How to become a licensed electrician in New Mexico

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

Licensing office New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, Construction Industries Division (CID) · (505) 476-4700 [17][18]

The license pathway in New Mexico

1. 1

   Apprentice (no state card)

   You learn the trade while working for a licensed contractor, under the direct supervision of a certified journeyman. The state issues no apprentice card, and CID recognizes both registered and unregistered apprentices. [2][3]

2. 2

   Journeyman Residential Wiring (ER-1J)

   • 4,000 hours on the job
   • 2 years of experience
   • Yes: two written parts plus a practical, 75% to pass each; $206.64 for all three (PSI)
   • $75 application
   • Every three years, $75

   An optional certificate for residential wiring. It can work under an EE-98 or ER-1 contractor. You need two years (4,000 hours) of experience. [2][4][5][10]

3. 3

   Journeyman Residential and Commercial Electrical (EE-98J)

   • 8,000 hours on the job
   • 4 years of experience
   • Yes: code exam (50 questions, open book), theory exam (50 questions, closed book) and a 100-point practical; 75% to pass each; $68.88 per part, $206.64 combined (PSI)
   • $75 application
   • Every three years, $75; 16 hours CE

   The full journeyman electrician certificate. It can work under EE-98, ER-1 and all electrical specialty contractor licenses. State law requires four years of experience, two of them in commercial or industrial work, or a four-year apprenticeship or four years of accredited training. [2][4][5][7][10][11]

4. 4

   Electrical contractor qualifying party (EE-98 or ER-1)

   • 4 years of experience
   • Yes: EE-98 three-part trade exam ($269.06) or ER-1 exam ($107.63), plus the Business and Law exam ($68.88) or an approved course
   • $36 application (CID's page; the 2004 fee rule says $30) plus the license fee
   • Contractor licenses expire two years after issue, or as CID sets (never less than one year)

   New Mexico has no master electrician license. A contractor's license goes to a business that employs or is owned by a qualifying party (QP). The EE-98 license (residential, commercial and industrial wiring up to 5,000 volts) requires four years of experience; ER-1 (residential) requires two. [6][7][9][19][20]

Who needs a certificate in New Mexico

New Mexico's rule says a journeyman certificate of competence "is required of all individuals performing electrical wiring." The one exception is an apprentice working "under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman" who is employed by a licensed contractor.

A journeyman may work only for a business licensed for that type of work (or one holding an annual permit). Businesses that contract electrical work need a separate contractor's license from CID.

Homeowners may wire their own homes without a contractor, but CID requires a homeowner permit, inspections and a homeowner electrical exam (75% to pass). [2][7][8]

The license ladder

• Apprentice: no state card; work under a certified journeyman.
• Journeyman Residential Wiring (ER-1J): two years of experience plus exams.
• Journeyman Electrician (EE-98J): four years of experience plus exams; the full journeyman level.
• Contractor qualifying party: EE-98 (four years) or ER-1 (two years), plus the trade and Business and Law exams.

New Mexico also certifies journeymen for specialties such as signs (ES-1J), low-voltage systems (ES-3J), telephone systems (ES-7J), well pumps (ES-10J) and power lines (EL-1J, four years). Most specialties require two years.

State law lets you qualify for the EE-98J exam after four years of accredited training, a four-year apprenticeship, four years of practical experience (two commercial or industrial), or a state-approved vocational electrical program plus two years of commercial experience. CID's rule counts each year of accredited training as half a year of experience, up to half the requirement. Ask PSI how your schooling will be counted.

Compare New Mexico with other states on the electrician hub and in journeyman vs. master. [2][4][6][7]

The journeyman exams

PSI runs the exams for CID. Test centers are in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Roswell and Farmington, plus Durango, Colorado, and Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock and Midland in Texas.

PSI's journeyman bulletin lists three EE-98J exams. The code exam has 50 questions in 145 minutes and is open book, with the 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC). The theory exam has 50 questions in 120 minutes and is closed book. The practical is scored out of 100 points in 120 minutes and covers motor control, transformer, doorbell and lighting projects, conduit bending and materials identification. You need 75% on each.

