Maine · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Maine licenses electricians through the Electricians' Examining Board at the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation. It licenses the individual by grade, from helper and apprentice through journeyman, limited and master, and it does not license the contracting business. A master electrician licence is what lets you run the business, and no Maine municipality may require a local licence on top.
Verified against agency sources on 2026-09-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Maine licenses electricians at state level. The licensing body is the Electricians' Examining Board, which sits inside the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation in the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. The board runs licensing, examinations, electrical permits and inspections from Augusta, and it can be reached at 207-624-8457 or electrician.board@maine.gov. Its authority comes from Title 32, chapter 17 of the Maine Revised Statutes. Section 1201 states the rule in one line: an electrical installation may not be made unless by an electrician licensed by the board, except as provided in that chapter. The board's own rules are filed with the Secretary of State as agency 02-318 and run to eight chapters, covering definitions, conflict of interest, advisory rulings, electrical installation standards, examination and licensing requirements, electrical permits, reciprocity, power generation systems and licensure by endorsement. Two other titles apply on top. Title 5 supplies the administrative procedure. Title 10, chapter 901 supplies the department-wide provisions, including the penalties for practising without a licence. One point matters more to a contractor than any other on this page. Section 1103 says a municipality may not require licensed electricians to be municipally licensed, whatever a local charter or ordinance says. Your state licence is the licence. No Maine town gets to sell you a second one before you can work there.
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The board issues master electrician, senior master electrician for holders over 70, journeyman electrician, senior journeyman, apprentice electrician, helper electrician, senior helper, journeyman-in-training, and limited electrician with senior limited. It also issues electrical permits and single-family dwelling certifications, which are transaction records rather than personal licences. A master electrician is the licence that lets you engage in the business of installing electrical wires, conduits, apparatus, fixtures and other electrical equipment. That is the contracting licence in Maine. A journeyman makes installations in the employment and under the indirect supervision of a master electrician, limited electrician or electrical company. A journeyman-in-training works under the supervision of a journeyman, limited or master electrician. A helper works under direct supervision and does not hold an apprenticeship agreement. An apprentice is under written agreement in a four to five year program registered with the United States Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship or a recognised state agency. A limited electrician is licensed for one specific type of equipment or installation. The statutory definition of electrical installations is broad. It covers conductors, fittings, devices and fixtures for heating, lighting and power, heat activated fire alarms, intrusion alarms, energy management, telephone, cable and closed-circuit television, sound systems, data transmission, conduit and raceway systems, supervised manual fire alarms and sprinkler systems, and complete photovoltaic, fuel cell and wind generation systems.
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This is the structural fact that separates Maine from most of its neighbours, and it changes how you set up. There is no electrical contractor licence, no company registration and no contractor number issued by the Electricians' Examining Board. Chapter 17 defines an electrical company as a person, firm, corporation or partnership employing licensees engaged in the business of doing electrical installations, but it does not require that company to hold anything. The old statutory section covering corporations and partnerships, section 1205, has been repealed. What carries the business is the individual master electrician licence. Section 1101 defines a master as a licensed person qualified to engage in the business of installing electrical equipment, and the board's own master licence page repeats that definition. A limited electrician can also engage in business inside the scope of the limited category. Permits follow the same logic. Section 1102-C says an application for an electrical permit must be submitted by a licensed master electrician or limited electrician, not by a company. Board rule chapter 135 then puts the weight on that individual: a master or limited electrician issued a permit is legally and professionally responsible for compliance with every law and rule the board enforces for that installation, and the permit is not transferable. Maine also has no state general contractor licence, so a residential electrical firm carries the master licence and nothing else at state level.
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To sit the master examination you need either at least 4,000 hours of service as a journeyman electrician or at least 12,000 hours of experience in electrical installations. On top of that you need a program of study of 576 hours. The board specifies its contents: 45-hour courses in each of Electricity I, Electricity II, Electronics I, Math I, Controls I, Controls II, Motors, Blueprint Reading and Drafting, Transformers and a current National Electrical Code course, plus 126 hours of degree-related courses approved by the board or taken at an accredited institution. The journeyman route is 8,000 hours of service as a licensed apprentice or helper plus a 576-hour program of study made up of 45-hour courses in Electricity I, Electricity II, Math I, Controls I and a current National Electrical Code course, plus 351 hours of elective study. Three shorter routes exist. A graduate of an accredited applied technology high school two-year electrical program needs 7,000 hours under a master or equivalent plus a 45-hour current code course. A graduate of a Maine community college electrical program or a Department of Corrections vocational-electrical program needs 4,000 hours plus the 45-hour code course, and may sit the journeyman examination on graduation. An apprentice who finishes a board-approved 576-hour apprenticeship program may sit at 4,000 hours rather than 8,000.
