Rhode Island · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Rhode Island licenses both, through one board. The Board of Examiners of Electricians in the Division of Professional Regulation at the Department of Labor and Training issues fourteen certificate classes, including Certificate A for the contracting business and Certificate B for the journeyperson. A journeyperson needs 8,000 hours as a registered apprentice; a Certificate A needs 12,000 hours.
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.
Rhode Island runs electrical licensing through a single state board. The Board of Examiners of Electricians sits inside the Division of Professional Regulation at the Department of Labor and Training, at 1511 Pontiac Avenue in Cranston. The division describes itself as managing licensing, testing, registration and discipline for over 30,000 people across 67 trade jobs and overseeing seven licensing boards, and it names the Board of Examiners of Electricians first among the boards whose applicants it reviews. R.I. Gen. Laws section 5-6-2(a)(1) makes the prohibition broad. No person, firm or corporation shall enter into, engage in, solicit, advertise, bid for, or work at the business of installing, maintaining, servicing and testing wires, conduits, apparatus, fixtures, electrical signs, lightning-protection equipment, lighting, control of electrical devices, or removing and reattaching existing electrical meters, without a license and certificate issued by the board. That sentence catches soliciting, advertising and bidding, not just wiring. Section 5-6-2(b) adds the permit side: anyone required to apply to a local building official for permit work covered by this chapter must have the work performed by a person licensed under the chapter, with an exception for owner-occupied single-family homes that does not extend to meter removal and reattachment. So Rhode Island licenses the individual electrician by grade and licenses the contracting business, both through the same board.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1dlt.ri.gov 2dlt.ri.gov 3
Section 5-6-7 says fourteen forms of licenses shall be issued and names each one. Certificate A is the electrical contractor's license. Certificate B is the journeyperson electrician's license. Certificate C is the limited-premises license. Certificate E is the burner contractor's license and Certificate F the burnerperson's license. Certificate AF is the fire alarm contractor's license and Certificate BF the fire alarm installer's license. Certificate SCF is the electrical sign contractor's license and Certificate CF the electrical sign installer's license. Certificate D is the limited-maintenance license and Certificate M the limited-maintenance journeyperson license. Certificate LPC is the lightning-protection contractor's license and Certificate LPI the lightning-protection installer's license. Certificate SRL is the sign renovation electrical license. The division's own regulation adds Certificate REP, the renewable energy professional. Section 5-6-8(a) is the line an owner needs to read: holding a Certificate A does not entitle the holder individually to perform the actual work of installing, maintaining, servicing and testing electric wires, conduits or appliances. It entitles the holder to conduct business as an electrical contractor. The certificate names the person, and for a firm it names a member and for a corporation an officer, who passed the examination. The license follows that human being.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2rules.sos.ri.gov 3
Section 5-6-13(a) restricts the Certificate B holder. Except for limited-premises work under section 5-6-14, a journeyperson is not entitled to do the work of installing, maintaining, servicing and testing wires, conduits, apparatus, fixtures or other appliances except as an employee of a holder of a Certificate A, a Certificate C or a Certificate D, unless the journeyperson is also registered as an electrical contractor and holds a certificate. The same structure runs through the limited classes. A Certificate F burnerperson works for a Certificate E or Certificate A holder. A Certificate AF fire alarm contractor is limited to fire alarm, fire alarm fixtures, equipment for fire alarm purposes and life safety equipment unless the holder also holds a Certificate BF. A Certificate SCF sign contractor may contract, but a Certificate CF is required for the actual sign installation, and a Certificate LPC lightning-protection contractor needs a Certificate LPI to install. Section 5-6-24(a) permits one properly registered apprentice electrician working with and under the direct personal supervision of an appropriately licensed journeyperson, two apprentice electrical sign installers under one licensed sign installer, and one apprentice each for burnerperson, fire alarm installer, Class M maintenance and lightning-protection installer. Apprentices must register with the division immediately on employment with a properly licensed contractor.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2
Section 5-6-24(b) sets the apprentice track. Registered apprentice electricians must work a minimum of 8,000 hours over a period of not less than four years and successfully complete 144 hours of related instruction per year in a registered apprenticeship program approved by the Department of Labor and Training, to qualify for the journeyperson B examination. Credit is available for 144 hours of classroom training from a vocational school authorized by the board of education, or up to 288 hours gained over two academic years at an accredited trade school approved by the office of postsecondary commissioner and the apprenticeship council. The applicant must have held a certificate of registration as a registered apprentice for at least four years before filing, and the application must carry employer affidavits or other satisfactory evidence of 8,000 hours of electrical work as a registered apprentice in Rhode Island. The board's regulation at section 7.7(C) repeats it: those applying for a journeyperson Certificate B must have at least 8,000 hours, or four years, as a registered apprentice, with a notarized employer letter. Section 7.7(D) sets the contractor bar. Applicants for Certificate A must have had at least 12,000 hours, or six years, of experience and must have held a Rhode Island Certificate B for two years. Section 7.7(A) also sets ages: 21 for Certificate A, E, AF, LPC or SCF, and 18 for the rest.
Section 7.5 of the board's regulation sets out how examinations run. They are conducted and completed in writing, may include written or practical demonstrations, and are based on the edition of the National Electrical Code adopted by the Rhode Island State Building Code Standards Committee at the time of the examination. Applicants must obtain an average of at least 70 percent to obtain a license, and at least 60 percent to be allowed to review the examination with members of the board. Answers are written in ink unless otherwise specified, and anyone found referring to notes or books during an examination without board permission is disqualified from that examination. Applications for examinations must be received 15 working days before the examination date, and only approved applicants are admitted. Notice of the time and place goes out by mail. Section 5-6-17 sets the examination fee: persons desiring an examination shall make written application on the state-approved form accompanied by the proper fee, which is seventy-five dollars. The Department of Labor and Training says exams are given on a first-come, first-serve basis with limited space, that they are accessible to the handicapped, and that anyone needing interpreter services for the hearing impaired must notify Professional Regulation at least three business days before the examination date.
Sourcesrules.sos.ri.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2dlt.ri.gov 3
Section 5-6-16(b) puts the license fees in statute, and they split cleanly between contractor classes and worker classes. A fee of $240 is paid by each applicant for an electrical contractor's license Class A, $72.00 for a journeyperson electrician's license Class B, $240 for a limited-premises license Class C, $240 for a burner contractor's license Class E, $72.00 for a burnerperson's license Class F, $240 for a fire alarm contractor's license Class AF, $72.00 for a fire alarm installer's license Class BF, $240 for an electrical sign contractor's license SCF, $72.00 for a sign installer's license Class CF, and $240 for a limited-maintenance license Class D. Subsection (c) adds $240 for a lightning-protection contractor's license Class LPC, subsection (d) $72.00 for a lightning-protection installer's license LPI, and subsection (e) $72.00 for a sign renovation electrical license. On top of that, the board's regulation at section 7.6(B)(2) charges a separate fee. If a contractor holding Certificate A, AF, E, LPC or SCF wishes to conduct business under a firm or corporation name, the division issues a certificate saying so on payment of $100.00. A license holder may obtain only one firm or corporate certificate, the certificate carries both the contractor number and the corporate license number, and the individual contractor's license may not be used independently of it.
Section 5-6-20(a) ties the renewal calendar to the licensee rather than to a fixed date. All certificates and licenses issued by the division expire on the birthday of the individual qualifying for the license and may be renewed on or after that date for a period of two years on payment of the appropriate renewal fee, which equals the license fees in section 5-6-16, plus any outstanding license fees and a $12.00 per-month administrative assessment fee for the delinquency period. Section 5-6-16(a) explains the odd and even pattern: licenses held by people born in odd years expire on the individual's birthday in odd years, and licenses held by people born in even years expire on the birthday in even years, with renewal due on or before the expiration date on payment of the biennial fee. Section 5-6-20(b) is the hard stop. A license not renewed within two years of its expiration date is deemed forfeited, and the holder must make written application for an examination before a new license can be issued. The board's regulation at section 7.9(A) adds that a license is not renewable while a penalty or fine is outstanding with the division, until restitution is made, and section 7.9(B) requires renewal applications for Certificate A, E, SCF, LPC or AF to be signed by the same member or officer who originally passed the examination.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2rules.sos.ri.gov 3
Section 5-6-20.1(b) says no license under the chapter shall be renewed unless the licensee demonstrates, in a manner prescribed by the board, that he or she has completed at least fifteen clock hours of continuing education. Subsection (d) limits the requirement to Class A and Class B electricians, and the board's regulation at section 7.14(A) repeats that limit. Subsection (c) requires the fifteen-hour course of study to be approved by the board, allows providers including vocational schools, association seminars, labor training programs, employee training programs and private instructors or inspectors, and requires them also to be approved by the building commissioner's office. Instructors and inspectors must be Rhode Island licensed electrical contractors employed by or about to be employed by the provider, and board approved. Subsection (f) requires an approved uniform certificate of completion, which the licensee submits with the renewal, and states that the continuing education credits shall be included in the currently adopted edition of the National Electrical Code and the International Code Council national codes. That is the code-update cycle in practice: the department publishes lists of 2023 Electrical Code Update Providers, in person and online. Out-of-state residents holding a Rhode Island license may submit a fifteen-hour credit from their own state if it meets Rhode Island requirements and that state recognizes Rhode Island certificates. Approved instructors actually teaching the course are exempt from attending it, and must attend a department preparation seminar every three years.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1rules.sos.ri.gov 2dlt.ri.gov 3
Rhode Island does not hand an out-of-state electrician a license on the strength of another state's license. What section 7.7(D) of the board's regulation gives is a route to the examination. Out-of-state applicants who hold a contractor's license or a journeyperson's license will be allowed to take the Rhode Island journeyperson's exam. Out-of-state applicants who hold a contractor's license and a Rhode Island journeyperson's license for two years and have 12,000 hours, or six years, of experience will be allowed to take the Rhode Island contractor's exam. That is the sequence an out-of-state master has to plan for: sit the Rhode Island journeyperson examination first, hold the Certificate B for two years, then sit the Certificate A examination. Section 5-6-24(b) offers a parallel opening on the apprentice side, allowing an application supported by a showing that the applicant possesses a certificate of license issued under the laws of another state based on training equal to that required by Rhode Island. Section 5-6-24.1 deals with apprentices registered in other states. For continuing education, section 5-6-20.1(e) lets an out-of-state resident holding a Rhode Island license submit a fifteen-hour credit earned in the home state where that state recognizes Rhode Island certificates, and the board's regulation lets such licensees take a National Electrical Code course and obtain the Rhode Island amendments from the Building Code Commission.
Sourcesrules.sos.ri.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2webserver.rilegislature.gov 3webserver.rilegislature.gov 4
Rhode Island also runs a Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board inside the Department of Business Regulation's Division of Building, Design and Fire Professionals, at 560 Jefferson Blvd in Warwick. Its general rule is wide: every contractor and subcontractor in the business of building or repairing structures must register, subcontractors included, and contractors working on commercial structures must register too. Registrations are valid for one year. Applicants must file a $500,000 certificate of liability insurance naming the board as certificate holder, and a workers compensation certificate naming the board as certificate holder if they have employees. Unregistered contractors are prohibited from performing contracting work or obtaining a building permit in any of Rhode Island's 39 cities or towns, and face civil and criminal penalties and fines on a finding of violation. There is no reciprocity for a contractor's registration. Against all that, the board answers the electrician's question directly. Do plumbers and electricians have to register? No, unless plumbers and electricians are contracting work outside the scope of their license issued by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. So a Certificate A holder staying inside the electrical scope works on the Department of Labor and Training license alone, and steps into registration territory the moment the contract covers work the electrical license does not.
Sourcescrb.ri.gov
Section 5-6-28 says any person, firm, association or corporation, and any employee, representative, member or officer of one, who individually enters upon or engages in the defined business and work without complying with the chapter shall be assessed penalties pursuant to section 5-6-32. Section 5-6-32(a) supplies the amounts. The director may assess an administrative penalty for any violation, after notice and a hearing, before and upon the recommendation of the Board of Examiners of Electricians, in the amount of $1,500 for the first violation and $2,000 for a subsequent violation. The multiplier is in the same subsection: each individual person acting in violation shall constitute a separate offense to any person, firm or corporation assessed a penalty. Sending three unlicensed people to one job is three offenses, not one. The section states it is in addition to any other action provided by law. Subsection (b) puts a chief investigator in the field, and provides that when the chief complains to the director that the chapter is being violated, the director may issue a cease and desist order and impose those penalties against the violator and against the contractor. Section 5-6-25 adds a separate exposure: failing to do work in accordance with a city or town's rules, or refusing to correct it promptly after notice from local inspection authorities, is grounds for suspension or revocation of the license.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2webserver.rilegislature.gov 3
Rhode Island writes its advertising rule into the licensing prohibition itself. Section 5-6-2(a)(1) forbids an unlicensed person, firm or corporation from entering into, engaging in, soliciting, advertising or bidding for the business, so an unlicensed company may not advertise electrical work at all. Section 5-6-2(a)(2) then tells the licensed contractor what to put where. That person shall carry this license on his or her person at all times while so engaged, and shall affix his or her contractor's license number to any advertisement and/or contract he or she executes, to any bid filed with any consumer for professional services, and to any applicable permit required for the performance of those services. Section 5-6-19(b) is the second half and it is stricter than a number alone. Any sign, listing or advertisement of any type of a holder of those licenses shall contain the holder's name, address and license number. The same subsection restricts recruitment advertising: only persons, firms or corporations holding a Class A license are permitted to advertise for the employment of journeypersons or electrical apprentices. The board's regulation at section 7.6(C) closes the last gap. General contractors that are not licensed electrical contractors with the Department of Labor and Training shall not bid, solicit or advertise for electrical work, though they may solicit bids from Rhode Island licensed electrical contractors.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2rules.sos.ri.gov 3
Section 5-6-19(a) sets the display rule for people rather than premises. Holders of Licenses B, F, BF, CF, M, A, E, AF, SCF, LPC and LPI shall be furnished by the Division of Professional Regulation with evidence of having been licensed in card form or otherwise, which shall be carried on the person of the licensee and exhibited on request. Section 5-6-2(a)(2) says the same thing from the other direction: the license is carried on the person at all times while engaged in the work. There is no statutory requirement in chapter 5-6 to hang the certificate at a place of business, which is a real difference from states that regulate the wall rather than the pocket. Section 7.7(B) of the board's regulation adds a naming rule that functions as a display rule. No licensee shall engage in business under any name other than that stated on the license, except a holder of Certificate A, AF, SCF, LPC or E who has taken out the firm or corporate certificate under section 7.6(B). That certificate carries both the individual contractor number and the corporate license number, and section 7.6(B)(1) restricts the license to the identifying corporation, so the trading name on the truck, the ad and the permit has to match the certificate the division issued.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1webserver.rilegislature.gov 2rules.sos.ri.gov 3
Rhode Island adopts the National Electrical Code as a state regulation. RISBC-5, the Rhode Island Electrical Code at 510-RICR-00-00-5, is promulgated by the Building Code Standards Committee. Section 5.2 states that the committee adopts and incorporates as the Rhode Island Electrical Code the provisions of the National Electrical Code 2023 edition published by the National Fire Protection Association, not including any further editions or amendments, and only to the extent the provisions are not inconsistent with R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 23-27.3 and the provisions reserved, deleted or amended in the regulation. The current version is an active amendment effective from December 1, 2025, replacing a version that had been effective from February 1, 2022 and had adopted the 2020 NEC. The rulemaking record cites R.I. Gen. Laws section 23-27.3-100.1.5, which requires that all electrical work done in the state be in accordance with the latest edition of the NEC and that the state building commission adopt the latest edition. Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are adopted with no changes; Article 90 and Chapter 2 carry Rhode Island amendments, including a rewritten section 210.25 on branch circuits in buildings with more than one occupancy. Providence's building department states the same date, describing a comprehensive update covering all 13 Rhode Island State Building Code regulations plus the 2023 National Electrical Code, taking effect December 1, 2025.
