TDLR Exam Day: What to Bring, What to Expect, How to Prepare
The TDLR Journeyman exam runs at PSI test centers across Texas. The check-in is structured, the rules are strict, and a forgotten ID or a margin note in your codebook can end the day before it starts. Here's the tactical walk-through.
Last reviewed May 2026
What to bring
- Government photo ID. Driver license or passport. The name must match exactly what’s on your TDLR application. A hyphen mismatch turns people away.
- PSI confirmation. Print or screenshot. Phones go in the locker, so don’t rely on showing the screen at the desk.
- NEC 2023 codebook. Printed, bound copy. No loose pages. No three-ring binders. The code book is the only reference allowed.
- Texas amendments. Bring a printed copy if your codebook doesn’t include them. TDLR enforces the state amendments on the exam.
- Battery-powered calculator. Non-programmable, no internet, no formula storage. A standard scientific calculator is fine. Programmable calculators get confiscated.
- Water and a snack. Stay in the locker, eat at break. Glucose for hour 3 matters more than people think.
What NOT to bring
- Phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, all in the locker.
- Loose paper, formula sheets, sticky notes inside the codebook.
- Programmable calculators, graphing calculators, or anything with internet capability.
- A second codebook. PSI typically allows only one reference.
- Hats, hoodies up, sunglasses indoors, large jackets. The proctor may ask you to remove or check them.
The codebook tabbing question
TDLR generally allows tabs and highlights you put in the codebook yourself. Sticky notes and loose paper inserts are not allowed. Bound, attached tabs are fine. Hand-written marginalia is typically fine but the proctor has discretion. The fail-safe rule: anything that came pre-printed or bound when you bought the book passes. Anything you taped or stapled in could be flagged.
If a proctor flags anything in your book, you can almost always remove the offending item and continue. Don’t argue. Time spent arguing is time off your 4-hour clock.
The first 30 minutes
How you start decides how you finish. The wave-pass strategy works for almost every candidate.
Wave 1: know-it answers
Read every question. Answer the ones where you know the answer without opening the book. Mark the rest. Goal: 30-40 questions answered in the first 30-40 minutes.
Wave 2: think-it answers
Loop back. Questions where you have a hypothesis but want to verify with the book. Quick lookups only, under 2 minutes per question. If you can’t verify in 2 minutes, mark it and move on.
Wave 3: calculations
All the math at once, when your brain is warm and your time budget is clear. Doing calculations one-at-a-time scattered through the exam is a trap. The cognitive context-switching tax is real.
Wave 4: deeper lookups
The hard questions. Use what time remains. If you have 3 minutes per question, fine. If you have 20 seconds, guess and move.
Wave 5: review and final pass
Save the last 15 minutes. Catch obvious errors. Make sure no question is blank. Unanswered scores zero. A guess scores 25%.
Score reporting
PSI typically gives a pass/fail result on screen at the end of the exam. The detailed score breakdown comes from TDLR by mail or online portal a few days later. If you fail, the score report shows your performance by domain. That’s the document you use to plan the retake.
Two weeks out? See where you stand.
The diagnostic predicts your score in 90 seconds and shows the topics most likely to lose you points on exam day.