How to become a licensed electrician in Tennessee

Licensing office Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors (Department of Commerce and Insurance) · (615) 741-8307 [2][7]

The license pathway in Tennessee

1. 1

   Helper, beginning or apprentice electrician

   • No state fee; Nashville: $15 beginning, $25 apprentice

   The state issues no license at this level. You work for an electrical contractor or licensed electrician. Nashville is different: beginning and apprentice electricians must hold a Metro license, and a beginning electrician must join an approved apprenticeship after one year. [2][4]

2. 2

   Limited Licensed Electrician (LLE)

   • Yes, 40 questions, 2 hours, open book, 2017 NEC (National Electrical Code); Prov
   • $50 application; exam $53 to Prov
   • Every 2 years; $50; no continuing education

   A state license for electrical work under $25,000 per project, accepted only where the State Fire Marshal's office issues the permits (about 65 counties). You qualify by passing the LLE exam; no experience or pre-approval is required. An LLE may not call itself a contractor. [1][2][9][10][15]

3. 3

   Journeyman electrician (city license)

   • Yes, local exam (Nashville pass mark 70)
   • Nashville: $50 exam, $100 license; Chattanooga: $55
   • Nashville: $100 renewal; Chattanooga: every 2 years

   Issued by cities that run their own licensing. Nashville's code lists completion of a registered apprenticeship and 5 years' electrical construction experience, and you must work for a registered Metro electrical contractor under a master electrician. Chattanooga asks for 3 years or 6,000 documented hours with an electrical contractor. [4][17]

4. 4

   Master electrician (city license)

   • 6 years of experience
   • Yes, local exam
   • Nashville: $50 exam, $150 license
   • Nashville: $100 renewal

   In Nashville, a master electrician needs 6 years of electrical installation experience (or an electrical engineering degree plus 2 years) and must pull the permits and supervise the work. [4]

5. 5

   Electrical contractor (CE classification)

   • Yes, Business and Law (50 questions) plus CE trade exam (100 questions, 5 hours); open book
   • $250 application; $53 per exam
   • $200 renewal

   A state contractor license, required to bid or contract electrical work of $25,000 or more. The business needs a qualifying agent who passes the exams, a CPA-reviewed or audited financial statement (or, since July 1, 2026, a surety bond), insurance and a reference letter. The CE is accepted statewide without local exams, though local permits still apply. [2][3][10][12][15][19]

How to get your first electrical job in Tennessee

The state doesn't license apprentices or helpers, so you can start by getting hired by an electrical contractor or accepted into an apprenticeship. Check the city's rules: Nashville's Metro Code says it's unlawful to be employed as an apprentice electrician without a Metro license, and it has a separate beginning electrician license for people with no experience who aren't yet in an apprenticeship. A beginner must join an approved apprenticeship after one year and must work with a master or journeyman on the same jobsite.

The two main apprenticeship routes around Nashville are the union Nashville Electrical JATC (IBEW Local 429 and NECA) and the non-union ABC Greater Tennessee Construction Trades Academy. Both ask for a high school diploma or GED, a driver's license, and an age of at least 18. The JATC also wants a year of algebra and the GAN aptitude test. ABC says that if you enroll without a job you're a "trainee", not an apprentice, until you're working in the trade. [4][5][6]

Who needs a license

Tennessee splits electrical licensing between the state and local governments. The state Board for Licensing Contractors licenses contractors and Limited Licensed Electricians. The Board's packet says local governments "may have their own electrician license for projects less than $25,000", such as journeyman and master licenses, and all of them accept the state contractor license with a CE classification.

Jurisdictions that don't accept the LLE include Nashville, Memphis/Shelby County, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Jackson and others listed in the packet. There, you follow the local licensing rules or hold a CE contractor license. A homeowner may pull a permit for work on their own home, and state law exempts a single-residence homeowner doing electrical work on their own home from the LLE requirement. Commercial work requires a license. [2][7][8]

The Limited Licensed Electrician (LLE)

The LLE is a state license for electrical work under $25,000 per project. The Board says it's "only required by electricians performing work in a municipality utilizing the Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections". State law agrees: an LLE isn't required in a city or county that issues its own licenses to people who do electrical work.

The $25,000 test uses the job's total cost. State law counts all labor, materials, equipment, subcontracted work, overhead and profit, no matter who pays (materials the owner buys count too) and whether the work is under one contract or several. So you can't split a job into phases or contracts to stay under the limit. An LLE can't call itself a contractor.

The LLE ties into the State Fire Marshal's registration law, which covers anyone in the business of installing electrical wiring, heating or electrical devices that need inspection. State law says an LLE license meets that registration requirement.

You qualify by passing the LLE exam. The Board's packet says "Preapproval and experience is not required to take the exam" and that there's no continuing education. It also says the LLE exam "is NOT comparable to the journeyman/master." The license costs $50 and renews every two years for $50; after three months expired, you must reapply. [1][2][9][10][11][12][13]

The exams

Since July 1, 2026, Prov gives the Board's exams (PSI kept giving exams already booked through September). All are computer-based, open book, $53 each, and scored against a 73% passing standard. Prov has five testing centers in Tennessee, and you can also test at home with remote proctoring.