Rhode Island has no separate municipal electrician license to collect, because the state board issues the only one. What the cities control is the permit and the inspection. Section 5-6-25 requires that all electrical work done in the state, and in any city or town having rules and requirements for that work, be done in accordance with those rules, and makes failure to correct work after notice from local inspection authorities grounds for suspension or revocation. Providence runs the Department of Inspection and Standards, which relocated to 780 Allens Avenue on December 12, 2025 and handles permitting, code enforcement and complaint investigation through a ViewPoint permitting system. Warwick runs its Building Department from the Sawtooth Annex at 65 Centerville Road with an OpenGov online permitting program, and keeps residential plans one year and commercial plans five years after construction is completed. Verification is one search rather than two. The Department of Labor and Training publishes a Check a License tool for the trades it regulates, which returns the electrical certificate class and its status, and the department also publishes exam results and a public record of licenses. For work outside the electrical scope, the Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board runs its own registrant and licensee search, and its registration carries the $500,000 liability certificate that chapter 5-6 does not require.
Sourceswebserver.rilegislature.gov 1providenceri.gov 2warwickri.gov 3dltweb.dlt.ri.gov 4dlt.ri.gov 5crb.ri.gov 6
These are common details other guides publish about Rhode Island, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes, and it licenses both the person and the business. The Board of Examiners of Electricians in the Division of Professional Regulation at the Department of Labor and Training issues fourteen certificate classes under R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 5-6, from Certificate A for the contractor to Certificate B for the journeyperson.
Section 5-6-24(b) requires a minimum of 8,000 hours over not less than four years as a registered apprentice, plus 144 hours of related instruction per year in a registered apprenticeship program approved by the Department of Labor and Training.
The board's regulation at section 7.7(D) requires at least 12,000 hours, or six years, of experience and two years holding a Rhode Island Certificate B. Applicants for Certificate A must also be at least 21 years old under section 7.7(A).
Section 7.5(C) of the board's regulation requires an average of at least 70 percent to obtain a license, and at least 60 percent to be allowed to review the examination with the board. Applications must be received 15 working days before the exam date.
Section 5-6-16(b) sets $240 for an electrical contractor's license Class A and $72.00 for a journeyperson electrician's license Class B. Section 5-6-17 sets a $75.00 examination fee. A firm or corporate certificate costs $100.00 under section 7.6(B)(2).
Licenses expire on the licensee's birthday and renew for two years under section 5-6-20(a), at the section 5-6-16 fee plus outstanding fees and a $12.00 per-month administrative assessment for the delinquency period. A license not renewed within two years of expiry is forfeited and requires a new examination.
Fifteen clock hours per renewal under section 5-6-20.1(b), in a course of study approved by the board. Section 5-6-20.1(d) limits the requirement to Class A and Class B electricians. The credits are tied to the currently adopted edition of the National Electrical Code.
Not directly. Section 7.7(D) lets an out-of-state contractor or journeyperson sit the Rhode Island journeyperson exam. To sit the Rhode Island contractor exam you need the out-of-state contractor license, a Rhode Island journeyperson license held two years, and 12,000 hours of experience.
The board's own FAQ says plumbers and electricians do not have to register unless they are contracting work outside the scope of the license issued by the Department of Labor and Training. Registered contractors must carry a $500,000 certificate of liability insurance naming the board.
Section 5-6-32(a) allows an administrative penalty of $1,500 for a first violation and $2,000 for a subsequent violation, after notice and hearing on the board's recommendation. Each individual person acting in violation is a separate offense, and the director may also issue a cease and desist order.
Section 5-6-2(a)(2) requires the contractor's license number on any advertisement, on any contract executed, on any bid filed with a consumer, and on any applicable permit. Section 5-6-19(b) requires any sign, listing or advertisement to carry the holder's name, address and license number.
RISBC-5, the Rhode Island Electrical Code at 510-RICR-00-00-5, adopts the 2023 National Electrical Code. The current version is effective from December 1, 2025 and replaced a version effective February 1, 2022 that had adopted the 2020 edition.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.