Nevada · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Nevada licenses the contracting business, not the electrician. The Nevada State Contractors Board issues a C-2 electrical contracting license under NRS chapter 624, with seven subclassifications and a monetary limit tied to a bond of $1,000 to $500,000. There is no state journeyman or master electrician license. The City of Reno licenses individuals separately, and Clark County adds a business license.
Verified against agency sources on 2026-09-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Nevada licenses the contracting business, not the electrician. The Nevada State Contractors Board issues the license under NRS chapter 624, and NRS 624.700 makes it unlawful to act in the capacity of a contractor or to submit a bid in Nevada without an active license. There is no state journeyman card and no state master electrician card. What the state issues is a C-2 electrical contracting license held by a person, a partnership, a corporation or a limited-liability company, with a named qualified individual standing behind it. NRS 624.260 requires that qualified individual to demonstrate experience and knowledge, and if that person leaves the company the licensee has 10 days to notify the Board in writing. Fail to notify and the license is suspended automatically. Fail to replace the person within 30 days and the license can be suspended or revoked. The Board runs two offices, at 8400 West Sunset Road, Suite 150, Las Vegas 89113 and 5390 Kietzke Lane, Suite 102, Reno 89511. Licensing is reached at 702.486.1100 in the south and 775.688.1141 in the north. The practical consequence for a contractor is that your license number, not a personal card, is the thing customers verify, the thing that goes on your advertising, and the thing that caps the size of job you may legally sign.
Sourcesnvcontractorsboard.com 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
NAC 624.200 creates classification C-2, electrical contracting. A full C-2 may install any electrical wires, fixtures, appliances, apparatuses, raceways and conduits, may install, modify and maintain systems that convert wind energy into electricity for residential and commercial installations, and may perform any work authorized for its subclassifications. Those subclassifications are narrower licenses in their own right. C-2a, electrical wiring, covers installation, alteration and repair of wires, fixtures, appliances and apparatuses and related wiring on existing structures. C-2b, integrated ceilings, covers modular ceiling systems used mainly for interior illumination. C-2c, fire detection, covers electrical heat and smoke sensors and alarms with their appurtenances and related wiring. C-2d, low voltage systems, covers fibre optic systems or systems not exceeding 91 volts, including telephone, sound, cable television, closed circuit video, satellite dishes, instrumentation and temperature controls, computer networking and landscape lighting. C-2e, lines to transmit electricity, covers overhead or underground secondary transmission lines, poles, towers, anchors, guys, transformers, substations and circuit breakers. C-2f, residential wiring, covers work up to 600 volts on new or existing structures of no more than three stories above ground. C-2g, photovoltaics, covers photovoltaic cells, batteries and inverters but not wiring beyond the service panel. Pick the subclassification that matches the work you actually sell, because NAC 624.640 voids a bid or contract that exceeds the scope of the license.
Nevada does something most states do not. NRS 624.220 requires the Board to place a monetary limit on every contractor license. The limit is the maximum contract a licensed contractor may undertake on one or more construction contracts on a single construction site or subdivision site for a single client. You name the figure you want on the application, and the application form is explicit that value ranges are not acceptable. NAC 624.640 makes a bid or contract void if the licensee exceeds the scope of the license or the monetary limit. That is the single sharpest commercial edge in Nevada electrical contracting: win a job above your limit and the contract can be unenforceable. Two routes exist for moving the number. NRS 624.220(3) lets a licensee ask the Board to raise the limit permanently or for one construction project, and a single-project request must reach the Board at least five working days before the bid goes in and must be approved before you bid. NAC 624.130 charges $250 to consider a permanent increase or decrease and $75 for a single-project increase. The limit is set by reference to the financial factors in NRS 624.260 to 624.265, so the financial statement you file drives the ceiling you get.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
Every Nevada contractor license carries a license bond. NRS 624.270 requires the applicant to file a surety bond with the Board or establish a cash deposit in its place, and the amount is fixed by the Board with reference to financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of operations, but must be not less than $1,000 or more than $500,000. The Board's own bonds page repeats that range and says the amount is set at license approval by reference to the type of license, the monetary limit granted, financial responsibility, experience and character. The bond must be continuous, and the surety's long-term obligations must be rated A or better by a nationally recognized rating agency. A cash deposit must be a cashier's check for the full amount, carries a biennial administrative fee of $200, and is held for two years after the license ends. NRS 624.270(5) lets the Board relieve a licensee of the bond after five consecutive years acting as a licensed contractor in Nevada. Residential improvement work adds a second bond. Where a down payment exceeds $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less, the contractor must post a consumer protection bond of $100,000 unless already relieved of the license bond. Three substantiated wage claims in two years also force a bond back into place under NRS 624.270(6).
