Free practice test — 12 questions with full explanations
Original CraftPATH practice questions. These are not real exam questions. Every answer includes the reasoning, why each wrong option fails, the code area it comes from, and the misconception it targets.
Question 1. A continuous lighting load draws 44 amperes for more than three hours. What is the minimum standard overcurrent device rating for the branch circuit?
Branch Circuits, Feeders, and Calculations · Medium · Objective: Apply the continuous-load multiplier when sizing an overcurrent device.
- A. 45 amperes
- B. 50 amperes
- C. 55 amperes
- D. 60 amperes (correct)
Correct answer: D. 60 amperes
Why this is right: Continuous loads are multiplied by 125 percent before the overcurrent device is selected. 44 x 1.25 = 55 amperes, and 55 is not a standard rating, so the next standard device above the calculated value is 60 amperes.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. 45 amperes — 45 amperes ignores the continuous-load multiplier and would be undersized.
- B. 50 amperes — 50 amperes is below the calculated 55-ampere minimum.
- C. 55 amperes — 55 amperes is the calculated value but is not a standard overcurrent device rating, so you move up to the next standard size.
Where this shows up on the job: Warehouse and retail lighting runs all day, so this two-step calculation decides the breaker on nearly every lighting feeder you install.
Code reference: NEC Article 210 continuous-load provisions and Article 240 standard device ratings
Common misconception: Stopping at the calculated value instead of moving to the next standard device rating.
Question 2. A THHN copper conductor is rated 90°C, but the breaker and lug terminations on both ends are listed for 75°C. Which ampacity column governs the final conductor sizing?
Conductors and Overcurrent Protection · Hard · Objective: Recognize the terminal temperature limitation on final ampacity.
- A. The 60°C column
- B. The 75°C column (correct)
- C. The 90°C column
- D. Whichever column produces the largest ampacity
Correct answer: B. The 75°C column
Why this is right: The conductor's final ampacity is limited by the lowest temperature rating of any connected termination, conductor, or device. With 75°C terminations, the 75°C column governs even though the insulation itself is rated 90°C.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. The 60°C column — The 60°C column applies where terminations are listed only for 60°C, which is not the case here.
- C. The 90°C column — The 90°C column may be used for applying adjustment and correction factors, but it cannot be the final governing ampacity when the terminations are rated lower.
- D. Whichever column produces the largest ampacity — Ampacity selection is a limitation, not an optimization — you take the most restrictive value, not the largest.
Where this shows up on the job: Nearly all standard breakers and panel lugs are listed at 75°C, which is why the 90°C column almost never sets your final wire size in the field.
Code reference: NEC Article 110 termination provisions and Article 310 ampacity tables
Common misconception: Believing that buying 90°C-rated wire lets you use the 90°C ampacity.
Question 3. What is the primary purpose of the equipment grounding conductor in a branch circuit?
Grounding and Bonding · Medium · Objective: Distinguish grounding from bonding.
- A. To carry normal load current back to the source
- B. To provide a low-impedance fault-current path so the overcurrent device opens (correct)
- C. To reduce voltage drop on long runs
- D. To connect the neutral bar to the enclosure at every panel
Correct answer: B. To provide a low-impedance fault-current path so the overcurrent device opens
Why this is right: The equipment grounding conductor exists to give ground-fault current a low-impedance path back to the source so enough current flows to trip the overcurrent device quickly. Its job is clearing faults, not carrying load.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. To carry normal load current back to the source — That is the grounded (neutral) conductor's job. The equipment grounding conductor carries current only during a fault.
- C. To reduce voltage drop on long runs — Voltage drop is managed by conductor size and circuit length, not by the grounding conductor.
- D. To connect the neutral bar to the enclosure at every panel — Neutral and ground are bonded together only at the service disconnect or at a separately derived system, never at downstream subpanels.
Where this shows up on the job: Every nuisance shock complaint on metal equipment traces back to a grounding path that was too high-impedance to trip the breaker.
