PG&E Physical Test Battery (PTB) Prep 2026: Practice Tests & Study Guide
Updated: September, 2026
The PG&E Physical Test Battery (PTB) is a pre-employment assessment used by Pacific Gas and Electric Company to screen applicants for physical positions such as Utility Worker and Materials Handler, delivered online through an external testing vendor, and completed after the initial phone interview and before the face-to-face interview stage of the hiring process.
The PTB session assesses two areas: numerical ability, covering whole numbers, decimals, and fractions, and space visualization, covering the manipulation of 2D and 3D shapes, each under its own strict time limit. Applicants have 5 calendar days from PG&E's test invitation email to complete it online, and the test key expires without extension once that window closes.
Try our free PG&E Physical Test Battery practice test covering the assessment's key sections. Those practice questions are just a sample from our complete PG&E PTB PrepPack and practice library, which include timed section simulations, full answer explanations, and extra practice to sharpen both math and spatial reasoning skills.
PG&E's Physical Test Battery
+IST
1-Month Access
Each practice test contains detailed answers and explanations
- Interactive Test Guide
- Trades Math
2 Numeric Simulations
6 Basic Math Practice Tests
3 Math Study Guides - Spatial Reasoning
1 Space Visualization Simulation
2 Space Visualization Practice Tests
7 Extra Spatial Practice Tests - Personality Profiling (Bonus)
3 Personality Guides
NEO-PI Style Personality Test
30 Single Trait Drills
What is The Physical Test Battery (PTB) Assessment?
The PG&E Physical Test Battery (PTB) is a pre-employment assessment used by PG&E to screen applicants for physical positions such as Utility Worker and Materials Handler, delivered online through an external testing vendor, and completed after the initial phone interview and before the face-to-face interview stage of the hiring process. The session assesses numerical ability, covering whole numbers, decimals, and fractions, and space visualization, covering the manipulation of 2D and 3D shapes, each under its own strict time limit.
PG&E Utility Workers perform construction and maintenance on gas lines and underground electric infrastructure, including hand excavation, pipe wrapping, and loading and unloading equipment and materials, working under the direction of a journeyman, crew lead, or supervisor. The role requires the ability to lift and maneuver up to 90 pounds, work in all weather extremes, and travel to job sites across PG&E's service territory, and new hires complete roughly 15 business days of Utility Worker Training during their first three weeks on the job.
Recruitment follows a staged process: after applying through PG&E's careers site, candidates complete an initial phone interview, then receive an email invitation to take their required prerequisite test online. For Utility Worker roles, that means both the PTB and the Work Orientation Inventory (WOI). Applicants have 5 calendar days from that email to complete the test, and the test key expires without extension once that window closes. Candidates who pass move on to a face-to-face interview, which may include STAR-format behavioral questions, and some roles also require a separate Post-Offer Physical Assessment and a secondary test after an offer is made.
What are the Sections of PTB?
This 75-item section measures problem-solving ability through basic math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It's divided into three parts of 25 questions each, covering whole numbers, decimals, and fractions, with five multiple-choice answers per question and a 10-minute time limit for the entire exercise.
This 50-question section measures your ability to visualize forms in space and mentally manipulate objects, a core part of mechanical ability. You're shown piles of blocks and, for five lettered blocks in each pile, indicate how many other blocks it touches. There's a five-minute time limit to complete the exercise.
PG&E PTB Practice Test
PG&E's real Numerical Ability section gives you 10 minutes for 75 questions, and Space Visualization gives you 5 minutes for 50 questions, well under 10 seconds per question in both cases. Speed matters as much as accuracy here. Work through the questions below the same way you would on test day: read quickly, trust your first solid answer, and move on rather than second-guessing yourself. You're allowed scratch paper and a pen or pencil on the real test, but no calculator, so practice doing the math by hand.
Section 1 - Numerical Ability
Try the questions below covering fractions, decimals, and division, the same three areas tested in PG&E's real Numerical Ability section.
Tip:
Convert mixed numbers to improper fractions before multiplying or dividing, and simplify as you go instead of waiting until the end. It's faster and leaves less room for error under time pressure.
Section 2 - Space Visualization
Each question below uses the same block-pile format as PG&E's real test: one block is marked, and you need to work out how many other blocks in the pile it touches.
Look at the grey block and determine how many other blocks in the pile it touches.
It is important to remember that we cannot see the entire grey block. We need to visualize how it continues and, therefore, what blocks it touches.
In the following illustration, all the blocks that touch the grey block are colored blue:
We can see that five blocks touch the grey block, so the correct answer is 5.
Look at the grey block and determine how many other blocks in the pile it touches.
In the following illustration, all the blocks that touch the grey block are colored blue:
We can see that four blocks touch the grey block, so the correct answer is 4.
Look at the grey block and determine how many other blocks in the pile it touches.
In the following illustration, all the blocks that touch the grey block are colored blue:
We can see that five blocks touch the grey block, so the correct answer is 5.
Tip:
A block only touches another if they share a full face, not just an edge or corner. Trace one side of the marked block at a time instead of trying to picture the whole pile at once.
The questions above are a sample of what to expect, but PG&E's real test gives you seconds per question, not minutes. That kind of pressure is hard to prepare for by reading alone. Our PrepPack™ includes full-length Numerical Ability and Space Visualization simulations timed to match PG&E's actual limits, so test day is the second time you feel that pace, not the first.
Read What PG&E Candidates Say About Our PTB Prep Course-
Inside the Prep Course - Preview
We've created a comprehensive PG&E Physical Test Battery PrepPack designed to help you succeed. Our PrepPack closely mimics the actual test's timing and format, allowing you to identify and improve your weaker areas. With this focused preparation, you'll be confident and ready to excel on test day.
Why preparation matters: PG&E's Physical Test Battery gives you just 10 minutes for 75 Numerical Ability questions and 5 minutes for 50 Space Visualization questions, well under 10 seconds per question either way. Our practice simulations run at those same real time limits, and our extra practice is designed to build your speed beyond what the actual test demands, so when test day comes, the real pace feels manageable.
What’s Inside Our PTB Prep Pack
Using our PG&E Physical Test Battery PrepPack, you get:
- Complete PTB preparation across both real test sections - Numerical Ability practice (2 Numeric Simulations, 6 Numerical Reasoning Practice tests, and 3 arithmetic study guides covering whole numbers, decimals, and fractions) and Space Visualization practice (a full-length Simulation plus Practice and Extra Practice tests), matching PG&E's actual two-part structure.
- Space Visualization practice built around PG&E's real block-pile format - the same style of question used on the actual test: a marked block in a pile, and you determine how many other blocks it touches. This format is uncommon outside utility pre-employment testing, so practicing it specifically matters more than generic spatial reasoning drills.
- Detailed explanations for every practice question - not just the correct answer, but the reasoning behind it, so you understand the method, not just the result.
- Study guides covering every section of the PTB - dedicated guides for the Physical Test Battery overall plus arithmetic fundamentals, so you can shore up any weak spots before you start timed practice.
- A bonus Personality Profiling module - a Motivation & Culture Fit guide, a Professional Profile guide, a NEO-PI Style Personality Test, and 30 Single Trait drills. This isn't part of the PTB itself, PG&E's real test only covers Numerical Ability and Space Visualization, but it's included as additional practice.
- Built from PG&E's own official Preparation Guide - developed using PG&E's published PTB materials and refined with feedback from candidates who've gone through the real hiring process, backed by JobTestPrep's 30+ years of assessment prep experience.
Which PG&E Jobs Require the Physical Test Battery?
The Physical Test Battery is offered to candidates for physical positions across PG&E. Among these are Materials Handler and Utility Worker roles.
Materials Handlers manage materials for PG&E's gas, electric, telecommunications, grid, and transmission operations. They receive stock and pick and distribute electrical and gas utility materials such as transformers, cable, fittings, and meters.
