How to Get an Electrician License in Arizona

Arizona has no standalone state electrician license. To get an electrician license in Arizona you earn a contractor license in one of three electrical classifications from the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC): C-11 (commercial), R-11 (residential) or CR-11 (both), qualified by a person who documents four years of experience and passes two exams.

At a glance

• Who issues it: the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC), as a contractor license in C-11, R-11 or CR-11
• Experience: four years for the qualifying party, two of them in the last ten
• Exams: the Statutes and Rules course (SRE, $61, Gmetrix) and the trade exam (PSI, $66, 110 questions, 240 minutes, 70 percent)
• ROC fees at issue: $580 for C-11, $720 for R-11, $850 for CR-11
• Renewal: every two years, no continuing education

This guide follows the ROC's rules, Arizona Revised Statutes Title 32 Chapter 10 and the PSI candidate bulletin, using sources read October 7, 2026. It walks the process in the order a new applicant actually faces it: who needs the license, the three electrical classifications, experience, the exams, the application steps, fees, the bond, timeline, renewal and what changes once a business rather than a person is applying. For the same structure applied to every Arizona trade, see our Arizona contractor license page and the national contractor license guide.

How to get an Arizona electrician license

Getting an Arizona electrician license means getting a ROC contractor license in C-11, R-11 or CR-11. The license belongs to the business; a person called the qualifying party brings the four years of experience and the exam scores. In order, you document that experience, form or confirm the business entity and clear background checks, pass the SRE and the trade exam, post a license bond, pay into the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund if the scope is residential, and file the application with the ROC's fees. The sections below take each stage in turn.

Who needs an Arizona electrician license

Arizona licenses electrical contracting by dollar value and employment status, not by a trade certificate. Anyone who contracts to install, alter or repair wiring, electrical material or equipment for someone else needs a ROC license once the job is not casual or minor. Two exemptions matter most:

• The $1,000 line. Casual or minor work where the total contract price, including labor and materials, is less than $1,000 does not need a license (A.R.S. 32-1121(A)(14)). It never applies where a building permit is required, and splitting one job into smaller contracts to stay under $1,000 does not qualify.
• Wage employees. A person who works for an employer, with wages as their sole compensation, needs no license of their own (A.R.S. 32-1121(A)(11)). This is why an electrician can spend an entire career in Arizona working for a licensed contractor without ever holding a personal license.

Contracting without a license is a class 1 misdemeanor carrying a fine of at least $1,000 for a first offense and $2,000 for each later one, plus a one year bar on licensure (A.R.S. 32-1164, 32-1122(D)).

The three Arizona electrical classifications: C-11, R-11 and CR-11

Arizona splits every contractor license by scope: commercial (C), residential (R) or dual (CR). The ROC defines the electrical scopes this way:

• C-11 covers wiring, material and equipment under 600 volts, plus related outside, overhead and underground construction; it excludes other work in public rights of way.
• R-11 covers installing and repairing electrical systems inside residential property lines.
• CR-11 carries every scope allowed under both C-11 and R-11.
• C-11's fee has no Recovery Fund assessment; R-11 and CR-11 each include a $370 assessment.

The ROC treats commercial contracting as "anything other than residential," so a C-11 alone does not cover a house. All three classifications ask the same of the qualifying party: four years of experience, the SRE and the trade exam. If your company also needs other trades, see our Arizona plumbing license guide and Arizona HVAC license guide; coming from a state with journeyman and master cards, see our journeyman vs. master electrician guide.

Who qualifies the license: the qualifying party

Every ROC license needs a qualifying party: the person responsible for the licensee's conduct, who either owns part of the business or is regularly employed by it and actively engaged in the licensed work (A.R.S. 32-1101(8)). Three rules shape the role:

• No conflicting jobs that interfere with supervising the licensee's work (A.R.S. 32-1127(A)).
• Two licenses at most for one qualifying party, and only with at least 25 percent common ownership or a subsidiary relationship between the two (A.R.S. 32-1127(A)).
• Responsibility for licensing purposes, without personal liability, for violations committed while named on the license (A.R.S. 32-1127(B), 32-1162(B)).

If the qualifying party leaves, the company must notify the ROC in writing within 15 days and requalify within 60 days (A.R.S. 32-1154(A)(18)). Because complaints may be filed up to two years after a project finishes (A.R.S. 32-1162(A)), the ROC's own new-qualifying-party form warns that this liability runs up to two years past disassociation.

Experience and education requirements

The qualifying party needs a minimum of four years of practical or management trade experience, at least two of them within the last ten years, in the type of construction the license covers (A.R.S. 32-1122(E)(1)). The ROC counts years, not hours; four full time years is roughly 8,000 hours, and hands-on and managerial time both count, with no journeyman rank required.

Technical training at an accredited college or a manufacturer's accredited program can substitute for part of the experience, but never more than two of the four years (A.R.S. 32-1122(E)(1)); military service, diplomas and certifications can support part of it too. A person who is or was already a qualifying party in Arizona in the same classification within the preceding five years skips the documentation and the exams (A.R.S. 32-1122(F)).

On the application you list each employer or self employment period with dates and average hours per week, then name an experience reference with direct first-hand knowledge, such as a co-worker, employer or supervisor, who is not already named on the license. The reference does not need to be a licensed contractor.

The Arizona electrical licensing exams

Both required exams must be passed at 70 percent or better before the ROC accepts an application.

PSI's bulletin sets the retest rules: wait 30 days after a failed exam; after three failures wait 90 days. The exam fee is valid for one year and is forfeited if you cancel under two days out, arrive late, or lack a valid, signed, unexpired photo ID. Test centers sit in Flagstaff, Glendale, Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson, plus remote proctoring.

Scores must reach the ROC within two years of passing (A.R.S. 32-1122(E)(2)). See scheduling a contractor exam with PSI, Prov or Pearson VUE.

The NASCLA option matters most if you will hold electrical licenses in more than one state: one sitting serves Arizona and other NASCLA states, and scores already earned can be submitted with the application. The SRE cannot be swapped out through NASCLA, since it tests Arizona-specific statutes and rules. PSI writes both trade exams to the 2017 National Electrical Code and allows a silent, non programmable calculator.

How to apply for an Arizona electrician license

1. Choose C-11, R-11 or CR-11 based on the work your business actually performs.
2. Document four years of electrical experience, two in the last ten, with an experience reference.
3. Form the business entity (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC or corporation) and register it with the Arizona Corporation Commission or Secretary of State as the entity type requires.
4. Order background checks for every named individual through the ROC's vendor; order these last, since they expire after 90 days.
5. Complete the SRE ($61 through Gmetrix).
6. Pass the ROC trade exam ($66 through PSI) or the NASCLA electrical exam ($116) in its place.
7. Post the license bond, sized to the classification and expected volume.
8. Pay the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund assessment ($370) if the license covers a residential scope.
9. Submit the application with the ROC fees ($580, $720 or $850) through the ROC Online Customer Portal, by mail to Registrar of Contractors, P.O. Box 6748, Phoenix, AZ 85005-6748, or in person at 1700 W. Washington Street, Suite 105, Phoenix.

Want the application done for you?

The Licensing Company's License Application Processing service prepares and submits your Arizona ROC electrical application. It starts with an eligibility audit before anything is filed, works through a document checklist with you, prepares and reviews every ROC form line by line, submits it the way the board requires, and answers and resubmits for any paperwork questions the ROC raises until the board decides.

It is a flat $999 per state application, paid up front. State fees, exam fees and background check costs are paid to the ROC, Gmetrix and PSI directly, not to us. The service does not promise approval, does not promise a timeline and does not take the exam for anyone. Call 615-219-2110 to talk through your Arizona application before you file.

If no one at your company yet has the four years or the exam scores, a qualifying agent can qualify the business as a full time W-2 employee while you build toward your own license; see Hire a Qualifying Agent.

Arizona electrician license fees

• Total at issue: $580 for C-11, $720 for R-11, $850 for CR-11.

Add the exam fees on top: $61 for the SRE and $66 for the trade exam, or $116 for NASCLA in place of the trade exam. A C-11 runs $707 in ROC and exam fees before the bond premium, an R-11 runs $847, and a CR-11 runs $977. Some outside guides quote a "$720 to $1,050" range that mixes in the ROC's general dual contracting total; the electrical-specific totals are $580, $720 and $850.

Under A.R.S. 41-1080.01 the ROC waives the application and license fees on a first time sole proprietor's initial application for an active duty military spouse, a veteran discharged within two years, or a household income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines; the Recovery Fund assessment is still due.

Running the business also needs a separate Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) license from the Arizona Department of Revenue, since Arizona treats contracting as a taxable activity; new, out-of-state or tax-delinquent contractors may also need to post a TPT bond with the Department of Revenue. The ROC contractor license and the ADOR TPT license are two different filings with two different agencies, and a city may require its own business license or permit registration on top of both.

The license bond

Every contractor posts a license bond before the license issues, sized by classification and expected gross annual volume in Arizona (A.R.S. 32-1152):

The bond may be surety, cash or a certificate of deposit, and it is continuous; a cancelling surety gives 30 days' notice. You can raise the bond at any time but only lower it at renewal, and your premium is a fraction of the bond, priced on credit. See contractor bond requirements by state.

A residential scope also requires paying into the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund or posting a second bond of $200,000 (A.R.S. 32-1152(C)); nearly every applicant chooses the fund. The assessment is $370 with a new license and $270 at each renewal, capped by statute at $600 per two year period (A.R.S. 32-1126(G)). The fund pays harmed homeowners up to $30,000 per residence (A.R.S. 32-1132.01(D)) and $200,000 per license (A.R.S. 32-1139(A)). A commercial-only C-11 license pays nothing into it.

How long it takes to get licensed

The long pole is the four years of experience, two of them in the last ten; nothing shortens that except an education substitution capped at two years or a waiver for a prior Arizona qualifying party in the same classification. Once your experience is documented, the SRE is self paced online, the PSI trade exam runs at five Arizona test centers or by remote proctor, and background checks must be less than 90 days old when you file, so order them last. Scores are good for two years, giving room to finish the bond, Recovery Fund payment and paperwork without re-testing.

Once you file, the ROC's own rule sets the clock: up to 40 calendar days to review the application for administrative completeness and either issue the license or mail a notice of deficiencies, then up to 20 more calendar days for the substantive review of your qualifications, for an overall 60 calendar day agency time-frame (A.A.C. R4-9-113). That 40-day clock pauses the moment the ROC mails a deficiency notice and does not restart until you send the missing piece, so a complete filing moves faster than a partial one. You and the ROC can also agree in writing to extend the substantive and overall time-frames by 15 more calendar days.

Renewal and continuing education

Licenses are biennial (A.R.S. 32-1126). Renewal runs $480 for C-11, $540 for R-11 and $650 for CR-11, with the residential figures including the $270 Recovery Fund renewal assessment. The ROC's renewal checklist asks for Corporation Commission good standing, a bond covering current volume and a workers' compensation policy or exemption; it lists no continuing education requirement.

Miss the renewal date and the license is suspended by operation of law the next business day (A.R.S. 32-1125(A)); you can reactivate within one year by paying the renewal fee plus a $50 late fee (A.R.S. 32-1125(B), 32-1126(D)).

Moving to Arizona with an out of state electrical license

There is no automatic reciprocity, but under A.A.C. R4-9-106(E) the registrar may waive the trade exam for a person who is or has been a qualifying party in any state in the same or a comparable classification within the preceding five years. File the waiver form with the application; the ROC does not pre-approve it. The SRE is never waived for a newcomer, because it tests Arizona-specific statutes and rules. A NASCLA electrical exam passed for another state can be submitted in place of the Arizona trade exam.

What changes when a company, not a person, needs the license

The license is issued to the business, and the business must stay eligible at every renewal: LLCs and corporations need to be registered and in good standing with the Arizona Corporation Commission, partnerships register with the Secretary of State, and you may only contract under the exact name on the license, so any DBA belongs on the application.

Every person named on the license (the qualifying party, owners, partners, members, officers, directors and anyone holding 25 percent or more of the stock) must be at least 18, supply a government issued photo ID and clear the background check described above. A conviction for contracting without a license bars anyone named from licensure for one year (A.R.S. 32-1122(D)).

This is the wall many growing electrical businesses hit: the company has the work, but no owner or employee holds the four years of experience or the exam scores, so nobody can be the qualifying party. Allowing someone to be named on a license without actually being regularly employed and actively engaged in the work is an attempt to evade the ROC's rules and grounds for discipline (A.R.S. 32-1154(A)(9)).

The lawful route is to bring a qualifying agent onto the team as a full time W-2 employee who holds the experience and the scores, is named on the license as the qualifying party and actually supervises the electrical work. That is the role Marshall Schofield and Jeremiah Jaskulski, the licensed general contractors who founded The Licensing Company, place people into: full employees, never a name on paper or a percentage deal. Learn the role at what an electrical contractor qualifying agent does and what a qualifying agent is, and start at hire a qualifying agent.

Frequently asked questions

Does Arizona have a journeyman or master electrician license? Not at the state level. Arizona licenses electrical work at the contractor level through the ROC (C-11, R-11 or CR-11), qualified by a person with four years of experience who passes the SRE and the trade exam.

How much does the Arizona electrician license test cost? The SRE is $61 through Gmetrix and the ROC trade exam is $66 through PSI, $127 total, or $116 through PSI for the NASCLA exam in place of the trade exam.

What is the difference between C-11, R-11 and CR-11? C-11 is commercial electrical work, R-11 is residential, and CR-11 covers both under one license. Experience and exams are the same; the fees, bond and Recovery Fund assessment differ by classification.

Can I skip the Arizona trade exam? Take the NASCLA electrical exam ($116) instead, or request a waiver under R4-9-106(E) if you were a qualifying party in the same or a comparable classification in any state within five years. The SRE is never waived for a newcomer.

Is there an Arizona electrician certification separate from the contractor license? No. The ROC licenses contractors, not individual electricians; ask for the company's ROC license number and verify it on the ROC contractor search.

Who sets Arizona's electrical licensing requirements? The Arizona Registrar of Contractors, under Arizona Revised Statutes Title 32, Chapter 10 and the ROC's own administrative rules.

Does Arizona require continuing education to renew an electrical license? No. The renewal checklist covers Corporation Commission standing, the bond, workers' compensation and the fee, every two years.

How do I get a business license in Arizona for an electrical contracting company? The ROC contractor license and a business license are not the same filing. Once you hold the ROC license, register separately for a Transaction Privilege Tax license with the Arizona Department of Revenue, and check whether your city requires its own registration.

Can one person qualify two electrical companies? Only with at least 25 percent common ownership or a subsidiary relationship between the two (A.R.S. 32-1127(A)).

Who can qualify the electrical license for my company? A person with an ownership interest or regular employment, four years of experience and passing exam scores. If no one fits, hire a qualifying agent as a full time W-2 employee; start with what is a qualifying agent.

Talk to The Licensing Company about your Arizona electrical license

If your company needs a qualifying party for a C-11, R-11 or CR-11 license, or you want the ROC application handled for you, call 615-219-2110 or start at hire a qualifying agent or License Application Processing. Verify every fee with the ROC, Gmetrix and PSI before you apply.

Sources

All retrieved October 7, 2026 unless otherwise noted.

1. A.R.S. 32-1101, definitions including qualifying party.
2. A.R.S. 32-1121, the handyman and wages-only exemptions.
3. A.R.S. 32-1122, experience, education substitution and exam requirements.
4. A.R.S. 32-1125, suspension and reactivation.
5. A.R.S. 32-1126, renewal fees and the Recovery Fund assessment cap.
6. A.R.S. 32-1127, qualifying party rules.
7. A.R.S. 32-1132.01, $30,000 per-residence Recovery Fund cap.
8. A.R.S. 32-1139, $200,000 per-license Recovery Fund cap.
9. A.R.S. 32-1152, bond amounts by classification and volume.
10. A.R.S. 32-1154, qualifying party change and discipline grounds.
11. A.R.S. 32-1162, qualifying party responsibility and complaint window.
12. A.R.S. 32-1164, penalties for unlicensed contracting.
13. Ariz. Admin. Code R4-9-106, out-of-state qualifying party exam waiver (law.cornell.edu mirror, not independently re-read today).
14. ROC, License and Renewal Fees (primary read 2026-09-23; confirmed live today through the azroc.gov redirect).
15. ROC, Bond Information (primary read 2026-09-23).
16. ROC, Recovery Fund (primary read 2026-09-23).
17. PSI, Arizona ROC Candidate Information Bulletin (primary read 2026-09-23; file confirmed live today).
18. ADOR, Transaction Privilege Tax Contracting Guidelines, Bond Contractors.
19. Ariz. Admin. Code R4-9-113, Application Process (justia.com mirror; the ROC's own site would not load for the fetch tool today).