Tennessee · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Tennessee licenses electrical work through the Board for Licensing Contractors, and it licenses both. A contractor's license with the CE electrical classification goes to the business, qualified by a named individual who sits the exams, and is required at $25,000 or more per project. Under that figure, an individual Limited Licensed Electrician license applies in participating jurisdictions.
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-09-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Tennessee runs electrical licensing through the Board for Licensing Contractors in the Department of Commerce and Insurance, and the whole system turns on one number. A contractor's license is required before contracting, which includes bidding, offering to engage, or negotiating a price, for projects of $25,000 or more when acting as a prime contractor, certain subcontractor, or construction manager or consultant. A subcontractor must be licensed when contracting directly with a contractor rather than the owner to perform electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, or roofing work where that portion of the project is $25,000 or more including materials, equipment, and labor. Rule 0680-01-.24(1) restates it for the trades and adds masonry at $100,000 or more. Underneath that line sits a second, much smaller credential: the Limited Licensed Electrician, or LLE. The board's own description is precise. The LLE license is only required by electricians performing work in a municipality utilizing the Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections, and it covers work less than $25,000 per project. The board's licensing application package puts the two side by side: the CE electrical contractor classification is for electrical work where the total cost is $25,000 and up and is accepted statewide, while the state LLE license covers work where the total cost is less than $25,000 and is accepted only in the jurisdictions that participate in the state electrical program. The LLE license requirements are defined at T.C.A. 62-6-102(d) and 68-102-150. Neither license may be split across phases to duck the threshold.
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The contractor's license is issued to the business, and a named individual carries the exams. Rule 0680-01-.02(4) requires the qualifying agent to obtain a successful score on the examination in the appropriate classification and to meet all board requirements. For a sole proprietorship the qualifying agent is the individual owner or a full-time employee with a written power of attorney to bind the sole proprietor. For a partnership it is a general partner or a full-time employee with written power of attorney. For a corporation it is a major stockholder owning at least 20 percent of stock, or a full-time employee with written power of attorney. For a limited liability company it is a manager, member or full-time employee with written power of attorney. Each of them must have sufficient knowledge of the construction business the license covers, and any of them may be required to appear before the board for an interview. Rule 0680-01-.02(4)(e) requires the board to be notified within ten days of the death, resignation, termination, or incapacity of a qualifying agent, and requires a new qualifying agent to take the examination and be appointed within three months or the license goes inactive. Rule 0680-01-.23 limits a firm to no more than two qualifying agents per major classification. The board adds that up to two people may take each exam for the company, and the person taking the Business and Law exam does not have to be the person taking the trade exam. Where the qualifying agent has no ownership or less than 20 percent, the Power of Attorney form must be signed by the owner and notarized.
The classification appendix at Rule 0680-01-.16 spells out what E (CE), Electrical Contracting, includes: electrical transmission lines, electrical work for buildings and structures, underground electrical conduit installation, sound and intercom systems, fire detection systems, signal and burglar alarm systems and security systems up to seventy volts, electrical signs, and data communication systems such as fiber optics and cabling. The rule adds a note that a separate license issued by the Tennessee Alarm Systems Contractors Board is also required for alarm systems. The same rule carries the sentence that matters most to a contractor bidding across county lines: the classification CE is noted on licenses issued after 1992 and represents that the licensee has passed the board licensing exam and that no county or municipality shall require such state licensee or its employees to pass any county or municipal test or examination, citing T.C.A. 62-6-111(i)(2)(C). The board's LLE application package restates that in operational terms: the CE electrical classification is accepted statewide and additional exams are not required in each county or municipality, but you must still follow local permit and licensing rules within the jurisdiction and pay local fees. Contractors holding a CE are exempt from the Limited Licensed Electrician license but still have to obtain permits, inspections, and any applicable local licenses such as a business license. Older classification codes appear on legacy licenses, and the board's material names E, EB, CE-B and similar variants for licenses issued before 1992.
A Tennessee contractor's license is not open-ended. Every license carries a monetary limit, which is the total dollar amount for each individual project or contract, with no limit on the number of projects so long as they are not split into phases to circumvent the law. Rule 0680-01-.13(1)(a) sets the general calculation as the lesser of ten times the applicant's net worth or ten times the applicant's working capital, with accounts receivable more than three months overdue excluded from working capital. The board's own worked example is that a $150,000 limit requires $15,000 in both working capital and net worth, and that if working capital is $10,000 while net worth is $200,000, the monetary limit is $100,000, because the calculation uses the lesser of the two. Rule 0680-01-.13(9) allows an unlimited license where the applicant demonstrates minimum working capital and net worth of $300,000 or more, plus the required experience. Rule 0680-01-.13(8)(a) allows a tolerance of ten percent of the monetary limit, except for the Restricted Residential Limited License. Where a contractor holds more than one classification with different limits, the limits may not be combined to bid a project. Lines of credit may be added at full value to working capital and indemnities are credited at fifty percent. The board also runs a Restricted Residential Limited License, BC-A/r, for residential work costing less than $125,000, which substitutes a limited license course at a Tennessee community college or vocational school for the BC-A trade exam and the Business and Law exam, with no ten percent tolerance and no joint ventures permitted.