The Board does not ask for schooling hours. It asks for time in the trade. The new license application requires a minimum of four years of work experience, within the 15 years immediately preceding the filing of the application, as a journeyman, foreman, supervision employee or contractor in the specific classification requested. The application spells out how the four years is proved. You file four Certification of Work Experience forms for each trade qualifier, and the aggregate time across all certificates must equal a minimum of four full years, stated on the form as 1,460 days. No single certificate has to show four years on its own. Each certificate must verify experience for the trade being applied for, and incomplete certificates are rejected. A Resume of Experience is filed alongside them. The Board will also accept a current master certification issued by a government agency, proof of transferable military experience and training, verification of a license held in another state, or a prior Nevada contractor license in place of the certificate route. The restricted B-7 classification is the one exception and needs only two years. For a C-2 applicant the practical question is who will sign your certificates, because the Board verifies the experience before it issues the letter that lets you sit the examination.
Sourcesnvcontractorsboard.com 1nvcontractorsboard.com 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
Nevada requires each applicant to pass a general business and law examination, which the Board calls the CMS exam, and a trade examination specific to the classification applied for. PSI administers both. NAC 624.600 requires the examination to be taken through an independent testing service and sets the retake rules: after any waiting period set by the testing service the candidate may retake, may sit a third time, and must pass within six months of the application being filed. Fail the third attempt and the application becomes void, and a new application and fee may be filed 30 days or more after the last examination. The Board's examination page states the same three attempt limit and 30 day wait. The business and law exam is open book and the Construction Business and Law Manual for Nevada may be used. Trade examinations are closed book except for certain code references, and the exam content outline for each classification names which reference, if any, may be carried in. Examinations run seven days a week in the Las Vegas area, and on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Reno area, with a limited schedule in Elko. Examination fees are paid directly to the Board's exam provider and are not part of the $300 application fee.
Sourcesnvcontractorsboard.com 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
Two documents set the money. NRS 624.280 caps the fees: an application must not exceed $550, a license must not exceed $900 biennially, and an examination must not exceed $300. NAC 624.130 sets the actual amounts the Board charges. Issuing or renewing a license is $600. Issuing or renewing an inactive license is $300. Late filing of a renewal for an active license is $150, and $75 for an inactive one. Considering an application for a classification in which the applicant is not licensed is $300. Broadening a license to take in the whole classification or further subclassifications is $250, as is changing the qualified person or another principal on the license, and as is a permanent increase or decrease of the monetary limit. A single project limit increase is $75. A change in the licensee's name is $250, and a conversion of the business organisation under NRS chapter 92A is $300. A duplicate license is $25 and a duplicate identification card is $10. A returned check is $25. The cash deposit administrative fee is $200. The nonrefundable application fee stated on the current new license application is $300. The Board has noticed proposed amendments to NAC 624.130, so check the figure before you post the payment.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3nvcontractorsboard.com 4
Nevada reads your balance sheet before it decides how big a job you may sign. NAC 624.593 grades the financial statement by the monetary limit requested. At $25,000 or less the statement may be prepared by an independent certified public accountant, submitted on a Board form with an affidavit verifying its accuracy, or prepared using accounting software in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles with the same affidavit. Above $25,000 and below $500,000 it must be prepared and compiled by an independent CPA within six months before filing, or prepared and reviewed or audited by an independent CPA within one year. From $500,000 to just under $1,000,000 the compilation must carry full disclosures. At $1,000,000 or more the statement must be prepared and reviewed or audited by an independent CPA within one year. The application states that a financial statement is required for the applying entity regardless of the size of the limit, and the Board's license requirements page adds a bank verification form. NRS 624.263 lists what the Board weighs, including net worth, liquid assets, working capital, the ratio of current assets to current liabilities, prior payment and credit records, liens, adverse judgments and bankruptcy. NRS 624.283 lets the Board demand a fresh statement at any time.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1nvcontractorsboard.com 2leg.state.nv.us 3nvcontractorsboard.com 4
Nevada does not publish a general liability minimum for contractors. What NRS 624.256 does require, before an original license or a renewal is granted, is proof of industrial insurance and insurance for occupational diseases covering the applicant's employees, or a self-insurance certificate from the Commissioner of Insurance, or a certificate showing membership of an association of self-insured employers. A contractor with no employees who is not and does not intend to be a subcontractor for a principal contractor, and who has not and does not intend to bid for one, may file an affidavit instead. Failure to keep industrial insurance in force is cause to deny, revoke, suspend or refuse to renew, and the Board must notify the Fraud Control Unit for Industrial Insurance when it learns a contractor has worked without it. Separately, residential contractors pay into the Residential Recovery Fund. NRS 624.470 sets the biennial assessment by monetary limit: not more than $1,000,000 carries $200 per biennium, more than $1,000,000 but limited carries $500, and unlimited carries $1,000. Qualified services under NRS 624.440 means construction, remodelling, repair or improvement performed on an owner-occupied single-family residence, which covers a large share of ordinary C-2 service work.
