Illinois · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Illinois does not license electricians or electrical contractors at state level. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's list of regulated professions omits the trade and Chapter 225 contains no electrical act. Cities license instead. Chicago issues electrical contractor and supervising electrician licences, and 65 ILCS 5/11-33-1 caps municipal contractor registration at $25 a year.
State-level license
No — see local details
Public lookup
Not published
Verified against agency sources on 2026-09-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Nothing in Illinois law licenses an electrician or an electrical contractor at state level. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation publishes the full list of professions and industries it regulates. The list runs from acupuncturist to veterinarian. It includes electrologist, roofing contractor and qualifying party roofing contractor. It does not include electrician or electrical contractor. The General Assembly's index of Chapter 225 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, the chapter that holds the professional licensing acts, contains the Illinois Plumbing License Law at 225 ILCS 320 and the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act at 225 ILCS 335. There is no electrical licensing act. The Capital Development Board publishes an Illinois Construction-Related Statutes and Rules Directory, its own compilation of requirements governing construction in the state, and no electrician licensing statute or rule appears in it. That is the whole answer to the licence question, and it is worth stating plainly, because contractors moving into Illinois from a neighbouring state often go looking for a state board that does not exist. Licensing sits with municipalities. Code adoption sits with cities and counties. For a contractor the consequence is practical rather than philosophical. There is no single credential to earn, no state renewal date, no state continuing education requirement, and no state licence number to put on the van. There is instead a map of municipal licences, and a set of statewide rules that apply whether or not any city licensed you.
The Illinois Municipal Code addresses electrical contractors directly, and in the contractor's favour. Section 11-33-1 of the Illinois Municipal Code, 65 ILCS 5/11-33-1, says the corporate authorities of each municipality may require the registration of electrical contractors and may impose an annual registration fee of $25 on each registered contractor. The next sentence is the one worth knowing. An electrical contractor who is registered in one municipality shall not be required by any other municipality to be registered or to pay a registration fee in the other municipality. The statute then defines the term. An electrical contractor means any person engaged in the business of installing or altering by contract electrical equipment for the utilization of electricity for light, heat or power. It excludes radio apparatus and wireless reception equipment, and it excludes apparatus, conductors and other equipment installed for or by public utilities and common carriers under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission for use in their operation as public utilities. It also excludes the employees an electrical contractor hires to do or supervise the work, which is why the registration attaches to the business rather than to each electrician. The section dates from 1961 and has not been amended since. It sits alongside the separate municipal power, exercised most visibly by Chicago, to license and examine electricians rather than merely register contractors.
Sourcesilga.gov
Division 37 of Article 11 of the Illinois Municipal Code is the other half of the local picture. Under 65 ILCS 5/11-37-2, any municipality may by ordinance regulate the installation, alteration and use of all electrical equipment and may establish an electrical inspection department. A municipality that establishes one must also establish an electrical commission of six members. The superintendent of electricity or chief electrical inspector chairs it as an ex officio member. Of the other five, one is a registered professional engineer, one an electrical contractor, one a journeyman electrician, one a representative of a fire underwriters inspection bureau who lives in the municipality or, failing that, the fire chief, and one a representative of an electricity supply company. Under 65 ILCS 5/11-37-3 the commission recommends the standards and specifications for installation, the rules governing permits, and the inspection fees, and none of it takes effect until the corporate authorities adopt it by ordinance. In a municipality with an electrical inspection department, no electrical equipment may be installed or altered without a permit from that department first, and the department must inspect the work. Section 11-37-4 sets the penalty. Any wilful failure or refusal to comply with the ordinance is a petty offence punishable on conviction by a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $50 for each offence. That statutory range is old and small, which is exactly why municipalities write their own penalties into their own ordinances.
Sourcesilga.gov
Illinois has no statewide building code in the ordinary sense. The Capital Development Board says so on its own codes page: there is no statewide building code, and units of local government can adopt codes of their choice, with Public Act 103-0510 adding a statewide structural requirement from January 1, 2025. The electrical hook is narrower and older. Section 10.09-1 of the Capital Development Board Act, 20 ILCS 3105/10.09-1, bars occupancy of a newly constructed or substantially improved commercial building in a non-building code jurisdiction until the owner has contracted for an inspection by a qualified inspector and that inspector has filed a certification of inspection with the municipality or county. The certification must state that the building complies with several codes, and subparagraph (a)(2)(B) names one of them as the current edition or most recent preceding edition of the National Electrical Code published by the National Fire Protection Association. That is Illinois state law on the NEC. It names no fixed edition. It moves with NFPA's three year cycle and it accepts the edition one behind. The Capital Development Board's building codes page repeats it for commercial buildings in jurisdictions without a code and for state funded buildings. A non-building code jurisdiction means one that has not adopted a building code, or that was required to identify its adopted code to the board under 20 ILCS 3105/10.18 and has not. Once a permit issues, the requirements in force on January 1 of that year govern for the life of the permit.
Residential work in a jurisdiction without a code runs on a different statute. The Illinois Residential Building Code Act, 815 ILCS 670, applies to new residential construction, meaning original construction of a single family home or a dwelling of two or fewer apartments, condominiums or townhouses. Section 10 defines the International Residential Code as the current edition or most recent preceding edition of the International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, excluding Parts IV and VII. Part IV is energy conservation and Part VII is plumbing, both of which Illinois handles through separate statewide instruments. Part VIII, the electrical chapters, is not excluded, which is how NEC derived wiring rules reach new houses in jurisdictions with no local code. Section 15 makes the mechanism contractual rather than regulatory. A contract to build new residential construction in a non-building code jurisdiction must adopt a residential building code as part of the construction contract. The builder and the purchaser may agree on the International Residential Code, or on any municipal or county residential code in effect on the first day of construction in a county or municipality within 100 miles of the site. If they fail to agree, or the contract names nothing, the statute supplies the answer: the energy code, the Illinois Plumbing Code and the current edition of the International Residential Code become part of the contract by law. Section 20 requires a builder constructing a home for resale to certify to the buyer which code was used.
Sourcesilga.gov 1cdb.illinois.gov 2
Chicago splits the credential in two and licenses both halves. The Department of Buildings administers trade licences for more than 23,000 construction professionals, including supervising electricians and electrical contractors. A City of Chicago electrical contractor licence is required to install, alter or maintain any wiring or equipment regulated by the Chicago Electrical Code, including electrical, lighting, communication and alarm systems and equipment. The city states plainly that this applies whether or not a permit is required. There are two exceptions: wiring or equipment used by a public utility under Illinois Commerce Commission jurisdiction, and a private alarm contractor or agency licensed by the state under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 acting inside its licence. A state licensed private alarm contractor that wants a Chicago permit must still register its state licence with the city. The contractor licence goes to a business, including a sole proprietorship, that employs at least one licensed supervising electrician. The supervising electrician licence goes to an individual. All electrical work done by the contractor must be performed by a licensed supervising electrician or by employees working under that person's supervision and direction, and a supervising electrician may not be the primary supervising electrician for more than one licensed contractor. An electrical contractor licence is automatically inactivated if no valid supervising electrician licence is attached to it.
Chicago sets the entry bar on the individual, not the company. To take the supervising electrician examination, an applicant must be at least 21 years old and must have at least two years of experience installing, altering, repairing and maintaining electrical wires, equipment and apparatus, or equivalent experience, under the direct supervision of a supervising electrician or equivalent person. Work experience must be verified by letters from supervisors. The examination is written and tests satisfactory knowledge and technical training to perform or supervise work under the Chicago Electrical Code. Continental Testing Services processes the applications and administers the examinations on behalf of the Department of Buildings, and publishes a study guide. An applicant who fails must wait at least six months before reapplying. There are currently two examination types, general and low voltage, and before 2018 the city offered additional specialisations. The examination the individual passes determines the licence type, and the licence type then determines the contractor licence type the business can hold. For calendar year 2026 the city charges $150 for each examination, $150 for the initial licence and $150 a year to renew. Reinstatement costs $100 per year or part of a year the licence has been expired. A supervising electrician licence runs one year from issue or renewal and cannot be renewed once it has been expired three years or more.
Sourceschicago.gov
Chicago issues two types of electrical contractor licence and the type follows the examination the supervising electrician passed. A general licence allows the licensed business and its employees to perform any type of electrical work, subject to the city's employee qualification rules. A low voltage licence only allows work involving Class 1, 2 and 3 remote control, signalling and power limited circuits and communications circuits. For contractors that matters at bid time, because a low voltage licence cannot carry a job that includes line voltage branch circuits, and adding the capability means a supervising electrician who has passed the general examination rather than a change of paperwork. Fees for calendar year 2026 are the same for both: $150 to issue and $150 to renew. Reinstatement is $100 per year or part of a year expired. An administrative processing fee of $50 applies to any modification or change to an existing licence needing staff assistance, other than updating required insurance or bond information. A replacement document costs $50 and written verification of an existing licence costs $50. The contractor licence is valid for one year from issue. Applications go through Continental Testing Services and renewals go through the Department of Buildings web portal, where an expired licence may only be renewed within three years of expiry. The governing ordinance is Chapter 4-290 of the Municipal Code of Chicago.
Sourceschicago.gov
Chicago attaches a crew level requirement to its taller and more crowded buildings. Work counts as Class 1 electrical work when it is performed in a building exceeding 55 feet in height, or within an area classified as an assembly Group A occupancy with an occupant load of 300 people or more, and the work is done before a certificate of occupancy has issued for that part of the building or as part of work requiring a new certificate of occupancy. On Class 1 work, every person performing electrical work for or at the direction of the electrical contractor at the site must be one of three things. A licensed supervising electrician. An individual who has completed an electrician apprenticeship programme recognised by the United States Department of Labor requiring at least 8,000 hours of relevant on the job training and classroom instruction, evidenced by a written certificate of completion. Or an individual currently enrolled in such a programme. The contractor must keep records showing compliance at the work site and for at least two years after the work is finished. Everything else is Class 2 electrical work, where employees simply work under the supervision of the contractor's licensed supervising electricians. Chicago also draws a hard line on employment status. The licence authorises work by the licensed business and its employees, meaning people the business treats as employees for unemployment insurance, workers compensation and income tax. It does not authorise work by people paid as independent contractors, and another business's employees on site need their own contractor licence and a place on the permit.
Sourceschicago.gov
Chicago maintains its own electrical code rather than adopting the state reference. The Department of Buildings states that the Chicago Electrical Code, Title 14E of the Municipal Code, incorporates provisions of the 2017 National Electrical Code published by the National Fire Protection Association, incorporated by reference and not reprinted in the ordinance. The city links to a free read only compiled version hosted by NFPA that merges the model code with the Chicago amendments, and sells print and digital copies. That sets up the gap a contractor working across the region has to manage. Inside Chicago the applicable NEC edition is fixed at 2017 by ordinance. In an Illinois jurisdiction with no building code, the state certification of inspection under 20 ILCS 3105/10.09-1 tests commercial work against the current edition or the most recent preceding edition of the NEC, which moves every three years. In a suburb with its own adopted code, whatever that ordinance names governs, and the Capital Development Board runs a municipal code directory precisely because the answer differs town by town. Chicago also separates the codes by subject. Electrified and illuminated signs must comply with the Chicago Electrical Code as well as the sign provisions of the Building Code and the Zoning Ordinance, and work in existing buildings runs through the Chicago Building Rehabilitation Code, Title 14R.
There is no state electrical licence to hang an insurance requirement on, so Illinois puts the requirement on the work instead. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act, 815 ILCS 513, defines home repair and remodeling as the fixing, replacing, altering, converting, modernizing, improving or adding to any real property primarily designed or used as a residence, other than maintenance, service or repairs under $500. The definition names electrical wiring in its list of covered work. Section 25 then requires any person engaged in the business of home repair and remodeling to obtain and maintain in full force public liability and property damage insurance of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence of bodily injury and $50,000 per occurrence of property damage. That is a statewide floor for residential electrical work, enforceable whether or not the city ever issued a licence. Section 15 requires a written contract or work order, signed by the customer before work starts, for any home repair or remodeling job over $1,000, stating the total cost including parts and materials listed with reasonable particularity, any charge for an estimate, and the business name and address. A contractor using a post office box or mail receiving service must also state a residence address. Section 20 requires giving the customer the Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights pamphlet before signing any contract over $1,000, with a signed and dated Consumer Rights Acknowledgment Form.
Sourcesilga.gov
Illinois does require a licence number in advertising for one construction trade, and it is not this one. Section 18(d) of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires a contractor offering home repair or remodeling services to include its Illinois State roofing contractor licence name and number, as it appears on the roofing licence, on all contracts, bids and advertisements involving roofing work. No parallel provision exists for electrical work, because there is no state electrical licence to cite. What does bind an electrical contractor is the rest of section 18. A contractor shall not advertise or promise to pay or rebate all or any part of an insurance deductible as an inducement to a sale, and the prohibition covers granting an allowance, offering a discount against fees, or paying the insured or anyone associated with the property any form of compensation. A contractor shall not accept money or any form of compensation in exchange for allowing an out of area contractor to use its business name or licence. A contractor shall not represent, or offer or advertise to represent, a homeowner on an insurance claim, or act as a public adjuster. Section 15.1 requires a contractor presenting a written offer to point out any binding arbitration clause and any jury trial waiver before the agreement is signed, and to have the consumer write accept or reject in the margin beside each one. Clauses that are not accepted or rejected and signed are void.
Sourcesilga.gov
Because Illinois issues no electrical licence, there is no state offence of unlicensed electrical contracting. The exposure comes from three directions. First, the municipality. In Chicago, section 4-290-010 of the Municipal Code makes it unlawful for any person to install, alter or maintain equipment for the utilization of electricity unless that person holds a valid electrical contractor licence or is employed by a person who does, and the ordinance separately bars general contractors and subcontractors from employing unlicensed persons for electrical work or letting a licensed contractor exceed its authorised scope. Section 4-290-060 lets the Commissioner suspend or revoke the licence as provided in section 14A-3-305 of the Chicago Construction Codes, and section 4-290-070 covers suspension of building permit privileges. Second, the state statute behind municipal inspection. Under 65 ILCS 5/11-37-4, wilful failure or refusal to comply with a municipal electrical ordinance adopted under section 11-37-3 is a petty offence carrying a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $50 for each offence. Third, consumer law. Under 815 ILCS 513/35, any violation of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act is a violation of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and every remedy and penalty available to the Attorney General or a State's Attorney under that Act becomes available. Under section 30 a customer who suffers actual damage may sue directly.
Sourcescodelibrary.amlegal.com 1codelibrary.amlegal.com 2ilga.gov 3ilga.gov 4
There is no statewide lookup for electricians, because there is no statewide licence. The verification a Chicago customer can run is good. The Department of Buildings publishes a contractor licence lookup covering trade contractors involved in construction, maintenance, rehabilitation and demolition of buildings and building systems, with a dedicated electrical contractor list that shows currently licensed contractors and those with recently expired or inactivated licences. That is the single most useful public record for electrical work in Illinois. Outside Chicago the check is municipal. Ask the village or city building department whether the contractor is registered, and remember 65 ILCS 5/11-33-1: a contractor registered in one municipality cannot be made to register or pay a registration fee in another, so the absence of a local registration is not by itself proof of anything. The Capital Development Board maintains an Illinois Municipal Code Directory listing local code requirements and officials by municipality and county, which is the way to find the right office. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation runs a licence lookup, but for construction trades it will only return plumbers, roofing contractors and the other professions on its list. Customers should also ask for the certificate of insurance. For residential work, 815 ILCS 513/25 sets a floor of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence bodily injury and $50,000 per occurrence property damage.
Sourceswebapps1.chicago.gov 1chicago.gov 2ilga.gov 3cdb.illinois.gov 4idfpr.illinois.gov 5ilga.gov 6
These are common details other guides publish about Illinois, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's published list of regulated professions does not include electrician or electrical contractor, and Chapter 225 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes contains no electrical licensing act. Licensing is handled by cities, and by counties where they choose to regulate.
Municipalities. Under 65 ILCS 5/11-33-1 a municipality may require electrical contractors to register and may charge an annual registration fee of $25. Larger cities go further. Chicago issues an electrical contractor licence to the business and a supervising electrician licence to a person, both through the Department of Buildings.
Not for registration. 65 ILCS 5/11-33-1 says an electrical contractor registered in one municipality shall not be required by any other municipality to be registered or to pay a registration fee. That covers registration. A municipality that licenses and examines electricians, as Chicago does, is exercising a separate power.
It depends where the job is. For commercial work in a jurisdiction with no building code, 20 ILCS 3105/10.09-1 requires compliance with the current edition or most recent preceding edition of the NEC. Chicago is different: Title 14E incorporates the 2017 National Electrical Code. Towns with their own codes name their own edition.
For calendar year 2026 the city charges $150 to issue and $150 to renew, for both the general and the low voltage classification. Reinstatement costs $100 for each year or part of a year the licence has been expired. An administrative processing fee of $50 applies to most staff assisted changes.
For calendar year 2026, $150 per examination, $150 for the initial licence and $150 a year to renew. The licence runs one year from issue or renewal. It cannot be renewed once it has been expired for three years or more, and the individual then applies for a new licence.
At least two years installing, altering, repairing and maintaining electrical wires, equipment and apparatus, or equivalent experience, under the direct supervision of a supervising electrician or equivalent person. Applicants must be at least 21 years old and must have the experience verified by letters from their supervisors.
Work in a building over 55 feet tall, or in an assembly Group A area with an occupant load of 300 or more, done before a certificate of occupancy issues or as part of work requiring a new one. On Class 1 work every person must be a supervising electrician or in a recognised 8,000 hour apprenticeship.
For residential work, yes. Section 25 of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires public liability and property damage insurance of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence of bodily injury and $50,000 per occurrence of property damage. The Act names electrical wiring in its definition of covered work.
Not for electrical work. There is no state licence number to print. Illinois does require it for roofing: section 18(d) of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act makes a contractor include its Illinois roofing licence name and number on all contracts, bids and advertisements involving roofing work.
Not at state level. Chicago publishes an electrical contractor licence lookup through the Department of Buildings that shows currently licensed contractors and recently expired or inactivated licences. Elsewhere you ask the municipal building department, which the Capital Development Board's municipal code directory helps you find.
For any home repair or remodeling job over $1,000. Section 15 of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires a written contract or work order stating total cost, parts and materials with reasonable particularity, any estimate charge, and the business name and address. Section 20 adds the consumer rights pamphlet.
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