Idaho Electrician PSI Exam Scheduling: How to Register and What to Bring

Get Pre-Authorized Through DOPL First

You cannot book your Idaho electrician exam directly through PSI. The process starts at the DOPL Online Services Portal, where you create a customer profile and submit your application with verified work hours or reciprocity documentation. DOPL reviews your file, and only after they confirm your eligibility do they upload your record to the PSI database. Until that upload happens, PSI has no way to schedule you.

This catches people off guard because PSI's website looks like a standalone registration system. It is not — it is downstream of DOPL approval. Allow time for DOPL to review your paperwork and upload your record before PSI can schedule you.

Booking Your Test Through PSI

Once DOPL clears you, log into the PSI testing portal at test-takers.psiexams.com/idcon/test. Create an account, select your exam module (Journeyman, Master, or Contractor), and pick a physical testing center. PSI operates secure facilities in Boise, Coeur d'Alene, and Pocatello. The exam fee is $75, paid directly to PSI at the time of scheduling.

Book your appointment four to six weeks ahead of your preferred date. Boise slots fill fastest, especially during spring and fall licensing pushes. If you need to cancel or reschedule, you can do so through the PSI portal without penalty up to two business days before your appointment. Miss that window and a penalty applies.

Open-Book Rules and Binder Requirements

Idaho's electrician exams are open-book, but the rules around what you can bring are strict — strict enough that unprepared candidates have been turned away at the door.

Your NEC codebook (currently the 2023 edition) must be a printed copy. No digital versions, no photocopied sections. The book must be hole-punched and held in a 3-ring binder. You can use permanent tabs with printed index labels to mark sections, and you can highlight passages with permanent markers. What you cannot use: sticky notes, Post-it flags, loose papers inserted between pages, or handwritten notes anywhere in the book. PSI proctors inspect every binder before the exam begins.

For the Contractor Business and Law exam, the same physical-format rules apply to the DOPL Contractors' Business and Law Reference Manual. Bring it printed and bound in a binder. Silent, non-programmable calculators are permitted for the Contractor exam.

Exam Specifications by License Level

The Journeyman exam has 100 questions and a time limit of 270 to 300 minutes (PSI bulletins vary slightly between publications). Passing score is 70%. The exam covers general electrical knowledge, wiring methods, grounding and bonding, equipment installation, and branch circuit calculations.

The Master exam requires a 75% passing score and runs 270 minutes. It splits into two sections: a code-knowledge portion and a practical calculations portion covering load determinations, system design, and advanced NEC application. This is a meaningfully harder test — the calculation section is where most candidates who pass Journeyman-level material struggle.

The Contractor exam runs 240 minutes with a 70% or 75% passing threshold (verify the current bulletin). It tests Idaho business law, labor regulations, lien laws, contract administration, and trade safety rather than electrical code knowledge.

After the Exam

PSI's computer-based system calculates your score immediately. You walk out with a printed pass/fail report. If you pass, log back into your DOPL account to complete the remaining licensing steps — submitting your final application and paying the license fee. If you fail, you can schedule a retake through PSI by paying another $75 exam fee.

If you are testing under a Provisional Journeyman license, time pressure matters. That credential is valid for an initial six months, and you need to pass the exam or qualify for the one-time six-month renewal within that period. Failing once is recoverable. If you exhaust the initial term and any permitted renewal without passing, the provisional license expires and you cannot keep working under it.

The Idaho Electrician License Guide walks you through the full exam-to-license sequence with a document-assembly checklist that tracks exactly what DOPL needs after you pass.

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