The financial statement is the document that sets the limit. The board requires a reviewed or audited financial statement prepared by a licensed, independent accounting firm, in the exact name and mode of operation to be licensed, prepared under GAAP and less than twelve months old at the time the initial application is submitted. A reviewed statement is required for limits of $3,000,000 or less and an audited statement for limits exceeding $3,000,000. As of July 1, 2026 the board added an alternative: contractors may use the Contractors' Surety Bond option instead of a CPA-reviewed or CPA-audited financial statement, and the bond must be in an amount equal to at least 50 percent of the monetary limit requested, on the board-approved form. The board notes that the rules governing financial statement requirements were updated as of November 18, 2025 and points to Rule 0680-01-.32. Renewal is lighter than initial application. A renewal at more than $1.5 million needs a compiled financial statement prepared by a licensed CPA, and a renewal at less than $1.5 million may upload a self-prepared balance sheet on the board's form. Rule 0680-01-.13(3) lets the board require a guaranty agreement, line of credit, bond, or other indemnity in addition to the financial statement where the applicant's statement is primarily cash without fixed assets, or where the applicant is owned in whole or part by a parent company. A bond in the board's required format may be submitted in place of a guaranty agreement in the amount of $500,000, or $1,000,000 for unlimited monetary limits. All indemnities expire at license renewal and may not exceed two years.
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Tennessee ties the liability minimum to the monetary limit rather than setting one flat number. Rule 0680-6-.02 requires a general liability policy of not less than $100,000 where the applicant or licensee is a home improvement contractor or where a general contractor's monetary limit is between zero and $500,000. Where the limit is between $500,001 and $1,500,000 the minimum rises to $500,000. Where the limit is $1,500,001 or more the minimum is $1,000,000. Rule 0680-6-.03 requires a certificate of insurance at application and at every renewal, and requires the applicant or licensee to name the board as the certificate holder on the policy. The board's own insurance resource document summarises the same table and confirms the license types it applies to: contractors, including electrical, need general liability and workers compensation; home improvement contractors need general liability, workers compensation and a bond; Limited Licensed Electricians and Limited Licensed Plumbers need none of the three for state licensing. Workers compensation is required unless proof of exemption is provided. Since March 1, 2011 people in the construction industry may register as a Construction Services Provider with the Tennessee Secretary of State, and applicants and renewing licensees must supply proof of coverage, proof of that registration, or the completed exemption questionnaire in the application. The board's insurance document adds the warning that matters on a job site: local municipalities, permit issuing agencies and bid awarding authorities may require insurance and bonding above the state minimum.
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Contractor applicants take the Tennessee Business and Law exam, and a trade exam is required for certain license classifications. Electrical (CE) is one of the trade exams the board lists, alongside the residential, commercial and industrial building exams, HVAC (CMC-C), full mechanical (CMC), plumbing (CMC-A), fire sprinkler (CMC-D) and licensed masonry contractor. Exams are typically valid for two years. Pre-approval is required to take the plumbing CMC-A or full mechanical CMC exam, with a $50 fee for the request, but no pre-approval is described for the electrical exam. The board states the exam is open book. From July 1, 2026, Prov serves as the board's trade exam provider; candidates already scheduled with PSI for a date after July 1 may keep the PSI appointment or reschedule through Prov, and PSI continues administering scheduled exams through September. Applicants who want a preparation course must use one of the board-licensed providers, and the board publishes that list with each provider's license number. The board also points to the NASCLA Accredited Examination Program for Commercial General Building Contractors and Electrical as a way to reduce redundant licensing across jurisdictions, and states that Tennessee accepts the NASCLA National Commercial exam. The LLE exam is separate and simpler. The board states that the LLE license is issued to individuals passing the LLE trade exam, that pre-approval and experience are not required to take that exam, and that the LLE exam is not comparable to a local journeyman or master examination.