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Limited licences are issued in low energy, gasoline dispensing, house wiring, outdoor signs, refrigeration, traffic signals, water pumps and crane technician. Each carries its own education and experience figures. Water pumps needs 180 hours of electrical education in Electricity I, Motors, Controls I and a current code course, plus 2,000 hours of work with at least 1,000 in water pump installations, and practice is restricted to work between branch circuits and power supplies. Outdoor signs needs 135 hours across Electricity I, Controls I and the code course, plus 2,000 hours with 1,000 in signs and sign lighting, and does not include branch circuit wiring. Gasoline dispensing matches those 135 hours and 2,000 hours, restricted to work between the branch circuit and the power supply. Traffic signals needs 180 hours including Electronics I, plus 2,000 hours with 1,000 in traffic signal work. House wiring needs 225 hours including Electricity II and Blueprint Reading, plus 4,000 hours with 2,000 in house wiring, restricted to one-family and two-family dwellings including modular and mobile homes. Refrigeration needs 315 hours and 6,000 hours with 3,000 in refrigeration, and graduates of an approved refrigeration program are credited 4,000 hours. Low energy needs 270 hours and 4,000 hours with 2,000 in low energy work, and the board voted in May 2003 that a person installing what it calls low voltage landscape lighting must hold the limited low energy licence. Crane technician needs 135 hours and 2,000 hours in crane and hoist work.
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These three licences carry no examination and no continuing education, and they are the licences a growing shop applies for most often. A helper electrician makes installations in the employment of a master electrician, limited electrician or electrical company and under the direct supervision of a master, journeyman or limited electrician. There is no test. The licence fee is $25.00 plus a $21.00 criminal background check, the term is two years from first licensure, and the board says to apply immediately after starting employment or after starting school in an electrical program. A separate helper licence exists for students currently enrolled in a Maine community college or Maine high school electrical program, usable both inside the instructional program under a master electrician instructor and outside it under a master, journeyman or limited electrician. An apprentice electrician licence costs $25.00 plus the $21.00 background check and needs a copy of the apprenticeship agreement, because the apprentice must be registered with the United States Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship or a recognised state agency under 29 CFR section 29.3 (2016). Journeyman-in-training is the odd one. It costs $150.00 plus a $21.00 SBI report fee, and it is for a graduate of an accredited Maine community college or Department of Corrections electrical program who has passed the journeyman examination and holds 2,000 hours of experience documented by the employer. One supervision limit is published in the board's own FAQ: a master electrician may have one helper working with him at a time.
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The Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation has contracted with Prov, Inc. to run its trades examinations, and Prov publishes a Candidate Information Bulletin covering every Maine trade exam. You must submit an examination application to the Electricians' Examining Board and receive board approval before you schedule. The board states that scores of applicants who sit before approval are null and void. The master electrician examination is 100 questions with four hours allowed. The journeyman examination is 80 questions with three hours allowed. Limited categories are shorter: the house wiring and low energy exams are 50 questions over three hours, and the crane technician exam is 40 questions over three hours. The board's FAQ gives the same counts and states the pass mark plainly: 100 questions for master, 80 for journeyman, 50 for limited, and you must get 70 percent correct. Prov confirms a 70 percent cut score for every Maine trade exam other than master plumber, elevator and lift categories. All electrician examinations are delivered closed book unless a reference is specifically marked as permitted, and none is for the electrician categories. The reference list behind the questions is the 2023 National Electrical Code, the American Electrician's Handbook 17th edition, Mike Holt's Illustrated Guide to Basic Electrical Theory, and Maine Laws and Rules. Candidates who fail a category twice may request a review if they scored within 10 percent of the pass mark, and the review costs the same as the exam.
