Utah requires a Contractor Business and Law paper: 60 questions, 2 hours, 70 percent, open book. It covers Utah construction law under Title 58 Chapter 55 and administrative rule R156-55a, alongside general business content.
It is short, and that is exactly why it gets neglected. Utah-specific statute is a meaningful share of it, so generic national business-and-law material will leave gaps.
The exams at a glance
| Examination | Questions | Time | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor Business and Law | 60 | 2 hours | 70% |
| Journeyman Electrician | 100 | – | – |
| Master Electrician (Rules and Laws) | 80 | 240 minutes | 75% |
| Journeyman Plumber (theory) | 120 | 4 hours | 70% |
| Master Plumber (theory) | 120 | 4 hours | 70% |
| S350 General Mechanical / HVAC | 110 presented, 100 scored | 2 hours | 70% |
All are open book, and the code editions are pinned: 2021 IPC for plumbing, 2023 NEC with Utah amendments for electrical. A newer edition is not a substitute, because section numbering moves between cycles.
Utah exam prep
We build practice exams to the real length, time limit and pass mark of the paper you are actually sitting, with an answer explanation for every question and a full study guide.
- Utah Business and Law Exam Prep
- Utah B-100 General Building Exam Prep
- Utah Journeyman Electrician Exam Prep
- Utah Master Electrician Exam Prep
- Utah Journeyman Plumber Exam Prep
- Utah Master Plumber Exam Prep
- Utah S350 General Mechanical (HVAC) Contractor Exam Prep
Before you register
- Check whether your exam has a practical portion, as both plumbing licenses do.
- Check the presented versus scored counts, since the pass mark applies to scored items.
- Check the code edition named on the current Prov bulletin rather than assuming the newest.