NH-JE Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt

What You Are Actually Studying For

The New Hampshire journeyman exam is administered through the Electricians' Board under the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC), with testing delivered by Prov, Inc. It is a computer-delivered, multiple-choice written examination: 110 questions in 270 minutes, with a 70% passing score. That works out to roughly two and a half minutes per question, which is generous. Time pressure is rarely the problem. The real challenge is finding answers quickly and accurately in the code book and handbooks you are allowed to bring.

This guide is built around the twelve examination subject headings that appear in the Prov Candidate Information Bulletins for the New Hampshire electrician exams. If you want a broader orientation first, our overview of what the NH-JE exam is and the complete guide to all 12 content areas pair well with this article. For a candid read on difficulty, see how hard the NH-JE exam really is.

The Code-Edition Conflict You Must Resolve First

Before you spend money on a code book or a prep course, you need to know about a discrepancy in the official bulletins. Two Prov Candidate Information Bulletins for New Hampshire electricians describe the journeyman exam differently:

Both bulletins total 110 questions, and ten of the twelve domain allocations are identical. The 2025 bulletin's reference list includes both a 2023 NEC entry and a separate 2020 NEC entry, while the 2026 bulletin specifies the 2020 NEC. Bulletins also generally permit candidates to bring older or newer reference editions, but that permission does not tell you which edition the question bank is written against.

Until you have that confirmation, build your core knowledge on concepts that persist across recent NEC cycles (grounding principles, conductor ampacity logic, motor circuit sizing methods, service and feeder calculations) and defer memorizing edition-specific article numbers. Be skeptical of any commercial course that claims to resolve this question for you; we have not verified paid course contents, and the official bulletins are the authority.

Confirm Eligibility Before You Open a Book

Board approval is required before you test, and your testing eligibility lasts 365 days once approved. That window matters: if you are approved and then study at a leisurely pace, you can run out the clock. Our detailed requirements guide goes deeper, but here is what the retrieved rule text (Elec 304.01) establishes, as republished by Cornell LII rather than pulled from a state-hosted rule file:

Field-experience evidence includes employment dates, type of work, and the supervising master's signature. Gather those signatures early; chasing down a former employer's master electrician at the last minute is one of the most common ways applications stall. Note that some commercial summaries cite 576 schooling hours; the retrieved rule text says 600, so verify against the Board's current materials.

If you hold a license in Massachusetts, check the reciprocity and experience-recognition provisions directly with the Board rather than assuming a transfer. The ten-years-licensed-elsewhere alternative is a different thing from reciprocity, and the Board decides how your out-of-state history is treated.

Mapping the Twelve Domains to Your Study Time

The bulletins publish question counts, not percentage weights, and we have not inferred percentages. Using the 2025.12.12 counts (the 2026.08.06 counts differ only in Domains 1 and 12), here is how the 110 questions are distributed:

The trailing colon in "Branch Circuits and Conductors:" is how the source prints it, so don't be surprised to see it in official documents.

Three observations follow from the counts. First, Domains 1, 3, 8, and 11 together account for 67 or 66 of the 110 questions depending on the bulletin, so they deserve the bulk of your hours. Second, Domains 5, 6, and 7 carry only two questions each, so you should learn their structure and navigation rather than their fine detail. Third, Administrative at 9 or 10 questions is nearly as large as Equipment for General Use, which makes ignoring it a costly mistake.

Deep Dive: The Domains That Decide Your Score

Domain 1: General Electrical Knowledge

Because a simple four-function calculator is permitted at test centers, you should practice doing multi-step calculations on exactly that kind of device. If you have been relying on a scientific calculator with memory functions and parentheses, retrain yourself now. Work problems in a consistent order and write intermediate results on the provided scratch method rather than trusting your head.

Domain 3: Motors and Generators

The central skill is knowing which table or rule governs each step of a motor circuit and not mixing them up. Build a one-page flow diagram: conductor, overload, branch-circuit protective device, disconnect, controller. Then annotate your code book tabs to match it.

Domains 8, 10, and 11: Services, Feeders, and Wiring Methods

Load calculations are the most reliably tested skill across these domains. If you can do a dwelling service calculation cleanly from a floor plan and appliance list, you have already covered a large share of the combined 34 questions in these three domains.

The Administrative Domain Most Courses Skip

Here is a genuine gap in the market. JADE Learning's public New Hampshire exam-prep page explicitly states that its product excludes Administrative topics. We verified that public coverage statement, though we did not access paid course contents, and we have not checked every competitor's coverage. The practical lesson is simple: if you buy a commercial course, confirm in writing whether it covers Administrative, and plan to study it from primary sources if it does not.

The 2025.12.12 bulletin allocates 9 questions to Administrative and the 2026.08.06 bulletin allocates 10. Do not assume either number is current; plan for roughly a tenth of the exam. The bulletins list the references candidates are expected to use, including NH Elec 300-400 and RSA 319-C along with named 2017 state amendments. Those are your Administrative sources.

Because these are open-reference questions, the skill is navigation. Tab the rule parts, highlight the definitions, and practice finding an answer in under a minute. If you want the journeyman-versus-master distinction explained in the context of career progression, our NH-JE training overview is a useful companion.

Building Your Code Book for an Open-Reference Exam

The exam allows printed references, and the rules about what you can do to them are strict. Getting this wrong on exam day can cost you your references, so read the bulletin's reference policy yourself. Based on the bulletin details we retrieved:

Other references named in the bulletins include the American Electrician's Handbook (17th edition) and Ugly's Electrical References (2020). Combine permanent tabs with a consistent color system: one color per domain family is easier to scan under time pressure than one color per article. Highlight the definitions, the table headings you use constantly, and the exception language that changes an answer.

A Ten-Week Domain-Ordered Schedule

This is the only generic-method section in the article, and it is tied directly to the domain counts above. The sequence puts foundational material first because Domains 1, 3, 8, and 11 all depend on it, and saves low-count domains for consolidation. Adjust the pace to your work schedule and your 365-day eligibility window.

Original Practice Questions in the NH Style

The following questions are original teaching items, not copies of live examination content. They illustrate the style: scenario-based, answerable by calculation or code lookup rather than recall. For a larger bank, use the practice test at the main site.

Notice what these questions reward: knowing which source governs the question. That skill is more valuable than raw memorization, and it is what your tabbing system is designed to support.

Registration, Retakes, and Exam-Day Logistics

Once the Board approves you, the mechanics are straightforward. The exam fee is $90 per attempt, including retakes, effective February 1, 2025. Separate state licensing charges are not quantified here because they were not verified; confirm the current figures with the Board. Our certification cost breakdown discusses budgeting, and the exam dates and scheduling guide covers timing.

• Eligibility window: 365 days from approval. Schedule early enough to leave room for a retake.
• Retake interval: a two-day wait between attempts, which makes a quick second try possible but not advisable without a diagnosis of what went wrong.
• Delivery options: Prov test centers or remote delivery through Examroom.ai.
• Calculator: a simple four-function calculator is permitted at test centers; remote system and equipment instructions are separate, so read them before exam day.
• Format check: the exam is 110 questions over 270 minutes. Be wary of any source describing a shorter format.

After You Pass: Renewal and Code-Cycle Education

Passing the exam is the start of a recurring obligation, and two separate requirements are easy to confuse. Both were checked in regulatory republications rather than state-hosted rule files, so verify against current Board materials:

The code-cycle education obligation is separate from biennial licensing, so completing one does not satisfy the other. For the career side of passing, see NH-JE jobs, the salary guide, and whether the certification is worth it. Salary figures are a research topic rather than a promise; no verified earnings amounts are quoted here.

Frequently Asked Questions

For a structured way to find your weak domains, start with a timed run on our practice test platform, then return to the domain breakdown above and adjust your schedule. The NH-JE study guide hub gathers the related resources in one place.