Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05
The shape of the paper
Florida Electrical Contractor Exam Content: By Area
The department publishes counts, times and a reference list. It doesn't publish a percentage breakdown by subject that we could confirm, so this page works from what it does publish and says which part is our study advice rather than the department's.
Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed
On this page
Two parts, and what each one is
The department describes the examination as two parts, technical and safety, and business.
The technical and safety paper for your certification area is 100 questions in five hours. The business paper is 50 questions in two and a half hours, and every area sits the same one. Both need 75 percent and both are open book.
Nine areas are listed in the booklet: Business, Unlimited Electrical Contractor, Residential Electrical Contractor, Alarm Systems I, Alarm Systems II, Limited Energy Specialty, Sign Specialty Electrical, Lighting Maintenance Specialty and Utility Line Electrical.
The reference list is the closest thing to a syllabus
We couldn't confirm a published content outline with weightings by subject. What the department does publish, area by area, is the list of books allowed in the room, and that list tells you a great deal.
If a title is marked for your area, questions can turn on it. If it isn't, they can't. The Unlimited paper carries the 2023 National Electrical Code, the OSHA volume and the Florida Contractors Manual, plus UL 681, UL 365 and Telecommunication Wiring. The alarm papers add NFPA 72, NFPA 780, NFPA 101 and the fire alarm handbook. Utility line adds the National Electrical Safety Code and the Lineman's and Cableman's Handbook. NEON, Techniques and Handling and Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures sit on the sign specialty, lighting maintenance and utility line rows, not on Unlimited.
Read your area's row of the list before you buy anything. The book rules page sets it out title by title.
The business half
The Florida Contractors Manual, 2021 edition, is the book behind the business paper and it's allowed in every area. The OSHA volume sits beside it.
Fifty questions in two and a half hours is the same three minutes a question the technical paper gives you, so the manual has to be tabbed the same way your code book is.
Where code questions tend to live
This part is our own reading of an open book electrical paper rather than anything the department publishes. It's where candidates lose time, which on a timed paper is the same as losing marks.
Calculations
Load calculations, conductor sizing with correction and adjustment, box fill, conduit fill, voltage drop, motor circuits and transformer sizing. These take longer than lookups, so they decide the clock.
Lookups with a condition attached
Ampacity out of Table 310.16 with the termination limit at 110.14(C) applied afterwards. Overcurrent device ratings out of Article 240. Grounding electrode conductor sizing from Table 250.66. Motor tables in Article 430. Each is a table plus a rule that changes the answer.
Location rules
Receptacle spacing, ground fault and arc fault requirements, working space, support and securing, and the pool and spa rules in Article 680. Florida has a lot of pools, and pool work carries local amendments as well.
Article boundaries
Knowing which article owns a question is half of an open book paper. Grounding and bonding is Article 250. Boxes are Article 314. Signs are Article 600. Motors are Article 430. Time lost hunting in the wrong article is where the clock goes.
One note about numbers
The section numbers above are the ones our material uses, read in the 2026 National Electrical Code. This exam is on the 2023 edition, and most of those numbers are the same in both. Article 310 with its ampacity table at 310.16, Article 240, Article 250 with Table 250.66, Article 314 with 314.16, Article 430 and Article 680 all carry the same numbers in both editions, and our record of the moves has no entry for them.
Load calculations are the exception on this page. They're Article 220 in the 2023 book you'll carry and Article 120 in the 2026 book our questions cite. Which edition is on the exam lists every move.
How to use this
Take the areas above, work a timed set on each, and log which ones cost you minutes rather than which ones you got wrong. Those are two different lists and only one of them is worth studying.
The diagnostic does the first pass for you across the main areas. The study plan puts the result into six weeks.
We're not a training provider, an approved course or an examination vendor, and nothing here is endorsed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board or Pearson VUE. We're independent of all three.
Questions people ask
Does Florida publish a content outline for the electrical exam?
We couldn't confirm one with weightings by subject. The department publishes the question counts, the time limits and an approved reference list by area, and that list is the closest thing to a syllabus.
How many parts is the Florida electrical contractor exam?
Two: a technical and safety paper for your certification area, and a business paper that every area sits.
How long do I get per question?
About three minutes on both papers. The technical paper is 100 questions in five hours and the business paper is 50 in two and a half.
Which areas can I sit?
The booklet lists Business, Unlimited Electrical Contractor, Residential Electrical Contractor, Alarm Systems I and II, Limited Energy Specialty, Sign Specialty, Lighting Maintenance Specialty and Utility Line Electrical.
Are calculations a big part of it?
The department doesn't publish a weighting we could confirm. What we can say is that calculations take longer than lookups on any open book paper, so they decide the clock.
Do I need the Florida Contractors Manual?
It's reference RN50 on the approved list and it's allowed in every area. It's the book the business paper turns on.
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.
All questions here are original. They are not actual exam questions, and no question bank can promise you a pass.
What this page cites
- Florida Electrical Contractors candidate information booklet The booklet marked effective February 2026. Source for the question counts, the time limits, the 75 percent pass mark, the tab rule, the identification rule and the retake rule. Read 5 September 2026. source
- Approved reference list, electrical contractors The list of books allowed in the room, by reference number and edition, with the certification areas each one applies to and the dates future editions take over. Read 5 September 2026. source
- DBPR electrical examinations page The department's own page on the electrical contractor examinations: Pearson VUE delivers them, the exam has a technical and safety part and a business part, and approval to schedule lands within 72 hours. Read 5 September 2026. source
- NEC 2026 renumbering, article by article Our own record of the article and section numbers that changed address between the 2023 edition and the 2026 edition, each one read in the 2026 text before it went on the list. source
- Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board home page The board's own page: license types with their prefix letters, the specialty class codes, renewal dates and the continuing education table. Read 5 September 2026. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.