- What Is a HI-JE?
- Who Issues and Administers the Exam
- Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
- Who Can Sit for the HI-JE
- The 10 Content Domains
- Scheduling, Retests, and Eligibility Windows
- After You Pass: Licensing and Renewal
- Who Hires Journey Worker Electricians
- Mapping Study Time to the Exam Blueprint
- Frequently Asked Questions
- HI-JE refers to Hawaii's Journey Worker Electrician (EJ) license exam, administered by PSI for the DCCA Board of Electricians and Plumbers.
- The exam is 70 scored questions in 180 minutes, open book with the 2020 NEC, and requires a 70% passing score.
- Eligibility requires 10,000 hours (five years) of qualifying wiring experience plus 240 hours of approved coursework.
- Ten content domains are weighted unevenly - the top four domains alone make up 40 of 70 questions.
What Is a HI-JE?
HI-JE is the shorthand used on this site for Hawaii's Journey Worker Electrician (EJ) License Exam - the state licensing test that qualifies electricians to work independently on residential and commercial wiring throughout Hawaii. The official license classification issued by the state is "Journey Worker Electrician (EJ)," and "journeyman electrician" is retained here only as a search alias because that's the term many candidates type into Google. If you've landed here searching for a different credential that also uses the letters "HI-JE," this article is specifically about the Hawaii electrical trade license - not any other certification that happens to share the acronym.
Passing the HI-JE exam is the final gatekeeping step before the state will issue an EJ license. It is not a training program and it does not, by itself, authorize electrical contracting - it verifies that an experienced electrical worker has the code knowledge and field competency to be licensed as a journey-level electrician in Hawaii.
Who Issues and Administers the Exam
Two organizations sit behind every HI-JE exam appointment. The Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers, operating under the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Professional and Vocational Licensing Division (DCCA PVL), sets eligibility rules, reviews applications, and issues the actual EJ license. PSI Services LLC is the third-party testing provider that builds and delivers the computer-based exam at approved testing centers.
This matters practically: your application, experience documentation, and coursework verification go to DCCA, while your exam registration, scheduling, and test-day logistics go through PSI. You cannot skip straight to PSI - Board approval of your application is required before you're allowed to schedule a test date. For a full breakdown of what documentation the Board expects, see HI-JE Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
The HI-JE is a computer-based exam consisting of 70 scored questions, plus up to 10 additional unscored experimental questions that PSI uses to evaluate future exam content. You won't know which questions are experimental, but time spent on them is excluded from your stated examination time, so the working budget is effectively built around the 70 scored items within a 180-minute window.
Key numbers to know before you register:
- Exam fee: $95 per attempt
- Passing score: 70%
- Application fee: $40, charged separately from testing and licensing fees
- Reference material: open book, using the 2020 National Electrical Code supplied at the testing center - personal codebooks and other study references are not allowed in the room
- Calculator policy: PSI provides an on-screen calculator, and you may also bring a silent, battery-operated, nonprogrammable, nonprinting calculator without an alphabetic keyboard
Because the exam is open book with a Board-supplied code, success depends less on memorizing article numbers cold and more on knowing exactly where to find them quickly under time pressure. For a granular look at how the 70% threshold translates into raw scoring, see HI-JE Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. A full cost breakdown covering the application, exam, and licensing fees together is available in HI-JE Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Because the exam is open book with the 2020 NEC provided on-site, spend practice time learning to navigate the code index and tables quickly rather than memorizing full article text.
Who Can Sit for the HI-JE
Hawaii's eligibility standard is built around documented field experience, not just classroom time. To apply, a candidate generally must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Document five years of qualifying residential or commercial wiring experience, totaling at least 10,000 hours
- Complete 240 hours of electrical academic coursework conducted or accepted by a University of Hawaii community college offering an appropriate program
- Provide notarized experience verification from each supervising licensed electrician, or a Board-accepted alternative verifier
One detail candidates frequently miss: coursework does not have to be completed in Hawaii. Accepted out-of-state academic programs can satisfy the requirement, but you'll need to check the DCCA-linked approved-curricula list rather than assuming your mainland program automatically qualifies. It's also worth noting up front that Hawaii has no electrician-license reciprocity agreement with other states, so even a licensed journeyman electrician moving from elsewhere will need to go through Hawaii's own application and exam process.
The 10 Content Domains
The HI-JE draws its 70 scored questions from ten fixed content domains, and the allocation is heavily front-loaded. The official split is 10, 10, 10, 10, 6, 6, 6, 4, 4, and 4 questions across the domains listed below - meaning the first four domains alone account for 40 of the 70 scored questions.
| Domain | Approx. Questions |
|---|---|
| 1. General Electrical Knowledge | 10 |
| 2. Service, Feeders, and Branch Circuits | 10 |
| 3. Grounding and Bonding | 10 |
| 4. Conductors and Cables | 10 |
| 5. Raceways and Boxes | 6 |
| 6. Special Occupancies, Conditions, and Equipment | 6 |
| 7. Electrical Power, Motors, and Equipment for General Use | 6 |
| 8. Low Voltage and Communication Circuits | 4 |
| 9. Lighting | 4 |
| 10. Safety Information | 4 |
Domain 1-4: The Heavyweight Core
General Electrical Knowledge, Service/Feeders/Branch Circuits, Grounding and Bonding, and Conductors and Cables together make up more than half the exam. A candidate who is shaky on grounding electrode conductor sizing or feeder calculations will feel it across almost 60% of the test, not just one section.
- Load and demand calculations for services and feeders
- Grounding versus bonding terminology and required connections
- Conductor ampacity, sizing, and derating factors
Domain 5-7: Mid-Weight Application Topics
Raceways and Boxes, Special Occupancies, and Motors/Equipment each carry moderate weight. These domains lean on box-fill calculations, hazardous or special-condition wiring methods, and motor circuit protection requirements.
- Conduit fill and box-fill table usage
- Wiring methods required in special occupancies
- Motor overcurrent and disconnect sizing
Domain 8-10: Lower-Weight but Still Scoreable
Low Voltage and Communication Circuits, Lighting, and Safety Information carry fewer questions each, but skipping them outright is risky since they still represent 12 combined points out of 70.
- Low-voltage and communications wiring separation requirements
- Lighting circuit and control device rules
- Job-site safety practices tied to code requirements
For a domain-by-domain study walkthrough with more detail on subtopics and code references, see HI-JE Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 10 Content Areas.
Scheduling, Retests, and Eligibility Windows
Once the Board approves your application, you have two years of exam eligibility with unlimited attempts during that window - but a paid PSI exam fee is only valid for one year, so you may need to pay the $95 fee again if you let your eligibility lapse into year two without testing.
If you don't pass on your first try, you cannot rebook for the same day. A retest may be available within two business days, subject to seat availability at the testing center. This makes it worth treating your first attempt seriously rather than planning on a quick same-week do-over. The PSI bulletin currently referenced for scheduling logistics is dated March 22, 2024, and the DCCA application form was most recently revised June 2026 - always confirm you're using current versions before submitting anything. For a realistic view of how tough the format actually is in practice, read How Hard Is the HI-JE Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026, and for scheduling windows and deadlines see HI-JE Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
After You Pass: Licensing and Renewal
Passing the HI-JE is what unlocks the EJ license itself, but the license isn't permanent without upkeep. Hawaii licenses renew every three years on June 30, with the current cycle running July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029. The 2026 on-time renewal fees were $306 for active status and $12 for inactive status. Active renewal requires Board-accepted continuing competency covering NEC updates, though there's a one-time exemption if your initial license was issued within one year of the renewal date.
If a license lapses, forfeited licenses can still be restored within one year of expiration, with a published active-restoration fee of $406. Missing that one-year restoration window typically means starting the licensing process over, which is a strong incentive to track renewal dates carefully once you're licensed.
Who Hires Journey Worker Electricians
Holding an EJ license qualifies you to perform residential and commercial wiring work as a journey-level electrician in Hawaii, working for licensed electrical contractors, facilities departments, government agencies, and maintenance operations across the islands. It's worth being precise here: an EJ license alone does not authorize you to run your own electrical contracting business - contracting requires separate licensure. Most EJ holders work as employees performing installation, service, and troubleshooting work under a contractor's license.
If you're weighing whether pursuing this license is worth the time investment given the hours-based eligibility requirements, Is the HI-JE Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 looks at that question in more depth, and HI-JE Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis covers earning potential for licensed journey workers.
Mapping Study Time to the Exam Blueprint
Because the domain weighting is so uneven, an efficient study plan should mirror the question allocation rather than treat all ten domains equally. Spend the largest blocks of prep time on Domains 1 through 4 - General Electrical Knowledge, Service/Feeders/Branch Circuits, Grounding and Bonding, and Conductors and Cables - since they combine for 40 of 70 scored questions. Once those are solid, move to the 6-question domains (Raceways and Boxes, Special Occupancies, Motors and Equipment), and finish with focused review of the 4-question domains so nothing is left completely untouched.
Core Domains (1-4)
- Drill load/feeder calculations and grounding/bonding rules
- Practice locating conductor ampacity tables quickly in the 2020 NEC
Mid-Weight Domains (5-7)
- Work box-fill and conduit-fill problems
- Review motor disconnect and overcurrent protection sizing
Remaining Domains (8-10) and Full Timed Runs
- Cover low-voltage separation, lighting controls, and safety topics
- Simulate the full 180-minute, open-book format under timed conditions
A full week-by-week plan with more practice question strategy is laid out in HI-JE Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. You can also work through domain-weighted practice questions on the main practice platform at HI-JE Exam Prep to get a feel for the pacing before test day.
Frequently Asked Questions
On this site, HI-JE refers to Hawaii's Journey Worker Electrician (EJ) License Exam, administered by PSI for the DCCA Board of Electricians and Plumbers. "Journeyman electrician" is used as a search alias for the same license.
Yes. It's an open-book exam using the 2020 National Electrical Code supplied by the testing center. You cannot bring your own codebook or other study references into the room.
There are 70 scored questions plus up to 10 unscored experimental questions, with a total examination time of 180 minutes; time on experimental items is excluded from that stated time.
Not necessarily. Accepted out-of-state academic programs can satisfy the 240-hour coursework requirement, but you should check the DCCA-linked approved-curricula list rather than assuming automatic acceptance.
You cannot retest the same day. A retest may be available within two business days depending on seat availability, and you'll need to pay the $95 exam fee again.
For more on how the "HI-JE" naming and search terms connect back to Hawaii's official EJ license, see HI-JE Meaning, What Does HI-JE Stand For?, and HI-JE Certification. You can start building familiarity with the exam format anytime through practice questions at HI-JE Exam Prep.