Each exam is $68.88 ($206.64 for all three). You can't schedule an exam until your work experience is approved, and you may not retake an exam more than twice in 30 days. Reference books must be bound and tabbed only with permanent tabs. [2][5][9]

Fees, renewal and continuing education

The journeyman application fee is $75 per classification, paid to PSI. Certificates last three years. Renewal costs $75, plus $25 if you file after the expiration date, according to PSI's renewal form (the statute says late renewal within six months costs twice the renewal fee). Under state law an expired certificate is canceled if it isn't renewed within six months.

EE-98J (and EL-1J) holders need 16 hours of approved continuing education (CE) each three-year cycle: eight hours on code changes and eight on other industry topics. CID posts the approved course lists. [2][4][7][10][11]

Union and open-shop apprenticeships

The state's electrician apprenticeship page lists the registered sponsors: ABC New Mexico, the New Mexico JATC (IBEW Local 611 and NECA), Southern and Northern New Mexico IEC, and several employers.

The New Mexico JATC requires age 18, a diploma or GED, a year of algebra, a valid driver's license, and a qualifying aptitude test score, then an interview. Apprentices work at least 40 hours a week for union contractors and attend class one evening a week.

Northern New Mexico IEC runs a four-year program with 160 classroom hours a year. Graduates of both programs can take the state journeyman exam. More on choosing: electrician apprenticeships, union vs. non-union and the aptitude test. [12][13][14][15]

If you're licensed in another state

CID lists reciprocal agreements for the journeyman electrician certificate only, with Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. Your license must have come from a mandatory exam after a four-year apprenticeship or four years of equivalent experience. You must have held it at least one year in the state where you tested, and you apply on the regular journeyman application with a copy of your license.

Military service members, spouses, dependent children and veterans who hold a substantially equivalent license elsewhere can get an expedited certificate within 30 days, with no certificate fee for the first three years.

New Mexico's Uniform Licensing Act (61-1-31.1 NMSA) also lists CID among the boards that must process an out-of-state licensee's complete application within 30 days and issue a one-year provisional "expedited license" if your license is current and in good standing and you have practiced for the period New Mexico law requires; CID may make you pass its exam before renewal if your state didn't require one. CID's own notice says EE-98J is the only journeyman classification it reciprocates, so confirm with CID or PSI how it applies this law before you rely on it.

See our reciprocity guide. [2][4][7][11][16][17]

Steps to get licensed in New Mexico

1. Get hired as an apprentice

   Join a registered program or a licensed electrical contractor. No state card is needed; you work under a certified journeyman's direct supervision. [2][3][12]

2. Build four years of experience

   The EE-98J needs four years (8,000 hours), two of them commercial or industrial. Experience must be within the 10 years before you apply and gained with a licensed contractor (or legally in another state). [2][4][7]

3. Apply through PSI

   Send the notarized Journeyman Certificate Application, a notarized work experience affidavit from each employer, and $75 per classification to PSI in Albuquerque, by mail or in person. [4]

4. Pass the three exams

   Once approved, schedule the code, theory and practical exams with PSI. You have six months from approval to submit passing scores. [4][5][9]

5. Renew every three years

   Renew for $75 with proof of 16 hours of approved continuing education, eight of them on code changes. [2][10][11]

Where to get the hours

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

• Union

  New Mexico JATC for the Electrical Industry (IBEW Local 611 and NECA)

  Union inside wireman program in Albuquerque that places apprentices statewide (except Hidalgo, Luna, Dona Ana and Otero counties). 8,000 on-the-job hours and 1,100 classroom hours, one evening a week, under a five-year agreement. [12][13]

• Open shop

  Northern and Southern New Mexico IEC

  Independent Electrical Contractors chapters in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. Northern New Mexico IEC's program is four years: 8,000 on-the-job hours and 600 classroom hours. [12][15]

• Open shop

  ABC New Mexico

  Associated Builders and Contractors runs a registered electrical apprenticeship from Albuquerque. [12][21]

• State program

  NM Department of Workforce Solutions State Apprenticeship Office

  The state apprenticeship agency registers programs, lists sponsors and contacts for each trade, and works with local workforce boards to help pay training costs. [12][22]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask