How to get an electrician license in Arkansas

Journeyman level 8,000 hours on the job + state exam What's a journeyman?

Licensing office Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) · (501) 682-4548 [3][5]

The license pathway in Arkansas

1. 1

   Electrical Apprentice

   • $10 a year (your school files it)
   • Yearly, by your school

   You must be enrolled in a school or training course certified by the U.S. Office of Apprenticeship. You work only under the supervision of a journeyman or master electrician. [1][2]

2. 2

   Residential Journeyman Electrician

   • 4,000 hours on the job
   • 2 years of experience
   • Yes, 40 questions, 2 hours, open book, Prov
   • $80 exam; $25 license
   • Yearly ($25); 8 hours CE each NEC cycle

   Lets you wire one- to four-family homes under a master or residential master electrician. The board's form asks for 2 years in a registered apprenticeship and 4,000 hours of qualifying work. [1][2][3][6]

3. 3

   Journeyman Electrician

   • 8,000 hours on the job
   • 4 years of experience
   • 576 hours in a registered apprenticeship
   • Yes, 60 questions, 3 hours, open book, 70% to pass, Prov
   • $80 exam; $25 license
   • Yearly ($25); 8 hours CE each NEC cycle

   The main working license. You qualify by finishing a four-year registered apprenticeship (8,000 hours of on-the-job training) or, without one, with 8 years (16,000 hours) of approved experience. [1][2][3][4][6]

4. 4

   Master Electrician

   • 6 years of experience
   • Yes, 60 questions, 3 hours, open book, Prov
   • $80 exam; $50 license
   • Yearly ($50); 8 hours CE each NEC cycle

   Lets you plan, lay out and supervise electrical work. You need 6 years of construction experience including 2 years as a licensed journeyman, or an electrical engineering degree plus 2 years of construction experience. [1][2][6]

Who needs an Arkansas electrician license

State law says no one may do electrical work in Arkansas, or advertise as an electrician, without a license from the board unless the law exempts them. The license is statewide: a city or county can't require its own exam or license from someone licensed or registered by the board, although it can require permits and inspections.

There are exemptions. You don't need a license for electrical work on your own primary residence (unless a local ordinance requires it), for manual labor such as moving materials and cleaning up, or for replacing an existing wall switch or receptacle in isolated cases. Utilities and employees of qualifying industrial plants are also exempt.

All licensed electricians and apprentices must carry their license and a photo ID while they work. [1][2]

The license ladder

• Electrical apprentice: registered with the board while you're enrolled in a federally registered apprenticeship school.
• Residential journeyman: one- to four-family homes, under a master or residential master. Two years of home wiring experience; the board's form asks for 2 years of registered apprenticeship and 4,000 hours of work.
• Journeyman: installs and maintains electrical systems of any type. A completed four-year registered apprenticeship, or 8 years (16,000 hours) of experience, counting at most 2,000 hours a year.
• Residential master: three years of home wiring experience including one year as a licensed residential journeyman.
• Master: plans, lays out and supervises electrical work. Six years of experience including two as a licensed journeyman, or an electrical engineering degree plus two years. A journeyman can't contract with the public without employing at least one full-time master.

Arkansas also licenses industrial maintenance electricians (two years of supervised experience maintaining electrical conductors and equipment) and specialist sign electricians. [2][3][5]

Apprenticeship rules

State rules set the apprenticeship at a minimum of four years: eight periods of 1,000 hours of work and eight periods of 72 classroom hours, at least 144 hours a year, on your own time. The total is 8,000 hours of on-the-job training. The first 1,000 work hours are a probationary period.

One journeyman or master may supervise up to three apprentices on a job. How closely depends on your year: on commercial and other non-home jobs, first-year apprentices are supervised directly and continuously, second-year apprentices are checked every 30 minutes to an hour, third-year every two to three hours, and fourth-year before the work is made operational, considered complete or covered. On one- to four-family homes, your first 90 days are under direct, continuous supervision.

After you're released for testing you have 12 months to take the exam. If you haven't passed the journeyman exam within 12 months of finishing school, you go back to third-year supervision. [1][2][4]

The exam

Prov runs the board's exams. You can schedule once the board approves you, and you stay eligible for six months. The November 2023 candidate bulletin lists these exams:

• Journeyman: 60 questions, 3 hours, offered in English and Spanish.
• Residential journeyman: 40 questions, 2 hours.
• Master: 60 questions, 3 hours.

