What people come here for
Every page below is on this site, and every figure on it carries the board page, the rule or the bulletin it came from.
The path
- California Electrician Questions - Answered and Cited
Twenty California electrician questions answered in the words people search, each one tied to the state rule, the DIR page or the CSLB page behind it.
- California Electrician Trainee Registration - Step by Step
The California electrician trainee registration costs $25, needs enrollment in a state approved school, and is how most people start the 8,000 hour clock.
- How to Become an Electrician in California - Step by Step
How to become an electrician in California: get hired by a C-10 contractor, register as a trainee, build 8,000 hours, pass the certification exam.
- California Electrician License - Certification and C-10
A California electrician license is really two things: a state certification card for the worker from DIR, and a C-10 contractor license from CSLB.
- California Electrician Hours - 8,000 for General Class
California electrician hours by classification: 8,000 for General, 4,800 Residential, 4,000 for the two technician cards and 2,000 for lighting.
The licenses
- C-10 Contractor License California - Experience and Exams
The C-10 electrical contractor license in California takes four years of experience, two exams, a $25,000 bond and workers compensation coverage.
- California Journeyman Electrician - The General Card
California issues no journeyman electrician license. The General Electrician certification is the equivalent: 8,000 hours, a 100 question exam, 70 percent.
- California Electrician Certification Types - All Five
The five California electrician certification types, what each one lets you work on, the hours behind it and the exam that goes with it.
Rules and money
- California Electrician Continuing Education - 32 Hours
California electrician continuing education is 32 hours every three years, from an approved provider or apprenticeship program, plus 2,000 work hours.
- California Electrician Fees - Certification and Renewal
Every California electrician fee in one place: $175 to apply and test, $25 for a trainee, $100 to renew every three years, and the C-10 figures.
- California Electrician License Reciprocity - What Counts
California electrician license reciprocity does not exist for the state certification. CSLB has contractor agreements with five states, on conditions.
- California Electrician License Lookup - How to Verify
How to run a California electrician license lookup: the DIR certification search for cards and trainees, and the CSLB check for contractor licenses.
The exam
- California Electrician Exam Questions - Answered, Cited
Twenty questions about the California electrician exam and the code, each answered in a few sentences and cited to DIR, CSLB or the candidate bulletin.
- California Electrician Exam Book Rules - None Brought In
California electrician exam book rules: the 2023 NEC is supplied on screen, you may not bring your own reference materials, and tabbing rules don't apply.
- California C-10 Electrical Contractor Exam - CSLB Rules
The California C-10 exam is two closed book papers at CSLB, Law and Business plus the trade exam, each 3 hours 30 minutes, booked through PSI.
- California Electrician Exam Content - The Percentages
California electrician exam content outlines for all five DIR certifications, with the published percentages and the code articles each area sits on.
- California Fire Life Safety Exam - 50 Questions, 70%
The California Fire/Life Safety Technician exam is 50 questions in 2 hours 15 minutes at 70 percent, with NFPA 72 and NFPA 170 supplied on screen.
- California General Electrician Exam - 100 Questions, 70%
The California General Electrician exam is 100 questions in 4 hours 30 minutes with a 70 percent pass mark, and the code book is supplied on screen.
- California Nonresidential Lighting Exam - 50 Questions
The California Nonresidential Lighting Technician exam is 50 questions in 2 hours 15 minutes at 70 percent, built on 2,000 hours of lighting work.
- California Residential Electrician Exam - 80 Questions
The California Residential Electrician exam runs 80 questions in 3 hours 30 minutes at a 70 percent pass mark, on 4,800 hours of dwelling work.
- Failed the California Electrician Exam - Retakes and Wait
Failed the California electrician exam? Wait 60 days from the day you sat it, file the retest application and pay $100. The one year window keeps running.
- California Electrician Exam Day - What to Bring and Do
What to bring to the California electrician exam: two original IDs, names matching your registration, thirty minutes early, and no books of your own.
- California Voice Data Video Exam - 50 Questions, 70%
The California Voice Data Video Technician exam is 50 questions in 2 hours 15 minutes at 70 percent, with the BICSI installation manual supplied on screen.
