Short answer: California’s electrician certification exam changed hands on June 1, 2026. You can no longer bring your own tabbed code book, but you are not testing from memory. The required references are searchable PDFs inside the testing system. Your book stays in the truck.
CPS HR and Pearson VUE now handle the exam process
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Electrician Certification Unit has contracted with CPS HR Consulting to support and administer five exams: General Electrician, Residential Electrician, Fire/Life Safety Technician, Non-Residential Lighting Technician, and Voice Data Video Technician.
The official Candidate Information Bulletin carries CPS HR and DIR/Division of Labor Standards Enforcement branding and is dated “Published: July 2026.” DLSE says the new procedures apply to exams taken on or after June 1, 2026.
The order matters.
- You apply to DLSE.
- DLSE approves your eligibility and issues an eligibility notice.
- CPS HR contacts you with scheduling instructions, expected within 1 to 2 business days.
- You schedule through Pearson VUE at www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/ecu.html or (866) 302-9666.
Add [email protected] to your contacts or allow the sender. Your one-year eligibility clock is already running while that email sits in spam.
DIR controls eligibility. Not CPS HR. Not Pearson VUE. Send eligibility questions to [email protected] or call (510) 286-3900. CPS HR can be reached at [email protected] or (855) 298-4917.
At the time of writing, the DIR Electrical Trade page carrying the June 1, 2026 notice also displays the previous vendor’s PSI scheduling number, (888) 818-5831, labeled “To Schedule Exams.” A PSI candidate bulletin also remains reachable online. Both the old and the new contact paths are visible right now. CPS HR and Pearson VUE are the current path for exams taken on or after June 1, 2026. If you are unsure which applies to you, call DIR ECU at (510) 286-3900, because DIR controls eligibility.
Your code book has been replaced by searchable PDFs
The bulletin is direct: “During your exam, all required reference materials will be available directly within the testing system. You will not be permitted to bring or access any outside materials.”
For the General Electrician exam, the system provides:
- NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2023 Edition
- NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, 2024 Edition
- CAL/OSHA Pocket Guide for the Construction Industry, updated 2022
The NEC on the screen is the 2023 edition. That is the same edition underpinning the 2025 California Electrical Code now in force, including provisions such as 215.18 surge protection for feeders.
It is not the 2026 NEC. If you are studying 2026 NEC material to pass this exam, you are on the wrong edition for this purpose. The 2026 NEC arc flash labeling changes still tell you where the code is heading, but they are not a substitute for the edition sitting on your exam screen.
The question appears on the right. Reference links appear on the left. Clicking one opens a PDF with zoom controls and a search tool available through the magnifying glass icon or Ctrl+F.
You can open several at once, resize them, and drag them by their title bars. They open stacked on top of one another. When you move to a new question you have to reopen them, though a reopened PDF returns to the same page and size you left it at.
That changes how you prepare. Tabbing and highlighting a physical book does nothing for you at the test center. The transferable skill is knowing which article to go to and finding the words fast with Ctrl+F. Lean on a reference for every question and reopening those PDFs will burn your clock.
Installation is 66 percent of the General Electrician exam
The General Electrician exam has 100 questions and allows 4 hours and 30 minutes. The content breaks down this way:
- Safety: 6 percent
- Determination of Electrical System Requirements: 22 percent
- Installation: 66 percent
- Maintenance and Repair: 6 percent
Installation is two thirds of the test. This is not a law-and-business exam. The 22 percent system-requirements slice is also a clear reason to work through load calculations, keeping the exam’s 2023 NEC edition in mind as you do.
The bulletin notes questions may also be based on trade knowledge or general industry practices. You need a minimum score of 70 percent to pass. Your score report comes immediately at the testing center, and you can print copies from your online account.
The one-year clock can cost you both fees
You must take the exam within one year from the date of your eligibility notice. Miss that and you submit a new application and pay the application and testing fees again. Both of them.
The initial certification application is $75. Taking or retaking the examination is $100. Exam payments are neither refundable nor transferable.
Rescheduling has to happen more than 48 hours before the appointment, through your Pearson account or by calling (866) 302-9666. The bulletin’s own example: an exam set for July 3 at 2:30 pm must be changed before July 1 at 2:30 pm. Inside that window you cannot reschedule at all.
Arrive at least 30 minutes early. If you arrive after your scheduled start time, miss the appointment, or fail to complete the security check-in, your registration is voided and you forfeit the examination fee.
If you fail, you wait 60 days from the day you took the exam before sending in a re-test application, and you send another exam fee with it.
Renewal is $100, but renewal of a lapsed or expired card is $200. Certification renews every three years and takes 32 hours of continuing education from an approved California provider beforehand, which is why it pays to track the two separate renewal clocks rather than pay double after a lapse.
An ID mismatch stops you at the door
Bring two original, valid IDs. Photocopies and digital IDs are not accepted. Your first and last name on both IDs must exactly match the first and last name you used to register for the exam.
The primary ID must be government-issued and show your first name, last name, a recent recognizable photo, and a signature. The secondary ID does not have to be government-issued, but it must be original and valid, and show either your name and signature or your name and a recent photo. A signed credit or debit card, an employee ID, or a school ID can work.
Show up without IDs that meet those requirements and you will not test. Your registration is voided, you forfeit the fee, and you reapply with DLSE.
Leave the rest in the truck. No notes, books, calculators, pens, or pencils. No phone, smart watch, or AI glasses, which are named in the bulletin and tell you how recently it was written. The system gives you an on-screen calculator. Your car keys and your two IDs are all you need to carry in.
Change your prep and your checklist now
Study the 2023 NEC, not the 2026 edition, and practice finding articles by searching a PDF instead of reaching for physical tabs. Confirm the Pearson email actually arrived, schedule well before the one-year deadline, and put the 48-hour reschedule cutoff on the calendar the day you book.
Before anyone leaves for a test center, read the exact first and last name on the registration against both original IDs. Then get there 30 minutes early with the keys and those two IDs, and nothing else.