• LLE: 40 questions in 2 hours, based on the 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC).
• CE electrical contractor: 100 questions in 5 hours.
• Business and Law (all new contractors): 50 questions in 2.5 hours.

The Board's LLE packet (revised 2025) still names PSI (a testing company); follow the Board's newer page and Prov's bulletin. [2][7][14][15]

Nashville's electrician licenses

Metro Nashville's Board of Electrical Examiners and Appeals licenses master electricians, journeyman electricians, apprentices and beginning electricians (Metro Code chapter 6.20). An apprentice must be enrolled in a registered or nationally accredited apprenticeship of at least 8,000 hours of practice and 600 hours of classroom or shop instruction.

For the journeyman license, section 6.20.250 lists completion of a registered or nationally accredited electrical apprenticeship and at least five years' experience in electrical construction, and the written exam needs a grade of 70. Metro's exam application form describes the journeyman requirement as a completed apprenticeship or regular employment as a journeyman under a contractor or master, so confirm with Metro Codes which applies to you. A master electrician needs six years of installation experience. Fees: $50 per exam; $100 for the journeyman license and $100 to renew; $150 for the master license. Metro licenses expire each March and renew every year. [4][16]

Chattanooga and other cities

Chattanooga's journeyman electrician license requires "3 years or 6,000 documented hours of electrical experience with an electrical contractor." You apply on the city's OpenGov portal; the license costs $55 and expires every two years.

For Memphis/Shelby County, Knoxville and other cities on the Board's list, ask the local codes office what it requires; the University of Tennessee's MTAS codes enforcement directory, which the Board points to, lists local contacts. [2][17]

Electrical contractor license (CE)

A contractor license is required before bidding or contracting electrical work of $25,000 or more, as a prime contractor or as a subcontractor working for another contractor. The $25,000 is the total cost of the work, counted the same way as for the LLE. The company names a qualifying agent (an owner, officer or full-time employee) who passes the Business and Law exam and the electrical trade exam.

The business also needs a financial statement reviewed or audited by a CPA (it must be audited above a $3,000,000 limit), proof of general liability and workers' compensation insurance, a reference letter and a notarized affidavit. The financial statement sets the license's monetary limit. Since July 1, 2026, a surety bond of at least half the requested limit can replace the financial statement. The bond must stay in force; if it lapses, the license is no longer valid. The application fee is $250 and renewal is $200.

State law says no county or city may require a state-licensed contractor "or its employees" to pass a local test; local permits still apply, so ask the local codes office how this fits your job. [3][7][10][11][12]

If you're licensed in another state

The Board says you "cannot operate in Tennessee with a license from another state". It does waive the electrical trade exam for contractors licensed in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina (commercial only) or West Virginia, and accepts NASCLA electrical exam scores. You still take the Business and Law exam, and there's no waiver for the LLE. State law also says residents of states that have no reciprocal agreement with Tennessee are not to be offered work over $2,500; ask the Board how this applies to you before you bid.

Nashville's code lets its electrical board license applicants who hold an equivalent license in another state, and it can issue a six-month temporary journeyman license ($25). [2][3][4][12][18]

Steps to get licensed in Tennessee

1. Check who licenses electricians where you'll work

   Ask the city or county. Places like Nashville, Memphis/Shelby County, Knoxville and Chattanooga run their own licenses and don't accept the state LLE; elsewhere the State Fire Marshal's office issues permits and accepts the LLE. The Board's LLE application packet lists both kinds of jurisdictions. [2]

2. Get hired or join an apprenticeship

   Start as a helper with an electrical contractor or in a registered apprenticeship. In Nashville, get a Metro beginning ($15) or apprentice ($25) electrician license first. [4][5][6]

3. Earn a city journeyman license

   Build documented experience and pass the local exam. Nashville's code lists a completed registered apprenticeship and 5 years' experience (pass mark 70); Chattanooga asks for 3 years or 6,000 hours. [4][17]

4. Or take the state LLE exam for smaller jobs

   To pull permits on jobs under $25,000 where the State Fire Marshal inspects, schedule the LLE exam with Prov ($53), then apply online through the Department of Commerce and Insurance ($50). [1][10][15]

5. License a contracting business for jobs of $25,000 or more

   Apply for a contractor license with the CE classification: the qualifying agent passes the Business and Law and electrical trade exams, and the business submits a financial statement or surety bond, insurance and a reference letter. The application fee is $250. [3][10]

Where to get the hours

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

• Union

  Nashville Electrical JATC (IBEW Local 429 and NECA)

  Four-year union inside-electrician apprenticeship in Nashville: 8,000 on-the-job hours and at least 180 classroom hours a year. [5]

• Union

  IBEW/NECA training centers (Electrical Training Alliance locator)

  Find the union apprenticeship program for Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga and other parts of Tennessee. [20]

• Open shop

  ABC Greater Tennessee Construction Trades Academy

  Non-union electrical apprenticeship in Middle and East Tennessee: 4 years of night classes (2 nights a week) and 8,000 on-the-job hours. [6]

• State program

  Apprenticeship TN (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development)

  The state's apprenticeship office; it helps job seekers find an employer and employers register programs. [21]

• Other

  U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Job Finder

  Search registered electrician apprenticeships anywhere in Tennessee. [22]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask