# Chicago Supervising Electricians exam



## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

Schnk said:


> Looking for a tutor to help with taking the exam. Been to a lot of seminars, not had any luck, anybody have any advice or contacts?


Welcome to the forum:thumbup:

Good luck on the exam....:thumbsup:


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

Check this out...

http://www.mikeholt.com/exam-preparation-menu.php




.


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## seabee41 (Dec 21, 2010)

Contact law bulletin they publish the book and host a seminar a couple days before the test. I went and pass first try.


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## pugz134 (Nov 8, 2010)

Learn how to use the code book. Get familiar with the sections. You don't need to know all the code. I took the test as a third year apprentice and passed. Are you union or nonunion? Not being judgmental. The people and places I know are union. The classes I took were done at the apprentice school. Pm me if you have questions.


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## Schnk (Aug 18, 2014)

Thanks for all the responses, but I'm looking for one on one training. I've been to the seminars and they don't work for me.


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Tom Henry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

WHAT TO HECK is a 

*Chicago Supervising Electrician*


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## seabee41 (Dec 21, 2010)

Bad Electrician said:


> WHAT TO HECK is a Chicago Supervising Electrician


Like a masters I would say. Maybe I'm wrong but that test was hard as hell


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## seabee41 (Dec 21, 2010)

Phone is not working right


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## Bo69 (Apr 11, 2012)

I passed the test on my second try without seminars and it is hard as hell also had the FLU. I took the test with a bunch of Local 134 guys some had 22yrs experience and had taken the test 11 times and still didn't pass.

your best bet is to study CHICAGO CODE from front to back and KEYWORDS are important don't waste to much time one question.

Everytime you have free time read it bathroom at work, etc

only 3% pass the test so out of 300 ppl taking test ten will pass.

study and good luck


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

Bo69 said:


> I passed the test on my second try without seminars and it is hard as hell also had the FLU. I took the test with a bunch of Local 134 guys some had 22yrs experience and had taken the test 11 times and still didn't pass.
> 
> your best bet is to study CHICAGO CODE from front to back and KEYWORDS are important don't waste to much time one question.
> 
> ...


 And the question was and is



> WHAT TO HECK is a
> 
> *Chicago Supervising Electrician*


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## Bo69 (Apr 11, 2012)

Bad Electrician said:


> And the question was and is



Once you pass the 5hr electrical exam your entitled to pull permits and over see the jobsite/company you work or start your own contracting company if yhou pay for the contractors license.

It's a masters electrician exam basically but it covers everything from fire pumps to fiber optics and everything in between it's more then the NEC CODE. 

With the Chicago license most surrounding suburbs and counties don't require you to take their test because its way above their requirements.


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## seabee41 (Dec 21, 2010)

Except Elgin they do not accept the Chicago license


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## Bo69 (Apr 11, 2012)

seabee41 said:


> Except Elgin they do not accept the Chicago license




Thanks for the heads up. I never go north I stay south mostly Orland,Tinley Park,Frankfort,Homer etc


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## seabee41 (Dec 21, 2010)

Yeah Elgin says they don't accept our license we don't accept yours. Which is bull


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## Bo69 (Apr 11, 2012)

it's all about money. Frankfort I just showed them my CHICAGO license,bond,insurance and paid the $75 and the gave me a license


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## kevinsryan (Jun 29, 2010)

*Exam Prep*

I am also looking for an exam prep course or tutor. Have you had any luck with your search? Took the exam once and failed.


Schnk said:


> Looking for a tutor to help with taking the exam. Been to a lot of seminars, not had any luck, anybody have any advice or contacts?


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

Bo69 said:


> ...
> With the Chicago license most surrounding suburbs and counties don't require you to take their test because its way above their requirements.


We don't accept the Chicago license because they won't accept ours, and also because they don't use anything close to the current NEC.


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## Bo69 (Apr 11, 2012)

don_resqcapt19 said:


> We don't accept the Chicago license because they won't accept ours, and also because they don't use anything close to the current NEC.



It's all about money. I go into towns still using 2002 and 2005 NEC and they want you to pay there licensing fees but have followed along.

CHICAGO and all other government organization forget they work for us WE THE PEOPLE not the other way around.


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## Tiger (Jan 3, 2008)

Chicago may have an exception from this but there is an Illinois state statute that says you only pay the annual license fee in one place. It is not legal for another jurisdiction to charge another fee. 

If you ever want to give an inspector a heart attack, have your lawyer send a copy of the statute, a request for a refund of the fee you paid, and a list of all the other electricians who have paid the fee to the department for the past three years.


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

That rule is not as clear as you think. It only applies to the actual electrical license, but it does not apply to the contractor license that most cities in my area require. 

You can also make a case that the electrical license that is issued by a city that just issues it based on paying a fee, does not have to be accepted by a city that requires a test to get an electrical license. 

As far as Chicago, it is probably like a lot of state laws...they do not apply to cities with a population over 500,000.


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## mdfriday (May 14, 2007)

Tiger said:


> Chicago may have an exception from this but there is an Illinois state statute that says you only pay the annual license fee in one place. It is not legal for another jurisdiction to charge another fee.
> 
> If you ever want to give an inspector a heart attack, have your lawyer send a copy of the statute, a request for a refund of the fee you paid, and a list of all the other electricians who have paid the fee to the department for the past three years.


That is why they call it a "contractor registration" or a "business license". Like Schaumburg, Aurora, etc.

More than just Elgin do not accept a Chicago license because a Chicago License is not based on the NEC. I cannot remember who else though.


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

What I think is really strange is that a number of cities won't give you an electricians license unless you pass a written test, but they don't offer a test. 

Our city makes good money from this as people come here to take our test at $50 a crack and the pass rate is less than 50%.


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## Tiger (Jan 3, 2008)

The following is from Sugar Grove, IL which seems to understand the statute, and then the full wording of the statute from IL, not Sugar Grove:

From Sugar Grove, IL
Electricians must also submit a current copy of their electrical license obtained by passing an exam from another Illinois municipality. Fee and bond requirements are waived per state statute.*

From IL:
(65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 33 heading)

DIVISION 33. REGISTRATION OF ELECTRICAL
CONTRACTORS


****(65 ILCS 5/11-33-1) (from Ch. 24, par. 11-33-1) 
****Sec. 11-33-1. The corporate authorities of each municipality may require the registration of electrical contractors, and may impose an annual registration fee of $25 on each registered contractor. An electrical contractor who is registered in one municipality, however, shall not be required by any other municipality to be registered or to pay a registration fee in the other municipality. 
****The term "electrical contractor," as used in this section, means any person engaged in the business of installing or altering by contract electrical equipment for the utilization of electricity for light, heat, or power. But the term "electrical contractor" shall not include the installing or altering of (1) radio apparatus or equipment for wireless reception of sounds and signals, or (2) apparatus, conductors, or other equipment installed for or by public utilities, including common carriers, which are under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission, for use in their operation as public utilities. Nor shall the term include the employees employed by an electrical contractor to do or supervise his work. 
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 576.)


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## mdfriday (May 14, 2007)

Tiger said:


> The following is from Sugar Grove, IL which seems to understand the statute, and then the full wording of the statute from IL, not Sugar Grove:
> 
> From Sugar Grove, IL
> Electricians must also submit a current copy of their electrical license obtained by passing an exam from another Illinois municipality. Fee and bond requirements are waived per state statute.*
> ...


Do you have to pay to register as a business in Sugar Grove? They are only 10 minutes from me, but I have never worked there.


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## mdfriday (May 14, 2007)

don_resqcapt19 said:


> What I think is really strange is that a number of cities won't give you an electricians license unless you pass a written test, but they don't offer a test.
> 
> Our city makes good money from this as people come here to take our test at $50 a crack and the pass rate is less than 50%.


I took and passed Elgin's test. It was not as easy as I had expected, based on what others told me about the old Naperville test.


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

Tiger said:


> The following is from Sugar Grove, IL which seems to understand the statute, and then the full wording of the statute from IL, not Sugar Grove:
> 
> From Sugar Grove, IL
> Electricians must also submit a current copy of their electrical license obtained by passing an exam from another Illinois municipality. Fee and bond requirements are waived per state statute.*
> ...


So I had it backwards...it is the contractor registration that has to be honored from other cities, but no requirement to honor the electrical license.


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## electricbysullivan (Aug 16, 2013)

Everyday, I believe more and more in statewide licensing after hearing stories like this, PA, and NY. But I digress.

Don't know your exam. But I took the NJ exam and had the Mike Holt 2008 Master Set of books and DVDs, Almost everything for Tom Henry, Mastering the NEC 2011,etc.... Most of the stuff was DVD with books if available, sometimes CD.

A book that I liked was the Electrical inspector exam set off of Amazon when I was taking my Electrical HHS classes. They were spiral bound books.

No one teaches a prep course for this exam out your way? Over here there is a bunch of characters that do the exam prep. Everything from months longs classes meeting one or two days a week or on a weekend to a crash course right before the exam.

There was a an online exam prep mainly for the city based exams in Pennsylvania like Philly, Allentown, etc... if you have the discipline, it might be something to do.
Good luck

http://shop.advanceelectricaltraining.com/brands/Advance-Electrical-Training.html


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## Tiger (Jan 3, 2008)

mdfriday said:


> Do you have to pay to register as a business in Sugar Grove? They are only 10 minutes from me, but I have never worked there.


No I don't. I had a hard time finding the Illinois statute and ran into the Sugar Grove site first. I'm a registered electrical contractor in Woodstock where I took the test. Other jurisdictions in my territory with registration fees are Lake in the Hills, Village of Lakewood...I'm blanking out at the moment about any others.

On one of these forums one contractor said he faxes a copy of the state statute to the department if they ask for a registration fee. The fees are typically so inexpensive I just pay them. If I recall correctly, a few years ago Hawthorne Woods had a message on their phone system about refunding registration fees, so maybe someone nailed them for it.


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## MulTOMeter (Mar 20, 2015)

Does anyone know what NEC Code Book they are using for the testing currently? 2014? Also, where do I go to register for the exam?


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## local134gt (Dec 24, 2008)

MulTOMeter said:


> Does anyone know what NEC Code Book they are using for the testing currently? 2014? Also, where do I go to register for the exam?


For the CHICAGO test they are shockingly using the CHICAGO electrical code book......


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## MulTOMeter (Mar 20, 2015)

gee thanks for the support


local134gt said:


> For the CHICAGO test they are shockingly using the CHICAGO electrical code book......


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## mdfriday (May 14, 2007)

MulTOMeter said:


> gee thanks for the support


He told you what code to look for....Chicago does not use the NEC....


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## local134gt (Dec 24, 2008)

MulTOMeter said:


> gee thanks for the support


You can do it Jimmy, we believe in you! Is that better? Haha


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## kevinsryan (Jun 29, 2010)

*Chicago supervising electricians exam*

Does anyone know of a electrical exam prep course in Chicago?


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## richardlitland (Nov 11, 2021)

How many questions and how long is the exam?


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## just the cowboy (Sep 4, 2013)

richardlitland said:


> How many questions and how long is the exam?


7 year old thread, hope he passed test by now.


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## richardlitland (Nov 11, 2021)

just the cowboy said:


> 7 year old thread, hope he passed test by now.


 😂


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