Their duties include lifting and moving materials by hand and by equipment, and they also take part in annual inventory counts and periodic cycle counts at the facility.
Utility Workers perform construction and maintenance on gas lines and underground electric infrastructure, working under the direction of a journeyman, crew lead, or supervisor. Their tasks include hand excavation, pipe wrapping, and loading and unloading equipment and materials.
The role requires the ability to lift and maneuver up to 90 pounds, work in all weather extremes, and travel to job sites across PG&E's service territory. Utility Workers may also perform traffic control duties and assist with semi-skilled construction and maintenance work.
Physical Test Battery FAQs
The math itself, whole numbers, decimals, and fractions, isn't advanced, and the block-pile questions in Space Visualization aren't complicated once you know the method. What makes the PTB hard is the time pressure: 10 minutes for 75 questions and 5 minutes for 50 questions, with no calculator allowed. Most candidates who struggle aren't stuck on the concepts, they run out of time.
No. You're only permitted to use a pen or pencil and scratch paper during the test.
You can retake the Physical Test Battery after a waiting period. Per PG&E's official testing program, every retake, your second attempt, third, and any attempt after that, requires a wait of at least 90 calendar days from your previous attempt.
Once you're invited, you'll receive an email the Monday morning of your scheduled test date with instructions, a link to the test, and your test key. You'll have 5 calendar days from that email to complete the PTB online, and the test key expires after 5 calendar days and cannot be extended.
The PTB is taken entirely online, so there's no test center to travel to. You'll complete both sections, Numerical Ability and Space Visualization, in one sitting within your 5-day window. Have scratch paper and a pen or pencil ready since no calculator is allowed, and make sure you're somewhere quiet with a stable connection before you start, the test key can't be reissued if something interrupts you partway through.
PG&E hasn't published a specific passing score or percentage for the PTB. The test has been professionally validated to ensure it's job-related, and your results are used alongside the rest of your application to assess your fit for physical positions. Rather than aiming for an exact number, focus on accuracy and pace across both sections.
If you receive duplicate invites for the same test, take it only once.
PG&E gives you 10 minutes for 75 Numerical Ability questions and 5 minutes for 50 Space Visualization questions, well under 10 seconds per question either way. A PDF lets you work at your own pace, which is exactly what the real test won't allow. A timed simulation is the only way to practice making decisions that fast, so the pressure isn't a surprise on test day.
AI-generated questions aren't checked against PG&E's actual test format or validated for accuracy, so the difficulty, structure, and even the answers can be wrong without you knowing it. Our PrepPack™ is built to match the confirmed structure of PG&E's real PTB, the same section breakdown, the same time limits, and the same block-pile format used in Space Visualization, so what you practice is what you'll actually see.
They're both prerequisite tests PG&E uses to screen applicants for physical and technical positions, but they measure different things. The PTB covers numerical ability and space visualization, while the IST covers reading comprehension, working with numbers, charts, and graphs, and mechanical principles. Some roles require only one, but certain positions, including some apprentice-track roles, require candidates to qualify on both before they can even apply or interview. If your role requires both, our 3-month Premium plan includes the IST PrepPack at no extra cost.
No. The Physical Test Battery (PTB) is a pre-employment aptitude test measuring numerical ability and space visualization, taken online before you receive a job offer. PG&E's Post-Offer Physical Assessment is a separate, hands-on physical fitness evaluation that happens after you've been offered a position. They test different things at different stages of hiring, passing one doesn't determine the other.
After completing your payment, you will receive two emails: a payment receipt and a login link with your account details. Once you log in and reset your password, you will have instant, unlimited access to your PrepPack.
You can start practicing immediately with tailored questions and detailed explanations, tracking your performance along the way. Your progress is saved, allowing you to revisit previous attempts as many times as you like. If you need more time, you can extend your subscription by contacting c.serv@jobtestprep.com.
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