Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07
Current, for now
Colorado and the Next NEC Edition: What Happens Next
Colorado is on the newest published edition, so there is no adoption in progress to track. What there is instead is a pattern: a rule filing, a hearing, an attorney general opinion, a register publication and an effective date. Knowing that sequence is how you see the next one coming.
Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed
On this page
Where things stand today
Colorado's state electrical code is the 2026 National Electrical Code, effective July 15, 2026, under Secretary of State tracking number 2026-00171. The Secretary of State's version list confirms it as the current permanent rule.
The examination followed on August 1, 2026 under PSI's bulletin. So both the enforcement side and the testing side are on the same edition, which has not always been true this year.
No next adoption is in progress on any page we read, and no source we found names a future edition or a date for one.
The pattern the last adoption followed
The 2026 adoption ran through six recorded stages, and the same sequence is what to watch for next time.
Notice of rulemaking filed 04/14/2026. Rulemaking hearing 05/27/2026 at 9:00 AM MDT, held on Zoom, described as a final opportunity for stakeholders to testify. Adopted the same day, 05/27/2026. Attorney General opinion 06/11/2026. Published in the Colorado Register 06/25/2026, volume 49, publication number 12. Effective 07/15/2026, then inserted into the Code of Colorado Regulations on 08/07/2026.
Three months from notice to effect, and a further three weeks before the published code caught up. If you want early warning of the next edition, the notice of rulemaking is the document that gives you roughly a quarter of a year.
How often the rule has moved
3 CCR 710-1 has 32 listed versions on file with the Secretary of State, including the imported original.
Recent ones came fast. Permanent rule effective 07/15/2026, tracking 2026-00171. Before it, 03/30/2026, tracking 2025-00606. Then 03/16/2024, 11/14/2023, 07/30/2023, an emergency rule on 07/26/2023, an administrative change on 05/15/2023, 11/30/2022, an emergency rule on 09/28/2022, 07/15/2022, 11/30/2021, 07/15/2021 and 07/15/2020.
Two things stand out. July 15 is a date the Board uses repeatedly. And not every version is a code adoption, because the same rule series carries apprentice registration, licensure, examinations, enforcement and renewal, so most versions change something other than the edition.
The license cycle is tied to the code cycle
Board rule 3 CCR 710-1.13.A says licenses and electrical contractor registrations renew every three years, aligned with the National Electrical Code adoption cycle.
That alignment is why September 30, 2026 and the 2026 code adoption sit in the same year, and it is why the continuing education requirement puts a floor of four hours on the National Electrical Code Changes competency.
So the next edition is likely to land in the same rhythm as the next renewal, and the training you need for one is the training the state asks for in the other.
What would change when the next one moves
For work, the enforced document changes on the effective date in the filing, and inspections follow it under C.R.S. 12-115-120(3)(a).
For the exam, nothing changes until PSI's bulletin says so. That is the lesson of this year: the code moved on July 15 and the exam on August 1, seventeen days apart, from two different bodies. Watch the bulletin, not the code news, if what you care about is a test date.
And expect the supplied book question to repeat. The 2023 book is provided on request only until November 1, 2026, which is the transition arrangement PSI used this time. Whether the same arrangement appears next time is not something anybody can promise you.
What is not published
No future adoption date, no draft rule and no Board statement about the next edition appears on any page we read.
The adopted text of the current Rule 1.5 has not been read either, because the adopted rule and redline are Word files that would not convert and could not be downloaded. So the wording that would be amended next time is itself unconfirmed.
And the Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform lists no sunset or sunrise review of the State Electrical Board in its archive, so there is no scheduled review document to read for a signal.
What to watch, and where
The Secretary of State's rule version list for 3 CCR 710-1 is the single most useful page, because a new version appears there with its tracking number before most people notice.
The eDocket page for a tracking number carries the notice date, the hearing date and the effective date in one place.
PSI's bulletin 3395 carries its own Updated date at the top, and it is the document that decides your exam. Check it when you book and again in the week before you sit.
Questions people ask
Is Colorado adopting a newer NEC edition?
Not that any page we read shows. Colorado moved to the 2026 National Electrical Code on July 15, 2026 and no further adoption is in progress on any published source we found.
How long does a Colorado code adoption take?
The 2026 adoption ran from a notice filed on 04/14/2026 to an effective date of 07/15/2026, about three months, with insertion into the published code on 08/07/2026.
How will I know the exam edition has changed?
From PSI's bulletin, not from the code news. In 2026 the code moved on July 15 and the exam on August 1, seventeen days later, because the two are set by different bodies.
Why does the license cycle line up with the code cycle?
Board rule 3 CCR 710-1.13.A says licenses and contractor registrations renew every three years aligned with the National Electrical Code adoption cycle.
Will PSI provide the older book next time too?
Nobody can promise that. For this transition the 2023 book is provided on request until November 1, 2026 and not after. Whether the same arrangement repeats is not published.
Where do I watch for the next change?
The Secretary of State's rule version list for 3 CCR 710-1, the eDocket page for any new tracking number, and PSI's bulletin 3395 with its Updated date.
Thirty free questions, timed, with the working shown
Every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the code section named, so you learn the trap and not just the answer. No account.
All questions here are original. They are not actual exam questions, and no question bank can promise you a pass.
What this page cites
- 3 CCR 710-1 rule version list 32 listed versions with effective dates and tracking numbers, confirming the current permanent rule effective 07/15/2026. Read 7 September 2026. source
- Secretary of State eDocket 2026-00171 The stage by stage record of the 2026 adoption, from notice on 04/14/2026 to insertion on 08/07/2026. source
- 3 CCR 710-1.13, renewal and reinstatement Ties the three year license cycle to the National Electrical Code adoption cycle. Text current through Register Vol. 48, No. 11, June 10, 2025. source
- PSI candidate information bulletin 3395 The document that decides the exam edition, printed as Updated 6/18/2026 with the Effective 8/1/2026 paragraph. source
- COPRRR archive of reviews Lists no sunset or sunrise review of the State Electrical Board or of electricians. Read 7 September 2026. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.