Electrician

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About Becoming an Electrician

You must have a valid electrician certificate to perform electrical construction work in Washington State.

What is required to become a general journey level or specialty electrician?

To become a certified general journey level or specialty electrician in Washington, while you are an Electrical Trainee you must do the following:

NOTE: Effective July 1, 2013, to qualify to take the examiniaton, you must have completed 24 hours of basic classroom instruction for each 2,000 hours of experience required.

96 hours of basic classroom instruction for general journey level (01).
48 hours of basic classroom instruction for specialties requiring 4,000 hours of experience.
24 hours of basic classroom instruction for specialties requiring 2,000 hours of experience.

Get the required amount of experience to qualify for a general journey level or specialty electrician certificate.
- General journey level electrician (01) — Must qualify to work in all types (specialties) of electrical work.
  - 8,000 documented hours working as an electrical trainee under the supervision of a certified electrician.
    Note: 4,000 hours must be spent working in commercial or industrial installation.
    — OR —
  - Equivalent verified training or experience in the U.S. military.
    — OR —
  - Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
- Specialty electrician — May qualify to work in one or more of the following electrical specialties.
  If you meet the requirements for one of these specialties, you can apply for a Specialty Electrician's certificate in that specialty.
  - Residential (02)
    4,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Pump and irrigation (03)
    4,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Domestic well (3A)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Signs (04)
    4,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Limited energy system (06)
    4,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - HVAC/refrigeration system (6A)
    4,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - HVAC/refrigeration - restricted (6B)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Nonresidential maintenance (07)
    4,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Nonresidential lighting maintenance and lighting retrofit (7A)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Residential maintenance (7B)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Restricted nonresidential maintenance (7C)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Appliance repair (7D)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Equipment repair (7E)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
  - Door, gate, and similar systems (10)
    2,000 documented hours working in the specialty under supervision of a certified electrician.
    — OR —
    
    Equivalent training or experience in the U.S. military with verification.
    — OR —
    
    Experience earned in another state may be submitted to the department for consideration.
... And get the required amount of basic classroom instruction.
... And apply for and pass the appropriate exam.

What is required to renew a general journey level or specialty electrician certificate?

You must take 24 hours of approved Continuing Education course work in the 3 years between your certificate renewals. Get more information here.
You should apply to renew your certificate before your card expires, even if you don't have all your continuing education credits finished.

Out-of-state experience

If you have done electrical work outside of Washington that you want to present for consideration as qualifying experience, at the time of application you must present appropriate evidence showing that this work experience is equivalent to that required by RCW 19.28.191. Contact the L&I Electrical Program at 360-902-5269 for details before coming to Washington.

For more information, see:

Find out more about the Electrical Program.
Read the Electrical law Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 19.28.
Read the Electrical rules Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 296-46B.
See minimum qualifications for examination in WAC 296-46B-945.
Join the Electrical Listserv to receive emails with the Electrical Currents Newsletter and other important information.

How to apply for an Electricians' certificate

What you need to do

Make sure you meet the eligibility requirements.
- Required experience.
- Required education.
- All other requirements listed in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 19.28
- Contact the Electrical Program at 360-902-5269 if you have any questions about what is needed.
- You must not have any outstanding, unpaid citations with L&I.
Get prepared to take the examination when L&I gives you approval.
See the Electrician Exam page for more exam content outlines and other information to help you prepare.
Download and complete the application.
Fill out the Application for Electrician Examination, following its instructions carefully.
Include these things with your application:
- If you do not have sufficient experience already on file with L&I, you must submit notarized Affidavits of Experience to the department with your application or within 7 days of applying online to complete your application. Mail them to the L&I Electrical Program, P.O. Box 44460, Olympia, Washington 98504-4460.
- If applying from another state, contact the Electrical Program at 360-902-5269 for details.
- If qualifying from military experience, please provide a verifiable letter of experience.
Be prepared to pay the $86.30 fee.
(includes original certificate and application processing fee)

Note: Fees are nonrefundable after certificate has been issued. The application processing fee of $33.30 is non-refundable. Refund requests before the certificate has been issued must be made in writing to the department. Mail to L&I Electrical Program, P.O. Box 44460, Olympia, Washington 98504-4460.
Submit your application, fee, and experience one of the following 3 ways:
- Pay online via L&I’s Get or Renew a License system (QuickCards).
  
  Before you apply online, you will need the following:
  - Your name and address.
  - Your Social Security number (required by federal law).
  - Your email address and phone number.
  - Your credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express).
- Then mail your completed application form and Affidavits of Experience to L&I's Electrical Program at the address indicated on the application form.
  — OR —
- Mail your fee, your completed application form and your Affidavits of Experience to L&I's Electrical Program at the address indicated on the application form. You can pay by check or money order.
  — OR —
- Go to one of L&I's service locations where you can pay your fee and submit your completed application form and Affidavits of Experience. You can pay by check, money order, or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express cards are accepted in our field service locations).

What L&I will do

Verify that the following information is on file with the department:
- All necessary application information.
- Sufficient experience to meet the eligibility requirements.
Within 5 days after we receive the information listed above, L&I will do one of the following:
- Send you approval to schedule and take the examination. Information on how to schedule the exam is included in the approval letter.
  — OR —
- Notify you of the action taken on your application.

Note: You must keep your electrical training certificate current until you pass the examination. If you take and pass a specialty electrician examination, you will still need to maintain your electrical training certificate if you work outside the scope of that specialty. (For example: If you have a residential electrician certificate but you want to work on a commercial job, you must have an electrical training certificate and work under the proper supervision for the commercial job.)

Continuing Education Requirements for Electricians

Get approved Continuing Education course (CEUs) lists below.

Continuing education requirements for renewal

If you are an Electrical Administrator, Master Electrician or Electrician, you are required to complete 24 hours of continuing education course work in the three (3) years between your certification renewals:

8 hours of your CEUs must be on currently adopted National Electrical Code changes.
4 hours must be on currently adopted Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 19.28 and related Washington Administrative Codes (WAC).
The remaining 12 hours of continuing education credit can be your choice from the list of approved courses below.

Avoid late renewal

You can renew up to 90 days before your certification expires. Even if you have not completed the required CEUs as your renewal date approaches, you can submit your renewal application and fee to L&I.

Your certificate will become inactive. Inactive status allows you to avoid the late penalty and re-exam that result from being late.

You cannot work as an Electrician, Master Electrician or as an Electrical Administrator without an active certificate on your person. You must complete the required hours of continuing education and your class provider must post your credits to the L&I Trades Education Roster Reporting System before your active certificate can be issued.

Check your continuing education and certificate status

If you are unsure what continuing education has been reported, or the status of your certificate, check your record in L&I's Look up a Contractor or tradesperson to see what courses have been reported and may be considered for renewal will be listed.

Approved Continuing Education Courses (CEUs)

Courses listed below are for Electrician certification renewal only and cannot be used to qualify for a Trainee certificate renewal. (Find Basic Trainee Classes here.)

For course schedules, contact the course sponsor named in the lists below. Courses are good for three years from initial approval. Before selecting a course, verify the course will not expire before you complete it. Available continuing education courses include: