Applying, approval and booking the exam

Once Marisol knew she was eligible, she had to work out the order of things. Does she apply to DOPL first and wait for permission to test, or test first and send in her score? Which exam does she book, and with whom? Idaho's answers changed twice between 2024 and 2026, which is why a candidate who relies on a friend's experience from a few years ago can end up at the wrong testing company with the wrong form. This lesson walks through the current process, explains what changed and why, and shows how Marisol put together a complete application.

Why the process changed

Until 2024, DOPL wrote its own electrical exams and gave them on computers at its offices in Boise, Coeur d'Alene and Blackfoot. The candidate applied to DOPL, received an approval letter, called DOPL to schedule, and tested at a state office. The old exam information bulletin listed a passing score of 75 for the master exam and allowed the code book and a few indexes and reference guides.

In 2024 the board moved to the national NASCLA journeyman and master electrician exams, delivered by PSI at its own test centers. NASCLA, the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies, writes standardized exams that many states accept, and PSI schedules and proctors them. After the switch, pass rates dropped steeply; a 2025 news report put the journeyman pass rate as low as 18 out of every 100 candidates. The board heard that the national exam tested material Idaho electricians rarely used and included questions the candidates thought unfair. It offered one-time vouchers so that candidates who failed could retest, and it directed staff to work with PSI and Idaho subject matter experts on Idaho exams. In April 2026 the board voted to keep offering the NASCLA exams only through the end of the 2026 fiscal year. Since July 1, 2026 the division's website offers the Idaho journeyman and master exams developed with PSI, while passing NASCLA scores continue to be accepted, and candidates who prefer the NASCLA exam can still schedule it through NASCLA's own process.

For Marisol this means two possible exams: the new Idaho master exam, booked through the links on DOPL's electrical pages, or the NASCLA master exam, booked through NASCLA and PSI. Either passing score works. She chose the Idaho exam because it is built around the code edition and practice Idaho uses, but she kept the NASCLA bulletin handy because its reference list is a good guide to how a master exam is built.

The order: exam first, then apply

DOPL's current master application says plainly that applicants must pass the examination before applying for licensure, and it asks for a passing score. An applicant who tested outside Idaho, for example on a NASCLA exam taken for another state, must include a copy of the test scores with the application. The same form also contains the statement that the applicant has one year from the date of the application to take and pass the required exam, or must submit a new application. The two statements fit together if you read the one-year statement as a limit for anyone whose application reaches DOPL before the score is final; the safe course is to test first, as the form directs, and to send the application promptly with the score. If the current instructions differ when you apply, follow them.

Booking the exam

For the Idaho exam, start from DOPL's electrical board pages, which link to the current candidate information and the PSI registration. Read the candidate bulletin before you book. It sets the number of questions, the time limit, the passing standard, the references allowed and the rules for rescheduling and retakes, and it is the only reliable source for those details. The bulletin for the new Idaho exam was not available to this course in full, so where this lesson gives numbers, they come from the NASCLA bulletin and are labeled that way.

For the NASCLA exam, PSI's bulletin for the NASCLA electrical exams sets out the process. A candidate creates an account on PSI's site, chooses a test center by zip code, picks a date and pays. The NASCLA exam fee listed in the bulletin is 75 dollars, non-refundable and non-transferable, and valid for 90 days from payment. A candidate who needs to cancel or reschedule must do so at least two days before the appointment through PSI's site or by phone; voicemail and email do not count. Retakes are allowed after a failed attempt on payment of a new fee.

Test day logistics

PSI's rules are typical of national testing companies. Arrive about thirty minutes early. Bring a current, government-issued photo ID with a signature; an expired license or a name that does not match the registration can mean a forfeited fee. Bring only the references the bulletin allows, in the condition it allows: for the NASCLA exam, highlighting, underlining and permanent tabs are allowed, while handwritten notes and loose papers are not. Calculators must be silent, non-printing and non-programmable. Phones, smart watches and bags go in a locker. Lesson 4 covers the references in detail.

Candidates who need testing accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act must request them in advance through the process the bulletin describes, usually with documentation from a qualified professional. Do not wait until the week of the exam; accommodation requests can take several weeks to approve.

Putting the application together

Once she has a passing score, Marisol completes DOPL's master electrician application. Every field must be filled in; the form warns that a blank field means the application will not be processed. She gives her journeyman license number and her Social Security number, which Idaho Code 73-122 requires, and an email address, which 67-2609 requires. She attaches her score report if she tested outside Idaho's own system. She signs the form, keeps a copy and submits it by email to DOPL's customer service address, by mail to DOPL's post office box in Boise, or in person at a DOPL office.

The processing fee on the 2024 master application form is 80 dollars for an initial, reciprocal or reopened application, and it is not refundable. Cash should not be mailed. Card payments through Access Idaho carry a surcharge, listed on the form at 2.5 out of every 100 dollars. DOPL's fee table, which lists a small application fee and a separate master license fee, may present the same total differently; use the amount on the current form.

# Marisol's out-of-pocket budget (illustrative; check current forms)
costs = {
    "exam fee": 75.00,
    "application and license processing": 80.00,
    "card surcharge on processing (2.5 per 100)": 80.00 * 0.025,
    "2023 NEC softcover and tabs": 160.00,
    "practice exams and index": 90.00,
}
for item, amount in costs.items():
    print(f"{item:45s} {amount:8.2f}")
print(f"{'total':45s} {sum(costs.values()):8.2f}")
print(f"with one retake: {sum(costs.values()) + 75:.2f}")

exam fee                                         75.00
application and license processing               80.00
card surcharge on processing (2.5 per 100)        2.00
2023 NEC softcover and tabs                     160.00
practice exams and index                         90.00
total                                           407.00
with one retake: 482.00

The budget is illustrative, and the fee lines will change, but the exercise is useful. Many candidates forget that a retake means a second exam fee and that a new code book and good tabs cost as much as the exam.

Review and issuance

DOPL staff review the application against the statute and rules: the journeyman license and its dates, the passing score, any discipline or unpaid penalties, and the required identification fields. If something is missing, DOPL writes to the applicant, and the review stops until the gap is filled. When the application is approved, DOPL issues the master license and, under the 2025 amendment, the journeyman license that goes with it. The new license appears on DOPL's online license lookup, which is how general contractors, inspectors and customers verify a license.

A master license does not change the company's paperwork by itself. If Sawtooth Ridge wants Marisol to become its supervising electrician, the company must designate her through DOPL's process, and Dale's designation ends. Lesson 8 covers that step.

Reciprocal and reopened applications

A reciprocal applicant uses the same form but skips the exam. Instead, the applicant asks the licensing agency in the other state to complete DOPL's license verification form showing licensure by exam, a journeyman license held at least four years, an active master license and the original issue date. Only states on DOPL's current reciprocity list qualify. A former Idaho master whose license has lapsed past the revival period may need to reopen a closed license, which uses the same form and fee and may require meeting current requirements. Lesson 11 covers renewal and revival.

Common reasons applications stall

DOPL staff see the same problems again and again: a blank field, a missing signature, a score report that does not match the applicant's legal name, a journeyman license number with a typo, an out-of-state verification sent as a photocopy instead of completed by the other state, or a payment that did not go through. Each one costs weeks. Wes at Sawtooth Ridge has a habit worth copying: before anything goes to DOPL, a second person reads every field against the instructions.

If you do not pass

Many good electricians fail a master exam the first time, and the Idaho numbers after 2024 show how common that was. A failed attempt is information. The score report usually shows performance by content area, which tells the candidate where to spend the next month. On the NASCLA exam a candidate may retest after paying a new fee, and the bulletin sets no limit on attempts; check the Idaho bulletin for its own retake rules and any waiting period. The board's voucher program for candidates who failed the NASCLA exam was a one-time measure tied to the change of exams, so do not plan on a free retake.

Keep the application's one-year statement in mind. A candidate who applied before testing and then failed twice can run out of time and have to file a new application and pay a new processing fee. Testing first, as the form directs, avoids that trap.

A realistic timeline

Marisol built her timeline backward from the date she wanted the license. She allowed four months of study, two weeks to get an exam date at the Idaho Falls test center, a month of margin for a retake, and several weeks for DOPL's review. She booked the exam for a Tuesday in late winter, when the company is slowest, and blocked the week before it on the company calendar for review. Wes put a reminder in the office calendar for the day the score report should arrive, so the application would go to DOPL the same week.