Maine keeps its electrician fees low and caps them by statute. Section 1203-A says the director may set fees by rule, but the fee for any one purpose other than permit and inspection fees may not exceed $150 biennially. The published figures sit right at that line. A master electrician licence is $150.00, and $20.00 for a senior master over age 70, plus a $21.00 SBI report fee. Journeyman is the same: $150.00, $20.00 senior, plus $21.00. Limited electrician is $150.00, $20.00 senior, plus $21.00. Journeyman-in-training is $150.00 plus $21.00. Apprentice and helper are each $25.00 plus a $21.00 criminal background check. Every one of these runs two years from the date of first licensure. Renewal repeats the licence fee: $150.00 biennially for master, journeyman, limited and journeyman-in-training, $20.00 for the senior grades, $25.00 for apprentice and helper. The examination is billed separately by Prov and is not part of the board fee. Prov charges $90 for the master electrician exam, $90 for journeyman, and $65 for each limited electrician category. A mailed reciprocity application carries a payment of $171.00, which is the $150.00 licence fee plus the $21.00 report fee. A duplicate licence emailed to you costs nothing. Permit and inspection fees sit outside the $150 cap and have their own statutory ceiling of $100 per scheduled service fee.
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Every Maine electrician licence renews every two years based on the date of first licensure, not on a common expiry date, so your cycle is yours alone. Section 1204 allows renewal without further examination on payment of the renewal fee and documentation of continuing education set by board rule. For master, journeyman and limited electricians the continuing education requirement is a single item: 15 hours of an approved current National Electrical Code course as adopted by the board, completed before renewal. The board publishes a National Electrical Code update schedule built on an assumed three year code cycle, and says that schedule is subject to the actual publication dates of the code. Apprentice and helper licences carry no continuing education at all. Board staff maintain the list of approved course providers, which the FAQ says you reach by running a licence search and scrolling to the course and course providers entry at the bottom. Late renewal is priced in tiers. A $50.00 late fee applies to licences renewed up to 90 days after expiry. Past 90 days the paths differ by grade. A master electrician more than 90 days late but within two years may reinstate by paying the $150 licence fee and a $100 penalty fee. A journeyman more than 90 days late but within two years may renew by paying a $100 late renewal fee. Apprentice, helper and journeyman-in-training holders more than 90 days late become subject to all requirements governing new applicants.
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Read the board's licensing pages for every grade and you will find fees, terms, work hours and course hours. You will not find a general liability minimum, a property damage minimum or a surety bond amount, because the Electricians' Examining Board does not attach one to the licence. Chapter 17 sets no insurance figure either. Section 1203-A deals only with fees. Section 1201 deals only with who may make an installation. Section 1102-C, which governs permits and inspections, requires a permit application, plans if the board asks for them, the service fee, and an inspection before wiring is enclosed. It does not require a certificate of insurance. That absence is not the same as advice. Maine has no state general contractor licence, so on a residential job the contract law does the work instead of a licensing bond. If you take on home construction work of more than $3,000 in materials or labor, the Home Construction Contracts Act limits your initial down payment to no more than one third of the total contract price, which is a cash flow rule as much as a consumer rule. General liability cover, completed operations cover and workers compensation are still driven by your customers, your general contractors and Maine employment law rather than by the electrical board. A commercial general contractor in Maine will ask for certificates whether or not the board does.
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Maine publishes conflicting reciprocity lists, and a contractor planning cross-border work should know it before applying. The board's master electrician licensing page says Maine presently has reciprocity agreements with New Hampshire and Vermont. The board's FAQ, under master electrician, says Maine has an agreement with New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont. The board's journeyman electrician licensing page says New Hampshire, Vermont, North Dakota, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming. The board's FAQ, under journeyman electrician, says New Hampshire, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota and Vermont. Those are four lists on two pages of the same site, and this page reports all four rather than picking one. Confirm your state with the board before you pay. The statute is steadier than the web pages. Section 1206 says the board shall issue a licence to an applicant licensed under the laws of another state who has been licensed and actively engaged in an electrician's work for a minimum of 8,000 hours, provided that state's licensing standards and experience requirements are at least equivalent to Maine's and it grants similar privileges in return. Reciprocal licences may not be denied on residency grounds. The board may waive the 576 hours of study. Board rule chapter 150 requires documentation of six years of licensed working experience and licence verification from the reciprocal state. A mailed reciprocity application carries a payment of $171.00. Limited, helper and apprentice licences have no reciprocity at all.
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No electrical equipment may be installed or altered unless the person making the installation first obtains a permit from the Electricians' Examining Board, or from a town or city that has its own electrical inspector. The application must come from a licensed master electrician or limited electrician. The board issues the permit once it is satisfied the described installation complies with the applicable statutes, ordinances and rules and the service fee is paid. An inspection is required before electrical wiring is enclosed through the construction process, and the electrician doing the work must notify a state electrical inspector, or the local municipal inspector where the municipality has one, when the installation is ready. A utility corporation must require proof of permit before connecting power. The statutory ceiling on the combined permit and inspection service fee is $100. Exceptions to the state permit requirement are listed in the statute and on the board's permit page: single-family dwellings, utility work by a utility corporation, minor repair work such as replacing lamps, fuses, fixtures, switches and sockets, work where a municipal ordinance already requires its own permit and inspection under Title 30-A section 4173, and work in or about industrial or manufacturing facilities. Temporary services to build a one-family dwelling still need a permit. New single-family construction needs a certification instead, and any electrical installation in a newly constructed residence requires certification by a state or local inspector, a master electrician, or a limited electrician in house wiring before the utility switches the power on.
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Board rule chapter 120, Electrical Installation Standards, is the rule that adopts the code. Here two primary sources do not agree, and both are reported. The current adopted code PDF posted on the board's own laws and rules page states that all installations of electrical equipment commencing on or after July 1, 2024 must comply with the 2023 National Electrical Code, and it incorporates NFPA 70 (2023 edition) by reference subject to Maine amendments. The version of chapter 120 filed with the Secretary of State, filing 2026-140, repeals and replaces that rule effective July 1, 2026 and states that all installations commencing on or after July 1, 2026 must comply with the 2026 National Electrical Code, incorporating NFPA 70 (2026 edition) effective September 9, 2025. Check with the board before you rely on either date for a specific permit. The Maine amendments survive both versions and are worth knowing. Article 90.4(D) is amended so the authority having jurisdiction may permit products, constructions or materials complying with the previous two adopted editions. The definition in Article 100 for a dormitory unit is replaced with Maine wording. In the 2026 version the board declines to adopt Article 110.16 and instead adopts the arc-flash hazard warning text from the 2023 code. Earlier editions of chapter 120 carried Maine ground-fault amendments to Article 210.8 covering dwelling and non-dwelling kitchens and outdoor outlets.
Section 1105 of Title 32 routes unlicensed practice straight into Title 10, section 8003-C, the department-wide enforcement section, and the numbers there are the ones that matter. A person who practises or represents to the public that the person is authorized to practise a trade and intentionally, knowingly or recklessly fails to obtain the required licence, or who does so after a licence has expired or been suspended or revoked, commits a Class E crime. A second offence within three years of the earlier conviction is a Class D crime. Separately, the same conduct is a civil violation punishable by a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 for each violation, brought in District Court or, combined with an injunction action, in Superior Court. The Attorney General may bring an action in Superior Court to enjoin the conduct, to restore money or property to anyone who suffered an ascertainable loss, and to compel the return of compensation received for the unlawful work. Section 1105 also states that, except where specifically provided otherwise, violation of that section is a strict liability crime under Title 17-A, section 34, subsection 4-A, which removes the argument that you did not know. Complaints of unlicensed practice may be received or initiated by the board and investigated by the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Attorney General's office, or a board complaint officer or inspector, then handed to the Attorney General or the district attorney for prosecution. Work excepted under sections 1102 and 1201-A is outside all of this.
