Oklahoma · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Oklahoma licenses the individual, and the contractor license is what lets a business sell electrical work. The Construction Industries Board issues unlimited, residential and limited electrical contractor licenses, plus journeyman and apprentice credentials. A contractor must be an owner, partner or officer of the firm, and must carry a $5,000 bond and $50,000 of general liability before the license goes active.
Verified against agency sources on 2026-09-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Oklahoma licenses electricians through the Construction Industries Board at 2401 NW 23rd Street, Suite 2F in Oklahoma City. The board covers six industries: electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, building inspectors and home inspectors. The trade rules for electrical work sit in Title 158, Chapter 40 of the Oklahoma Administrative Code, with permanent rules effective July 11, 2026, and the statute is the Electrical License Act at Title 59, section 1680 and following. Section 1683 of the Act creates a Committee of Electrical Examiners of seven members, six of them voting and appointed by the board, plus one nonvoting member designated from board staff. The six voting seats are specified: an electrical inspector nominated by a statewide organization of electrical inspectors, one nominee from a statewide organization of union electrical contractors, one from a statewide organization representing builders and contractors, a journeyman wireman nominated by a statewide organization of union journeymen wiremen, a journeyman wireman nominated from the electrical construction industry, and one nominee from a statewide organization of nonunion electrical contractors. Every member must have at least ten years of active experience as a licensed electrical contractor, journeyman electrician or electrical inspector, and no two members may be employed by the same firm. Rule 158:40-1-3 states the requirement in plain terms: no person, on their own behalf or for an electrical firm, may engage or offer to engage in electrical work, by advertisement or otherwise, without a valid and appropriate license or registration.
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Every Oklahoma electrical contractor must be an owner, partner or officer in the electrical firm. The board describes the contractor license as the highest ranking electrical license and splits it three ways. An Unlimited Electrical Contractor has no limit on the type of electrical contracting performed and needs 12,000 verifiable hours of on the job experience in electrical construction work, proof of 4,000 hours as a licensed Unlimited Electrical Journeyman, 6,000 hours in commercial or industrial work obtained while employed by a licensed electrical contractor, and may satisfy a maximum of 2,000 hours with formal electrical education. A Residential Electrical Contractor is limited to contracting for wiring buildings defined in the NEC as one and two family dwellings, and needs 8,000 verifiable hours total, made up of 4,000 hours as a Residential or Unlimited Journeyman under the employment and supervision of an electrical contractor plus 4,000 hours as a registered apprentice, or 3,000 apprentice hours with 1,000 satisfied by formal electrical education. A Limited Electrical Contractor must also be an owner, partner or officer, is prohibited from doing the work of an apprentice or journeyman, and qualifies either with an electrical engineering degree from an accredited college plus 8,000 hours in field construction, estimating or project management in commercial and industrial work, or with 16,000 hours of that experience and no degree. Educational experience must be actual classroom hours verified by transcript.
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An Unlimited Electrical Journeyman needs 8,000 verifiable hours of on the job experience in the electrical construction trade as a registered apprentice under the direct supervision of a licensed journeyman or licensed contractor, with 4,000 of those hours in commercial or industrial work, and up to 2,000 hours may be satisfied by formal electrical education. A Residential Electrical Journeyman needs 4,000 verifiable hours on the same terms, with up to 1,000 hours from formal electrical education. There is also a Refinery Electrical Journeyman license, which the board describes in terms of a current license in good standing. The limits on a journeyman are written as prohibitions in rule 158:40-11-2. A journeyman may not perform work except under the employment of a contractor, and may not engage in the planning, contracting or furnishing of labor or materials used for the work. That is the line between the two licenses: the journeyman does the work, the contractor sells it. Rule 158:40-1-3 adds that no person may act as a foreman, supervisor or superintendent over electrical work for an electrical contractor unless that person holds a valid contractor or journeyman license in the category appropriate to the work. An alarm endorsement, which involves a criminal history check, is required before anyone starts work the electrical regulations define as requiring one.
