How to become a licensed electrician in Wisconsin

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

Licensing office Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) · (608) 266-2112 [8]

The license pathway in Wisconsin

1. 1

   Registered Electrical Apprentice

   • Set by your apprenticeship; DWD's construction electrician program has 400 hours of paid related instruction
   • $15 application + $15 registration
   • Yearly; no CE, but you must still be under an apprentice contract

   For anyone in an electrical apprentice contract recognized under Wisconsin's apprenticeship law (ch. 106). You upload the contract to DSPS. Residential and industrial apprentice registrations also exist for those narrower programs. [2][4][14]

2. 2

   Registered Electrician (helper or beginner)

   • $15 application + $20 enrollment
   • Yearly; 24 hours of CE to renew (waived for youth apprentices)

   The route for helpers who aren't in an apprenticeship. No exam or experience is needed, but you must work under the direct supervision of a licensed master or journeyman electrician (or a registered master). [2][5]

3. 3

   Journeyman Electrician

   • 8,000 hours on the job
   • 4 years of experience
   • None set by the license rule; a 2-year electrical program counts as 12 months and 2,000 hours
   • Yes: open book, 100 questions, 4 hours, 70% to pass; 2023 NEC plus SPS 305 (Department of Safety and Professional Services rules) and SPS 316
   • $35 application, $30 exam (+$95 at Pearson), $100 license
   • Every 4 years (June 30); 24 hours CE

   Qualify with a construction electrician apprenticeship of at least 3 years approved by DWD or the U.S. Department of Labor, or 8,000 hours of experience over at least 48 months, then pass the exam. A journeyman works under the general supervision of a master electrician. [1][2][3][6]

4. 4

   Master Electrician

   • 10,000 hours on the job
   • 5 years of experience
   • Yes: open book, 4 hours, 70% to pass
   • $35 application, $30 exam (+$95 at Pearson), $200 license
   • Every 4 years (June 30); 24 hours CE

   Qualify with 12 months as a licensed journeyman, 10,000 hours of experience over at least 60 months, or a bachelor's or master's in electrical engineering, then pass the exam. Anyone doing wiring who isn't a master must have a master electrician responsible for their work. [1][2][6]

5. 5

   Electrical Contractor (business)

   • $35 application + $200 license
   • Every 4 years (June 30); no CE

   Any person or company in the business of electrical wiring needs this license. The owner, a partner or the CEO applies, certifies workers' compensation and unemployment insurance compliance, and must use properly licensed or registered people for the work. There is no exam. [1][2][7]

Who needs a license in Wisconsin

Wisconsin law says no person may install, repair or maintain electrical wiring unless they are licensed as an electrician by DSPS or enrolled as a registered electrician. Anyone who isn't a master electrician must have a master electrician "at all times responsible" for their work. A business that installs, repairs or maintains wiring also needs an electrical contractor license.

The administrative code lists the credentials that let you do wiring: master, residential master and registered master electrician; journeyman, industrial journeyman and residential journeyman electrician; registered electrician; and electrical, industrial or residential apprentice.

The law has exceptions. They include homeowners wiring the home they own and live in (unless a local ordinance requires a license), maintenance and repair inside a facility by the owner's own employees, systems of 100 volts or less, alarm systems, elevator wiring, utility work, and replacing a switch or outlet rated 20 amps or less. [1][2]

Apprentice or registered electrician: your first card

Electrical Apprentice. If you're in an apprenticeship, you register as an Electrical Apprentice. The only qualification is being "entered into an electrical apprentice contract recognized under ch. 106" (Wisconsin's apprenticeship law). You upload the contract, pay $15 plus $15, and renew yearly. There's no exam and no CE.

Registered Electrician. If you're hired as a helper outside an apprenticeship, you enroll as a Registered Electrician ($15 plus $20). You must work under the direct supervision of a licensed master or journeyman electrician, or a registered master. You renew every year, and each renewal needs 24 hours of continuing education (CE); youth apprentices are exempt from the CE.

On any project, the number of registered beginning electricians at a site can't exceed twice the number of master and journeyman electricians there, plus two. [2][4][5]

Journeyman electrician

To sit for the journeyman exam you need one of these:

• Completion of a construction electrician apprenticeship of at least 3 years approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development (DWD).
• Experience installing, repairing and maintaining wiring over at least 48 months, with at least 8,000 hours. A degree or diploma from a 2-year electrical program counts as 12 months and 2,000 hours.

A journeyman works under the general supervision of a master electrician. Wisconsin also has narrower journeyman licenses. A residential journeyman needs 1,000 hours a year for 3 years of residential wiring (or a residential apprenticeship) and is limited to dwellings. An industrial journeyman needs 1,000 hours a year for 5 years of industrial wiring (or an industrial apprenticeship) and is limited to the employer's own facilities. Both renew with 18 hours of CE. [1][2][3]

The exam

The journeyman exam is open book and you need 70% to pass. DSPS's fee schedule lists it at 100 questions and 4 hours. You may bring three things: one binder with SPS 305, SPS 316 and printed notes; the 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) or Handbook; and up to two bound reference books. Loose paper, sticky notes and removable tabs aren't allowed.

