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Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

No outline exists

What Is on the Colorado Electrician Exam: By Subject

Colorado publishes no examination content outline. Not on the Board's site, not on DORA's, not in the PSI bulletin. Rather than invent one, this page shows what can be worked out from the documents that do exist and labels our own judgment as ours.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

On this page
  1. What the state publishes about content, which is nothing
  2. What the format does tell you
  3. The subjects the state names elsewhere
  4. Our study order, labelled as ours
  5. Do not assume it is only code
  6. The edition the questions come from
  7. How to find your own weak subjects
  8. Questions people ask
  9. What this page cites

What the state publishes about content, which is nothing

We looked. There is no subject matter scope, no list of areas, and no weighting on any Board, DORA or PSI page we read.

Board rule 3 CCR 710-1.8.B goes the other way and treats the content and answers of examinations as proprietary property, with discipline available against a licensee or registrant who discloses examination content. Rule 1.8.D says examinations shall not be subject to review by candidates.

So the state's position is closer to secrecy than to publication. Any site showing you a Colorado content outline with percentages should be asked where it came from.

What the format does tell you

Four things, and all four are published.

Ninety scored items. Two hundred and forty minutes. Sixty three correct to pass, which is 70 percent. And a code book supplied at the desk that you may not mark.

Read those together and the paper is testing lookup under time pressure as much as recall. Two minutes forty seconds a question is generous for a rule you can find and hopeless for one you cannot.

The pass mark also tells you something about strategy. Twenty seven wrong answers are survivable. A subject you have to reason from first principles every time is not.

The subjects the state names elsewhere

Colorado does name subjects in one place, and it is the continuing education rule rather than the exam.

The five competencies are grounding and bonding, National Electrical Code changes with a four hour minimum, wiring methods, theory and calculations, and safety related to the electrical industry with a four hour cap.

That is not an exam outline and we are not presenting it as one. It is the state's own list of what an electrician's knowledge is made of, published by the same Board that approves the examinations, and it is the closest thing to a Colorado subject list that exists.

Our study order, labelled as ours

This ordering is ours. It follows where trade exam candidates lose marks, not any published Colorado weighting.

  1. Grounding and bonding. The state names it first among its competencies too.
  2. Conductor sizing and ampacity, including correction and adjustment and the termination temperature rules.
  3. Branch circuit, feeder and service calculations. The arithmetic that carries the most marks per question.
  4. Overcurrent protection, including transformer and motor circuit protection, which use different rules from each other.
  5. Boxes, conduit bodies and raceway fill. Fast marks when you know the tables, slow when you do not.
  6. Wiring methods and materials. Named in the state competencies.
  7. Motors, where sizing, overload and short circuit protection each come from a different place.
  8. Special occupancies and special equipment. The chapters people leave until last and then meet in the room.

Every one of those is a subject rather than a section number, which is deliberate. Colorado hands you a book you have never opened, so subject navigation is the skill, not number recall.

Do not assume it is only code

We cannot tell you whether Colorado law and rules appear on the paper, because nothing published says either way.

What we can say is that the Colorado material worth knowing is short and free: the license grades and their statutory scopes, the supervision ratio, the apprentice registration duties, the renewal cycle and the continuing education requirements. That is Article 115 and 3 CCR 710-1.

Reading it costs an evening and it makes you better at the job regardless of whether a question comes up. Start at the license types page and the hours page.

The edition the questions come from

Since August 1, 2026, all examination questions are consistent with the 2026 National Electrical Code book, and PSI supplies that book with a formula page.

So a section number you learned from the 2023 edition needs re-checking in a 2026 copy. We do not publish an article by article list of what moved, because our Colorado source file does not carry one, and the edition change page explains that decision.

Our topic sets are written to the 2026 numbering, which matches what will be in front of you.

How to find your own weak subjects

Guessing is the slow way. Sit something timed and let the score sort it out.

The free diagnostic runs 24 questions across the main subjects and ranks them worst first. The timed practice test gives 30 questions under a clock with the working shown on every miss.

Then work the bottom two subjects in the topic sets with a clean code book open. Since a Colorado failure comes back as one word, the diagnosis has to happen before you sit, not after.

Questions people ask

Does Colorado publish an exam content outline?

No. No subject list or weighting appears on any Board, DORA or PSI page we read, and Board rule treats examination content as proprietary property.

How many questions and how long?

90 scored items in 240 minutes, plus 30 extra minutes for non-scored items, up to 7 of them on the residential wireman paper and up to 10 on the other three. The pass mark is 63 correct out of 90.

Is the Colorado exam only about the NEC?

Nothing published says either way. PSI supplies a code book and a formula page, and no reference list beyond that appears in the bulletin.

What subjects does Colorado name anywhere?

In the continuing education rule: grounding and bonding, National Electrical Code changes, wiring methods, theory and calculations, and safety related to the electrical industry. That is a CE list, not an exam outline.

What is the Colorado exam pass rate?

No figure is published by the Board, DORA or PSI, and the state's regulatory review archive lists no State Electrical Board review that might carry one. Treat any published rate as unsourced.

Which edition are the questions written to?

The 2026 National Electrical Code, since August 1, 2026. PSI supplies that book at the test center and you cannot bring your own.

Put it to the test

Thirty free questions, timed, with the working shown

Every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the code section named, so you learn the trap and not just the answer. No account.

Start the free practice testSee the $79 question bank

All questions here are original. They are not actual exam questions, and no question bank can promise you a pass.

What this page cites

If your notes still say 2023

The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.

NEC and National Electrical Code are registered trademarks of the National Fire Protection Association.

Trojan Digital Marketing is an independent company. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NFPA, the Colorado State Electrical Board, PSI, or any licensing authority, school or union.

The Colorado examinations are open book only in the sense that PSI puts a book on the desk. PSI provides the National Electrical Code and a formula page at the test center, bars writing, highlighting, underlining and indexing on them, and allows no other materials. The questions have followed the 2026 edition since 1 August 2026, and the 2023 book is provided on request until 1 November 2026.

All practice questions are original. They are not actual exam questions.

Built and maintained by Jeff Clerisier, Trojan Digital Marketing.

Every rule here is cited to the section it comes from, and corrections are logged in public with the date. This is study material rather than electrical advice, and it does not replace your own code book or your inspector.

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