How Rhode Island's Certificate B and Certificate A electrician licenses work under RIGL 5-6, including the 15 hour code update, the state exam, and the employee-only rule.
Rhode Island issues electrician licenses through the Department of Labor and Training (DLT), Division of Professional Regulation, under a Board of Examiners of Electricians created by Rhode Island General Laws Chapter 5-6. The journeyperson credential is Certificate B, which requires 8,000 apprenticeship hours and a state exam, and the business credential is Certificate A, which requires 12,000 hours and two years holding Certificate B.
At a glance
- Certificate B (journeyperson): 8,000 hours over 4 years, state exam, $72 every 2 years
- Certificate A (electrical contractor): 12,000 hours, 2 years holding Certificate B, $240 every 2 years
- Renewal continuing education: 15 clock hours on the currently adopted NEC and ICC codes, every 2 years
- Current adopted code: NEC 2023 with Rhode Island amendments (RISBC-5), effective December 1, 2025
- Unlicensed work penalty: $1,500 for a first violation, $2,000 for each one after, counted per person
New to licensing in Rhode Island? Start with the Rhode Island contractor license requirements, and for every other state see how to get a contractor license in each state.
Rhode Island also runs one of the strictest statutory employment structures in the country: the license rides on a specific person, and that person has to actually work for the company using it. This guide covers the full ladder, the 15 hour code update cycle that drives most of the search traffic on this topic, and the employment rule that catches companies off guard.
Rhode Island's Certificate System
The license classes under Chapter 5-6 and the Board's regulations (260-RICR-30-15-7):
| Certificate | Role | Experience Needed | Biennial Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate B | Journeyperson electrician | 8,000 hours over 4 years | $72 |
| Certificate A | Electrical contractor | 12,000 hours, 2 yrs as B | $240 |
| Certificate C | Limited premises (in house) | Set by employer, no exam | $240 |
| Certificate D | Limited maintenance (in house) | Set by employer, no exam | $240 |
Notes:
- Limited specialty certificates also exist: fire alarm contractor (AF) and installer (BF, $72), burner contractor (E) and burnerperson (F, $72), sign contractor (SCF) and installer (CF, $72), lightning protection contractor (LPC, $240) and installer (LPI, $72), and sign renovation ($72).
- A corporate or firm certificate, naming the officer or member who passed the exam, costs $100 on top of the individual's Certificate A fee.
- Fees are set in R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-16 and are subject to change by the General Assembly.
One detail that surprises people: a Certificate A by itself is a business credential. Under RIGL 5-6-8, it entitles the holder to conduct business as an electrical contractor, but it does not entitle the holder individually to do the hands-on installation, maintenance, servicing, or testing work. That work is done by journeypersons.
The path to Certificate A, in order:
- Register as an apprentice with the Division of Professional Regulation as soon as you start working for a licensed contractor.
- Log at least 8,000 hours of on-the-job work over not less than four years, plus 144 hours of related classroom instruction per year.
- Apply for the Certificate B exam at least 15 working days before the exam date, with the $75 non-refundable application fee.
- Pass the state-administered exam with an average of at least 70%.
- Work as a Certificate B employee of a Certificate A, C, or D holder for at least two years while logging a total of 12,000 hours.
- Apply for and pass the Certificate A exam, and, for a corporation, document that you are a duly elected officer.
Step 1: Register as an Apprentice
Rhode Island's core pathway to Certificate B runs through a DLT-registered apprenticeship under RIGL 5-6-24: a minimum of 8,000 hours over not less than four years, plus 144 hours of related classroom instruction per year (576 hours across the four years). Your employer verifies your hours, and the statute also allows classroom credit from authorized vocational schools, capped at 288 hours over two academic years.
There is also a college path: two academic years of electrical technology, or an associate degree in the field, at a recognized college or university, combined with four years registered as an apprentice supervised by a licensed journeyperson employed by a master electrician.
Step 2: Pass the Journeyperson Exam (Certificate B)
Rhode Island is unusual here: the Division of Professional Regulation administers the exam itself, first come first served, with limited seating. There is no PSI, Prov, or Pearson VUE in this chapter's exam process; applications for examination must reach the division at least 15 working days before the exam date, and incomplete applications are returned.
What the regulation and application specify:
- The application fee is $75, non-refundable, paid by check or money order to the Department of Labor and Training
- The exam is based on the currently adopted Rhode Island Electrical Code (RISBC-5)
- Passing requires an average of at least 70% (260-RICR-30-15-7, section 7.5)
Once licensed, Certificate B renews at $72 per two-year cycle. Under RIGL 5-6-20, the license expires on your birthday and renews for a two-year term from that date.
Fees are set by statute and the Board and are subject to change. Verify current amounts with DLT before applying.
Step 3: Electrical Contractor, Certificate A
To sit for the contractor exam you need at least 12,000 hours (six years) of experience and a Rhode Island Certificate B held for two years. The Certificate A license fee is $240 biennially.
For corporations and firms, Chapter 5-6 is specific: the certificate names the individual who passed the exam, and for a corporation that person must be one of its officers, documented with certified Secretary of State filings proving a duly elected officer. The corporate certificate itself costs an added $100, one corporation per license holder, and the license is restricted to that corporation.
And a rule general contractors should read twice: under the Board's regulations, a general contractor who is not a licensed electrical contractor cannot bid, solicit, or advertise for electrical work. A GC can gather bids from licensed Rhode Island electrical contractors, but cannot put itself forward as the electrical bidder.
The Employment Rule That Defines Rhode Island
Here is the statute that shapes the whole trade in this state. Under RIGL 5-6-13, a journeyperson (Certificate B) is not entitled to do electrical work except as an employee of a Certificate A electrical contractor (or a Certificate C or D limited-premises/maintenance holder), unless the journeyperson also holds a contractor certificate. The statutory definition of an electrical contractor in RIGL 5-6-1 reinforces it: a contractor performs work "by the employment of journeypersons."
In practice: a licensed journeyperson cannot legally take side jobs as an independent operator, and an electrical business cannot staff itself with 1099 subcontractors holding B cards. The work flows through employees of a licensed contractor.
This is also why the qualifying agent model works the way it does in Rhode Island. When The Licensing Company places a license holder with a contracting business, the placement is a genuine full-time W-2 employee, on payroll, actually engaged in the business, because that is the only structure that matches how Rhode Island defines the trade. Arrangements that amount to paying for the use of someone else's license, percentage deals, per-project arrangements, a name on the wall, are exactly what boards look for and shut down. Our breakdown of why license-for-hire arrangements fail covers the pattern in detail.
The 15 Hour Electrical Code Update, Explained
Most of the search traffic that lands on this page is looking for one specific thing: the 15 hour electrical code update required to renew a Rhode Island electrician license. Here is what RIGL 5-6-20.1 and the Board's regulations actually require.
- The requirement is 15 clock hours of Board-approved continuing education, due before each biennial renewal, and it has applied since January 1, 1997.
- It applies only to Certificate A and Certificate B holders. Limited-premises, limited-maintenance, and the other specialty certificates do not carry a CE requirement.
- Course content must track the currently adopted edition of the National Electrical Code and the ICC national codes. The code currently in force is the NEC 2023 edition with Rhode Island amendments, adopted under RISBC-5, effective December 1, 2025. A renewal course taken today should be built on that edition, not an older one.
- Completion produces a uniform certificate of completion, which the licensee submits with the renewal application. Keep the original; DLT's form instructions treat it as the proof of compliance.
- Instructors teach board-approved courses, must attend a preparation seminar every three years, and must teach a class during every code cycle using the current code with its Rhode Island amendments.
- If you hold a Rhode Island license but live out of state, you may submit a 15-hour continuing education certificate from your own state in place of a Rhode Island course, but only if it meets Rhode Island's content requirement and your state recognizes Rhode Island's certificates.
A 2026 law, H 7774 Substitute A, requires the State Building Code Standards Committee to adopt each new NEC edition on a schedule timed to take effect July 1 of the year the edition is dated, which will eventually bring the 2026 NEC into force. The bill was introduced February 12, 2026, passed the House and Senate in June 2026, and was signed into law. The Committee has not yet completed the adoption process for the 2026 edition, so NEC 2023 with Rhode Island's amendments, effective December 1, 2025, remains the code your 15 hours should be built on.
Penalties: $1,500 and Up, Per Person
Unlicensed electrical work in Rhode Island draws an administrative penalty of $1,500 for a first violation and $2,000 for each subsequent violation under RIGL 5-6-32, and each person acting in violation counts as a separate offense, so a crew of four unlicensed workers is four violations. The director can fine both the violator and the contractor who engaged them, and issue cease-and-desist orders after a complaint and a hearing before the Board of Examiners of Electricians. Contractors are also required to show their license number on all advertising, bids, contracts, and permits.
Who Does Not Need a License
RIGL 5-6-29 carves out specific exemptions, including:
- Homeowners wiring their own single-family or two-family dwelling on the immediate premises, if they live there or are about to move in
- Utilities: generation and primary distribution work, and secondary distribution up to and including the meters, for an electric or gas company operating its own system
- Communications and CATV: work on a communication system owned by a municipality, a telephone or telegraph company, or a regulated cable system, including their subcontractors
- Specialized equipment: work in mines, on ships, on railway rolling stock, or on automotive equipment covered elsewhere in Rhode Island law
- Manufacturers doing in-plant manufacturing, testing, and repair of their own electrical equipment
- Laboratories installing exposed wiring for experiments only
- Hoisting engineers who excavate and install underground conduit, though they still cannot do the wiring or make service connections, and still need a building permit outside utility work
- DEM-registered wastewater businesses working on onsite wastewater treatment systems, though not on the electrical equipment that connects to the meter
The homeowner permit exemption does not cover removing and reattaching an existing electrical meter, and the maintenance certificates (C and D) only cover existing wiring at a single address, never new construction or additions.
Renewal Cycle, Late Fees, and Forfeiture
Under RIGL 5-6-20, renewals track your birthday: the license expires on your birthday and renews for a two-year term from that date. Late renewals accrue a $12 per month administrative assessment, and a license not renewed within two years of its expiration is forfeited, meaning you retest from scratch.
How Rhode Island Handles the Other Two Trades
Electrical is one of three separately licensed trades in Rhode Island, and all three sit inside the same Department of Labor and Training, under three different boards, with three different statutes. The structural pattern repeats, which is the useful thing to know if you run a multi-trade company here.
Plumbing runs under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 5-20 and the State Board of Plumbing Examiners. Its journeyperson ladder is 8,000 hours plus 576 hours of instruction, much like electrical. Its company rule at § 5-20-12 requires the entity to continuously employ a licensed master plumber who is an officer or principal, or who may represent one entity and only one entity at a time. Full detail in our Rhode Island plumbing licensing guide.
HVAC does not exist as a license here at all. Rhode Island licenses the mechanical trades under Chapter 28-27 across pipefitting, refrigeration and air conditioning, sheet metal, and fire protection sprinkler fitting, each with a Class I and a Class II, and the class you hold is a hard scope cap. Full detail in our Rhode Island HVAC licensing guide.
Three trades, three boards, one doctrine: the license rides on a person, and that person has to actually be employed by the company using it. RIGL 5-6-13 is the electrical version of the same rule.
Building an Electrical Business in Rhode Island
Stack the rules and the picture is clear. Electrical work must flow through a licensed electrical contractor. The contractor certificate rides on a specific person, and for a corporation that person must be an officer. Journeypersons must be employees of the contractor. GCs cannot even bid electrical scope without the license. And every violation is $1,500 or more, per person.
So the gating question for any company entering Rhode Island, whether you are a GC adding electrical scope, a solar or fire alarm firm, or an out-of-state electrical contractor expanding into New England, is: who holds your Certificate A? A qualifying agent QUALIFIES the company by acting as an owner or a full-time W-2 employee who actually supervises the work, not as a name borrowed for a fee. If nobody at your company holds the license, hiring a qualifying agent as a full-time W-2 employee is how the gap gets closed compliantly. If you hold the license yourself, becoming a qualifying agent puts your Certificate A to work in a real full-time role with a growing company.
Start with what a qualifying agent actually is if the term is new to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Rhode Island 15 hour electrical code update? It is the continuing education Rhode Island requires under RIGL 5-6-20.1 for every Certificate A and Certificate B renewal: 15 clock hours covering the currently adopted NEC and ICC codes, taught through a board-approved course, ending in a uniform certificate of completion you submit with your renewal.
Which NEC edition does the Rhode Island code update cover right now? The NEC 2023 edition with Rhode Island amendments, adopted under RISBC-5 and effective December 1, 2025. A 2026 law (H 7774 Substitute A) will eventually move Rhode Island to the NEC 2026 edition once the State Building Code Standards Committee completes that adoption, but NEC 2023 remains the code in force as of this writing.
How long does it take to become a licensed electrician in Rhode Island? Four years minimum: 8,000 apprenticeship hours over not less than four years plus 144 classroom hours per year, then the state exam. The contractor license requires six years total experience (12,000 hours) plus two years holding Certificate B, so figure roughly six to eight years from first day to Certificate A.
How much does a Rhode Island electrician license cost? The exam application fee is $75, Certificate B renews at $72 biennially, and Certificate A at $240 biennially, with an added $100 corporate certificate where applicable. Fees are set by statute and the Board and change, so verify with DLT.
Can a journeyperson electrician work for themselves in Rhode Island? No. Under RIGL 5-6-13, a Certificate B holder can only work as an employee of a licensed electrical contractor (or limited-premises/maintenance certificate holder), unless they also hold a contractor certificate themselves.
Can my company bid on electrical work with a general contractor license? No. Under the Board's regulations, a general contractor who is not a licensed electrical contractor cannot bid, solicit, or advertise for electrical work in Rhode Island. The electrical scope needs a Certificate A behind it before the bid goes out.
Does one Rhode Island license cover electrical, plumbing and HVAC work? No. Three separate statutes, three separate boards inside DLT, three separate ladders and three separate exams. A multi-trade company in Rhode Island needs a qualified license holder for each trade it performs.
Do I need a Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board (CRLB) registration as well? The CRLB's own FAQ says no for electricians and plumbers working inside the scope of the DLT license, unless you are contracting work outside that scope, such as general construction. If you do need to register, the CRLB application calls for a five-hour pre-registration course, $500,000 of liability coverage naming the CRLB as certificate holder, and a $150 registration fee.
The Bottom Line
Rhode Island's ladder: registered apprenticeship of 8,000 hours plus 576 classroom hours, the state-run exam at 70%, Certificate B at $72 per cycle, then 12,000 total hours and two years as a journeyperson for Certificate A at $240. Every two years, Certificate A and B holders also need the 15 hour code update, currently built on NEC 2023 with Rhode Island's amendments. Around all of it sits the strictest employment structure in New England, where the business license names a person, the person must be an officer in a corporation, and everyone below works as an employee.
Neighboring states run it differently: compare Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the rest of the region in our national electrical contractor guide, or browse every state at our directory.
Ready to put a Certificate A to work the way Rhode Island law requires? Hire a qualifying agent or call 615-219-2110 to talk through your setup.
Sources
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-1, Definitions, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-2, License required, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-4, Board of examiners, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-8, Certificate A, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-13, Employment of Certificate B holders, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-16, License fees, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-20, Expiration and renewal, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-20.1, Continuing education, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-24, Apprenticeship, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-29, Persons and work exempt, retrieved October 10, 2026
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-6-32, Penalties, retrieved October 10, 2026
- 260-RICR-30-15-7, Board of Examiners of Electricians regulations, retrieved October 10, 2026
- 510-RICR-00-00-5, Rhode Island Electrical Code (RISBC-5), retrieved October 10, 2026
- 2026 House Bill H 7774, Substitute A, retrieved October 10, 2026
- H 7774 Substitute A status and action history, retrieved October 10, 2026
- CRLB Contractor Registration FAQs, retrieved October 10, 2026
Last reviewed October 2026. Requirements, fees, and penalties are set by Rhode Island statute and the Board of Examiners of Electricians and are subject to change. Verify current requirements with the Department of Labor and Training before applying.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, licensing guidance, or an offer of services. Licensing requirements vary by jurisdiction. For specific compliance questions, contact The Licensing Company for a confidential consultation.