The NEC

[JB66money]

Hello All,

The NEC book is a pretty large book and I am wondering are all chapters fair game on the PE exam? If not, then which chapters, articles and ect should one study from the NEC book in order to adequately for the PE exam?

 

[PE blues]

The entire book is important. The handbook is big because it has explanations of rules and sample calculations. You may want to familiarize with Appendix for conductor selection and conduit selection. Also motor calculations.
You need to get a basic idea of how to find any topic in the book. The test can include questions from any topics. Practice some questions from Mike Holt's website. I guess either CI or SPin up have a book for NEC practice.

 

[Redskinsdb21]

make sure you know NEC....review it and know all sections b/c they are fair game....the handbook is better b/c of the explanations and examples...but you still must know where to look when presented with a question

 

[Wael]

NEC drill book by CI was helpful for me.

Make sure to use the Index in the back of NEC.

 

[JB66money]

Should I try to read the entire NEC reference book, before attempting to work the NEC drill book problems?

 

[Wildsoldier PE]

That would be a waste of your time...you need to be familiar with the most important topics of the code and you should know how to find stuff fast using the table of contents...index etc....there is a bunch of stuff on that book that you may not need to know for the test....code is not the major topic on the test...probably you would find only about 8 questions on the exam no more than that..may be less.

 

[danadiva81]

To be clear.....do I need to make sure that I have the NEC Handbook AND the NEC, plus the NESC Handbook AND the NESC? Thanks.

 

[Redskinsdb21]

No Dana...the NESC is all you need...dont waste money on the handbook....( I have a copy of the NESC somewhere I think) ....also, you dont need a copy of NEC handbook and NEC...either is fine but the handbook is better b/c it gives some pictures of important topics that help you understand it better and some better explanations....this is an important topic for the exam..about 10 questions on the exam and typically easy questions if you know it well

 

[danadiva81]

Okay good deal. Thanks!

 

[RBsai]

@ Redskinsdb21

Are there any recommended books for PE practice questions for NESC ? Iam using Mike Holts for NEC

 

[Redskinsdb21]

RBsai...dont waste time on practice problems for NESC...just take a copy and review it for an hour or two...its more forward than the NEC and its usually easier to look things up in than the NEC....also, you may not have NESC problems and if you do it will be 1 or 2 most likely...its good your studying NEC and NESC...look for 10-12 questions on the exam...pretty big part of the exam and NCEES says its like 15% of overall exam I think

 

[danadiva81]

Redskins, do you have a suggestion for a reference for the Econ questions?

 

[knight1fox3]

^ actually the FE reference manual they hand out was a pretty good reference. Or if you purchased a copy of something similar to an FE review manual (Lindburg?), that should also be sufficient.

 

[Redskinsdb21]

Redskins, do you have a suggestion for a reference for the Econ questions?

Dana, it depends on how good you are at Econ...I was required to take a course in undergad,,,so understanding how to set those equations up is still etched in my memory...if your the same, find about 20-30 good P/A, F/P type problems and maybe some balloon payment problems and you should be fine...and even if you didnt take a course, practicing the 20-30 questions will teach you how to set them up...which is ususally easy once you figure it out. The list of equations should be all you need for the most part...you can find them many places online etc., I would get a book that has about a 10-20 page review on it if you need lots of help.

 

[PE blues]

i used my Michael Lindenburg FE reference manual which was very helpful.