All exams are open book and timed, and you need 70% to pass. The bulletin lists testing centers in Conway, El Dorado, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Paragould and Searcy. The 2023 bulletin is based on the 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC), but the board's current rule adopts the 2026 NEC, so ask Prov or the board which edition to bring.

If you fail, you can retest if you completed an apprenticeship. If you didn't, the board may require up to two years of apprenticeship before you retest. [2][6]

Fees and renewal

• Apprentice registration: $10 a year.
• Exam: $80 for a computer test at Prov ($56 on paper).
• Journeyman or residential journeyman: $25 license, $25 a year to renew.
• Master or residential master: $50 license, $50 a year to renew.

Licenses are renewed every year. Late renewal costs one year's fee plus $10 for each month late; after 36 months you must retest and pay a $1,000 penalty. Journeymen and masters need 8 hours of board-approved continuing education on the NEC each code cycle, tracked through StateReporting.com.

The board waives the initial license fee if you receive Medicaid, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) or Lifeline benefits, or were approved for unemployment in the last 12 months. [1][2][5][6]

If you're licensed in another state

The board lists journeyman reciprocal agreements with Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Its master column lists Iowa, Oregon and Texas, but its note names Oregon and North Dakota as the master agreements; check with the board. It reciprocates only an original license, not one you got by reciprocity, and the rule asks for one year licensed in that state and proof you were tested there.

If you move to Arkansas, Act 457 of 2023 gives automatic licensure to a resident who has held a license with a similar scope of practice in good standing for one year. You still meet renewal rules, and you may have to pass an exam on Arkansas law. The act doesn't apply to people covered by a reciprocity agreement, and the board's rules don't mention it, so confirm with the board. Uniformed service members stationed here, veterans who live here, and their spouses also get automatic licensure with a similar out-of-state license. See license reciprocity for how this works across states. [2][5][7][8]

Steps to get licensed in Arkansas

1. Get hired into a registered apprenticeship

   Apply to a union JATC or a training center like ACEF, or get hired by an electrical contractor that enrolls you in a school certified by the U.S. Office of Apprenticeship. Use the Office of Skills Development map to find programs. [1][9][10][11]

2. Get registered as an apprentice

   Your employer registers you within 30 days of hiring, and your school files the $10 yearly registration. Start classes by the first full semester after you're hired. [2]

3. Finish the four-year apprenticeship

   Complete 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and 576 classroom hours under the supervision of journeyman and master electricians. Carry your registration card and photo ID on the job. [2][3][4]

4. Get released to test and apply

   Your program sends a Released for Test/Completion notice approved by the Office of Skills Development. Apply for the exam through the board's page; you must test within 12 months of your release. [2][5]

5. Pass the exam

   Once the board approves you, schedule with Prov within 6 months. The journeyman exam is 60 open-book questions in 3 hours; you need 70% to pass. [6]

6. Get licensed and renew every year

   Pay the $25 journeyman license fee within six months of passing, or you must retest. Renew each year for $25 and complete 8 hours of continuing education each National Electrical Code cycle. [1][2]

Where to get the hours

Programs that train electricians in or for Arkansas, from their own official pages. Listed by type, not ranked.

• Union

  IBEW Local 700 / Fort Smith Electrical JATC

  A five-year union inside wireman program in Fort Smith. Apprentices work 40 hours a week for an IBEW contractor and attend school two nights a week. [10]

• Union

  El Dorado Electrical JATC

  A DOL-approved electrical apprenticeship in El Dorado on the state's list of WIOA-approved apprenticeship programs. [12]

• School

  Arkansas Construction Education Foundation (ACEF)

  A Little Rock training center with a four-year electrical apprenticeship (576 classroom hours, 8,000 work hours); you attend class one night a week and work full time for an electrical employer. A Spanish-language program is offered. [11]

• Other

  ABC Arkansas Apprenticeship Training Program (Arkansas Construction Trades Academy)

  A DOL-approved electrical apprenticeship in North Little Rock on the state's WIOA-approved list: 4 years of classes and 8,000 hours of on-the-job training. [12]

• State program

  Arkansas Office of Skills Development (State Apprenticeship Agency)

  The Office of Skills Development oversees registered apprenticeship in Arkansas and has a map of programs near you. Act 695 of 2025 created a State Apprenticeship Agency within the Office of Skills Development to register apprenticeship programs. [9][13][14]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask