How to Get an Electrician License in Louisiana

Louisiana does not issue a statewide journeyman or master electrician license. To get an electrician license in Louisiana, you apply to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) for a license carrying the Electrical classification, since the state licenses the business that contracts electrical work rather than the individual.

At a glance

• Threshold: a state license is required at $10,000 or more, labor and materials combined. La. R.S. 37:2150.1
• Trade exam: PSI's Electrical Statewide exam, 100 questions, 240 minutes, open book, 70 to pass, $140. PSI examination fee schedule, March 2026
• Business and Law: a 50 question online test in the LSLBC portal, 70 to pass, $150. LSLBC What Happens After I Apply
• Money test: $50,000 net worth, or an irrevocable letter of credit. La. R.S. 37:2156.1
• The offer: The Licensing Company can prepare and submit the application for a flat $999 per state application.

For the full business side of licensing in the state, read our Louisiana contractor license requirements, and for every other state see how to get a contractor license in each state. This guide walks through who needs a license, the classifications, the exams, the application steps, what it costs, and the local cards layered on top.

How to Get an Electrician License in Louisiana: Who Needs One

The Contractors Licensing Law defines an electrical contractor as anyone who bids, supervises or performs electrical wiring, fixtures or appliances on a residential, commercial or other project valued at $10,000 or more, counting labor and materials combined, no matter who supplies the materials. Below that dollar figure, the state does not require its license, though your parish or city still can. La. R.S. 37:2150.1 LSLBC FAQ

Notes on the table

• Electrical sits under the Commercial license type. The LSLBC lists electrical, mechanical and plumbing work over the trade threshold as Commercial, not Residential, even on a house. LSLBC Types of Licenses
• The residential subcontractor exemption does not cover electrical. An electrical sub on a new home still needs its own license at the $10,000 threshold. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules
• Working below the threshold is not the end of it. Local permit rules still apply, and contracting without a required state license can draw a board fine of up to 10 percent of the contract. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules

License Types and Classifications in Louisiana

Louisiana runs one state electrical credential, not a tiered Class A or Class B system. The Electrical major classification lets a licensee bid and perform work in each of its own subclassifications, and a company that only does one narrow scope can hold a subclassification alone. LSLBC Exams and Classifications

Notes on the table

• Controls (5.1) covers controls for electrical work, including instrumentation, HVAC controls, security alarm panels and fire alarm panels. LSLBC Exams and Classifications
• Transmission lines (3.2) covers transmission and distribution lines, poles, towers and substations, and sits under both Electrical and Heavy Construction. LSLBC Exams and Classifications
• Labor Only lets a company that supplies only labor to a contractor on electrical work over $10,000 hold a specialty with no exam. LSLBC Exams and Classifications

Individual journeyman and master cards are a separate, local matter, covered in the Parish and City Electrician Licenses section below. The state credential described here belongs to the company.

Experience and Education

LSLBC does not publish a minimum years of experience requirement for the Electrical classification's qualifying party. The bar is passing the Electrical Statewide trade exam and the Business and Law exam, showing the required net worth, and being properly designated to the board, not a counted number of years on the job. LSLBC Qualifying Party Application Questions

That is different from many states, and some third-party sites publish a "five years" or "four-year apprenticeship" rule for Louisiana that does not appear on any LSLBC page. In practice, most qualifying parties come to the exam after years in the trade, but the state does not require you to document a set number of them.

A local journeyman credential is its own matter. New Orleans, for example, requires its Class D Journeyman applicant to be at least 18 and to pass the ICC F17 National Standard Journeyman Electrician exam, which is an experience-tested exam in its own right even though the city does not publish a separate minimum years figure either. City of New Orleans Class D license

The Electrical Statewide Exam

PSI has given all LSLBC trade exams since August 5, 2025. Scheduling and payment go straight through PSI, and an approved eligibility letter is good for one year. LSLBC Test Registration and Scheduling

The content outline splits its questions across general electrical knowledge, installation requirements, services and feeders, grounding and bonding, special occupancies including swimming pools, and lighting and signs, each worth 10 of the 100 questions. Approved references include the 2023 NEC, OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926 and Ugly's Electrical References. PSI Electrical Statewide content outline

Rules for your books. You may highlight, underline and tab references before test day with permanent tabs only. Writing in them during the exam, loose pages and sticky notes are not allowed. PSI Electrical Statewide content outline

If you fail. You wait 30 days before a retake. After two failed attempts, with the last score within ten points of passing, you can request a review of the questions you missed. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules

Subclassification exams. The Electrical Controls, Instrumentation and Calibration exam and the Electrical Transmission Lines exam each run 50 questions in 120 minutes, need 35 correct, and cost $125 at PSI. PSI Controls outline PSI examination fee schedule, March 2026

The Business and Law Exam

Every license needs at least one qualifying party for Louisiana Business and Law, with no exceptions. It runs 50 questions, takes about 30 to 45 minutes, and needs a 70 or above. You take it inside the LSLBC Contractor Portal, not at a PSI center. LSLBC What Happens After I Apply

The qualifying party for the Electrical classification and the qualifying party for Business and Law can be the same person, and usually are for a smaller company. La. R.S. 37:2156.1

How to Apply for a Louisiana Electrical Contractor License

1. Set up the company. An LLC, corporation or limited partnership must be active and in good standing with the Louisiana Secretary of State, and the license is issued in the exact legal name. LSLBC Checklist
2. Pick your qualifying party or parties. Name one for the Electrical classification and one for Business and Law; the same person can do both. La. R.S. 37:2156.1
3. Get the financial statement done. An accountant, bookkeeper or CPA prepares and signs the board's form, current within 12 months. LSLBC Financial Statement form
4. File the online commercial application. Upload the financial statement and formation papers, and pay the board fees, which are nonrefundable; the application stays open for one year. LSLBC Online Application Instructions
5. Complete the qualifying party verification. Each qualifying party gets a portal login by email and must finish it before testing can start. LSLBC What Happens After I Apply
6. Pass Business and Law in the LSLBC portal. A one hour online course with a 50 question test at the end. LSLBC Adding a Classification form
7. Schedule and pass the Electrical Statewide exam with PSI. PSI emails an eligibility letter once the LSLBC approves you. LSLBC Test Registration and Scheduling
8. Receive the license. The LSLBC issues it once every requirement is met, and you cannot bid or start work before then; there is no temporary license. LSLBC FAQ

Want the Application Done for You?

Gathering the financial statement, matching qualifying party documents and tracking the board's follow up questions takes time away from running your business. The Licensing Company's License Application Processing service handles that work for you.

It starts with an eligibility audit before anything is filed, so you know where you stand before paying a state or exam fee. From there, it builds your document checklist and chases the pieces with you, prepares every required form and reviews it line by line, and submits the application the way the LSLBC requires. If the board comes back with questions, those get answered and the application resubmitted, until the board decides.

It is a flat $999 per state application, paid up front. State fees, exam fees, background checks and fingerprinting are paid to the state, not to us. This covers the paperwork, not the outcome: it does not promise approval, does not promise a timeline, and does not include sitting the exam for you. Call 615-219-2110 to talk through whether it fits your application.

If you are not yet eligible to qualify the company on your own credential, a qualifying agent can qualify it while you build toward your own license. See Qualifying the Company Behind an Electrical License below.

What It Costs to Get Licensed

Louisiana caps the board's basic fees by statute, and the board may set its fees at its July meeting each year. The trade exam is paid to PSI, not the board. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules

Notes on the fees

• Statutory caps. La. R.S. 37:2156 caps the board's own examination fee at $50, the license fee at $100, the renewal fee at $100, the delinquent fee at $50 and the home improvement fee at $50. The PSI trade exam fee is PSI's own charge, not a board fee. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules
• Card payments. Paying by card adds a $2 charge plus 2.5 percent. LSLBC Adding a Classification form
• Renewal dedication fee. Each renewal carries an extra $100 per year for university construction programs, and the renewal form lets you opt out. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules

Your real budget also covers study materials, time off for the exam and insurance your customers require. For how to weigh qualifying your own company against adding a qualified employee, see our contractor license cost guide.

The $50,000 Net Worth Requirement

A commercial license, including the Electrical classification, needs a net worth of $50,000 or more. The figure comes from the board's financial statement form, prepared and signed by an accountant, bookkeeper or CPA and current within 12 months. La. R.S. 37:2156.1

Short of $50,000, the law allows an irrevocable letter of credit for the amount of the requirement plus any negative net worth. A company showing negative $5,000, for example, would need a $55,000 letter of credit. La. R.S. 37:2156.1

The Labor Only specialty has a lower floor of $25,000. The financial statement is confidential and is not a public record. La. R.S. 37:2156.1 LSLBC Financial Statement form

Insurance for Electrical Contractors

Commercial applicants, which includes Electrical, do not file insurance certificates with the LSLBC. Residential, home improvement and mold remediation applicants do. LSLBC Online Application Instructions

If your company also holds a Residential Construction license, Act 757 raised the minimum liability coverage for residential, mold remediation and home improvement licenses to $500,000, effective August 1, 2026; workers' compensation is still required, and proof must come from your agent, broker or insurer. LSLBC memorandum, July 13, 2026

Cities can set their own terms too. New Orleans asks its Class A electrical contractor license holder for $500,000 of general liability coverage, separate from anything the state requires. City of New Orleans Class A license

Using an Exam You Passed Elsewhere

Since October 23, 2024, the LSLBC accepts a trade exam passed in any other state for the equivalent classification, as long as it was passed with no waiver, exemption or grandfathering; every other licensing requirement still applies. That 2024 change replaced LSLBC's older state-by-state reciprocity agreements, so an agreement you may have read about for a specific neighboring state is no longer the operative rule. LSLBC 2024 Reciprocity Change letter

The NASCLA accredited Electrical exam also gives credit for the LSLBC Electrical exam. NASCLA must release the qualifier's transcript to the board; the board does not accept a transcript sent by the company. LSLBC Adding a Classification form

Credit from either route does not waive Business and Law. When no trade exam is taken, the board charges an Exam Research or Waiver fee instead, shown in the fee table above. LSLBC Adding a Classification form

How Long It Takes

LSLBC does not publish a fixed processing time for a commercial application; it states only that the license issues once every requirement is met. Military applicants are the one group LSLBC commits to a number for, deciding those applications within 30 calendar days. LSLBC FAQ

Your own timeline runs through several dependent steps: the financial statement and formation papers have to be ready before you file, the qualifying party verification has to clear before either exam opens, and PSI's own scheduling calendar then sets how soon you can sit the trade exam. Build in time for each link in that chain rather than assuming a single fixed number of weeks.

Renewing and Keeping the License

The first license runs one year. After that you renew for a one, two or three year term, and the license expires on the anniversary of its issue date. LSLBC FAQ

You have 15 days after expiration to renew without a penalty. A license not renewed within one year of expiring cannot be renewed; you apply for a new one. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules

Commercial contractors, including Electrical, have no continuing education requirement; the six hour annual rule applies to residential construction contractors instead. Report changes in name, ownership, officers or qualifying party within 30 days. LSLBC FAQ LSLBC Checklist

Parish and City Electrician Licenses

A statewide electrical license carries across parish lines. Electrical contractors licensed by the LSLBC are excluded from local, municipal and parish examination procedures and may bid and perform work in any local jurisdiction after paying the local fees, and that preemption reaches their employees too. La. R.S. 37:2156.1

Local offices still run their own electrical licensing and permits for individuals. What a few of them publish:

• New Orleans Class D Journeyman. Needs a passing ICC F17 National Standard Journeyman Electrician result, costs $60 a year, and the holder works for a Class A electrical contractor. City of New Orleans Class D license
• New Orleans Class A. Takes the ICC F49 Electrical Contractor result or a copy of the state license with the qualifying party letter, costs $125 a year, and allows one holder per company. City of New Orleans Class A license
• Jefferson Parish. Replacing or installing service panels, fixtures, fans, switches or outlets requires filing by a Jefferson Parish licensed electrician before work starts. Jefferson Parish permit FAQ
• Shreveport. The city requires a contractor registration for electrical work and tests journeyman and master electrical registrations; its own guidance confirms electrical work over $10,000 needs the State of Louisiana license on top of that. City of Shreveport Contractor's Registration

Whether the job sits in Caddo, Ouachita, St. Tammany, Terrebonne, Livingston or any other parish, call that permit office before you pull the permit. A local occupational license is only a tax registration, not a contractor's license. LSLBC FAQ

Qualifying the Company Behind an Electrical License

The license belongs to the company, which must designate a qualifying party for the Electrical classification and for Business and Law. That person meets the exam requirements and represents the company to the board. La. R.S. 37:2156.1

The qualifying party can be the sole proprietor, a partner, an LLC member or manager, a stockholder or officer, or a full time employee. The board's rule defines that employee as someone working at least 32 hours a week who meets the IRS test for an employee, certified by the employer under penalty of perjury. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules

A qualifying agent qualifies the company as its owner or as a full time W-2 employee who actually supervises the work, not as an outside consultant attached to the paperwork. If you are an electrician who passes both exams, you can qualify your own company. If you own an electrical company without that credential yet, or are expanding into Louisiana, hire a qualifying agent to learn how the placement works, or read what a qualifying agent is and how the electrical contractor qualifying agent role fits an electrical company specifically.

When a qualifier leaves. Notify the board in writing within 30 days and qualify a replacement within 60 days. Until then you may finish existing work and bid, but you may not begin new work in that classification; missing the 60 days can cost the classification or the license. LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a journeyman electrician license in Louisiana? Not from the state. Louisiana licenses electrical contracting through the LSLBC. Journeyman licenses are issued by cities and parishes, such as the New Orleans Class D, and a statewide licensed contractor's employees are exempt from local exams when working for that contractor.

Does Louisiana have a Class A or Class B electrical license? Not at the state level. The LSLBC issues one Electrical major classification plus named subclassifications (Controls, Telecommunications Low Voltage, Transmission Lines) and a Labor Only specialty, not a tiered Class A/Class B system. New Orleans does use "Class A" and "Class D" as its own local names for its contractor and journeyman credentials.

Is there a separate journeyman electrician exam at the state level? No. The PSI Electrical Statewide trade exam is taken by the company's qualifying party, not by every working electrician. A local journeyman exam, such as New Orleans' ICC F17 requirement for its Class D license, is a separate local test.

Is there such a thing as a "state certified electrician" in Louisiana? No individual state certification exists. The state licenses the company through its qualifying party; an individual electrician without an ownership or qualifying role is not separately certified by the state.

What exams do I take for an electrical license in Louisiana? The qualifying party passes the PSI Electrical Statewide exam (100 questions, 240 minutes, open book, 70 to pass) and the Louisiana Business and Law test in the LSLBC portal. A qualifying Electrical exam passed in another state, or the NASCLA Electrical exam, can stand in for the trade exam.

How much does it cost to get licensed for electrical work in Louisiana? The PSI trade exam is $140 and the Business and Law course is $150. The basic license fee is capped at $100 by statute. You also need a $50,000 net worth or a letter of credit.

Do I need a license for electrical jobs under $10,000? Not for the Electrical classification, because that threshold is $10,000 or more. A home improvement project on an existing home of $7,500 or more can still need an LSLBC home improvement registration, and your parish or city can require its own local electrical license and permit.

Can I use one license across parishes? Yes. LSLBC licensed electrical contractors are excluded from local examination procedures and can work in any jurisdiction after paying the local fees.

Do I need a qualifier for my electrical company? Yes. The license must name a qualifying party for Electrical and for Business and Law. If that is not you, it can be a partner, officer, member or a full time employee who meets the board's rule.

Where do I check an electrician's or contractor's license number? The LSLBC's own Contractor Search verifies a state license and its classifications. A local journeyman or master license number, such as a New Orleans Class D card, is verified with that city or parish office instead, not with the state board.

Plan Your Louisiana Electrician License Application

Louisiana electrical licensing is straightforward once you see that it lives at the contractor level. Pass the Electrical Statewide exam and Business and Law, show $50,000 of net worth or a letter of credit, and file with the LSLBC.

If you need a qualifying party for the Electrical classification, or want the application itself handled for a flat $999 per state application, call us at 615-219-2110 or hire a qualifying agent. Working other trades in the state? See our Louisiana general contractor guide, Louisiana plumbing license guide, Louisiana HVAC license guide and the Texas electrician license guide.

Sources

All retrieved 2026-10-07.

• La. R.S. 37:2150.1, Definitions (Louisiana State Legislature)
• La. R.S. 37:2156.1, Requirements for issuance of a license (Louisiana State Legislature)
• LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules, effective August 1, 2026 (La. R.S. 37:2150 to 2166 and LAC 46:XXIX)
• LSLBC memorandum on statutory changes, July 13, 2026
• LSLBC Types of Licenses
• LSLBC Exams and Classifications
• LSLBC Checklist of Items Required for Licensure
• LSLBC Online Application Instructions
• LSLBC Financial Statement form
• LSLBC What Happens After I Apply
• LSLBC Qualifying Party Application Questions
• LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions
• LSLBC Test Registration and Scheduling
• LSLBC Adding a Classification form, revised January 30, 2026
• LSLBC 2024 Reciprocity Change letter
• PSI examination fee schedule, March 2026
• PSI Electrical Statewide content outline
• PSI Electrical Controls, Instrumentation and Calibration outline
• City of New Orleans Class D Journeyman Electrical License
• City of New Orleans Class A Master Electrical License
• Jefferson Parish permit FAQ
• City of Shreveport Contractor's Registration
• License Application Processing

Fees, exam details and thresholds are set by the Louisiana Legislature, the LSLBC, PSI and local governments and can change. Confirm current requirements with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors before you apply.