North Dakota Electrician Exam
No Third-Party Testing Centers
Unlike most states, North Dakota doesn't outsource its electrician licensing exams to PSI, Pearson VUE, or any other commercial testing service. The NDSEB administers all exams directly, in person, at its central office: 1929 N. Washington Street, Suite A-1, Bismarck.
There's no online option and no satellite locations. If you're testing in North Dakota, you're driving to Bismarck.
How to Get Your Exam Invitation
You can't just sign up for a test date. The NDSEB uses a board-review process:
- Submit your application package — Form SFN 11858 plus signed, notarized SFN 11845 employment verification forms
- Wait for the board to review your application at one of its scheduled meetings (held roughly every two months in Bismarck)
- If approved, the board mails you an exam invitation listing available dates
- Call the board office to schedule your preferred date
The board meeting schedule for 2026 runs January through November, with dates typically falling on a Wednesday. Testing windows for the second half of 2026 are paired across two consecutive days, such as August 17–18, September 21–22, October 19–20, November 16–17, and December 14–15.
Plan ahead. If the board meets in March but the next available test date isn't until May, you're looking at a two-month gap between approval and testing.
Exam Format
Journeyman, Master, and Class B exams consist of two sections:
- Closed-book portion: 1 hour — covers electrical theory and North Dakota's laws and rules
- Open-book portion: 3.5 hours — covers the National Electrical Code
Power-Limited exam is a single 4.5-hour open-book test.
The passing threshold for all exams is 70%.
The NDSEB provides everything you need at the test site: current National Electrical Code books, calculators, scratch paper, and pencils. You can't bring your own reference materials, code books, or calculators. This is a standardized, controlled environment.
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Retake Rules and Waiting Periods
If you don't pass, your score determines how long you wait before you can file a re-exam application:
| Score | Wait Time |
|---|---|
| 60%–69% | No waiting period |
| 50%–59% | 3 months from exam date |
| Below 50% | 6 months from exam date |
You'll need to pay the testing fee again each time. Since 2012, the NDSEB no longer allows exam reviews — you won't see the questions you missed or get a detailed section-by-section breakdown.
A six-month wait plus the time to schedule the next available date can easily push your retake out by eight or nine months. First-attempt preparation matters.
What to Focus On
The exam tests three knowledge areas: fundamental electrical theory, the current National Electrical Code, and North Dakota-specific laws and rules. The closed-book section is where most candidates are caught off guard — the state laws section covers topics like the 3-to-1 supervision ratio, licensing categories, and SFN 11845 requirements that aren't in any NEC study guide.
For the open-book portion, familiarity with the NEC's structure and index matters more than memorization. You have the book in front of you — the test is measuring whether you can find and apply the right code section under time pressure.
The North Dakota Electrician License Guide includes an exam planning calendar covering the application timeline, board meeting dates, testing windows, and retake scheduling.
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