MA-JE Certification

What the Massachusetts Journeyman Credential Actually Is

Search for "MA-JE" and you may land on unrelated credentials that happen to share the abbreviation. On this site, MA-JE means one thing only: the Massachusetts Journeyman Electrician License Exam. The credential it leads to is the Journeyman Electrician license, Certificate B, issued by the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians (the Board). The exam itself is administered by PSI Services LLC at authorized Massachusetts testing centers.

This is a state licensing exam, not a voluntary industry certification. In Massachusetts, electrical work is regulated by license, and the journeyman exam is the gate between apprentice-level work and independent journeyman status. If you are brand new to the terminology, the explainers on what MA-JE is and what MA-JE stands for give the short version. This article goes deeper on how the credential is structured, what it costs, and how to prepare for the specific shape of the test.

One framing point matters before anything else: the exam is built from nineteen published headings, but those headings are not nineteen separate tests. Domains 1 through 13 make up Part I, and Domains 14 through 19 make up Part II. You sit two examinations, each with its own timer and its own passing threshold.

Prerequisites: Education, Work Hours and Code Update Training

Before you can schedule anything, your application has to establish that you qualify. The prerequisites in the Board and PSI materials include:

• A high school diploma or equivalent
• 600 hours of approved journeyman education
• 8,000 qualifying work hours accumulated over at least four years
• A 15-hour approved Code Update certificate
• Supporting documentation from your school and employer
• CORI (criminal offender record information) authorization

The full eligibility picture, including how to document each item, is covered in the MA-JE requirements guide. The official application path runs through the state's electrical license application page on mass.gov, and the application anchor document is the Electrician Application for Examination. Note that the state-hosted pages were not newly retrievable during our latest research pass, so verify current forms directly with the Board before submitting.

The Two-Part, Open-Book Format

The exam is computer-delivered and open-book. That phrase misleads people into under-preparing. Open-book does not mean easy; it means the exam tests whether you can locate and apply code provisions quickly, not whether you memorized them. A candidate who has never navigated the NEC under time pressure will run out of clock even with the book in hand.

Combined, the exam line adds up to 110 questions and four hours, but those figures are aggregates, not a single interchangeable timer. You cannot borrow unused minutes from Part II to pad Part I. Part II is an applied written examination; it is not a hands-on practical, and it is not the master electrician's Business and Law exam. For a plain-language look at the scoring thresholds, see the MA-JE passing score breakdown.

Approved references include the NEC, NFPA 72, the Massachusetts amendments and the licensing regulations. A qualifying nonprogrammable calculator is permitted. Testing happens only at authorized Massachusetts centers; the bulletin excludes remote proctoring and out-of-state administration.

Part I Domains and How the 80 Items Are Spread

The published question allocations are the most useful planning data you will get, and they are official item counts, not unpublished percentage weights. Here is Part I in heading order:

Several domains have tiny allocations: Transformers has one item, and Low-Voltage Distribution and Lighting have two each. Those are low-return areas to over-study, though you should still be able to answer them quickly. The full breakdown by content area lives in the complete domains guide.

Part II Applied Domains

Part II has 30 questions across six domains, with a 21-correct threshold:

• Domain 14, Circuit Calculations (Ohm's Law): 5 items
• Domain 15, Electrical Schematics and Plans: 5 items
• Domain 16, Materials and Components: 5 items
• Domain 17, Troubleshooting and Testing: 6 items, the largest Part II subject
• Domain 18, Massachusetts Amendments: 5 items
• Domain 19, Licensing Laws and Regulations: 4 items

The word "applied" is the key. These questions ask you to work something out: calculate a value, read a drawing, diagnose a fault, or apply a Massachusetts-specific rule. With 60 minutes for 30 questions, you have roughly two minutes each, which is tight if you are calculating and looking things up. Candidates who prepared only with recall-style flashcards often struggle here.

Troubleshooting and Testing is the heaviest Part II domain at six items. Practice reasoning from symptoms to causes, and be comfortable with how test instruments and measurement results map to circuit faults. Our difficulty guide discusses why the applied part surprises many first-time candidates.

Fees, Separated by What You Are Actually Paying For

The cost structure is clearer once you split it into its components. The regular application and testing charge is $226, made up of:

• $60 PSI application processing
• $80 Part I trade examination
• $55 Part II applied examination
• $31 state processing

Qualifying VALOR applicants pay $195, because the $31 state processing charge is waived. Initial license issuance is a separate $104 charge, so the all-in cost to go from application to a first issued license is the testing total plus that issuance fee. Retake fees depend on the part: retaking both parts totals $135. For a deeper line-by-line look, including costs outside the exam itself such as books and prep courses, see the pricing breakdown.

Code Edition and Handwritten Notes: Two Open Questions

Two items in the candidate materials need candid treatment, because we would rather flag a conflict than pretend it does not exist.

Which NEC edition will the exam use?

The Massachusetts Electrical Code page indicates a 2026-code adoption. But adoption by the state does not by itself establish the date the examination switches to that edition. The candidate bulletin's statements about July timing and a seven-month update window conflict with each other, so we cannot tell you with confidence which edition your test date will draw from. Until the Board or PSI confirms an explicit examination cutover date, treat any "edition-locked" question bank with skepticism, and contact PSI or the Board to confirm which edition applies to your scheduled sitting.

Can you write notes in your reference books?

The bulletin addresses highlighting, underlining and permanent tabs. On handwritten margin notes, though, it is internally inconsistent: one section prohibits handwritten notes while another permits them. Do not guess. Get PSI authorization for exactly how you intend to annotate your references before exam day, because a book that gets flagged at check-in costs you time and composure.

Retakes, Eligibility Windows and the Three-Attempt Rule

Both parts must be passed within the applicable 12-month eligibility period. Because each part is scored independently, passing one part and failing the other means you retake only the one you missed, at the retake fee for that part. After three unsuccessful attempts, the bulletin requires additional education before you can try again. That makes the first attempt more valuable than it looks, and it is why careful preparation beats a "see how it goes" approach. Realistic expectations about outcomes are discussed in our overview of the pass rate data.

Renewal and Continuing Education

Earning the license is not the end of the administrative trail. Certificate B renews on a triennial cycle ending July 31, under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 141, Section 3. Continuing education is governed by 237 CMR 17.01, which requires 21 hours: 15 approved code, business and law hours, plus six professional-development hours. Plan for these hours well before the renewal deadline rather than compressing them into the final weeks. Note that the state-hosted regulation pages returned access errors during our most recent research, so the CE details here rest on previously reviewed context and the retrieved regulation text; confirm current requirements with the Board before you register for courses.

If you are weighing whether the whole path is worth the investment, our ROI analysis and salary guide cover the earnings side, and we deliberately do not quote unverified salary figures here.

Sequencing Your Prep Around the Domain Counts

Rather than a generic study calendar, here is one arrangement keyed to this exam's published item counts. Adjust the length to your own timeline; the ordering logic is what matters.

Take the ordering from the item counts: a domain worth one question can wait, while a domain worth eighteen cannot. For a fuller planning framework, the study guide expands on this, and the one-page cheat sheet is useful for last-pass review. When you are ready to test yourself on realistic question formats, the MA-JE practice test site offers original questions modeled on the 80-plus-30 structure, including Part II style applied problems.

If you are still deciding on timing, the exam dates and scheduling guide covers the logistics of booking a seat at an authorized center.

Frequently Asked Questions