Code reference: NEC Article 250, equipment grounding and fault-current path provisions
Common misconception: Thinking earth itself is the fault-clearing path. Dirt is far too resistive to trip a breaker.
Question 4. Under Texas licensing law, what does a journeyman electrician license authorize the holder to do?
Texas Law, Rules, and Safety · Easy · Objective: Identify the scope of a Texas journeyman electrician license.
- A. Contract directly with property owners for electrical work
- B. Perform electrical work as an employee under the supervision of a master electrician (correct)
- C. Pull permits in the licensee's own name anywhere in the state
- D. Design and stamp electrical engineering drawings
Correct answer: B. Perform electrical work as an employee under the supervision of a master electrician
Why this is right: A journeyman license authorizes performing electrical work as an employee under the supervision of a licensed master electrician. Contracting requires an electrical contractor license held by or tied to a master electrician.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. Contract directly with property owners for electrical work — Contracting for electrical work requires an electrical contractor license, not a journeyman license.
- C. Pull permits in the licensee's own name anywhere in the state — Permit authority flows from the licensed contractor and the local jurisdiction, not from the journeyman credential itself.
- D. Design and stamp electrical engineering drawings — Sealing engineering drawings requires a licensed professional engineer.
Where this shows up on the job: Journeymen who take side jobs directly for homeowners are the most common enforcement complaint TDLR receives.
Code reference: Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305 and 16 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 73
Common misconception: Assuming a journeyman license and a contractor license are the same credential.
Question 5. When sizing the branch-circuit conductors for a single continuous-duty motor, which current value must be used?
Motors, Controls, and Transformers · Hard · Objective: Size motor branch-circuit conductors correctly.
- A. The motor nameplate full-load amperes
- B. The full-load current from the applicable NEC motor table, multiplied by 125 percent (correct)
- C. The locked-rotor current
- D. The service-factor amperes stamped on the nameplate
Correct answer: B. The full-load current from the applicable NEC motor table, multiplied by 125 percent
Why this is right: Conductors for a single continuous-duty motor are sized at 125 percent of the full-load current taken from the NEC motor tables, not from the nameplate. Nameplate current is used for overload protection sizing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. The motor nameplate full-load amperes — Nameplate amperes govern overload device selection, not branch-circuit conductor sizing.
- C. The locked-rotor current — Locked-rotor current is used for short-circuit and disconnect considerations, not conductor ampacity.
- D. The service-factor amperes stamped on the nameplate — Service-factor amperes affect overload selection, not the conductor calculation.
Where this shows up on the job: Motor circuits are the most common place an inspector catches an undersized conductor, because the two current values on the job are easy to swap.
Code reference: NEC Article 430 motor conductor and full-load current provisions
Common misconception: Assuming the nameplate is always the authoritative number for every motor calculation.
Question 6. What is the maximum permitted conductor fill, as a percentage of raceway cross-sectional area, for a conduit containing more than two conductors?
Wiring Methods and Materials · Medium · Objective: Apply raceway fill limits.
- A. 31 percent
- B. 40 percent (correct)
- C. 53 percent
- D. 60 percent
Correct answer: B. 40 percent
Why this is right: For more than two conductors in a raceway, the maximum fill is 40 percent of the raceway's internal cross-sectional area. One conductor is 53 percent and two conductors is 31 percent.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. 31 percent — 31 percent is the limit for exactly two conductors.
- C. 53 percent — 53 percent is the limit for a single conductor.
- D. 60 percent — 60 percent is a nipple allowance for raceways not exceeding 24 inches, not the general rule.
Where this shows up on the job: Fill limits are why a pipe you can physically stuff full still fails inspection — the limit is about heat and pulling tension, not whether the wire fits.
Code reference: NEC Chapter 9, conduit fill tables and notes
Common misconception: Treating fill as a physical-fit question rather than a code calculation.
Question 7. Using the standard dwelling-unit calculation, what is the general lighting load for a 2,400 square-foot dwelling before demand factors are applied?