- Which NEC Edition Is on the California Exam - 2023 NEC
The California electrician certification exam supplies the 2023 NEC on screen. Here's what that means and which section numbers differ in the 2026 book.
The code
- California 2028 Electrical Code - The 2026 NEC Cycle
California's 2027 Triennial Cycle will adopt the 2026 NEC into the 2028 Title 24, effective January 1, 2029. Here's the timeline and what moves.
- California Electrical Code Amendments - Title 24 Part 3
California electrical code amendments live in Title 24 Part 3, on top of the 2023 NEC. Here's what the amendment layer is and where local rules add more.
- California Electrical Code - Which NEC Edition Applies
The 2025 California Electrical Code took effect January 1, 2026 and is built on the 2023 NEC. Title 24 Part 3 is the document, and here's the history.
Study
- California Electrician Exam Study Plan - Eight Weeks
An eight week California electrician exam study plan built on the published outline weights, the on screen 2023 NEC and free timed practice.
- California Electrician Practice Questions - Free by Topic
Free California electrician practice questions by topic, with the working and the section shown on every miss, plus a timed practice test and the labs.
- California Electrician Exam Tools - Calculators and Labs
Free California electrician exam tools: eight calculators, six games, four labs and five drills, each showing the working and naming the code section.
Your city
What a person in each of these eight cities does to get licensed, the training programs there, the nearest test center and the local wage.
- Los Angeles CA Electrician License - Classes and Exams
A Los Angeles electrician license is a state certification card, plus a C-10 for contractors. Here are the training programs, exam sites and local pay.
- San Diego CA Electrician License - Classes and Exam Site
A San Diego electrician license means a state certification card, and a C-10 for contractors. Here are the local programs, test center and local pay.
- San Jose CA Electrician License - Classes and Exam Site
A San Jose electrician license is the state certification card. Here are the IBEW 332 apprenticeship, the approved schools, the test center and local pay.
- San Francisco CA Electrician License - Classes and Exam
A San Francisco electrician license is the state card, plus city contractor registration to file permits. Here are the programs, the exams and local pay.
- Fresno CA Electrician License - Classes and Exam Center
A Fresno electrician license is the state certification card. Here are the IBEW 100 training institute, WECA, the college, the test center and local pay.
- Sacramento CA Electrician License - Classes and Exams
A Sacramento electrician license is the state certification card. Here are the IBEW 340 training center, WECA, American River College and local pay.
- Long Beach CA Electrician License - Classes and Exams
A Long Beach electrician license is the state certification card. Here are Long Beach City College, the county rules, the exam sites and local pay.
- Oakland CA Electrician License - Classes and Exam Center
An Oakland electrician license is the state certification card. Here are the Alameda County JATC, Laney College, ABC NorCal, exam sites and East Bay pay.
Hands-on labs
In a lab you drag the conductor, turn the dial or drop conductors into a box, and the page answers with the number it just changed and the code section behind it. All four are free and none of them asks for an account.
- Conduit bending simulator
Offsets, saddles and 90s, worked live.
- Switch wiring lab
3-way and 4-way, drag the wires.
- Box fill lab
Drop conductors in and watch it fill.
- Grounding electrode lab
Build it, bond it, size the GEC.
How it works
- Sit thirty questions against the clock. The practice test is timed and scored by content area. Thirty questions are free, they run with no account and no network, and every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the section named.
- Work the area you lost. The score report names the area you are weakest in. Practice questions by topic holds 54 topics with 25 questions each, free.
- Open the bank when the free set runs out. $79 once opens the other 470 questions and the seven remaining rungs of the calculation ladder. One payment, no subscription, no account, and no email address on file with us.
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
- DIR Electrician Certification Unit The five certification types and who has to hold one. source
- CCR Title 8 section 291.1 The hours each certification asks for and the caps on each kind of work inside them. source
- ECU Candidate Information Bulletin Question counts, times, the 70 percent pass mark and the 2023 code supplied at the test center. source
- Building Standards Commission, 2025 codes The 2025 California Electrical Code, effective 1 January 2026. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.