NRS 624.283 makes each license expire two years after issue, subject to the Board prescribing shorter or longer periods and prorated fees to stagger biennial renewals. A license not renewed on or before the renewal date is automatically suspended. NAC 624.630 requires the completed renewal application back with the Board no later than the last day of the month in which the license expires, or by the first day of that month where the Board has asked for a financial statement with the renewal. Miss the date and the late fee in NAC 624.130 applies, $150 on an active license and $75 on an inactive one. The hard stop comes next. NAC 624.630(3)(b) says that if a licensee does not attempt renewal within the first six months of the new license biennium the Board will deny, revoke or refuse to renew, and the licensee must apply for a new license from the start. NRS 624.283(4) mirrors that: reinstatement is available within six months of suspension on payment of the renewal fee plus a reinstatement fee, if the licensee is otherwise in good standing with no complaints pending. Nevada sets no continuing education requirement for contractors in NRS chapter 624 or NAC chapter 624.
NAC 624.615 tells the Board to decide which other states have substantially equivalent licensing requirements, to keep a list of them, and to publish that list. NAC 624.600(2) then requires the examination to be waived where the applicant or the qualified employee has passed an examination offered by an endorsing state and approved under NAC 624.615, or a National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies accredited examination the Board considers substantially equivalent. The Board's endorsement page carries the equivalency chart. It lists Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. For C-2 electrical the chart maps Alabama CR-11 Electrical, California C-10 Electrical Contractor, Connecticut E-1 Unlimited Electrical Contractor, Hawaii classification 9 Electrical Work, North Carolina Electrical Contracting Unlimited and South Carolina CE Electrical Contracting, each with the matching trade exam. Florida EC and some other entries are marked Nevada Trade Exam Required, meaning the experience is accepted but the Nevada trade exam is not waived. The conditions are the same in every case: hold an active license in the endorsing state with the same qualified individual for the past four years, no investigation for contractor misconduct or discipline anywhere, and no pending proceedings. The qualified individual still has to pass the Nevada business and law examination.
