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Checked against primary sources 2026-09-04
Michigan Master Electrician Exam: 76 Questions, 180 Minutes
The master paper is shorter than the journeyman paper and gives you longer to sit it: 76 questions in 180 minutes, against 80 in 150. The passing score is the same 75 percent, and the extra half hour is the clearest thing the bulletin tells you about how the two papers differ.
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Fewer questions, more clock
The master electrician examination is 76 questions with 180 minutes, and 75 percent passes. The journeyman examination is 80 questions with 150 minutes at the same standard.
Work the two out per question and the gap is wide. The journeyman paper allows just under two minutes an item. The master paper allows a little over two minutes and twenty seconds.
That is roughly a quarter more time on each question for a paper that is four questions shorter. PSI does not explain the difference, but it is a reasonable signal that the master items are meant to take longer to work.
What the outline says the master paper adds
The master and journeyman content outlines name the same fifteen areas: grounding and bonding, overcurrent protection, wiring methods and installations, boxes and cabinets, services, feeders, motors and motor controls, special occupancies, load calculations, lighting, appliances, box and raceway fill, power limited circuits, general electrical trade knowledge, and electrical theory. Services and feeders sit on separate lines, and so do lighting and appliances.
One sentence sets them apart. The bulletin says the master examination covers the additional knowledge required to plan and supervise electrical installations.
That is the whole of the published difference in subject matter. No item counts appear beside either outline, so any weighting you read anywhere is somebody's inference, since Michigan publishes none.
Our own reading of that sentence, which PSI hasn't confirmed, is that master items lean toward the planning and sign-off side of the work. That points your extra study time at load calculations, service and feeder sizing, and the parts of the law that decide who may do what.
Who is eligible to sit it
LARA sets the experience before PSI sets the date. The master electrician license needs you to be at least 22, to have held an electrical journeyman license for at least 2 years and 4,000 hours in that capacity, and to have 12,000 hours over at least 6 years in total.
The Licensing Section approves the application first. Only then does PSI let you schedule, so a master candidate's real timeline starts with the experience affidavit, well before the booking page.
The same four documents, the same clean book
The reference list does not change between the two examinations. The National Electrical Code, 2016 PA 407, 1972 PA 230 and the Michigan Electrical Code Rules Part 8, plus a straight edge rule with no calculations on it.
The marking rule carries over too. The book can't carry highlights, underlining or marks of any type, only factory tabs are allowed on the code book, and the Handbook stays out of the room.
Calculators are on the list of electronic devices that go into storage, and the bulletin does not describe what the workstation gives you instead. Ask PSI on 855-579-4635 before your date.
The fee, and the two attempt limit
The examination fee is $100, not refundable and not transferable, and valid for one year from the date of payment. Time and a half as an accommodation adds $50 per examination and is booked by telephone.
Master candidates are inside the two attempt limit. The bulletin says master, journeyman and sign specialist candidates are limited to two attempts within one year, and that exceeding the limit means reapplying with the state.
The same document also says a failing candidate may retest unlimited. The retakes page carries both sentences and what to do about the conflict.
The edition, and the draft behind it
The master examination is written against the same 2023 National Electrical Code and 2023 Part 8 rules as the journeyman paper, per LARA's examination page. The Part 8 rules adopting the 2023 NEC took effect on 12 March 2024.
Draft rule set 2026-17 LR, dated 19 August 2026, would adopt the 2026 NEC second printing 120 days after filing. Until it is filed the 2023 book is what you carry.
If you are studying from material written for the 2026 book, a handful of section numbers point at the wrong page. Which edition is tested lists them.
Preparing for a paper with no published weighting
Michigan gives you fifteen named areas and no item counts, so a study plan built on weighting is built on a guess. What you do have is a clock: 180 minutes and 76 questions.
This part is our judgment, with no published rule behind it: rehearse all 76 items against the full 180 minutes at least once. An hour of practice after work never tells you what your accuracy does in the third hour, and the master paper is a third longer than the journeyman one.
The study plan lays out four weeks against the open book format, and it separates what is sourced from what is ours.
Questions people ask
How many questions are on the Michigan master electrician exam, and how long do you get?
Seventy six, with 180 minutes to answer them. That is four fewer questions than the journeyman paper and half an hour more time, which works out at a little over two minutes and twenty seconds a question.
What score passes the Michigan master electrician exam, and is the bar higher than the journeyman one?
Seventy five percent, the same standard PSI prints for the journeyman, fire alarm specialty technician and sign specialist examinations. LARA's examination page names 75 percent as the minimum score as well.
What does the Michigan master exam test that the journeyman exam doesn't?
The published outlines name the same fifteen subject areas. The one sentence that separates them says the master examination covers the additional knowledge required to plan and supervise electrical installations. Beyond that, the difference in the published material is the item count and the clock.
What experience do you need before you can sit the Michigan master exam?
LARA requires you to be at least 22, to have held an electrical journeyman license for at least 2 years covering 4,000 hours, and to have 12,000 hours over at least 6 years in total. The Licensing Section approves the application before PSI will schedule you.
How much is the Michigan master electrician exam?
The fee is $100, paid to PSI at scheduling. It is not refundable and not transferable, and it is valid for one year from the date of payment. An accommodation of time and a half costs an extra $50 per examination.
Is the Michigan master electrician exam open book?
Yes, with the same four references as the journeyman paper: the National Electrical Code, 2016 PA 407, 1972 PA 230 and the Michigan Electrical Code Rules Part 8. The book cannot carry highlights, underlining or marks of any type, and only factory tabs are allowed.
How many times can you take the Michigan master exam in a year?
The bulletin limits master, journeyman and sign specialist candidates to two attempts within one year, after which you reapply with the state. It also carries a line saying a failing candidate may retest unlimited. Ask PSI which applies to your own record.
30 free timed items, worked on every miss
Get one wrong and the review lays out the arithmetic, the section it rests on and the trap that caught you. You won't need an account.
The items are written on the 2026 code. Wherever a number moved, the 2023 number Michigan still tests is printed beside it.
What this page cites
- PSI's Michigan candidate information bulletin In effect from 20 August 2026 and read on 4 September 2026. The item counts, time limits, 75 percent passing standard, $100 fee, allowed references, book and conduct rules, attempt limit, score report and test center list cited on this site all come from it. source
- LARA exam and licensing page, Bureau of Construction Codes The state page naming the code each examination is based on and the experience each license calls for. Read 4 September 2026. source
- Part 8 Electrical Code rules, R 408.30801 to R 408.30880 Michigan's adopting rule, which puts the NEC into force in the state and writes in the state's own amendments. Read on the state administrative rules site, 4 September 2026. source
- Draft rule set 2026-17 LR, Part 8 Electrical Code The strike and bold draft dated 19 August 2026 that would move Michigan to the 2026 National Electrical Code. Not filed as of 4 September 2026. source
The book that counts on exam day is your own unmarked copy of the National Electrical Code. Michigan's papers stay open book on the 2023 edition until the PSI bulletin names a newer one.
Every practice item on this site was written here, and none of them came off a real Michigan paper.
Both NEC and National Electrical Code are trademarks registered to the National Fire Protection Association, the body that also holds the copyright in the code.
Trojan Digital Marketing publishes this site on its own. It has no affiliation with NFPA, LARA, the Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes, PSI Services or any licensing authority, and none of them endorses or sponsors it.