Checked against primary sources 2026-09-04

The published outline

What Is on the Michigan Electrician Exam: Area by Area

PSI publishes a content outline for each Michigan electrical examination and it names the subject areas without an item count beside any of them. Here are the fifteen the journeyman and master papers share, what each one means, and where to find it in the 2023 book you carry in.

Test yourself: free practice questions

The thing to know before you plan around this

Michigan's outline names areas and stops. There is no number of questions printed beside any of them, on any of the four papers.

Several states publish a weighted blueprint and a study plan can be built from it. Michigan does not, so any weighting you read anywhere is somebody's guess dressed up as a fact.

What that leaves you is a list of fifteen areas to be competent in and a clock. On the journeyman paper that is 80 questions in 150 minutes, and on the master paper 76 in 180.

The outline also names the law. All four papers test the Skilled Trades Regulation Act and the electrical code rules. The journeyman, master and fire alarm specialty technician papers name the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act as well, and the fire alarm one names it as it relates to fire alarm systems. Only the sign specialist paper leaves it off. Those acts are 2016 PA 407 and 1972 PA 230, and they are on the reference list you carry in.

Grounding and bonding

Article 250 in both editions. This area runs through everything else, which is why it heads the outline on all four papers.

Michigan amends it. R 408.30871 in the Part 8 rules changes NEC 250.104(B) and requires gas piping systems, corrugated stainless steel tubing included, to be bonded to the service grounding electrode system. That is a Michigan answer rather than a plain code one.

One number to watch if your notes came from a 2026 source: the bar on re-bonding the neutral to ground on the load side is 250.24(B) in the 2026 book (250.24(A)(5) in the 2023 edition Michigan tests on).

Overcurrent protection

Article 240, at the same number in both editions. The standard ampere ratings list at 240.6 keeps its number too, which makes it one of the safer things to drill.

The two lookups that decide most items here are the standard ratings and the small conductor rule at 240.4(D), which caps the device on 14, 12 and 10 AWG conductors regardless of what the ampacity table would allow.

Practice it as a pair with ampacity. An ampacity answer that ignores the small conductor cap is the classic near miss.

Wiring methods and installations

Chapter 3, and the general rules at Article 300 before the individual wiring method articles.

Michigan amends this area too. R 408.30873 changes NEC 334.10 and 334.12(A) for type NM and NMC cable, and the open draft would extend the permitted uses to multifamily dwellings and their detached garages with a fire rating condition on taller structures.

Number to watch: protection against physical damage is 300.6 in the 2026 book (300.4 in the 2023 edition Michigan tests on).

Boxes and cabinets

Article 314 for boxes and Article 312 for cabinets and cutout boxes, in both editions.

Wire bending space is one of the moves: 312.9 in the 2026 book (312.6 in the 2023 edition Michigan tests on). Article 314 itself did not move.

This area and box and raceway fill sit next to each other on the outline, and they are worth studying together because the same table answers both kinds of question.

Services

Article 230 in the 2023 book, and it is one of the areas Michigan changes most. The outline names services on its own, with feeders as a separate area beside it.

R 408.30827 requires the enforcing agency's approval before service equipment on the load side of the meter is energized. R 408.30870 adds an emergency disconnect requirement for one and two family dwellings to NEC 230.85. R 408.30823 bars connection to electricity without a permit and gives the utility a narrow emergency reconnection route with a permit filed the next day.

Those are Michigan rules and the plain code book does not carry them. They are on the reference list because you are expected to look them up.

Feeders

Feeders get a line of their own on the outline rather than sharing one with services, so it is worth studying them apart.

Two different questions live here. One is the size and the protection of the feeder conductors. The other is the calculated load the feeder has to carry, which is Article 220 work in the 2023 book you are carrying.

One number to watch if your notes came from a 2026 source: the dwelling unit load for feeders and services is 120.41 in the 2026 book (220.41 in the 2023 edition Michigan tests on).

Motors and motor controls

Article 430 in both editions, and it holds its own tables rather than sending you to Chapter 9.

The full load current tables at 430.248 and 430.250 keep their numbers, and so do the conductor and overload rules at 430.22 and 430.32 and the device sizing percentages at 430.52.

Motor work is where the arithmetic on this paper concentrates, and it is worth knowing which current goes into which step before you sit. The motor calculator shows each step separately.

Special occupancies

Chapter 5. Hazardous locations, health care, places of assembly, agricultural buildings, marinas, pools and spas.

This is a wide area with no published item count behind it, so the honest advice is breadth over depth. Know which article covers which occupancy and let the book carry the detail.

Chapter 5 is also the part of the book where the general rules in Chapters 1 through 4 get modified, which is the trap. Read the occupancy article before you answer from the general rule.

Load calculations

Article 220 in the 2023 book you are carrying. In the 2026 book this material is Article 120, and Article 220 is empty, so this is the first translation to make if your study material is newer than your code book.

The dwelling general lighting unit loads are the pair to be careful with, because the branch circuit figure and the feeder and service figure are not the same number. The feeder and service figure is 120.41 in the 2026 book (220.41 in the 2023 edition Michigan tests on). The branch circuit figure sits at 120.13 in the 2026 book, and the 2023 book keeps its load calculations in Article 220, so read that one in your own copy rather than carrying a section number across.

Work whole calculations to a final rounded answer with the book open. This is the area where stopping halfway through practice hurts most.

Lighting

Article 410 for luminaires, plus the branch circuit rules that feed them.

Lighting is named on the journeyman, master and sign specialist outlines. It is not on the fire alarm outline.

Clothes closets and recessed luminaires are the recurring shapes, alongside the lighting load a dwelling gets calculated at.

Appliances

Article 422 for appliances, plus the branch circuit ratings that serve them. The outline names appliances separately from lighting rather than pairing the two.

Appliances appears on the journeyman and master outlines only. Neither specialty outline carries it.

The rating of the branch circuit for a fixed appliance, and what the nameplate does to that calculation, are the shapes that keep coming back.

Box and raceway fill

Box fill at 314.16 and raceway fill through Chapter 9, Table 1 for the percentages, Table 4 for the raceway areas and Table 5 for the conductor dimensions.

Chapter 9 is still Chapter 9 in both editions. Inside 314.16, the volume allowance table is a case our crosswalk records as unresolved between the two editions, so read the subsection headings in your own 2023 copy rather than trusting a letter from a newer source.

The box fill calculator and the conduit fill calculator show the counted items and the working rather than only the answer.

Power limited circuits

On the outline for all four papers, and the area where the two editions diverge most, so keep 2026 material away from it entirely.

Three moves we have confirmed. Optical fiber cables are Article 770 in the 2023 book and the cables themselves are Article 722 in the 2026 one. Communications circuits are Article 805 in the 2023 book and that material is spread through the Chapter 7 limited energy articles in the 2026 one. Fire resistive cable systems are Article 728 in the 2023 book and Article 772 in the 2026 one.

For the Michigan paper, use the 2023 addresses. That is the book on the reference list.

General trade knowledge and electrical theory

The last two areas on the outline have no single article behind them. General electrical trade knowledge draws on Article 110, on the two acts and on the Part 8 rules. Electrical theory is Ohm's law, power, series and parallel circuits, and it comes out of your head rather than out of the book.

Theory is the one area an open book does not help with, which is an argument for drilling it early. The Ohm's law calculator and the free question sets both cover it.

One Michigan quirk worth knowing for the trade knowledge items: the Part 8 rules adopt the National Electrical Code with parts of Article 80 and section 90.6 excluded, and replace them with Michigan's own administration rules. So the administrative front of the code book is not the administrative rule in Michigan.

Questions people ask

What is on the Michigan journeyman electrician exam?

Fifteen named areas: grounding and bonding, overcurrent protection, wiring methods and installations, boxes and cabinets, services, feeders, motors and motor controls, special occupancies, load calculations, lighting, appliances, box and raceway fill, power limited circuits, general electrical trade knowledge and electrical theory. Services and feeders are two separate lines on the outline, and so are lighting and appliances.

How many questions per subject are on the Michigan electrician exam?

PSI does not publish item counts by subject for Michigan. The outline names the areas and stops. Anyone quoting a number of grounding questions or load calculation questions is guessing, because the published document does not carry those figures.

Is the law tested on the Michigan electrician exam?

Yes. The outlines name the Skilled Trades Regulation Act and the electrical code rules on all four papers. The journeyman, master and fire alarm specialty technician papers add the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, the fire alarm one as it relates to fire alarm systems, and only the sign specialist paper leaves it off. Those acts are 2016 PA 407 and 1972 PA 230.

Does the Michigan exam test the Part 8 amendments?

The Michigan Electrical Code Rules Part 8 are on the reference list and the outlines name the electrical code rules directly. Part 8 changes the plain code in places, including gas piping bonding, NM cable use and the approval needed before service equipment is energized.

What is the hardest area on the Michigan electrician exam?

Nobody can answer that from published data, because Michigan does not release pass rates by area or item counts by subject. What your own diagnostic report shows after a failed sitting is the only area breakdown anyone will give you.

Is grounding a separate section of the Michigan exam?

It is the first named area on all four outlines, but with no item count attached. In the book it is Article 250, and Michigan amends 250.104(B) through R 408.30871 to require gas piping and corrugated stainless steel tubing to be bonded to the service grounding electrode system.

Do the fire alarm and sign exams cover the same areas?

Not all of them. The fire alarm outline drops services, feeders, motors and motor controls, lighting and appliances. The sign specialist outline drops services, feeders, motors and motor controls and appliances, and it keeps lighting. Both keep grounding and bonding, overcurrent protection, wiring methods, boxes and cabinets, special occupancies, load calculations, box and raceway fill, power limited circuits, general trade knowledge and electrical theory.

What this page cites

• PSI candidate information bulletin, Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes Effective 20 August 2026, read 4 September 2026. Source for every item count, time limit, the 75 percent standard, the $100 fee, the reference list, the book and conduct rules, the attempt limit, the score report and the test center list. source
• Michigan Electrical Code Rules Part 8, R 408.30801 to R 408.30880 The rule set that adopts the National Electrical Code for Michigan and amends it. Read 4 September 2026 on the Michigan administrative rules site. source
• Draft rule set 2026-17 LR, Part 8 Electrical Code The strike and bold draft dated 19 August 2026 that would move Michigan to the 2026 National Electrical Code. Not filed as of 4 September 2026. source
• NEC 2026 renumbering, article by article Our own record of the article and section numbers that changed address between the two editions, each one read in the 2026 text before it went on the list. source