Do you retake the whole Washington exam or just the section you failed?

You retake only the section you failed. The Washington (01) exam scores the 60-question NEC and theory section and the 17-question Laws and Rules section separately at 70%, so if you passed one you keep it.

How long do you have to pass both Washington exam sections?

One year from your approval to test. Inside that window you can retake the section you missed, with a 14-day wait between attempts and a 3-month wait after a third failure.

Failed the Washington electrician exam?

If you failed a Washington exam section, you wait 14 days to retest and you only retake the section you failed. After a third failure you wait 3 months. Use the time to study your score report and drill that one section instead of starting over.

It happens to good electricians

The Washington general journey level (01) exam is open book and runs on a clock, and most people who come up short did not run out of knowledge, they ran out of time on one section. A near miss is fixable, and you already carry more of this than you think.

Know the retake rules

Wait 14 days to retest. After a third failed attempt, wait 3 months between attempts. You retest only the section you failed, and you have one year from approval to pass both sections.

You only retake the section you failed

The (01) exam has two scored parts: a 60-question NEC & Theory section in 3 hours, and a 17-question Washington Laws & Rules (RCW 19.28 + WAC 296-46B) section in 1 hour. You need 70% on each one separately. If you passed one section, you keep it and put all your hours into the one you missed instead of starting over.

Read the score report like a job

Your report tells you which part sank you and roughly where. Do not re-study everything. If the Washington Laws & Rules (RCW 19.28 + WAC 296-46B) section is the one you failed, that is a focused body of Washington-specific law and rule, not the whole code book. If NEC and theory got you, pull your weakest topics and put your hours there. That is where the points are hiding.

Study the right code edition

The exam is on the 2020 NEC, even though Washington's adopted field code is newer. Tab your 2020 NEC and drill landing on the right article fast. Open book only helps if you are fast, so practice the lookup, not just the rule.

Use the year you have

You have one year from approval to pass both sections, with 14 days between attempts. That is enough time to fix the one section that beat you without burning out. Drill the gap, retest, and keep the section you already cleared.

Find the section that cost you

Start with the free 15-minute diagnostic. It projects your score and ranks the sections costing you the most, then the platform drills your weak areas so your retake prep targets the exact spot you missed instead of starting over from scratch. The full prep is live now: 170+ questions across both exam sections, 4 calculators, a 30-day plan, and study guides.

Take the free diagnostic →

Ready to see what the full prep covers? See the plans.

Official sources

Facts last reviewed June 2026.