Branch Circuits, Feeders, and Calculations · Medium · Objective: Calculate dwelling-unit general lighting load.
- A. 4,800 volt-amperes
- B. 7,200 volt-amperes (correct)
- C. 8,400 volt-amperes
- D. 9,600 volt-amperes
Correct answer: B. 7,200 volt-amperes
Why this is right: The standard dwelling-unit general lighting load is calculated at 3 volt-amperes per square foot. 2,400 x 3 = 7,200 volt-amperes before demand factors.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. 4,800 volt-amperes — 4,800 volt-amperes uses 2 volt-amperes per square foot, which is not the dwelling-unit value.
- C. 8,400 volt-amperes — 8,400 volt-amperes uses 3.5 volt-amperes per square foot.
- D. 9,600 volt-amperes — 9,600 volt-amperes uses 4 volt-amperes per square foot.
Where this shows up on the job: This number starts every residential service-size calculation you will ever run, including panel upgrades and additions.
Code reference: NEC Article 220 general lighting load provisions
Common misconception: Including open porches, garages, and unfinished spaces in the calculated floor area.
Question 8. An equipment grounding conductor in a raceway is sized based on which value?
Grounding and Bonding · Hard · Objective: Apply the correct sizing basis for equipment grounding conductors.
- A. The size of the ungrounded circuit conductors
- B. The rating of the overcurrent device protecting the circuit (correct)
- C. The connected load in amperes
- D. The length of the circuit run
Correct answer: B. The rating of the overcurrent device protecting the circuit
Why this is right: Equipment grounding conductors are sized from the table indexed by the rating of the overcurrent device ahead of the circuit, with an upsizing requirement when the ungrounded conductors are increased for voltage drop.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. The size of the ungrounded circuit conductors — Ungrounded conductor size matters only when conductors are upsized, which then requires proportional grounding-conductor increase.
- C. The connected load in amperes — Connected load drives conductor and device sizing, but the grounding conductor table is indexed by device rating.
- D. The length of the circuit run — Length affects voltage drop, which can indirectly require upsizing, but it is not the sizing basis.
Where this shows up on the job: On long runs where conductors get bumped up for voltage drop, forgetting to bump the ground with them is a routine correction notice.
Code reference: NEC Article 250 equipment grounding conductor sizing table
Common misconception: Assuming the ground can always stay the same size when the phase conductors are upsized.
Question 9. Seven current-carrying conductors are installed in a single raceway longer than 24 inches. What adjustment must be applied to their ampacity?
Conductors and Overcurrent Protection · Medium · Objective: Apply ampacity adjustment for multiple current-carrying conductors.
- A. No adjustment is required below ten conductors
- B. The ampacity must be reduced by an adjustment factor for the number of current-carrying conductors (correct)
- C. The ampacity may be increased because the conduit dissipates heat
- D. Only the neutral conductor is derated
Correct answer: B. The ampacity must be reduced by an adjustment factor for the number of current-carrying conductors
Why this is right: Once more than three current-carrying conductors share a raceway longer than 24 inches, an adjustment factor reduces each conductor's allowable ampacity because bundled conductors cannot shed heat.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. No adjustment is required below ten conductors — Adjustment begins above three current-carrying conductors, not ten.
- C. The ampacity may be increased because the conduit dissipates heat — Bundling traps heat; it never increases allowable ampacity.
- D. Only the neutral conductor is derated — The adjustment applies to all current-carrying conductors in the raceway, not just the neutral.
Where this shows up on the job: Home-run pipes stacked with multiple circuits are where derating quietly turns a legal wire size into a violation.
Code reference: NEC Article 310 adjustment factors for more than three current-carrying conductors
Common misconception: Counting a balanced three-phase neutral as a current-carrying conductor when it is not, or ignoring a neutral on a harmonic-heavy load when it is.
Question 10. Nonmetallic-sheathed cable entering a single-gang plastic device box must be secured within what distance of the box, where the box has no internal cable clamp?
Wiring Methods and Materials · Easy · Objective: Recall support requirements for boxes and cables.
- A. 8 inches (correct)
- B. 12 inches
- C. 18 inches
- D. 24 inches
Correct answer: A. 8 inches
Why this is right: Where a nonmetallic single-gang box is used without an internal clamp, the cable must be secured within 8 inches of the box, measured along the sheath.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B. 12 inches — 12 inches is the general securing distance where the box has an internal clamp.
- C. 18 inches — 18 inches is not a securing interval used for this condition.
- D. 24 inches — 24 inches is not the applicable distance for cable entering a device box.
Where this shows up on the job: Rough-in inspection failures are dominated by unstapled cable at device boxes, not by exotic code issues.
Code reference: NEC Article 314 box provisions and Article 334 nonmetallic-sheathed cable securing requirements
Common misconception: Assuming the plastic box's friction fit counts as securing the cable.
Question 11. What condition is a motor overload device designed to protect against?
Motors, Controls, and Transformers · Medium · Objective: Understand motor overload protection versus short-circuit protection.
- A. A bolted short circuit at the motor terminals
- B. Sustained operating current above the motor's rating that would overheat the windings (correct)
- C. A ground fault in the feeder
- D. Voltage surges from utility switching
Correct answer: B. Sustained operating current above the motor's rating that would overheat the windings
Why this is right: Overload devices protect the motor from sustained running current above its rating, which slowly overheats the windings. Short circuits and ground faults are handled by the branch-circuit protective device.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. A bolted short circuit at the motor terminals — A bolted short circuit is cleared by the branch-circuit short-circuit and ground-fault protective device, which acts far faster.
- C. A ground fault in the feeder — Ground-fault conditions are also the branch-circuit device's job, not the overload relay's.
- D. Voltage surges from utility switching — Surge protection is a separate device category entirely.
Where this shows up on the job: Understanding this split is what stops a technician from simply upsizing an overload heater to make a nuisance-tripping motor 'work.'
Code reference: NEC Article 430 overload and branch-circuit protection provisions
Common misconception: Treating the breaker and the overload relay as redundant protection for the same failure.
Question 12. Texas electrical examinations are administered as open-book, code-referenced tests. What does this most change about how a candidate should prepare?
Texas Law, Rules, and Safety · Easy · Objective: Identify how the exam's open-book format changes preparation.
- A. Memorizing every table value becomes the top priority
- B. Preparation should focus on navigating the code book quickly and applying rules under time pressure (correct)
- C. Studying is largely unnecessary because references are allowed
- D. Only state law questions need to be studied
Correct answer: B. Preparation should focus on navigating the code book quickly and applying rules under time pressure
Why this is right: An open-book exam tests retrieval speed and correct application, not recall. Candidates who tab their code book, drill the table paths, and practice timed lookups outperform candidates who try to memorize values.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A. Memorizing every table value becomes the top priority — Memorization has limited value when the tables are in front of you; knowing where they live matters more.
- C. Studying is largely unnecessary because references are allowed — Open-book exams routinely fail unprepared candidates because the time limit punishes slow lookups.
- D. Only state law questions need to be studied — State law is only one domain; the technical code domains carry the bulk of the exam.
Where this shows up on the job: Experienced electricians who fail on the first attempt almost always ran out of time, not out of knowledge.
Code reference: Confirm permitted references and their allowed condition in the current candidate information bulletin
Common misconception: Believing open-book means low-effort.
How to study for the Texas journeyman electrician exam
Start by confirming which code edition your exam uses
Before you buy a single study book, confirm the National Electrical Code edition currently adopted for Texas electrical licensing. Article and table numbers move between editions, and the exam is written against one specific edition. Candidates routinely buy the newest code book on the shelf and then lose time on exam day hunting for rules that sit in a different place than the version the questions were written against. Confirm the adopted edition through TDLR before you spend money, and buy the exact edition the candidate information bulletin names.
Tab your code book like a tool, not a textbook
The Texas exam is open book, which means your code book is a piece of test equipment. Tab the ampacity tables, the conduit fill tables, the box fill provisions, Article 220 calculations, Article 250 grounding, and the Article 430 motor tables. Then practice going from a question's key phrase to the governing table in under fifteen seconds. Write your own margin notes for multi-step calculations — the continuous-load path, the derating path, the motor conductor path — so you are executing a rehearsed sequence rather than reasoning from scratch under a clock.
Drill calculations until the sequence is automatic
A meaningful share of the exam is arithmetic wrapped in code language. The recurring patterns are load calculations, continuous-load multipliers, ampacity correction and adjustment, voltage drop, box and conduit fill, and motor sizing. Work each pattern until you can execute it without stopping to think about the order of operations. The most common failure mode is not a wrong formula — it is applying a correction factor before a termination limitation, or the reverse, and landing on a plausible but incorrect answer that appears in the option list on purpose.
Learn the difference between grounding and bonding cold
Article 250 generates more exam questions per page than almost any other article, and it also generates the most confident wrong answers. Get precise about the vocabulary: the grounded conductor is the neutral, the equipment grounding conductor is the fault-clearing path, bonding ties metal parts together, and grounding connects the system to earth for voltage stabilization and lightning. Once the vocabulary is exact, most Article 250 questions decompose into a table lookup and a single decision.
Study Texas law and rules separately from the code
Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305 and the TDLR administrative rules cover licensing scope, supervision, apprentice registration, renewal, and continuing education. These questions are pure recall and they are free points if you read the statute and rules once carefully. They are also the questions candidates skip in preparation because they feel less like electrical work. Read them, and pay particular attention to which classification may perform and supervise which work.
Build a realistic schedule around timed practice
Six to eight weeks is a reasonable runway for a working electrician. Spend the first two weeks on code navigation and tabbing, the middle weeks on one calculation family per session, and the final two weeks on full timed practice sets under exam conditions with your actual code book. Track which domain your misses cluster in and spend your remaining time there rather than re-reading material you already know. Alternate short daily drills with one longer weekly simulation — retention comes from frequency, and pacing comes from the long sessions.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Texas journeyman electrician practice test free?
Yes. Every question, explanation, and study section on this page is free with no signup and no paywall. A free CraftPATH account only adds saved progress, streaks, and a review queue built from the questions you miss.
Are these real Texas exam questions?
No. Every question is original CraftPATH material written against published exam outlines and National Electrical Code references. Reproducing licensed exam content would be illegal, and memorizing leaked questions does not teach the reasoning the exam actually tests.
Is the Texas journeyman electrician exam open book?
Texas electrical examinations are administered as open-book, code-referenced tests. The exact list of references you may bring and their permitted condition is set in the current candidate information bulletin, so confirm it before exam day rather than relying on what a coworker brought last year.
Which code edition does the Texas exam use?
Texas adopts the National Electrical Code for electrical licensing, with the adopted edition set through state law and TDLR rules. We deliberately do not publish an edition number here because it changes on a cycle. Confirm the current edition with TDLR before buying a code book.
How many hours of experience do I need for a Texas journeyman license?
Texas journeyman eligibility is based on documented on-the-job electrical experience gained as a registered apprentice under the supervision of a licensed master electrician. We do not publish the hour threshold here because it is set by rule and can change — confirm the current requirement and accepted documentation directly with TDLR.
Can a Texas journeyman electrician run their own business?
No. A journeyman license authorizes performing electrical work as an employee under master-electrician supervision. Contracting for electrical work requires an electrical contractor license tied to a licensed master electrician.
How should I use this page if my exam is in a month?
Work all twelve questions with your code book open and time yourself finding each reference. Note which domains you were slowest in, then run the matching topic drills in the CraftPATH electrician question bank daily and one timed full set each weekend.