Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05

The certification most people mean

California General Electrician Exam: 100 Questions, 70%

California certifies electricians rather than licensing journeymen, and the General Electrician certification is the one that covers the whole trade. The exam is 100 questions, 4 hours 30 minutes, and 70 percent to pass. Everything below is cited to the state's own pages and to the candidate bulletin.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

What the General Electrician exam is

California doesn't issue a journeyman electrician license. It certifies individuals through the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Electrician Certification Unit, and General Electrician is the broadest of the five certifications.

The rule that requires it is short. Every electrician who makes connections of greater than 100 volt amps while working for a C-10 contractor has to be certified. Sole owners licensed in their own names are outside it, and C-7 and C-45 contractors working inside their own scope are outside it too.

So the exam isn't a formality on the way to a license. It is the credential. If you came here typing California journeyman electrician, this is the page you wanted.

The numbers: 100 questions, 4 hours 30 minutes, 70 percent

The Candidate Information Bulletin and the DIR test information page both give 100 questions and a minimum of 70 percent to pass. Both give 4 hours 30 minutes of testing time.

The older ECU FAQ says 4 hours. The bulletin and the test information page are the newer pages, they agree with each other, and we'd plan against 4 hours 30 minutes while treating 4 hours as the floor you should be comfortable finishing in.

At 100 questions in 270 minutes that's a shade under two and a half minutes a question. Sounds generous until you spend six minutes hunting one table on a screen you've never used.

Who gets to sit it

The hours rule is CCR Title 8 section 291.1, and every hour has to be worked for a C-10 electrical contractor. General Electrician takes 8,000 hours installing, constructing or maintaining electrical systems covered by the National Electrical Code.

Those hours can't all come from one bench. The work has to cover two or more areas, and each area has a ceiling: 300 hours of stock room and material handling, 3,000 residential wiring, 6,000 commercial wiring, 6,000 industrial wiring, 1,500 voice data video, 750 underground conduit, 1,500 troubleshooting and maintenance, 600 finish work and fixtures, 600 fire and life safety and nurse call.

The trainee route is described as 8,000 hours on the job plus 720 hours of related and supplemental instruction. A trainee has to send proof of completing the approved curriculum for the classification with the application, under section 291.2(g). Hours and experience works the counting through in detail.

The 30 days and the one year

The Division has to respond on your eligibility within 30 days of getting a complete application. After that you have one year from the date of the eligibility notice to sit, and the clock doesn't stop because you're busy.

No application gets processed at all unless every required fee comes with it, so a short check sends the whole packet back. Employment history is documented with Social Security Administration Form SSA-7050, which takes its own time to arrive, so start it before you fill anything else in.

What the 100 questions cover

The bulletin publishes the weighting, and it is lopsided on purpose.

• Safety, 6 percent
• Determination of Electrical System Requirements, 22 percent
• Installation, 66 percent
• Maintenance and Repair, 6 percent

Two thirds of the paper is installation. Add the 22 percent on determining system requirements and roughly 88 of the 100 questions are about sizing something and putting it in correctly. Exam content takes each area apart and names the code articles that sit under it.

The books, and why you can't bring your own

This exam is open book in an unusual way. The books are inside the testing system, and the bulletin is blunt that you may not bring or use your own reference materials.

Every candidate gets NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, 2023 Edition, NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, 2024 Edition, and the Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide for the Construction Industry, updated 2022.

That matters more than it sounds. You can't tab a book you've never touched, so the skill being tested is finding a rule in an electronic copy under a clock. Book rules walks through what that changes about how you study.

Who runs it and how you book

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement runs the certification. The exam itself is delivered by CPS HR Consulting through Pearson VUE for exams on or after June 1, 2026. Once the Electrician Certification Unit finds you eligible, an Authorization to Test email arrives from PearsonVUEConfirmation@e.pearson.com and you book your own seat.