An apprentice works for an active licensed electrical contractor who provides direct on the job supervision, and applies for an Apprentice Registration card with a complete application signed by the contractor. Registering matters for a practical reason: it is what makes the hours count toward a journeyman license. Section 1698 of the Act caps supervision at three apprentice electricians under a single journeyman or contractor, and rule 158:40-11-2 turns that into a prohibited act for the contractor, who may not allow more than three apprentices per journeyman at a job site. Section 1699 adds a separate allowance for student electrical interns: one student intern may work per physical job site under the direct supervision of a single journeyman or contractor, that intern is not counted against the apprentice limit, and the intern may not work on high voltage systems as defined by the National Electrical Code. Under section 1688 an apprentice registration certificate runs one year and a student apprentice certificate runs the registrant's school year. Since January 1, 2026 apprentices also carry continuing education. Every electrical apprentice completes three hours a year before reregistering, covering the codes adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission, the electrical industry regulations and board rules, electrical safety as defined by NFPA 70E, or other subject matter the Committee approves. A student apprentice, or one enrolled in and attending an approved course, is exempt.
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Testing is run by PSI, and the board publishes the candidate information bulletin on its testing page. Rule 158:40-9-2 says an electrical license examination may include written questions, open book and closed book and problems, based on the standard of installation, plus a practical shop part which for contractors also carries written questions on job estimating and the laws and regulations relating to electricians. A contractor applicant must pass both portions, business and law and trade. Fail one and you retake only that portion, provided you do so within three years of the date you were approved and eligible to sit; otherwise you retake both. An unlimited contractor applicant who passes only the trade portion may apply that passing score to a journeyman license application if the board receives the journeyman form and fee within one year. The maximum grade on each part is 100 points and a passing score is seventy per cent or more on each part. House Bill 3215, signed May 3, 2024, cut the passing grade for electrical contractor and journeyman tests from 75 per cent to 70 per cent for anyone testing on or after November 1, 2024, and shortened the wait after a failed test from 90 days to 30 days, with multiple attempts allowed. Contractor applicants must be capable of reading without assistance, and all examination and license fees are paid before testing.
Rule 158:40-9-3 lists the schedule. A contractor application is $30.00 and the initial contractor license is $300.00. Contractor renewal is $200.00, or $300.00 once the late fee applies. A journeyman application is $25.00 and the initial journeyman license is $50.00. Journeyman renewal is $75.00, or $100.00 with the late fee. An apprentice application is $5.00 and apprentice registration is $20.00. An initial alarm endorsement is $75.00 and renewal of the endorsement is $25.00. Examination fees are separate and are not fixed in the rule: the board may collect the actual cost of an examination, the amount is negotiated by the Administrator under the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act, it cannot exceed the statutory maximum, and it must be posted in plain view at the testing site with every approved applicant told the specific fee before sitting. Reexamination fees are the same as the initial examination fees. A license cannot be issued or renewed until every outstanding fine owed to any division of the board is paid. Applicants who fail to meet the minimum qualifications to take the examination forfeit the application fee. Rule 158:1-3-13 provides a one time, one year low income fee waiver.
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Passing the exam does not give you a working license. The board says your license stays inactive until it receives proof of bond and insurance. Rule 158:40-5-5 requires each active electrical contractor to furnish a license bond of $5,000.00 to the Bonds and Insurance Unit, continuous, with thirty days cancellation notice, conditioned on faithful and lawful performance of all work entered upon in Oklahoma and for the benefit of people injured or suffering financial loss from a failure of that performance. The bond must be in the individual license holder's name, with original signatures, seals and power of attorney attached. The sentence worth knowing is the next one: that bond is filed with the board and is in lieu of all other license bonds to any political subdivision, so a city cannot stack its own bond on top. Insurance is a comprehensive general liability policy including manufacturers and contractors, completed operations and independent contractors liability, with limits no less than $50,000.00 combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage. The board is added as a certificate holder, not as an additional insured, so it gets notice of cancellation. Workers compensation proof or an exemption form is also required. Letting bond or insurance lapse results in an inactive license, and contracting without current insurance and an active license is a violation. Contractors working only on an employer's own property may apply for a waiver by employer affidavit.
