Kentucky Electrician and Master Electrician License Requirements

Kentucky licenses electricians through one statewide agency, the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (DHBC), under KRS Chapter 227A and its implementing regulation, 815 KAR 35:060. Every electrician, master electrician and electrical contractor license now runs for two years rather than one, a change the regulation's current text picked up on May 6, 2025, so a new electrician license costs $100 and covers both years.

For the wider picture across Kentucky trades, see the Kentucky contractor license guide, and for every state, see how to get a contractor license in each state.

At a glance

Issuer: Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction.

Hours: 8,000 for an electrician, 16,000 for a master electrician, counted from your sixteenth birthday.

Exam: 70 percent to pass, and a passing score stays valid for three years.

State fees: $100 electrician, $200 master, $400 electrical contractor, each for a two year license.

Renewal: every two years by the end of your birth month, with six hours of continuing education per year.

Kentucky's Electrical Licenses and Who Needs One

Electrician. The working credential for the person doing the wiring. The statute just calls it "electrician," but it functions as Kentucky's journeyman tier.

Master Electrician. The supervisory credential, built on twice the hours of the electrician license, and the credential a contracting company depends on.

Electrical Contractor. The business credential a company needs before it can contract for electrical work. Its application must list the name and license number of the master electrician affiliated with the applicant, so a Kentucky electrical contractor license cannot stand without a licensed master electrician tied to it. The current Form EL-2 adds that a licensed contractor must keep a master license holder associated with the license at all times.

Kentucky also issues a provisional electrician license, covered in its own section below, for experienced workers who have not yet passed the exam.

Two more rules from KRS 227A.020 shape who may do the work. An unlicensed person may perform electrical work only under the direct supervision of a licensed electrician or master electrician who is present on the site. And Kentucky's statute supersedes city and county ordinances regulating electricians, so the state runs one license rather than a patchwork of local ones. Local governments still keep their zoning authority and occupational payroll taxes, and a local licensing program already operating on June 24, 2003 may contract with DHBC to act as its agent for issuing and renewing licenses.

For how the working and supervisory tiers compare in general, see journeyman vs master electrician.

Experience Hours and Substitutions

Kentucky counts experience in hours of verifiable electrical work since your sixteenth birthday. Those hours must fall under the scope of the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70, with an exception carved out for military experience.

Notes on the table

• Electrician substitutions. Under KRS 227A.060(3)(b), any one of these replaces 4,000 hours: a department approved training course; two years of a training course that runs at least four years; an associate's degree or diploma in electrical technology from a Kentucky Community and Technical College System school or another accredited college; or two years of teaching electrical technology at an accredited college or university.
• The four year program catch. Qualifying with two years of a four year program carries a deadline: you must finish the remaining years within four years of receiving the license, or the electrician license shall be revoked. It is an easy deadline to lose track of and a hard one to undo.
• Master substitutions. Under KRS 227A.060(2)(b), a training course or two years of teaching replaces 4,000 hours, while an associate's degree or diploma in electrical technology replaces 6,000 hours.
• What counts as a training course. 815 KAR 35:090 accepts a program built on at least 288 hours of classroom training, each hour sixty minutes, or an electrical apprenticeship registered with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet under 803 KAR 1:010. Applicants file DHBC's Application for Electrical Training Program, Form EL-6, to establish the course qualifies.

Military experience. All or part of the required hours may come from supervised military occupational specialty experience, such as electrical repair, power production, utilities or aircraft electrician work. File Form ELM-1, Military Experience for Electrical Licensure, with a copy of your DD-214 showing the specialty, or a signed statement from your commanding officer.

How you prove the hours. Section 3 of 815 KAR 35:060 accepts:

• Tax returns or official tax documents showing your occupation, including Federal Schedule C, Form 1040, Form 1099, or local occupational tax returns
• A county or municipal business license showing you operated as an electrical contractor or worker, issued by a jurisdiction that did not issue electrical licenses before June 24, 2003
• A sworn affidavit on the affiant's letterhead from an electrical workers union, a licensed electrical contractor and master electrician who employed you, an industrial manufacturing or natural gas pipeline facility that employed you, or a department approved training program registered as an apprenticeship
• Form ELM-1 with military documentation

DHBC's New Electrical Application Checklist (dated February 4, 2025) spells out two practical versions of that proof: a notarized letter from your employer or former employer that verifies your experience, gives examples of the work performed and the hours worked, and is signed by the electrical contractor or master electrician; or the last page of your Form 1040, where you sign and list your job title as electrician.