You can test at a DSPS location or at a Pearson VUE center in Wisconsin. Pearson charges a $95 seat fee on top of DSPS's $30 exam fee, but you get results faster. DSPS-site results arrive within 21 days. After passing, you have 3 months to apply for the license. If you fail, DSPS offers a monthly exam review in Madison for $15. [2][3][6]

Master electrician and contractor

To take the master exam you need 12 months as a licensed journeyman, 10,000 hours of experience over at least 60 months, or a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering. The license costs $200 and renews every 4 years with 24 hours of CE. A residential master needs 1,000 hours a year for 5 years of experience.

The electrical contractor license belongs to the business. The owner, a partner or the CEO applies; there's no exam, and the business must use properly licensed or registered people for the wiring. [1][2][7]

Fees and renewal

• Electrical Apprentice: $15 application, $15 registration, yearly.
• Registered Electrician: $15 application, $20 enrollment, yearly, 24 hours CE.
• Journeyman (all three types): $35 application, $30 exam, $100 license, 4 years.
• Master: $35 application, $30 exam, $200 license, 4 years.
• Electrical Contractor: $35 application, $200 license, 4 years.

Four-year electrical licenses expire on June 30. CE must be entered by an approved course provider before LicensE lets you renew. [2][8]

Union and open-shop apprenticeships

In Milwaukee, the union route is the Milwaukee Electrical Training Institute (METI), run with IBEW Local 494 and the NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association) Milwaukee Chapter. Its Inside Construction apprenticeship takes about five years; IBEW Local 494 also runs field-based CW/CE and Residential Construction Worker programs. Elsewhere, find your local JATC (Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee) with the Electrical Training Alliance locator.

The main open-shop (non-union) route is ABC of Wisconsin, whose electrical apprenticeship lasts five years. You can apply before or after you're hired, but an approved ABC contractor must sponsor you.

All of these are registered with DWD's Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards. DWD's construction electrician program is about 4 years with 8,000 hours on the job and 400 hours of paid related instruction, and classes are usually through the Wisconsin Technical College System. See union vs. non-union and electrician apprenticeships. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

If you're licensed in another state

State law lets DSPS sign reciprocal agreements for electrician credentials when the other state's education, experience and exam requirements are at least equivalent. DSPS currently lists:

• Journeyman: Iowa and New Hampshire, for a journeyman license earned by state exam and held continuously for at least one year.
• Master: Iowa, on the same terms.

These routes don't require the Wisconsin exam. Otherwise you qualify the usual way, with your out-of-state hours documented on the Trades Experience Form.

Service members, former service members discharged (other than dishonorably) within the last 4 years, and their spouses who live in Wisconsin have one more route: state law (s. 440.09, which s. 101.022 applies to DSPS trade credentials) says DSPS shall grant a reciprocal credential if you hold an out-of-state license for the same work and are in good standing everywhere you're licensed. Wisconsin has no general universal license recognition law; a 2023 bill (AB 332) passed the Assembly but not the Senate.

See our license reciprocity guide and reciprocity map. [1][2][3][16][17][18][19]

Steps to get licensed in Wisconsin

1. Get hired and register with DSPS

   Join a registered apprenticeship and register as an Electrical Apprentice, or work for an electrical contractor as a Registered Electrician. Both are filed online in LicensE; you need one before you do any wiring. [1][4][5]

2. Build the experience for the journeyman exam

   Finish a construction electrician apprenticeship of at least 3 years approved by DWD or the U.S. Department of Labor, or log 8,000 hours over at least 48 months. A 2-year electrical program can count for 12 months and 2,000 hours. [1][2][3]

3. Apply for the exam in LicensE

   Apprentices upload a letter from the Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards confirming completion; others submit Form 8168, the Trades Experience Form, signed by witnesses. DSPS sends exam instructions once you qualify. See the journeyman exam page. [3]

4. Pass the open-book exam

   The exam has 100 questions over 4 hours and you need 70%. You may bring the 2023 NEC, a binder with SPS 305, SPS 316 and printed notes, and up to two bound reference books. Pearson VUE centers charge $95 on top of DSPS's $30. [2][3][6]

5. Get your license

   After you pass, apply for the license and pay the $100 license fee within 3 months of the results; otherwise you have to retake the exam. [2]

6. Renew every 4 years

   Journeyman licenses expire June 30 in the fourth year. You need 24 hours of approved CE, entered by the course provider, before you can renew. [2][8]

Where to get the hours

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

• Union

  Milwaukee Electrical Training Institute (METI), IBEW Local 494 and NECA

  A five-year Inside Construction apprenticeship with classroom and field training, plus field-based CW/CE and Residential Construction Worker training programs run by IBEW Local 494. Applicants must be 18 with a diploma or GED. [9][10][21]

• Union

  Other IBEW/NECA JATCs in Wisconsin

  Outside Milwaukee, apply to the local Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) for your area. Typical requirements are age 18, a high school education, one year of algebra, a qualifying aptitude test score and being drug free. [11][22]

• Open shop

  ABC of Wisconsin electrical apprenticeship

  A five-year registered apprenticeship for employees of approved ABC contractors, with classes at technical colleges and ABC's Madison training center. ABC charges tuition, which many employers reimburse. [12][23][24]

• State program

  Wisconsin Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards (DWD)

  Wisconsin's state apprenticeship agency. Its construction electrician program runs about 4 years with 8,000 hours on the job and 400 hours of paid related instruction; construction apprenticeships are sponsored by local apprenticeship committees, and you apply directly to a sponsor. [14][25]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask