Kentucky · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Kentucky licenses electrical work at state level through the Electrical Division of the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. It licenses the individual by grade as Electrician or Master Electrician, and licenses the contracting business separately as an Electrical Contractor. A master electrician needs sixteen thousand hours of verifiable trade experience under KRS 227A.060.
State-level license
Yes
Public lookup
Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-09-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Kentucky licenses electricians at state level. The licensing body is the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, at 500 Mero Street, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601. The department describes its own remit as licensing and certifying plumbers, electricians, boiler contractors, sprinkler and fire alarm contractors and building inspectors. Inside the department, the Electrical Division runs the trade. The division states that it handles inspection of state owned and state leased buildings, licensing of electricians and electrical contractors, certification of electrical inspectors, and educational programs. The licensing line is 502-573-2002. This is not the plumbing board and not the building code office. Kentucky puts plumbing in a Division of Plumbing, heating and cooling in a Division of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, and electrical in its own Electrical Division, all under the same department and the same roof. A contractor who holds a Kentucky plumbing licence has nothing that carries over. The law behind the licence is KRS Chapter 227A, titled Electricians and Electrical Contractors, which runs from 227A.010 to 227A.150. The administrative regulations sit in Title 815, Chapter 035, of the Kentucky Administrative Regulations, under the heading Electrical. The operative licensing regulation is 815 KAR 35:060, Licensing of electrical contractors, master electricians, and electricians. Several older regulations in that chapter, including 815 KAR 35:030 and 815 KAR 35:050, are repealed, and 815 KAR 35:040 and the two low voltage installer certification regulations are withdrawn. If a source cites one of those, it is citing dead law.
Sourcesdhbc.ky.gov 1dhbc.ky.gov 2dhbc.ky.gov 3apps.legislature.ky.gov 4apps.legislature.ky.gov 5dhbc.ky.gov 6
Kentucky runs two tracks at once. It licenses the individual by grade and it licenses the contracting business separately. On the individual side there are two grades plus a temporary one. An Electrician is the working grade. A Master Electrician is the senior grade. A Provisional Electrician licence exists for long serving tradespeople who have not yet sat the examination. On the business side there is the Electrical Contractor licence, which is what a company holds in order to contract for electrical work and to be the entity that pulls permits. The two are joined at the hip. The department states on the contractor application that licensed contractors are required to have a Master licence holder associated with their licence at all times, and that an applicant seeking a contractor licence who is not also applying for a master licence must supply the master's licence number. So a one person shop typically holds both: the master licence in the individual's name, and the contractor licence in the business name. A company without a master on the books does not keep its contractor licence. KRS 227A.140 deals with what happens when the licensee disassociates from the business, and provides an interim period during which a recently deceased licensee's master electrician's licence may still be used, which tells you how tightly the business licence depends on a named individual. The applications are separate forms: EL-2 for the contractor licence, EL-3 for the master or electrician licence, EL-14 for the provisional licence.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1dhbc.ky.gov 2apps.legislature.ky.gov 3dhbc.ky.gov 4
KRS 227A.060 sets the experience in hours, not years. A Master Electrician applicant needs sixteen thousand hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade. An Electrician applicant needs eight thousand hours. The statute then allows substitutions. For the electrician grade, four thousand hours may be substituted for completion of an approved training course, for two years of a four year apprenticeship, for an associate degree or diploma in electrical technology, or for two years teaching electrical technology. Where the substitution is based on two years of a four year apprenticeship, the remaining apprenticeship must be finished within four years or the licence is revoked. For the master grade, four thousand hours may be substituted for approved training courses or two years of teaching, and six thousand hours for an associate degree or diploma in electrical technology. The Provisional Electrician route is for the long serving unlicensed worker. It requires at least six years of verifiable experience, counted at two thousand and eighty hours a year. The provisional licence is valid for a period not to exceed one year, it is not renewable, and if the holder fails the examination the statute makes that person ineligible for any further provisional licence. On proof, 815 KAR 35:060 accepts tax returns and official tax documents such as a Schedule C, Form 1040 or Form 1099, occupational tax returns, business licences issued before June 24, 2003, and a sworn affidavit certifying personal knowledge that the applicant engaged in electrical work under NFPA 70. Military experience is documented on Form ELM-1.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1apps.legislature.ky.gov 2dhbc.ky.gov 3
KRS 227A.090 requires the department to select and approve a nationally recognised examination validated by proper technique, to offer it on a regular schedule in various localities, and permits the department to contract with an outside testing service. The department's electrical candidate information bulletin names that service as Prov, Inc. The bulletin sets out three examinations. The Electrical Contractor examination is forty questions in one and a half hours. The Journeyman Electrician examination is eighty questions in three hours. The Master Electrician examination is one hundred questions in four hours. Each carries a seventy percent passing score and each is listed at eighty dollars. 815 KAR 35:060 confirms the seventy percent minimum and adds a point that matters for planning: a passing examination result is valid for three years. Sit the test, take too long to file the licence application, and the result lapses. The regulation also lets the department recognise another examination that demonstrates equivalent content and knowledge level, which is the mechanism behind licensure by endorsement. The reference material differs by examination. For the Electrical Contractor test the bulletin lists Kentucky Electrical Licensing Law 815 KAR 35, the Kentucky Lien Law, and the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management. For the Journeyman and Master tests it lists NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, and Ugly's Electrical References. The bulletin in circulation on the department site carries a 2020 date and names the 2017 code edition, so confirm the current edition with Prov before you buy books.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1dhbc.ky.gov 2apps.legislature.ky.gov 3
Two sources set the numbers and they are consistent. KRS 227A.060 caps the application fees: not to exceed two hundred dollars for the electrical contractor, not to exceed one hundred dollars for the master electrician, not to exceed fifty dollars for the electrician. 815 KAR 35:060 then sets the actual licence charges on a two year cycle. The Electrical Contractor licence is four hundred dollars biennially. The Master Electrician licence is two hundred dollars biennially. The Electrician licence is one hundred dollars biennially. The Provisional Electrician licence is fifty dollars and runs one year from issuance. The department's own EL-2 contractor application repeats the figure as four hundred dollars for a two year, twenty four month period, and states that the amount is prorated based on the application month and the applicant's birth month, which is how the department aligns a new licence to the birth month renewal cycle. Renewal costs the same as the licence: four hundred dollars for the contractor, two hundred for the master, one hundred for the electrician. A renewal postmarked after the renewal month deadline attracts a fifty dollar late fee. A reinstatement carries a reinstatement fee equal to the renewal fee, paid in addition to the renewal fee itself. The regulation states plainly that application, renewal, reinstatement and late fees are non refundable. KRS 227A.050 places the fees in a revolving fund. Note that these are licence fees only. Examination fees are paid to Prov, and permit fees are separate again.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1apps.legislature.ky.gov 2dhbc.ky.gov 3apps.legislature.ky.gov 4
KRS 227A.100 sets renewal biennially, on or before the last day of the licensee's birth month in the second year. 815 KAR 35:060 says the same and requires Form DHBC L-1, proof of continuing education, and, for contractors, current proof of insurance. Continuing education is where two primary state sources give different numbers and this page reports both rather than choosing. KRS 227A.100 requires at least six hours of continuing education per year, from approved providers, and names the National Electrical Contractors Association, Associated Builders and Contractors and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers among them. 815 KAR 2:010, the department's own continuing education regulation, sets a minimum of twelve hours annually for master electricians, electricians and electrical inspectors, and six hours annually for electrical contractors, and states that hours earned for another electrical licence cannot be applied to the contractor requirement. The safe reading for a master electrician is twelve hours a year. Subject matter for the trade licences is job safety, codes related to the electrical industry, or subject matter directly related to the electrical trade, which is how the code update cycle gets absorbed. Contractor hours must be business topics or job safety. Proof goes to the department before renewal, and courses must be approved. 815 KAR 2:010 carries an effective date of January 4, 2019 and a seven year expiration of January 4, 2026, so check for a replacement before you buy classes. An inactive licence is exempt from biennial renewal; reactivating one costs the renewal fee, a reactivation fee, and compliance with continuing education.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1apps.legislature.ky.gov 2apps.legislature.ky.gov 3
KRS 227A.060(1)(c) requires an electrical contractor applicant to provide proof of compliance with workers compensation and unemployment insurance requirements and to carry a general liability insurance policy of not less than one million dollars. That is the headline number and it applies to the business licence, not to the individual master or electrician licence. 815 KAR 35:060 adds the administrative detail. The policy must name the department as certificate holder. The contractor must supply proof of workers compensation coverage from an approved Kentucky provider, or a notarised statement that workers compensation is not required. The contractor must notify the department of cancellation, termination, non renewal or a reduction in limits, and must advise the department of changes in coverage. The EL-2 application repeats the requirement as an insurance certificate showing compliance with KRS 227A.060(1)(c) and 815 KAR 35:060. A contractor holding an inactive licence is not required to maintain liability or workers compensation insurance, which is the practical reason the inactive status exists. Nothing in KRS Chapter 227A or 815 KAR 35:060 requires a surety bond from an electrical contractor as a condition of the state licence. Bonds a Kentucky electrical contractor encounters are usually contract bonds demanded by an owner or general contractor on a specific job, or permit bonds demanded by a local government, not a licensing bond from the department. Do not let a bond agent sell you a state licence bond Kentucky does not ask for.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1apps.legislature.ky.gov 2dhbc.ky.gov 3
Kentucky handles out of state applicants through KRS 227A.070, licensure by endorsement, rather than through a published list of reciprocal states. The statute requires the applicant to apply and pay all applicable fees, to hold a registration, licence or certificate in another state, to have met requirements in that state that are substantially equal to Kentucky's, and to be in good standing with the issuing authority. Then it adds the condition that decides most cases: the department shall licence an applicant by endorsement only if the issuing state extends similar reciprocity to Kentucky citizens holding a credential under KRS 227A.010 to 227A.140. That is a two way test. A state that will not take a Kentucky master electrician cannot send its own master electrician into Kentucky by endorsement. 815 KAR 35:060 sets out what the file has to contain. The applicant must satisfy the general application requirements, provide a copy of the current licence, and provide a letter of good standing from the licensing authority in the issuing state. A contractor applicant must also provide proof of insurance. The regulation also gives the department a second route that is worth knowing about even where endorsement fails: it may recognise another examination that demonstrates content and knowledge level equivalent to the Kentucky examination. The department does not publish a standing table of reciprocal states on its website, so the reliable move is to write to the licensing branch with your current licence and ask whether your state qualifies before you pay anything.
815 KAR 35:020, effective May 3, 2022, governs electrical inspections. Before beginning electrical work subject to state inspection, the contractor or the property owner must obtain a permit using Form EL-13, the Electrical Permit Application. The department and local certified electrical inspectors inspect for compliance with NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, as incorporated by reference in 815 KAR 7:120, the Kentucky Building Code, 815 KAR 7:125, the Kentucky Residential Code, and 815 KAR 10:060, the Kentucky Standards of Safety. The regulation requires inspections to be completed within five working days of request, which is a service standard you can hold the inspector to when a job is waiting on power. The department publishes the electrical permit fee schedule as a mix of flat fees and percentages of job value. Work valued under eight thousand dollars is one hundred and twenty five dollars. Work from eight thousand to sixteen thousand four hundred and ninety nine dollars is two hundred and fifty dollars. Work from sixteen thousand five hundred to twenty four thousand nine hundred and ninety nine dollars is five hundred dollars. Above twenty five thousand dollars the fee becomes a percentage of the complete value, on a sliding scale: two percent from twenty five thousand to one hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine dollars, then 1.9 percent, 1.5 percent, 1.3 percent, 1.1 percent, and 1.0 percent at one million dollars and above. The fee must be paid before the department issues a certificate of inspection or other final approval. 815 KAR 35:015 governs the certification of the electrical inspectors who do this work.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1dhbc.ky.gov 2apps.legislature.ky.gov 3
Two primary sources point at different editions and this page reports both. 815 KAR 10:060, the Kentucky Standards of Safety, incorporates by reference NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2017 edition. That regulation carries an effective date of September 26, 2023 and a seven year expiration of September 26, 2030. Separately, Louisville Metro Construction Review states that the 2023 National Electrical Code has been adopted as a referenced standard for both the 2018 Kentucky Building Code and the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, and that projects permitted on or after January 1, 2025 must comply with the 2023 NEC. The same notice sets out phased provisions. Ground fault circuit interrupter requirements at NEC 210.8(A) and 210.8(D)(8) through (11) stay on the 2017 NEC under the residential code until the relevant UL standards are updated. Three articles carry a later compliance date of July 15, 2026: 210.52(C) on kitchen countertop receptacles, 230.67 on surge protection for dwelling services, and 314.27(C) on ceiling fan outlet boxes. The notice also warns that sixteen tentative interim amendments have been issued to the 2023 NEC and may not appear in printed copies. The building code regulations themselves, 815 KAR 7:120 and 815 KAR 7:125, both effective December 3, 2024, incorporate the 2015 International Building Code with the 2018 Kentucky Building Code Fourth Edition of February 2024, and the 2015 International Residential Code with the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code Third Edition of August 2024, without naming an NFPA 70 year in the incorporation clause. Confirm the edition with the inspector of record before you price a job.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1louisvilleky.gov 2louisvilleky.gov 3apps.legislature.ky.gov 4apps.legislature.ky.gov 5
KRS 227A.020 is the prohibition. An unlicensed person may not represent himself or herself to the public as an electrical contractor, as a master electrician, or as an electrician, and may not use the related titles or abbreviations. An unlicensed person may not perform electrical work unless working under the direct supervision of a licensed electrician or master electrician. KRS 227A.130 sets the penalty for violating KRS 227A.020. It is a misdemeanour carrying a fine of not less than five hundred dollars and not more than five thousand dollars, imprisonment of not less than ten days and not more than one hundred and eighty days, or both. That is a criminal exposure, not merely an administrative one. The second layer is disciplinary. KRS 227A.110 gives the department power to take disciplinary action against licensees, and KRS 227A.120 sets out the appeal route, with hearings run under KRS Chapter 13B. 815 KAR 35:080, the electrical code of ethics, lists the conduct that supports discipline, including impersonating another licensee or permitting an unlicensed person to use your licence, conduct intended to defraud or deceive the public, and attempting to use an expired, suspended or revoked licence. For a licensed contractor the practical risk is rarely the criminal fine. It is the helper who is not a licensed electrician and is not under direct supervision on the day an inspector walks the job, and the disciplinary file that follows.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1apps.legislature.ky.gov 2apps.legislature.ky.gov 3apps.legislature.ky.gov 4
This is the rule most Kentucky electrical contractors do not know they are breaking. 815 KAR 35:080, the electrical code of ethics, effective January 4, 2019, lists as a violation the failure to display the licence number on all advertising or documents disseminated, either directly or indirectly, to the general public. Read that literally, because the department will. All advertising covers the website, the truck lettering, the yard sign, the printed flyer, the paid search advert, the social profile and the sponsored post. Documents disseminated to the general public covers the written estimate, the proposal, the invoice and the service ticket. Indirectly covers advertising placed on your behalf by a marketing agency or a lead generation platform. The regulation does not set a minimum type size or a required position, so the workable standard is legible and visible without hunting. The same regulation makes it a violation to impersonate another licensee or to permit an unlicensed person to use your licence, to engage in conduct intended to defraud or deceive the public, and to attempt to use an expired, suspended or revoked licence. Pair that with KRS 227A.020, which restricts the titles themselves, and the compliance task is simple to state. Put the number on the advert. Use the exact grade you hold. If the business holds the Electrical Contractor licence and the owner holds the Master Electrician licence, those are two numbers, and the one that belongs on the company's advertising is the company's.
KRS 227A.020 controls the words. Without the licence, a person may not represent himself or herself to the public as an electrical contractor, a master electrician or an electrician, and may not use titles or abbreviations to that effect. The reverse follows: the title you may advertise is the one the department has actually issued to you. Kentucky's three titles are Electrical Contractor, Master Electrician and Electrician. The department's own licensee search lists Master Electrician as a searchable licence type, so a customer can check the claim in seconds. The wording traps are predictable. A business holding the Electrical Contractor licence is not itself a master electrician, and should not advertise as one; it employs or is affiliated with a master. A holder of the Electrician licence is not a master electrician and should not use the word master in a headline, a domain name or a business name. A Provisional Electrician holds a one year, non renewable licence and should not describe that as being a licensed electrician without qualification. Kentucky does not use the term journeyman in its statutory licence titles, although the Prov examination for the Electrician grade is named the Journeyman Electrician examination, so a contractor who advertises journeyman electricians should be able to point to the underlying Electrician licences. Where an advertisement is inaccurate about the licence, 815 KAR 35:080 treats it as conduct intended to defraud or deceive the public rather than a technical slip.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1apps.legislature.ky.gov 2dhbc.ky.gov 3
KRS 227A.020 states that KRS 227A.010 to 227A.140 supersede all ordinances or regulations by municipalities relating to electricians and electrical contractors, with exceptions for zoning requirements and occupational payroll taxes. The statute also lets the department contract with an existing local licensing programme so that it acts as the department's agent in issuing and renewing licences. So a Kentucky electrical contractor does not collect a separate city electrical licence in the two largest metros. Lexington confirms this from the city side. The Lexington Fayette Urban County Government states that Commonwealth of Kentucky electrical licences are regulated and issued through the state office in Frankfort, and names the three classes as Electrical Contractor, Master Electrician and Electrician. What Lexington does require is local: an electrical contractor must hold a Master Electrician licence or employ one, and must maintain an LFUCG business licence. Lexington electrical permits are listed at ten dollars each, and homeowners may permit work only on property they own and currently reside in, excluding vacant property, rentals, duplexes and mobile homes. Louisville Metro runs its electrical work through the Division of Construction Review. Its notice states that the Licensing Branch was abolished on December 1, 2024 and that electrical licensing now falls under the Electrical Division, and that all electrical contractors must request inspections through a Dynamic Portal online account. Louisville also enforces the 2023 National Electrical Code for permits pulled on or after January 1, 2025. The licence is statewide; the permit, the inspection portal and the business tax are local.
Sourcesapps.legislature.ky.gov 1lexingtonky.gov 2louisvilleky.gov 3louisvilleky.gov 4louisvilleky.gov 5
Kentucky maintains a public licensee search, and it is the single most useful link a contractor can put on a quote. The Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction publishes its search at dhbc.ky.gov, covering building inspector, electrical, electrical inspection, manufactured housing, HVAC, plumbing and fire licences. The department describes roughly fifty licence types across its divisions, including Master Electrician. A searcher can filter by professional trade name, licence type, licensee name, licence number and licence status, with statuses including active, expired, suspended and revoked. The department states that licence number, issue date and expiration date appear once a licence is active. The department also points to a second portal for other licensee data. The practical checklist for a Kentucky homeowner is short. Ask for the company's Electrical Contractor licence number and the master electrician's Master Electrician number, because they are usually two different records. Search both. Confirm status is active and the expiration date is in the future, remembering that Kentucky expiries land on the licensee's birth month in the second year, so an unfamiliar date is normal. Check that the name on the licence matches the name on the estimate. Then look at the advert you came in through: under 815 KAR 35:080 the licence number should already be printed on it, and a Kentucky electrical advert with no number on it is a signal worth acting on. For contractors, the same search is the fastest way to verify a master before you put that person on your EL-2.
Sourcesdhbc.ky.gov 1dhbc.ky.gov 2apps.legislature.ky.gov 3apps.legislature.ky.gov 4
These are common details other guides publish about Kentucky, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licenses electricians through its Electrical Division under KRS Chapter 227A and 815 KAR 35:060. It licenses individuals by grade, as Electrician and Master Electrician, and licenses the contracting business separately as an Electrical Contractor. KRS 227A.020 supersedes municipal licensing ordinances, so cities do not issue a second electrical licence.
815 KAR 35:060 sets the Electrical Contractor licence at four hundred dollars for two years, the Master Electrician licence at two hundred dollars, the Electrician licence at one hundred dollars, and the Provisional Electrician licence at fifty dollars for one year. Renewal costs the same as the licence. A late renewal adds a fifty dollar late fee, and reinstatement costs an extra amount equal to the renewal fee.
KRS 227A.060 requires sixteen thousand hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade for the master grade and eight thousand hours for the electrician grade. Four thousand hours may be substituted for an approved training course or two years of teaching electrical technology, and six thousand hours for an associate degree or diploma in electrical technology at the master grade.
KRS 227A.060(1)(c) requires a general liability policy of not less than one million dollars, plus proof of compliance with workers compensation and unemployment insurance. 815 KAR 35:060 requires the policy to name the department as certificate holder and requires the contractor to notify the department of cancellation, non renewal or a reduction in limits. Inactive contractors do not have to carry it.
Nothing in KRS Chapter 227A or 815 KAR 35:060 requires a surety bond as a condition of the state electrical licence. The requirement the department imposes is insurance, not a bond. Bonds a Kentucky electrical contractor meets in practice are contract or permit bonds required by an owner, a general contractor or a local government on a specific project.
The department's candidate bulletin names Prov, Inc. as the testing service. The Electrical Contractor exam is forty questions in ninety minutes, the Journeyman Electrician exam is eighty questions in three hours, and the Master Electrician exam is one hundred questions in four hours. Each requires seventy percent. Under 815 KAR 35:060 a passing result stays valid for three years.
Two state sources differ. KRS 227A.100 requires at least six hours a year. 815 KAR 2:010 requires twelve hours a year for master electricians, electricians and electrical inspectors, and six hours a year for electrical contractors, and says contractor hours cannot be met with hours earned for another electrical licence. Plan on twelve hours for a trade licence.
KRS 227A.100 and 815 KAR 35:060 set renewal biennially, on or before the last day of the licensee's birth month in the second year. Renewal uses Form DHBC L-1 with proof of continuing education, and contractors also file current proof of insurance. A first licence fee is prorated to line the licence up with that birth month cycle.
Kentucky uses licensure by endorsement under KRS 227A.070 rather than a published list. The applicant must hold a credential in another state under substantially equal requirements, be in good standing, and the issuing state must extend similar reciprocity to Kentucky licence holders. 815 KAR 35:060 requires a copy of the current licence and a letter of good standing.
KRS 227A.130 makes a violation of KRS 227A.020 a misdemeanour punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred and not more than five thousand dollars, imprisonment of not less than ten and not more than one hundred eighty days, or both. KRS 227A.020 also bars unlicensed people from using the titles electrical contractor, master electrician or electrician.
Yes. 815 KAR 35:080, the electrical code of ethics, makes it a violation to fail to display the licence number on all advertising or documents disseminated, either directly or indirectly, to the general public. That reaches the website, truck lettering, signage, printed and paid adverts, and written estimates and invoices. There is no stated minimum type size.
Use the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licensee search, which covers electrical among other trades. Search by name, licence number or licence type and check that the status is active and the expiration date has not passed. Ask for both numbers, because the company holds an Electrical Contractor licence and the individual holds a Master Electrician or Electrician licence.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.