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Section 1688 of the Electrical License Act says no license may be issued for longer than one year and every license expires on the last day of the birth month of the licensee. Rule 158:40-9-3 repeats it and extends it to alarm endorsements, which expire on the same date, except that an apprentice alarm endorsement expires with the apprentice registration. A license may be renewed on application and payment of fees thirty days before or thirty days after the due date. Past thirty days the late renewal fee applies, which is what turns a $200.00 contractor renewal into $300.00 and a $75.00 journeyman renewal into $100.00. Once the continuing education requirement is met, a license may be renewed up to a year from the original renewal date. After that the door closes: a license that stays expired longer than one year cannot be renewed, and the former holder must make an initial application and retest for the license previously held. No late penalty is charged to a licensee whose license expired during military service if renewal is applied for within a year of discharge. A contractor license, active or inactive, must be renewed annually, and an inactive contractor may go active at any time by proving bond and insurance. A contractor may elect to renew as a journeyman, but that is a permanent category change and going back means retaking the contractor exam.
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Oklahoma doubled electrical continuing education through House Bill 3215. Effective January 1, 2026, no contractor or journeyman license is renewed unless the licensee has completed twelve hours of continuing education every three years, meaning the thirty-six months preceding renewal. Six of the twelve hours must cover the codes and revisions adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission. The remaining six may cover electrical circuit theory and calculations, wiring methods, grounding and bonding, transformer and motor theory, electrical circuits and devices, control systems, alternative energy systems including energy storage, safety as defined by NFPA 70E, manufacturers' installation of equipment or parts, the Electrical License Act and board rules, or other trade subjects the Electrical Committee approves. Section 1688.1 handles the awkward case where a license expires before the hours are done: continuing education completed while the license is expired is applied to the requirement for the thirty-six months preceding the expiration date, and once that is satisfied the license may be renewed, with a fresh twelve hours then owed for the following thirty-six month period. The course and the instructor must be approved in advance by the Committee of Electrical Examiners, with a narrow exception for substitute instructors in emergencies notified within seven days. Only courses approved by the appropriate board industry committee count, including courses taken through another state agency.
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The board publishes the list of states it holds an electrical reciprocity agreement with: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. The board's guidance is direct about the conditions. A reciprocal license cannot be a grandfathered license. You must have held your license at least one year to reciprocate. The application, including work history, must be complete, and the board asks that you not call to check status because you will be notified in writing. Rule 158:40-7-5 sets out what the Committee weighs: whether the other state's experience requirement, its commercial and industrial experience requirement, its continuing education, its adopted codes and its examination are substantially the same as Oklahoma's, including the passing score, the subject matter, the codes the exam is based on and whether it is written. You must have obtained the license by examination, have practiced lawfully under that state's law for the year before applying, and have no disciplinary matters pending in any jurisdiction where you are licensed. The detail that catches contractors is subsection (e). An applicant who qualifies for a contractor license by reciprocity is granted a journeyman license first, and receives the contractor license only after passing the Oklahoma Electrical Contractor business and law portion and satisfying the bond and insurance requirements.
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Section 1690 of the Electrical License Act makes it a misdemeanor to perform the work of a journeyman electrician without being licensed as a journeyman or electrical contractor. It separately makes it a misdemeanor to act as an electrical contractor, or to engage or offer to engage by advertisement or otherwise in the business of an electrical contractor, until the person, a partner, or an officer of the firm, association or corporation is licensed as an electrical contractor. Section 1695 sets the price. A violation of the Act, or of a city or town ordinance enacted under its authority, is a misdemeanor punishable on conviction by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars, plus the costs of prosecution, on top of possible suspension or revocation. Separately, after a hearing the Electrical Hearing Board may impose an administrative fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each violation, each day in violation may count as a separate violation, and the maximum administrative fine is one thousand dollars. Those fines are enforceable in district court, and the board may seek payment through the surety bond if a licensee does not pay. Section 1685 makes all licenses nontransferable and makes it a misdemeanor for a licensee to loan or allow the use of a license by another person, firm or corporation.
