Which reference books does California provide at the test center for the General Electrician exam?
California provides three references at the test center: the 2023 NEC, the 2024 NFPA 70E, and the 2022 Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide. You may not bring your own copies. The books are clean and unmarked, so you cannot rely on tabs or highlights you added at home. Get fast at the index instead.
Last reviewed June 2026 · Answered by JourneymanIQ staff
Three books, all provided
The 2023 NEC for installation and calculations, the 2024 NFPA 70E for electrical safety, and the 2022 Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide for state safety rules. Know which book holds which type of answer.
Clean copies only
The provided books have no tabs and no highlights. Any tabbing system you practiced with at home will not be there, so practice finding articles cold using the index and table of contents.
Match the question to the book
Installation and calculation questions point to the NEC. Arc-flash and safe-work-practice questions point to 70E. General jobsite safety points to the Cal/OSHA guide. Sorting fast saves minutes.
Three clean books are waiting for you. Speed in the index beats tabs you cannot bring.
Sources
Practice questions and explanations on JourneymanIQ are original. We paraphrase the NEC and cite article numbers, and we do not reproduce NEC text or real exam questions.
Find your weak topics before test day
The diagnostic is free, 15 questions, no signup. It shows you which NEC sections to focus on, in priority order.