The department may ask for more proof before or after it issues a license if the experience shown looks thin, so hold onto the records.

The Biennial Change and What Kentucky Charges

The 2024 General Assembly amended KRS 227A.100 (House Bill 444) so that any license issued or renewed on or after July 15, 2024 is a biennial license, with the renewal fee doubled to cover both years. The regulation's own text caught up on May 6, 2025.

Every electrical license issued or renewed since July 15, 2024 runs on a two year term at the fees below, so renewal comes due every other year rather than annually.

Notes on the fees

• Proration. Initial application fees may be prorated for not less than thirteen months and expire on the final day of the applicant's birth month.
• Renewal fees match the initial fees: $400, $200 and $100.
• Reinstatement. A terminated license is reinstated by paying the renewal fee plus a reinstatement fee equal to the renewal fee.
• No refunds. Application, renewal, reinstatement and late fees are not refundable.
• Exam fees are separate and go to the testing vendor, not to DHBC. See the exam table below.

The Kentucky Electrical Exams

Every applicant for an electrical contractor, master electrician or electrician license must pass an approved exam at a minimum score of seventy (70) percent. A passing score is valid for three years, so avoid sitting for the exam years before your hours will be complete, since the score can lapse before you qualify.

DHBC's licensing page links both Prov electrical testing information and Pearson VUE exam scheduling, and the department's application checklist also accepts NASCLA exams. The International Code Council administers Kentucky's electrical trade exams and its Business and Law exam through Pearson VUE; confirm the current candidate bulletin with ICC or DHBC before you register, since bulletins are revised from time to time. The checklist requires a passing score on the Business and Law exam for an electrical contractor license, and on the master or journeyman exam for the individual licenses.

Notes on the exams

• References. Both electrical exams are written to the NFPA 70 National Electrical Code, 2023 Edition, and Ugly's Electrical Reference (any edition). The Business and Law exam uses Kentucky Contractors Business and Law, 5th Edition.
• Retakes. Kentucky's candidate bulletin requires a ten day wait before retaking a failed exam.
• NASCLA exams. DHBC also accepts the NASCLA Electrical Contractor and Master Electrician exam and the NASCLA Journeyman Electrician exam, with scores valid for three years.
• Business entity designee. Under Section 4(4) of 815 KAR 35:060, the person a business entity sends to take the contractor exam on its behalf must be an owner, officer, director or full-time employee of that business; there is no category for an outside consultant.

For scheduling logistics, see how to schedule your contractor exam with PSI, Prov, and Pearson VUE.

The Licensing Steps in Order

1. Count and document your hours. Total your verifiable hours since age sixteen, apply any substitution you qualify for, and gather tax records, letterhead affidavits, or Form ELM-1.
2. Schedule and pass the exam. Book the journeyman or master exam through Prov or Pearson VUE, or the Business and Law exam for a contractor license, and score at least 70 percent. Send DHBC a copy of your passing results; the score holds for three years.
3. Complete the application. File Form EL-3 for an electrician or master electrician license, or Form EL-2 for an electrical contractor license, naming the affiliated master electrician and that person's license number.
4. Attach the photo and fee. Every applicant sends a passport sized color photograph taken within the past six months, plus the biennial fee from the table above.
5. Contractors add insurance. Send proof of general liability coverage naming the department as certificate holder, plus proof of workers' compensation compliance.
6. Watch the one year clock. An initial application stays pending until every requirement is met, for up to one year from submission. After that year it is void and you start over.
7. Appeal if denied. An applicant who is denied a license may appeal to the commissioner in writing within ten business days of the denial notice, and a hearing officer then hears the appeal under KRS Chapter 13B.

The Provisional Electrician License

Kentucky's provisional electrician license (Form EL-14, $50) is not a shortcut for someone short on hours; if anything, it demands more. KRS 227A.060(5) requires at least six years of verifiable experience at 2,080 hours a year since your sixteenth birthday, more cumulative work than the 8,000 hour threshold for the full license.

It exists for the experienced worker who has not yet passed the exam. The holder carries the same rights and responsibilities as a licensed electrician. The license is valid for one year from issuance and terminates automatically on the anniversary date, and it cannot be renewed.

Pass the electrician exam and pay the fees before the year ends, and DHBC issues the full electrician license. Miss that window, and the provisional license expires, you revert to unlicensed status, and you become ineligible for any additional provisional license.

Insurance for Electrical Contractors

The statute sets the floor. An electrical contractor must demonstrate compliance with workers' compensation and unemployment insurance laws, and carry a general liability policy of not less than $1,000,000 under KRS 227A.060(1)(c), a figure the General Assembly raised from $500,000 in the same 2024 bill that moved licenses to a two year term. The same proof is required at every renewal.

The regulation adds the mechanics:

• The policy must name the department as certificate holder.
• Workers' compensation proof is either a certificate from an insurer approved by the Kentucky Department of Insurance, or a notarized statement explaining why coverage is not required.
• The contractor must require its liability and workers' compensation insurers to notify the department if a policy is cancelled, terminated, not renewed, or has its limit lowered.
• The contractor must tell the department about any change in coverage, insurer, or circumstances that require coverage.

Premiums are set by your carrier, not the state.

Renewal, Continuing Education and Inactive Status

When. A license is valid for two years and renews on or before the last day of the licensee's birth month in the second year. An electrical contractor license held by a corporation, partnership or other entity without a birth month renews on or before the last day of the month the license was issued, in the second year.

What you file. The Licensing Renewal Application (Form DHBC L-1), the renewal fee, proof of continuing education, and for contractors, current proof of insurance. A filing postmarked on or before the last day of the renewal month is timely and draws no late fee.

Grace period. KRS 227A.100 allows a sixty day grace period after expiration, during which you may keep working and renew by paying the renewal fee plus the $50 late fee. A license not renewed by the end of the grace period terminates. Reinstatement within three years of termination does not require retaking the exam.

Continuing education. The statute requires evidence of at least six hours of continuing education per year from providers such as NECA, ABC, IBEW, AGC, IAEI, IEC, DHBC, or another approved provider. 815 KAR 2:010 adds the detail:

• No more than two hours of safety practices per twelve month period count toward the requirement.
• Electrician and master electrician courses must cover job safety, electrical codes, or subject matter directly related to the trade. Electrical contractor courses must cover business or job safety.
• An electrical contractor cannot apply master electrician, electrician or inspector hours toward the contractor's own requirement, and a business licensee designates an authorized agent to complete its hours.
• Extra hours carry forward into the next two educational years, capped at twelve hours.
• One hour of credit equals fifty minutes of instruction.
• No hours are required for a first renewal when the initial license was issued within twelve months of that renewal.

Inactive status. A licensee may place a license in inactive status. An inactive contractor does not need liability insurance or workers' compensation proof, and is exempt from biennial renewal.

But you cannot perform electrical work while inactive, and doing so is grounds to revoke or suspend every electrical license and certification you hold. Reactivation takes the biennial renewal fee, a reactivation fee, and proof of the required continuing education completed in the twelve months before reactivation. Certified electrical inspectors must keep any electrical license inactive while their inspector certification is active.

Reciprocity and Out of State Electricians

KRS 227A.070 lets DHBC license an out of state applicant by endorsement when the other state's requirements are substantially equal to Kentucky's, the applicant is in good standing, and that state extends the same courtesy to Kentucky licensees. Under 815 KAR 35:060, a reciprocity applicant meets the terms of the specific agreement, sends a copy of the out of state license and a letter of good standing, and, for a contractor license, proof of insurance.

DHBC's own application checklist lists three reciprocity states. An Ohio electrical contractor receives a Kentucky electrical contractor license and master electrician license. A Virginia or West Virginia master or journeyman electrician applies with a copy of the active license, the Electrical License Application, the fee, a photo and a good standing letter. Two of those boards publish their side of the agreement:

• Virginia. The Virginia Board for Contractors lists a Kentucky Electrician and Master Electrician License and Virginia Journeyman and Master Electrical Tradesman License examination reciprocity agreement.
• Ohio. The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board accepts a Kentucky master electrician license together with a Kentucky contractor license, provided both were earned by passing Kentucky's exams; grandfathered Kentucky contractors are not eligible.

Confirm the current agreement with DHBC before relying on it, since reciprocity terms change as each side's rules change.

When the Master Electrician Leaves or Dies

If your designated person leaves. Under 815 KAR 35:060, if the electrical contractor's designee leaves the company or no longer holds an interest in it, the entity must designate another person who has passed the electrical contractor's exam or passes it within thirty days. Failing to have a qualified designee "shall render the licensee no longer qualified to be licensed."

The statute reads even stricter. KRS 227A.140(2) states that "the business shall employ a licensed person prior to the continuance of any business activity or within thirty (30) days, whichever comes first." Read plainly, the thirty days is an outer limit, not a window to keep working without a qualified person in place. The departing master must also report the disassociation to the department immediately and remains responsible for work done under the license until that notice is given.

If your master electrician dies. The company must notify the department within ten days of the death. A 180 day interim period begins on the date of death, during which the business may use the license to procure permits, but only if it keeps every required bond and insurance policy in effect for the entire period. The company need not renew the deceased's license if renewal falls inside the interim, cannot use the license after the interim ends, and must notify the department of the replacement on or before that date.

At the end of the interim, KRS 227A.140(3)(c) requires the electrical contractor to have an employee with a current and valid Kentucky master electrician's license to procure permits and perform electrical work.

The Same Rule Runs Through Every Kentucky Trade

Kentucky builds the same architecture into each of its licensed trades, and in the plumbing and HVAC chapters the rule sits in statute.

KRS 318.054(5)(c) for plumbing and KRS 198B.667(3) for HVAC both provide that once a deceased master's license terminates, a company "shall have an employee with a current and valid Kentucky master" license "in order to procure permits and perform" the work. Both provisions trace to 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 22 (House Bill 100, signed March 23, 2018).

So across three trades Kentucky says the same thing three ways: the electrical designee must be an owner, officer, director or full-time employee; the master plumber must be an employee; the master HVAC contractor must be an employee. There is no Kentucky trade license that floats free of a person inside the company.

The trade by trade detail:

• How to get a plumbing license in Kentucky: the four master routes under 815 KAR 20:030, the 80 percent per portion master exam score, the journeyman practical exam you supply your own materials for, and the exam calendar of February, May, August and November.
• How to get an HVAC license in Kentucky: how Kentucky counts HVAC experience, the 1,500 hour year rule, and the KRS 198B.668 insurance minimums.
• The Kentucky qualifier guide: both statutes side by side, the 180 day clock and what it is conditioned on, and the gap the statutes leave open when a master resigns rather than dies.

What This Means for an Electrical Contracting Company

An electrical contracting business in Kentucky needs a licensed master electrician affiliated with its license. Your options:

1. Become the master yourself. 16,000 hours, or fewer with substitutions, plus a 70 percent exam. The slowest path, and the one that gives you the most control.
2. Employ a licensed master electrician. The rule's own designee list, owner, officer, director or full-time employee, tells you the shape this has to take.
3. Operate without one. Not legally available.

Option 2 is where the qualifying agent model fits. A qualifying agent is a licensed individual who qualifies a company for its license and supervises the work the license covers; see what a qualifying agent is, hire a qualifying agent, and the trade specific electrical contractor qualifying agent guide, or browse our contractor qualifier services if you are buying a license position rather than placing one. Kentucky makes the lawful structure unusually explicit, which is why The Licensing Company places qualifiers only as full-time W-2 employees who actually supervise the electrical work.

Founders Marshall Schofield and Jeremiah Jaskulski built the company around that model, and it is the one Kentucky's rule describes. If your contractor license depends on one master electrician, talk to us about placing a qualifier before a resignation starts the clock.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to become a master electrician in Kentucky? The statute requires 16,000 hours of electrical trade experience since your sixteenth birthday, roughly eight years of full-time work. An associate's degree or diploma in electrical technology counts for 6,000 of those hours, and an acceptable training course or two years of teaching counts for 4,000.

How many hours do I need for an electrician license in Kentucky? 8,000 hours of verifiable electrical work since age sixteen. One substitution can replace 4,000 of them: an acceptable training course of at least 288 classroom hours or a registered apprenticeship, an associate's degree in electrical technology, two years of teaching, or two years of a four year program that you finish within four years.

How much does it cost to get an electrical license in Kentucky? The state charges $100 for an electrician license, $200 for a master electrician license and $400 for an electrical contractor license, each covering two years under 815 KAR 35:060. The current ICC exam fee is $100 for either the journeyman or master exam, and $60 for the Business and Law exam a contractor license requires. Contractors also pay liability and workers' compensation premiums set by their carrier.

What is the passing score for the Kentucky electrical exam? 70 percent minimum, per 815 KAR 35:060, and the passing score stays valid for three years. Kentucky does not use one number across all trades: the master plumber exam requires 80 percent on each portion and the journeyman plumber exam 75 percent on each portion.

Does a Kentucky electrician license expire? Yes. It runs two years and must be renewed by the last day of your birth month in the second year, with proof of six hours of continuing education per year. After expiration there is a sixty day grace period with a $50 late fee, and then the license terminates. Kentucky's plumbing and HVAC licenses, by contrast, still renew every year.

Do I need a master electrician to get an electrical contractor license in Kentucky? Yes. The application requires the name and license number of the affiliated master electrician. You either hold that license yourself or employ someone who does.

Can I count military electrical experience in Kentucky? Yes. File Form ELM-1, Military Experience for Electrical Licensure, with your DD-214 showing your military occupational specialty or a signed statement from your commanding officer.

Do Kentucky cities issue their own electrical licenses? No. KRS 227A.020 makes the state law supersede local ordinances that regulate electricians, so the DHBC license is the license. A local program that existed on June 24, 2003 may contract with DHBC to process state licenses, and cities keep their zoning rules and occupational payroll taxes.

Is there a separate Kentucky license for industrial electricians? No. KRS 227A.020 and 815 KAR 35:060 recognize only electrician, master electrician, electrical contractor and the provisional electrician credential. Work inside a plant is still electrical work under the same chapter; it does not create a fourth, industrial-specific license.

My master electrician just quit. How long do I have? The regulation gives thirty days to designate someone who has passed or passes the contractor exam, but the statute requires a licensed person before any business activity continues or within thirty days, whichever comes first. Treat the thirty days as an outer limit. If your business is in that position now, talk to us about placing a qualifier.

Talk to Us About Your Kentucky License

Working electricians: log hours in a form Kentucky accepts, and run the substitution math before assuming you are years away from the master license.

Business owners: if your electrical contractor license depends on one person and you have no succession plan, one resignation leaves you on a thirty day clock with the work stopped. The Licensing Company places qualifying agents as full-time W-2 employees in Kentucky and across the country. Call 615-219-2110 or visit how we place qualifying agents, and browse state licensing guides if you are expanding across state lines.

Licensed master electricians curious about the other side of the arrangement can read about becoming a qualifying agent.

Sources

All sources retrieved 2026-10-20.

• 815 KAR 35:060, Licensing of electrical contractors, master electricians, and electricians, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission
• KRS 227A.060, Qualifications for licensure and provisional license
• KRS 227A.100, Fees, renewal and reinstatement
• KRS 227A.140, Disassociation and the interim period after a master electrician's death
• KRS 227A.070, Licensure by endorsement
• KRS 227A.020, Prohibitions and local licensing programs
• 2024 House Bill 444, biennial licenses and the $1,000,000 insurance minimum
• 815 KAR 2:010, Continuing education requirements
• 815 KAR 35:090, Electrical training program standards
• Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, licensing information
• DHBC New Electrical Application Checklist, February 4, 2025
• DHBC Form EL-2, Electrical Contractor's License Application, October 2024
• ICC Kentucky Contractor/Trades Examination Information Bulletin
• NASCLA, Kentucky DHBC accepted electrical exams
• Virginia Board for Contractors, reciprocal agreements
• Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, Kentucky reciprocity application
• KRS 318.054, Plumbing license renewal and interim period
• KRS 198B.667, HVAC interim period
• KRS 198B.668, HVAC insurance requirements
• 815 KAR 20:030, Plumbing licenses
• 815 KAR 8:010, HVAC licensing requirements