The New Hampshire Master Electrician Guide

What Is the New Hampshire Master Electrician License?

The master electrician license verifies that an electrician can design, install, alter and repair electrical systems in full compliance with the National Electrical Code and New Hampshire's own laws and rules — and can take responsibility for that work. In New Hampshire, the license is regulated by the Electricians' Board within the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC), and the exam is developed and administered by Prov at computer-based testing centers. It is the top rung of New Hampshire's electrical licensing ladder: the credential for the electrician who runs the work instead of just performing it.

What makes New Hampshire different from most states is how much of the exam is state-specific. Beyond the NEC content you would expect — motors, wiring methods, services — roughly one in five questions tests New Hampshire administrative law and rules: RSA 319-C and the board's Elec rules.

Eligibility: Board Approval Comes First

New Hampshire does not let you walk into the master exam. The Electricians' Board must approve your application before Prov will register you:

• Application first: submit your master electrician application and supporting documentation of your experience and licensing history to the board.
• Board review: the Electricians' Board evaluates your credentials against the eligibility requirements in effect when you apply.
• Eligibility notice: once approved, you receive the go-ahead to register for the exam with Prov.
• Confirmation: the eligibility standard is set by the board, not by the exam vendor — Contact the New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, OPLC) for current fees and eligibility requirements.

Get the board's approval in writing before you buy prep materials or book a test date. The application review is the gate that everything else hangs on.

Exam Format: 126 Questions, 300 Minutes, Open Book

The New Hampshire Master Electrician exam is a single computer-based session delivered by Prov:

• 126 questions in 300 minutes (5 hours). Roughly two minutes per question — comfortable for lookup-style open-book work if you know where to look.
• 70% pass line. Clear 70% of the 126 questions and the exam is yours.
• Open book with authorized references. You bring the references the board allows.
• State law is on the exam. 25 of the 126 questions fall under Administrative content: New Hampshire laws and rules for licensed electricians.

The authorized reference list matters as much as the content. The current bulletin names the NEC 2023, the American Electrician's Handbook (17th edition), New Hampshire Laws & Rules (Elec 100–400 and RSA 319-C) and Ugly's Electrical References. Because the code and the statutes are in your hands, the exam does not reward memorization — it rewards knowing which chapter covers which topic, using the index efficiently, and moving between the NEC and the state rules without wasting time.

NEC Edition: NEC 2023

The master electrician exam line in the current Prov Candidate Information Bulletin references the NEC 2023. The bulletin also still lists a separate NEC 2017 variant of the master exam — a legacy code cycle that candidates registered on that line would take. This matters more than it sounds: the edition determines both the questions you face and the references you are allowed to bring, and an NEC 2017 answer key will not match an NEC 2023 codebook.

Confirm which exam line you are registered for when you schedule, and study from the matching edition. If you prepared on a different code year, re-check the articles that changed — grounding and bonding, overcurrent protection, services and feeders all saw revisions between the two editions.

Official Subject Areas (126 Questions)

The board publishes the subject-area breakdown for the 126 questions. Study time should track these weights:

Three columns dominate: Administrative NH law and rules (25), General Electrical Knowledge (21) and Motors & Generators (19) — together they are half the exam. Wiring Methods & Materials (14) and Services & Service Equipment (12) round out the heavy tier. Special Conditions, Special Equipment and Special Occupancies are tested, but lightly — master the big columns first, and never skip the state-law work.

The New Hampshire Law and Rules Component

Twenty-five questions on state administrative law is the detail most candidates under-prepare — and it is the easiest place to pick up points, because the answers are in the authorized reference. The exam tests the rules that govern licensed electricians in New Hampshire: RSA 319-C (the statute that creates the licensing system) and the board's Elec rules (Elec 100–400), covering licensing, supervision, permits, inspections and the responsibilities of a master license holder.

Study these rules the way you would study Article 250: read the actual text, tab the sections in your authorized copy, and drill questions that make you look up the answer rather than guess it. On an open-book exam, a well-tabbed set of state rules is worth points on every single one of those 25 questions.

Fees & Retakes

• Exam fee: $90 for the New Hampshire Master Electrician exam.
• Retakes: retake policy — including any waiting period between attempts — is set by the Electricians' Board. Confirm the current rules with the board or in your Prov registration confirmation.
• Vendor: exams are developed and administered by Prov (provexam.com) for the Electricians' Board after OPLC approves your application.

Because the exam is one 126-question session, a retake means preparing for the full blueprint again. Budget your prep so the first attempt is a real attempt, not a rehearsal.

How to Prepare

1. Confirm your board eligibility. Get your Electricians' Board (OPLC) application approved before you invest in prep. The approval is the gate.
2. Get the authorized references. NEC 2023, the American Electrician's Handbook (17th edition), New Hampshire Laws & Rules (Elec 100–400 and RSA 319-C) and Ugly's. Tab the chapters and the sections you will need — manufacturer tabs and your own flags, per the bulletin.
3. Learn the NEC chapter map. Know where each topic lives — grounding in Article 250, services in 230, feeders in 215, branch circuits in 210, motors in 430 — before you open a practice question.
4. Drill the heavy columns first. Motors & Generators (19), General Electrical Knowledge (21) and Wiring Methods & Materials (14) deserve the bulk of your code reps; then Services & Service Equipment (12) and Feeders (8).
5. Treat NH law as a subject. Read RSA 319-C and the Elec rules in full, tab them, and drill the 25-question Administrative column — it is the most state-specific, and the most under-prepared, part of the exam.
6. Simulate under exam conditions. Full-length, timed, open-book runs of 126 questions in 300 minutes at least once a week in the final month, aiming comfortably past the 70% line.

Master Electrician Practice is built for exactly this exam: code-referenced questions aligned to the New Hampshire subject blueprint, full-length timed simulations of the 126-question format, complete open-book NEC theory and an AI tutor — practice the actual subject blueprint with our simulations so the real exam feels like a repeat. Start with free practice questions to feel the format, and create a free account to track your scores as you go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Earn the New Hampshire Master License?

The master license is the credential that lets you take responsibility for electrical work across New Hampshire — and the exam expects you to know the state's rules as well as the code. Start with the official blueprint: learn the code with our Master Electrician NEC theory guides, try free New Hampshire Master practice questions, register free and see the all-inclusive pricing — one subscription covering the full New Hampshire blueprint and every state's master exam lines, so you never buy subject-area prep piece by piece.