Maine does not require an electrician to print a licence number on a vehicle, a yard sign, a website or a written estimate. Title 32, chapter 17 contains no advertising or licence display provision at all, and the board's rules cover definitions, conflict of interest, advisory rulings, installation standards, examination and licensing, permits, reciprocity, generation systems and endorsement without adding one. What does bite is the representation rule. Under Title 10, section 8003-C it is an offence to represent to the public that you are authorized to practise a trade when you hold no licence, or after your licence has expired, been suspended or been revoked. An advertisement is a representation to the public, so an expired licence plus a live advertisement is exposure on its own. The second rule contractors trip over is the Home Construction Contracts Act at Title 10, chapter 219-A. Any home construction contract for more than $3,000 in materials or labor must be in writing and signed by both parties, and both parties must receive a copy before any work is performed. The contract must carry the names, addresses and phone numbers of both parties, the property location, estimated start and substantial completion dates, the total contract price, the method of payment with the initial down payment limited to no more than one third of the price, a general description of the work and materials, the statutory warranty paragraph, and a dispute resolution election between binding arbitration, nonbinding arbitration and mediation. A violation is prima facie evidence of a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices Act, and each violation carries a civil forfeiture of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.
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No Maine city can make you buy a local electrician licence. Section 1103 states that a municipality, notwithstanding provisions in charters or ordinances to the contrary, may not require licensed electricians to be municipally licensed, and may not issue a permit for an electrical installation unless satisfied that the applicant complies with chapter 17. That preemption is why a Portland job and a Lewiston job both run on the same state master licence. What does vary locally is the permit desk. Section 1102-C(3) says the licensed electrician notifies a state electrical inspector, or the local municipal inspector where the municipality has an electrical inspector, when the installation is ready for inspection. The board's permit page says the same thing from the other direction: the permit comes from the board, or from towns and cities that have their own electrical inspector. So in a municipality with its own inspector you file locally, and in one without you file with the board. A municipal ordinance under Title 30-A, section 4173 that already requires a permit and inspection removes the state permit requirement for that work. Verification runs through the board's public licence search, which carries every grade the board issues. The board's FAQ points consumers straight at it and notes that, with the exception of Social Security numbers, all application information is public, including the contact information you give the board, which the board posts on its website. Plan your listings knowing the board publishes your contact details.
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These are common details other guides publish about Maine, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Electricians' Examining Board, inside the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, licenses electricians statewide under Title 32, chapter 17. Section 1201 says an electrical installation may not be made unless by an electrician licensed by the board.
No. Maine licenses the individual only. Chapter 17 defines an electrical company but does not require it to hold a licence, and the old section on corporations and partnerships has been repealed. A master electrician licence is what lets you engage in the business.
No. Section 1103 bars any municipality from requiring licensed electricians to be municipally licensed, whatever the local charter or ordinance says. You may still file the permit with a city that has its own electrical inspector rather than with the board.
At least 4,000 hours as a journeyman electrician, or at least 12,000 hours of experience in electrical installations, plus a 576-hour program of study made up of ten 45-hour courses and 126 hours of degree-related courses.
8,000 hours as a licensed apprentice or helper plus 576 hours of study. Shorter routes exist: 7,000 hours for an applied technology high school program graduate, and 4,000 hours for a Maine community college or Department of Corrections program graduate.
Prov, Inc. administers it. The master exam is 100 questions over four hours and costs $90. The journeyman exam is 80 questions over three hours and costs $90. Each limited electrician category costs $65.
70 percent. The board's FAQ states it for master, journeyman and limited exams, and Prov applies a 70 percent cut score to every Maine trade exam other than master plumber, elevator inspector, elevator mechanic and lift mechanic.
No. Prov delivers all Maine electrician examinations in closed book format unless a reference is specifically marked as permitted, and none is marked permitted for the electrician categories.
Every two years from the date of first licensure. Master, journeyman and limited electricians must complete 15 hours of an approved current National Electrical Code course before renewal. Apprentice and helper licences carry no continuing education.
Two board sources differ. The board's posted chapter 120 states the 2023 code for installations commencing on or after July 1, 2024. The version filed with the Secretary of State, filing 2026-140, states the 2026 code for installations commencing on or after July 1, 2026.
The board publishes four different lists across its master page, journeyman page and FAQ, ranging from New Hampshire and Vermont alone to a twelve-state list. Confirm with the board before applying. The statute requires 8,000 hours licensed and actively engaged.
Under Title 10, section 8003-C it is a Class E crime, a Class D crime on a second conviction within three years, and a civil violation carrying a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 for each violation. Violation is a strict liability crime.
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