You can schedule online any hour of the day at the Pearson VUE ECU page or by phone. The two published phone numbers disagree by one digit: the Candidate Information Bulletin prints (866) 302-9666 and the DIR test information page prints 866-302-9266. If one fails, try the other, and CPS HR answers at ecuexams@cpshr.us or 855-298-4917.

We're an independent study site. We don't run the exam, we don't process applications, and nothing here is approved by DIR or by the vendor.

What it costs

The regulation sets the pieces: a $75 initial application fee and $100 to take or retake the examination, under CCR Title 8 section 292.0. The application instructions print the packaged totals, which is what you actually write the check for.

• One exam, $175, described in the FAQ as $100 exam plus $75 administration, non refundable
• Two exams, $275
• Three exams, $375
• Re-test, $100
• Failed to appear, $100
• Lost or stolen card replacement, $30 per card

Checks are payable to the DIR Electrician Certification Fund. The bulletin adds a line worth reading twice: exam payments are neither refundable nor transferable.

If you don't pass

You wait 60 days from the day you took the exam before you can send in the retest application, then you pay another $100. That's the rule on the bulletin, on the DIR test information page and in the FAQ, and all three agree.

Sixty days is long enough to fix a real weakness and short enough that it stings. Retakes covers the form, the money and what to do with the wait.

How to prepare for it

Start with a timed run so you know where you actually stand, then work the areas that cost you the most points. Our practice test is 30 free timed questions with the arithmetic shown on every miss, and the diagnostic sorts your weak areas into the eight buckets the question bank scores.

After that it's repetition on lookups. The free question sets run 25 questions a topic across 54 topics, and the calculators and labs show the working instead of just the answer.

One honest caveat: our sets are written on the 2026 numbering and this exam supplies the 2023 book. The practice hub names every section where that matters.

Questions people ask

How many questions are on the California General Electrician exam?

One hundred, with a minimum of 70 percent needed to pass. The Candidate Information Bulletin and the DIR test information page both print those figures. Testing time is 4 hours 30 minutes.

Is the California electrician certification exam open book?

Yes, but the books are supplied inside the testing system and you may not bring or use your own reference materials. Every candidate gets the 2023 NEC, NFPA 70E 2024 and the Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide for the Construction Industry updated 2022.

How many hours do I need for the General Electrician certification?

Eight thousand hours worked for a C-10 electrical contractor, under CCR Title 8 section 291.1. The hours have to cover two or more of the named work areas, and each area has its own ceiling.

What does the General Electrician exam cost?

The application instructions print $175 for a single exam, which the FAQ describes as $100 exam plus $75 administration. Two exams are $275 and three are $375. Payments are neither refundable nor transferable.

How long do I have to take the exam after I'm found eligible?

One year from the date of your eligibility notice. The Division has to respond on eligibility within 30 days of receiving your application.

Is there a California journeyman electrician license?

No. California certifies individual electricians instead, and the General Electrician certification is the closest thing to what other states call a journeyman. The C-10 license from the Contractors State License Board is a separate, business level credential.

Can I take the exam in Spanish?

The FAQ says the exam is available in English and Spanish, and the application asks whether you want a Spanish language exam. CCR Title 8 section 291.3 requires the exam in Spanish and other languages as practicable, plus accommodations for disabilities on request.

What this page cites

• Candidate Information Bulletin, Electrician Certification Unit Gives the question count, the testing time, the 70 percent pass mark, the supplied reference books and the 60 day retake wait. source
• DIR ECU test information Repeats the question counts and the minimum of 70 percent, and names CPS HR Consulting delivering through Pearson VUE. source
• CCR Title 8 section 291.1 Sets 8,000 hours for the General Electrician certification and caps each category of qualifying work. source
• CCR Title 8 section 292.0 Sets the $75 application fee and the $100 fee for taking or retaking the examination. source
• ECU application instructions Prints the packaged exam fees and names the DIR Electrician Certification Fund as the payee. source