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Rule 158:40-5-4 is the display rule and it is unusually concrete. Every electrical contractor or electrical firm must display the firm name and the license number, with the initials OK preceding that number, on all vehicles used to transport materials and tools in the operation of the business. Those signs and numbers must be printed in letters and numerals at least two inches high, in conspicuous places on both sides of each vehicle, in a color that contrasts with the background surface. Paragraph (b) is the one that reaches your marketing: the Electrical Contractor State License Number must be displayed on all advertising, contracts and bids. The rule then carves out what does not count as advertising for this purpose, which is uniforms and promotional items including pens, pencils, key chains, tape measures and the like. Paragraph (c) covers the person rather than the business: the pocket license issued by the Administrator must be on the electrician while on the job, and rule 158:40-11-2 makes it a prohibited act to perform work without keeping the license on your person or in close proximity. The board's active contractor page restates all three requirements in the same terms. Section 1691 of the Act separately requires any licence or registration holder to notify the board promptly of a change of address, and rule 158:40-1-3 gives thirty days for changes in address, business relationship, structure or affiliation.
Section 1692 lists what falls outside the Act, and the list decides which jobs you can legally take without the license and which competitors can take work from you. The Act does not apply to minor repairs consisting of repairing or replacing outlets or minor working parts of electrical fixtures, to maintenance work for state and federal institutions, or to construction, installation, maintenance, repair and renovation by a public utility regulated by the Corporation Commission. Public service corporations, telephone and telegraph companies, rural electric associations and municipal utilities are outside it. So is work on telephone equipment or computer systems by a firm in the telecommunications or information systems industry, where the activity is exclusively for communication of data or voice or for other signaling purposes, but that exemption expressly does not cover fire alarm systems, security systems and environmental control systems that are not an integral part of a telecommunications system. Installing, maintaining, repairing or replacing water supply pumps is exempt provided the work is done from the output side of a fused disconnect or breaker box. Subsection B adds three things the Act does not require, each with the same qualifier: employment of a licensed electrician, a regular employee working on the firm's own property, and an individual working on their own property or residence, all except as required by local ordinances and resolutions.
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Rule 158:40-1-4 says the standard of installation is the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70, and the electrical portion of the International Residential Code, as revised and adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission. The commission publishes its adoption history, and the current entry is the 2023 edition of the NEC by permanent rule, effective September 14, 2024, superseding the 2020 edition that had been in force since September 14, 2022. The board announced the change and ran a ninety day grace period for licensing tests: NEC questions referred to the 2020 code until December 13, 2024, and every test question moved to the 2023 NEC on December 14, 2024. The 2026 round of code updates did not touch the electrical exams. The commission adopted the 2024 editions of the International Building, Fuel Gas, Mechanical, Plumbing and Residential Codes with amendments effective September 14, 2026, and the board set transition periods for the HVACR, sheet metal, roofing commercial endorsement, natural gas, process piping, refrigeration, limited residential and plumbing examinations. No electrical examination appears on either transition list. Rule 158:40-11-2 also makes performing work contrary to the standard of installation a prohibited act, and says each violation of that standard can be treated as a separate violation of the chapter.
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Oklahoma splits licensing from permitting. Section 1693 of the Act says any city or town may prescribe rules, regulations and standards for the materials used and the construction, installation and inspection of all electrical work in connection with any building, structure or conveyance in that city or town, provided that no electrical work may be done without a permit first obtained from the city or town, on whatever terms the city prescribes. A city or town may create an office of electrical inspector, whose holder must have at least three years of active experience in the electrical industry and no direct or indirect interest in any electrical firm, and who issues a certificate on completion of each inspection. A city or town with a population above 4,000 but not more than 30,000 may combine the plumbing inspector and electrical inspector into one office, with three years of practical experience in each trade, or may appoint another person who passes both inspector examinations within two years. Tulsa states the arrangement from the city side: the state licenses trade contractors including electrical, who must then register with the City of Tulsa, and the city renews that registration unless the license has lapsed more than a year. Tulsa adds that it no longer registers journeymen, apprentices or sign and electrical sign contractors.
