Can I write notes in my NEC code book for the electrician exam?

Yes, for the Texas TDLR exam you can write notes, highlight, and underline in your own NEC code book, as long as you do it before the exam session. The current PSI rules allow a book that already contains your notes when you walk in. What you cannot do is write or mark anything in the book during the exam itself. Rules change, so confirm the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin before your test date.

Can I write notes during the exam?

No. Under PSI's current rules you may not write, highlight, underline, index, or mark your code book during the exam session. Doing it is reported to TDLR and can cost you your code book, void your score, and carry civil or criminal penalties. All of your notes and marking have to be done before exam day.

Can I use my own tabs or sticky notes in the code book?

Only publisher tabs. The current Texas rule allows permanent index tabs that were manufactured or provided by the NEC publisher. Homemade tabs, do-it-yourself tabs, sticky notes, and any non-NEC tabs are not allowed and have to come out before you can test. If you show up with the wrong tabs, the proctor can make you remove them, let you test without the book, or send you home to come back with a compliant book at your own cost.

Can I bring a separate cheat sheet or printed index?

No. No additional paper is allowed in the exam room, whether it is loose, taped, adhered, or stapled. That rules out a separate cheat sheet, a printed key-word index, or any extra pages stuck into the book. Anything you want to reference has to be marked in the bound code book itself, ahead of time.

Does writing notes in my code book actually help me pass?

It helps a little, but less than people think. A tabbed, lightly annotated book saves seconds finding a known article. What actually moves your score is knowing which article a question is even asking about and getting to it fast, which is a navigation skill you build by practicing, not by writing more notes. Mark your book to support fast lookup, then practice the lookup until it's reflex.

Code book rules · Texas TDLR

Can I Write Notes in My Code Book for the Electrician Exam?

Short version: yes, you can write in your code book, but only before exam day, and only in ways the rules allow. Get it wrong and the proctor can reject your book or report you. Here's the straight answer, paraphrased from PSI's current rules so you don't get blindsided at check-in.

Last reviewed June 2026

Yes, but only before the exam

For the Texas TDLR Journeyman exam, your own NEC code book can already be highlighted, underlined, and noted up when you walk in. That's allowed. Plenty of candidates mark up their book ahead of time to flag the tables and articles they reach for most. That part is fair game.

The hard line is during the exam. Under the current PSI rules you may not write, highlight, underline, index, or mark your book once the session has started. This is not a slap on the wrist. Marking the book during the exam gets reported to TDLR and can cost you the code book, void your score, and carry civil or criminal penalties. So do every bit of your marking the day before, not at the test center.

Tabs: publisher tabs only

Tabs are where people get tripped up at check-in. The current Texas rule allows permanent index tabs that were manufactured or provided by the NEC publisher. It does not allow homemade or do-it-yourself tabs, sticky notes, or any non-NEC tabs. If you tabbed your book with a craft-store kit or Post-It flags, expect to pull them before you can test. Buy a publisher tab set and you sidestep the whole problem.

What's not allowed

Writing or marking the book during the exam (reported to TDLR; you can lose the book, the score, and face penalties).
Homemade, DIY, or non-publisher tabs, sticky notes, or sticky flags.
Any additional paper in the room, loose, taped, adhered, or stapled, which rules out a separate cheat sheet or printed index.
The NEC Handbook (the annotated commentary edition) instead of the plain Code.
Loose-leaf, spiral-bound, or ring-bound copies of the NEC. Bring a soft-bound 2023 edition.

The smart way to use this

Marking your book is worth doing, but keep the goal straight. The point isn't to copy answers into the margins. It's to build a fast way to find the rule. Tab the high-traffic articles, flag the calculation tables you know you'll need (think 250.66 for the grounding electrode conductor, 310.16 for ampacity, the Chapter 9 tables for conduit fill), and keep your notes light enough that the book still opens flat and reads clean.

Then practice the lookup. A perfectly tabbed book does nothing if you still take three minutes to decide which article a question is testing. The candidates who pass aren't the ones with the most notes. They're the ones who can find the rule fast, because they drilled it. Mark the book to support speed, then go build the speed.

Find out which sections to tab first

The free 15-minute diagnostic scores you by topic, so you know which NEC articles are actually costing you points and worth tabbing and drilling, instead of marking up the whole book. No signup.

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Can I Write Notes in My Code Book for the Electrician Exam?

Yes, but only before the exam

Tabs: publisher tabs only

What's not allowed

The smart way to use this

Find out which sections to tab first

Can I bring my code book?

NEC tabbing guide

Exam day checklist

TDLR license requirements