What Is A MA-JE?

The Short Answer: What This Credential Actually Is

On this site, MA-JE stands for the Massachusetts Journeyman Electrician License Exam. It is the written examination you must pass to earn the state's Journeyman Electrician license, formally issued as Certificate B. It is not a voluntary industry badge and it is not a national certification. It is a state licensing gate: in Massachusetts, passing it (alongside meeting the experience and education prerequisites) is what moves you from working under supervision toward holding your own journeyman credential.

Because several unrelated credentials use similar abbreviations, it is worth being precise about scope. Everything in this article refers only to the Massachusetts electrical licensing examination administered under the Board of State Examiners of Electricians. If you want the naming background, our companion pieces on what MA-JE stands for and the meaning of MA-JE cover the terminology in more depth.

Who Issues It and Who Delivers the Test

Two organizations matter, and candidates often confuse their roles:

• Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians (MA BSEE) is the licensing authority. It sets the eligibility rules, issues Certificate B, and governs renewal.
• PSI Services LLC is the testing provider. PSI processes your application for examination, schedules your seat, and delivers the exam at authorized Massachusetts testing centers.

The governing document for exam logistics is the PSI/Board Examination Candidate Information Bulletin (effective November 1, 2024). Read it before you register; this article summarizes it, but the bulletin is the authority. For the broader licensing picture, see our overview of the MA-JE certification.

One Credential, Two Written Parts

The most important structural fact is that the exam is two separate parts, each with its own question count, its own clock, and its own passing threshold. The "110 questions and four hours" figure you may see aggregated is only a sum; it is not one interchangeable timer.

You must pass each part on its own merits. A strong Part I score does not compensate for a weak Part II, and vice versa. For a deeper look at the cut scores, see our guide to the MA-JE passing score.

What the Nineteen Content Headings Cover

The published outline lists nineteen headings across both parts. Importantly, that is nineteen subject areas inside two exams, not nineteen separate tests. The Board publishes item counts per heading rather than percentage weights, so the numbers below are the actual number of questions allocated, in the published heading order.

Part I: Domains 1-13 (80 questions)

Part II: Domains 14-19 (30 questions)

Our complete guide to all 19 content areas walks through each heading in detail. Here are the patterns that matter most for planning.

Eligibility: Three Different Kinds of Hours

Before you can sit for the exam, you must qualify. The prerequisites include a high school diploma or equivalent, supporting school and employer documentation, and CORI authorization (Massachusetts's criminal-record check process). The core requirements are measured in hours, and candidates routinely mix them up:

1. 600 hours of approved journeyman education. Classroom instruction from an approved provider.
2. 8,000 qualifying work hours over at least four years. Supervised on-the-job experience.
3. A 15-hour approved Code Update certificate. Training tied to the current code cycle.

The full list, including documentation expectations, is in our MA-JE requirements guide, and the application itself is submitted through the Massachusetts licensing process described on mass.gov.

What You Pay, Line by Line

Fees are split across several components, and understanding the separation helps you budget accurately and avoid assuming one number covers everything.

Note that the $104 initial license issuance is a separate charge after you pass, not part of the $226. Retake costs depend on which part you need to repeat. For the complete financial picture, including study materials and education costs, see our MA-JE certification cost breakdown.

Open-Book Rules and the Handwritten-Notes Conflict

The exam is open book, which changes how you should prepare. Approved references include the NEC, NFPA 72, the Massachusetts amendments and the licensing regulations. A qualifying nonprogrammable calculator is permitted. Highlighting, underlining and permanent tabs are addressed in the bulletin.

Open book does not mean easy. With 80 questions in 180 minutes on Part I, you have roughly two minutes per question, which is workable only if you can locate answers efficiently. Candidates who treat the code book as a crutch they have never practiced with tend to run short on time. We discuss this dynamic further in how hard the MA-JE exam really is.

The Code-Edition Question

Massachusetts's state code page has identified a 2026 code adoption. However, adoption alone does not establish when the examination switches to testing that edition. The retrieved bulletin's own statements about timing (a July reference and a seven-month update statement) conflict with each other.

What that means in practice: do not assume which NEC edition your specific test date will draw from. Before committing to a reference edition or an edition-specific question bank, obtain an explicit confirmation of the examination-date cutover from the Board or PSI. We deliberately avoid presenting an edition-locked set of answers for this reason. For scheduling questions generally, see our guide to MA-JE exam dates.

After You Pass: Licensing, Renewal and Continuing Education

Passing both parts is the examination milestone, but several rules shape what happens around it:

• Eligibility window. Both parts must be passed within the applicable 12-month eligibility period.
• Attempt limit. After three unsuccessful attempts, the bulletin requires additional education before further attempts.
• Renewal cycle. Certificate B renews on the triennial July 31 cycle under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 141, Section 3.
• Continuing education. Under 237 CMR 17.01, licensees complete 21 CE hours per cycle: 15 approved code/business/law hours and six professional-development hours.

Plan for renewal from day one of licensure; the CE requirement is substantial relative to the cycle length. If you are weighing whether the whole path is worthwhile, our ROI analysis and earnings guide address the career side, and MA-JE jobs covers who hires licensed journeymen.

Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Real Item Counts

Rather than a generic schedule, let the published item counts drive the order. This is the one place a timeline is useful, because the allocation tells you where points are concentrated.

When you are ready to test your readiness, the MA-JE practice test offers original questions built around the 80-plus-30 structure, and you can find additional preparation resources through MA-JE training.

Journeyman vs. Master: Where This Credential Sits

Certificate B is the journeyman level. The master electrician license is a separate, higher credential with its own requirements and its own examination, which includes a Business and Law component that the journeyman exam does not. Part II of the journeyman exam does include licensing laws and regulations (Domain 19), but this is a different assessment from the master's Business and Law examination. Do not conflate them when researching.

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