The board runs a public licensee search covering building and home inspectors and the electrical, mechanical and plumbing trades, linked from its Are They Licensed page, with a separate search for registered roofing contractors. That search is the fastest way for a customer to confirm two things at once, because an Oklahoma electrical contractor license only shows as active when the bond and the general liability certificate are on file with the Bonds and Insurance Unit. A contractor who lets either lapse is issued an inactive license, and rule 158:40-11-2 makes failure to maintain bond, insurance and workers compensation or exemption a prohibited act. That is worth putting in front of customers, because active status in Oklahoma carries more meaning than a licence number alone. Two more facts from the same rule are worth knowing before a competitor uses them: no licensee may be associated with and responsible for more than one firm, and no employing firm may use an unlicensed or unregistered individual or entity to perform work. The board asks contractors to email updated insurance verification with name and license number to its insurance staff whenever a policy is obtained or renewed, and reminds licensees that it must be listed as a certificate holder so it receives notice of cancellation.
These are common details other guides publish about Oklahoma, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Construction Industries Board issues electrical contractor, journeyman and apprentice credentials under the Electrical License Act at Title 59, section 1680 and following, with trade rules in Title 158, Chapter 40 of the Oklahoma Administrative Code. Rule 158:40-1-3 bars anyone from engaging or offering to engage in electrical work, by advertisement or otherwise, without one.
An owner, partner or officer in the electrical firm. The board describes the contractor license as the highest ranking electrical license, and rule 158:40-11-2 adds that no licensee may be associated with and responsible for more than one firm. A journeyman may not plan, contract or furnish labor and materials for the work.
An Unlimited Electrical Contractor needs 12,000 verifiable hours, including proof of 4,000 hours as a licensed Unlimited Journeyman and 6,000 hours of commercial or industrial work, with up to 2,000 hours from formal education. A Residential Electrical Contractor needs 8,000 hours. A Limited Electrical Contractor needs 16,000 hours, or a degree plus 8,000.
Seventy per cent or more on each part, with a maximum of 100 points per part under rule 158:40-9-2. House Bill 3215 cut the passing grade from 75 per cent to 70 per cent for anyone testing on or after November 1, 2024, and cut the wait after a failed attempt from 90 days to 30 days.
Rule 158:40-9-3 sets a $30.00 contractor application, a $300.00 initial contractor license and a $200.00 renewal, rising to $300.00 with the late fee. Journeyman figures are $25.00 to apply, $50.00 initial and $75.00 to renew, or $100.00 late. Apprentice registration is $20.00 after a $5.00 application.
A $5,000.00 continuous corporate surety bond payable to the board in the individual license holder's name, with thirty days cancellation notice, and a comprehensive general liability policy with limits no less than $50,000.00 combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage. The board must be listed as certificate holder.
No. Rule 158:40-5-5 says the $5,000.00 license bond filed with the board's Bonds and Insurance Unit is in lieu of all other license bonds to any political subdivision. Cities still issue permits and run inspections under section 1693 of the Electrical License Act, and Tulsa requires state licensed trade contractors to register with the city.
On the last day of your birth month, every year. You may renew thirty days before or thirty days after that date before the late fee applies. Once continuing education is complete a license may be renewed up to a year past the original renewal date, after which you must reapply and retest.
Twelve hours every three years for contractors and journeymen, effective January 1, 2026, with six of the twelve covering codes and revisions adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission. Electrical apprentices complete three hours every year before reregistering, unless they are student apprentices or attending an approved course.
The board lists Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. The license cannot be a grandfathered one and must have been held at least a year. A contractor applicant is granted a journeyman license first and gets the contractor license after passing the Oklahoma business and law portion.
Yes. Rule 158:40-5-4 requires the firm name and the license number with OK in front of it, in letters and numerals at least two inches high, on both sides of every vehicle used to carry materials and tools, in a contrasting color. The number must also appear on all advertising, contracts and bids.
Section 1690 makes it a misdemeanor to do journeyman work or to act as, or advertise as, an electrical contractor without a license. Section 1695 sets a fine of not less than two hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars plus costs, and allows an administrative fine of up to five hundred dollars per violation, capped at one thousand dollars.
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