Michigan Journeyman Electrician Study Guide (2026)

What the Michigan exam actually tests

LARA licenses journeyman electricians and PSI Services runs the exam. You get 80 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours 30 minutes and you need 75% to pass. The exam is open book on the 2023 NEC. That last part changes how you should study. An open-book exam is not a memory test. It is a speed test. Can you land on the right article, pull the right table, and set up the right calculation before the clock eats you.

Michigan does not publish a journeyman pass rate, so ignore any site quoting one. What we can tell you is where candidates lose points: calculations they cannot set up cold, Article 250 grounding and bonding questions where two similar rules collide, and plain lookup speed. Full format details are on the exam format page.

The book you bring is the test

You bring your own references. The allowed list is short and worth knowing before you buy anything:

• NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2023 Edition
• 2023 Michigan Electrical Code Rules (Part 8)
• 1972 PA 230 (Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act)
• 2016 PA 407 (Skilled Trades Regulation Act)

Open book. References must be bound, with factory tabs and markings only. No handwritten notes, no personal indexing, and the NEC Handbook is not allowed. Read the full breakdown on the open-book rules page before you tab a book you cannot bring in.

A 30-day study plan

This assumes 60 to 90 minutes a day around a full work schedule. If your math is rusty, pull the calculation block earlier. If you are fresh out of an apprenticeship program, the rules are fresh but your lookup speed probably is not, so front-load the codebook work either way.

Days 1 to 7: codebook speed

The single biggest first-week gain is knowing where things live. Article 250 in under five seconds. Table 310.16 in under five seconds. Chapter 9 tables in under five seconds. Factory tabs only, so train with the exact book you will carry in. Our codebook speed guide covers the drill.

Days 8 to 15: calculations

Box fill, conduit fill, voltage drop, motor sizing, dwelling load. Two calculation types a day, plus ten minutes of yesterday’s type as a warm-up. By day 15 the setup should be automatic. The Michigan calculations practice page has worked problems for each type.

Days 16 to 22: grounding plus your weak chapters

Give Article 250 three days on its own. Grounding electrode conductors, equipment grounding conductors, and bonding jumpers look alike on paper and behave differently in the code. Spend the remaining days on whatever your diagnostic flagged as weakest. Do not spend this week re-reading chapters you already score well on. It feels productive. It is not.

Days 23 to 30: timed mocks and cleanup

Run at least two full-length timed practice tests: 80 questions against the 2 hours 30 minutes clock. That pace works out to a little under two minutes a question, and pacing is where open-book candidates bleed. Score each mock, fix what you missed between runs, and keep the last two days light. Sleep beats cramming.

What not to waste time on

• The NEC Handbook. It is not an allowed reference in Michigan, so do not build your study habits around it.
• Handwritten tabs and margin notes. Not allowed in the exam room. Train clean from day one.
• Prep books written for the 2017 code. Michigan exams are currently based on the 2023 NEC, and some older listings still reference the 2017 edition. Rules moved.
• Memorizing tables word for word. The book comes in with you. Learn to find a table fast, not to recite it.

If you already failed once

Two attempts allowed within one year of eligibility. Fail twice inside a two-year period and you must wait one year from the second failure before testing again. That makes the second attempt the one to prepare for properly, not quickly. Study the score report, attack the two weakest chapters first, and rehearse lookup under time. The failed-the-exam recovery plan walks through it step by step.

Not sure which week you should start with? Take the free Michigan diagnostic and let your misses set the order.