NRS 624.720(4) is one sentence and it governs every piece of marketing a Nevada electrical contractor puts out: all advertising by a licensed contractor must include the name of the contractor's company and the number of the contractor's license. Subsection 8 defines advertising broadly, taking in any sign, card or device, any sign or marking on a motor vehicle, anything in a building, newspaper or magazine, airway transmission, anything on the Internet, and any directory listing under contractor. The Board's advertising requirements page names commercial vehicles, business cards, letterhead, signage at job sites and offices, online and print directories, newspapers and the website. Subsection 1 makes it unlawful to advertise as a contractor without a license in the appropriate classification, and subsection 5 makes it unlawful for anyone to advertise using a license number that does not correspond to a valid license. Under subsections 6 and 7 the Board can order the advertising stopped and ask the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to have the telephone number in it disconnected. Two further rules sit outside that section. NRS 624.288 requires each commercial motor vehicle registered in the licensee's name to display the name and license number in letters and numbers approximately one and a half inches high. NRS 624.970(2)(a) requires a residential improvement contract with an owner-occupier to state the contractor's name, address, license number and the monetary limit on that license, so Nevada makes you print your own ceiling on the customer's paperwork. Advertising without the name and number, and advertising beyond the scope of the license, are both cause for discipline under NRS 624.3017.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1nvcontractorsboard.com 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
There are two tracks and they run at the same time. NRS 624.710 lets the Board impose an administrative fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $50,000 for each violation of unlicensed contracting, unlawful advertising, or acting in a joint venture without the additional license, and that fine is in addition to any other penalty. The criminal track is NRS 624.750. A first offence is a misdemeanour punishable by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $4,000 and up to six months in the county jail. A second offence is a gross misdemeanour, not less than $4,000 nor more than $10,000, and up to 364 days. A third or subsequent offence is a category E felony, not less than $10,000 nor more than $20,000, and one to four years in state prison. Where the offence is unlicensed contracting the maximum fine may be exceeded by a fine enhancement of up to 10 percent of the value of the contract entered into, if work started or money changed hands. The Board's own enforcement page states the same misdemeanour, gross misdemeanour and felony ladder. NRS 624.700(4) adds the commercial sting: a bid or contract made in violation is void from the start.
Nevada does not adopt the National Electrical Code for all construction at state level. NRS 278.580(1) says the governing body of any city or county may adopt a building code, which leaves the electrical code to local government. The State Fire Marshal's adoption rule, NAC 477.281, brings in the 2018 International Fire Code, the 2018 International Building Code, the 2018 Uniform Mechanical Code, the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code and a long list of NFPA standards, but it does not adopt NFPA 70. Two state-level hooks remain. NAC 341.045, the State Public Works Board rule setting minimum design standards for state buildings, adopts the 2017 National Electrical Code alongside the 2018 International Building Code, and was last amended by R076-18 effective 19 December 2018. Separately NRS 624.3017(1) makes workmanship below the local building code cause for discipline, and where no local code has been adopted, workmanship must meet the National Electrical Code in the form most recently approved by the Board, with each new edition deemed approved unless the Board disapproves it within 60 days of publication. So the edition that governs your job is the one your county or city adopted, and the two largest markets have both moved to the 2023 NEC.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1leg.state.nv.us 2leg.state.nv.us 3leg.state.nv.us 4
Clark County's current code set took effect on 11 January 2026 and includes the 2023 National Electrical Code with Southern Nevada Amendments, alongside the 2024 International Building Code, the 2024 International Residential Code, the 2024 Uniform Mechanical Code and the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code. The county's amendment document records adoption by the Clark County Commission on 15 July 2025, replacing the 2017 NEC in force under the 2018 set. To be issued an electrical permit in unincorporated Clark County the county asks for an active Nevada State Contractor's License and an active Multi-Jurisdictional Business License number from the local jurisdiction, and where a fictitious name appears on the state license the business license name must match it. The City of Las Vegas states that only a Nevada licensed contractor may obtain a building permit for commercial construction. Northern Nevada adds a step the state does not. The City of Reno states that no person, company or corporation shall perform or allow any installation, alteration or addition of electrical wiring or equipment in the city unless done by a person holding a valid journeyman certificate, with Title 14 of the Reno Municipal Code carrying the detail. Exceptions cover homeowners, contractors keeping a written supervision agreement on site, and holders of reciprocal licenses who must certify after 12 months inside the city. The route is the ICC G17 or G18 examination, and the card runs three years. Reno adopted the 2023 NEC with the 2024 codes on 1 July 2025.
Sourcesclarkcountynv.gov 1clarkcountynv.gov 2clarkcountynv.gov 3lasvegasnevada.gov 4reno.gov 5reno.gov 6
The Board runs three public searches and a customer or a general contractor can use all of them before signing anything. The contractor license search at the Board's online services portal returns the license by number or business name. A separate contractor listing search returns licensees by classification, which is how a homeowner finds C-2 holders near them. The public disciplinary actions search is the one most people miss, and it returns formal action taken against licensees. Because Nevada prints a monetary limit on every license, the lookup answers a question no other state's lookup answers: whether the contractor is legally able to sign the size of contract being discussed. NRS 624.720(5) makes it unlawful for anyone to advertise using a license number that does not correspond to a valid license issued to that person, so a number that does not resolve in the search is itself the finding. NAC 624.130 lets anyone buy a report covering up to 500 current licensees for $100, or more than 500 for $200, and a pamphlet of the contractor statutes and regulations for $5. For a contractor the lesson is simple: keep the number, the company name and the classification on the license matching the name and number on your advertising, because that is what the customer is comparing.
Sourcesapp.nvcontractorsboard.com 1app.nvcontractorsboard.com 2leg.state.nv.us 3leg.state.nv.us 4
These are common details other guides publish about Nevada, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. Nevada licenses the contracting business by classification through the Nevada State Contractors Board under NRS chapter 624. There is no state journeyman or master electrician license. A named qualified individual stands behind the company license under NRS 624.260. The City of Reno does license individuals, requiring a journeyman certificate for electrical work inside the city.
Classification C-2, electrical contracting, under NAC 624.200. A full C-2 may install any electrical wires, fixtures, appliances, apparatuses, raceways and conduits. Seven subclassifications narrow it: C-2a electrical wiring, C-2b integrated ceilings, C-2c fire detection, C-2d low voltage systems, C-2e lines to transmit electricity, C-2f residential wiring and C-2g photovoltaics.
NRS 624.220 requires the Board to set a monetary limit on every license. It is the maximum contract you may undertake on one or more contracts at a single construction site or subdivision site for a single client. NAC 624.640 makes a bid or contract void if you exceed it. A permanent change costs $250 and a single project increase costs $75.
The Board's new license application requires a minimum of four years of work experience within the 15 years immediately preceding filing, as a journeyman, foreman, supervision employee or contractor in the classification requested. It is proved with four Certification of Work Experience forms per trade qualifier, totalling at least 1,460 days, plus a Resume of Experience.
NAC 624.130 charges $600 to issue or renew a license and $300 for an inactive license. The current new license application requires a nonrefundable application fee of $300. NRS 624.280 caps an application at $550, a license at $900 biennially and an examination at $300. Examination fees are paid directly to the exam provider.
NRS 624.270 sets the range at not less than $1,000 and not more than $500,000, with the Board fixing the amount by reference to financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of operations. A cash deposit may replace the bond and carries a biennial administrative fee of $200. Residential down payments above $1,000 or 10 percent can require a $100,000 consumer protection bond.
No continuing education requirement for contractors appears in NRS chapter 624 or NAC chapter 624. Renewal turns on the application, the fee, the bond staying in force under NRS 624.270, industrial insurance under NRS 624.256, and any financial statement the Board asks for under NRS 624.283. Reno's separate journeyman card does require continuing education units to renew.
It depends on the jurisdiction, because NRS 278.580 leaves building code adoption to cities and counties. Clark County adopted the 2023 NEC effective 11 January 2026. Reno adopted the 2023 NEC on 1 July 2025. For state buildings NAC 341.045 adopts the 2017 NEC. NAC 477.281, the fire marshal's rule, does not adopt NFPA 70 at all.
Yes. NRS 624.720(4) requires all advertising by a licensed contractor to include the company name and the license number. The Board names vehicles, business cards, letterhead, job site and office signage, print and online directories, newspapers and your website. NRS 624.3017(2) makes advertising without the name and number cause for disciplinary action.
NRS 624.710 allows an administrative fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $50,000 per violation. NRS 624.750 adds a misdemeanour for a first offence at $1,000 to $4,000, a gross misdemeanour for a second at $4,000 to $10,000 and a category E felony for a third at $10,000 to $20,000. The contract is void under NRS 624.700(4).
Sometimes. NAC 624.615 lets the Board recognise states with substantially equivalent requirements, and the Board's endorsement chart lists twelve. For C-2 it maps Alabama CR-11, California C-10, Connecticut E-1, Hawaii class 9, North Carolina Unlimited and South Carolina CE. You must have held the license four years with the same qualified individual, and still pass Nevada business and law.
Yes. Clark County requires an active Nevada State Contractor's License plus an active Multi-Jurisdictional Business License to be issued a permit. Las Vegas states only a Nevada licensed contractor may obtain a building permit for commercial construction. Reno also requires each person doing electrical work in the city to hold a valid journeyman certificate under Title 14 of the Reno Municipal Code.
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