The board publishes a single fee page and the amounts are short. For a contractor's license, initial, reinstatement or ownership change is $250, renewal is $200, the late renewal penalty is $20 per month up to twelve months, a mode of operation change is $100, retirement is $25 per year of renewal up to seven years with a $200 reset fee every seven years to stay in retirement, and a duplicate license is $25. Rule 0680-01-.20 carries the same figures and adds a $25 fee where an applicant fails to appear for a board interview without giving at least three days notice, and a $100 fee to transfer a license from a partnership to an individual or from a partnership or proprietorship to a corporation. For a home improvement license, initial, reinstatement or ownership change is $250, renewal is $200, the late penalty is $10 per month up to three months, and a duplicate is $10. For a Limited Licensed Electrician, the initial fee is $50, renewal is $50, reinstatement is $80, the late renewal penalty is $10 per month up to three months, and a duplicate license is $5. Rule 0680-3-.03 sets the same LLE schedule. The board's LLE application package breaks the reinstatement figure down as a $50 new application fee plus a $30 late penalty. Limited Licensed Plumber fees run $75 initial or reinstatement and $50 renewal. A pre-license course provider pays $1,500 initial or reinstatement and $1,000 renewal. All fees paid to the board are non-refundable.
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A contractor's license shows up for renewal in the CORE account within ninety days of expiration, and the board recommends submitting at least thirty days before the expiration date to avoid working on an expired license. The grace period for a contractor's license is twelve months with a $20 per month late fee, and after twelve months the licensee must file a new license application and meet all initial licensure requirements. Home Improvement, LLE and LLP licenses have a three month grace period with a $10 per month late fee, and after three months require a new application. Rule 0680-3-.05 sets the LLE license to expire biennially on the last day of the month of its issuance, allows late renewal for three months on payment of the renewal fee and the late fee, and requires a new application, fees and satisfactory completion of the licensure examination beyond that, subject to a board discretion to waive the examination. Continuing education is narrow in Tennessee and an electrical contractor is outside it. Rule 0680-09-.02 requires eight hours of board-approved Residential Continuing Education during the two year period before expiration, and only for licensees holding the BC-A, BC-A/r, or BC-A,b(sm) residential classifications. Rule 0680-09-.01 defines RCE by reference to those same residential classifications, and Rule 0680-09-.02(1)(b) exempts residential contractors licensed before January 1, 2009. The board's renewal page repeats that BC-A and BC-A/r contractors complete eight hours with every biennial renewal. The board's LLE application package states plainly that there are no continuing education requirements for the LLE.
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The LLE is the credential most small electrical firms in Tennessee actually hold, and its boundaries are tight. Requirements are a photo ID and social security number, the LLE trade exam, and the application with fee. There is no experience requirement and no pre-approval to sit the exam. The initial fee is $50, filed through core.tn.gov. Rule 0680-3-.01(2) states that limited licensed electricians are not authorized to use the appellation contractor unless they also hold a valid contractor's license issued by the board, and the board's application package repeats it as a prohibition on advertising as an electrical contractor. There are no out-of-state reciprocal or exam waiver agreements for the LLE. Insurance is not required for LLE licensing, though workers compensation law still applies to anyone with employees and local government may require proof before issuing a permit. Rule 0680-3-.06 lets the board assess civil penalties of $0 to $1,000 for each separate violation of T.C.A. 62-6-111, with each day of continued violation treated separately, and lets it act for faulty electrical work, fraud or deceit in obtaining a license, and dishonesty, fraud or gross negligence. The bigger limit is geographic. The Division of Fire Prevention publishes a list of exempt jurisdictions, cities and counties not participating in the state electrical program, where the LLE is not accepted. It covers Athens, Bristol, Cleveland, Elizabethton, Johnson City, Kingsport, Knoxville, Maryville, Morristown and Oak Ridge inside city limits, all of Hamilton County including Chattanooga, Collegedale, East Ridge, Lakesite, Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain and Soddy Daisy, then Clarksville, Cookeville, Franklin, Gallatin, Hendersonville, McMinnville, Mt. Juliet, Murfreesboro, Smyrna and Spring Hill, plus Nashville, Davidson County and Metro, the City of Jackson, and all of Shelby County. The board's package states the consequence: in those places an electrician meets the local licensing requirement, typically a journeyman or master license, or obtains the statewide contractor's license with a CE classification to get permits for inspections. All of them accept the CE license.
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Tennessee is direct about this: you cannot operate in Tennessee with a license from another state. What the board offers instead is a trade exam waiver. If you are actively licensed in a participating state and the license type you are requesting requires a trade exam, you may be able to waive that exam by having the other state complete the board's License Verification form and returning it with your application. For electrical work the board names Alabama for general, electrical, residential and HVAC; Louisiana for residential, commercial, electrical and mechanical; Mississippi for residential, commercial, electrical and mechanical unlimited; North Carolina for residential and commercial building and electrical; Ohio for electrical, plumbing and HVAC; South Carolina for commercial building, electrical, HVAC and plumbing through its commercial contractors board; and West Virginia for residential, commercial and industrial building, electrical, mechanical and masonry. Arkansas is listed for commercial and residential building only. Tennessee also accepts the NASCLA National Commercial exam. Two limits are stated on the same page. The waiver removes the trade exam, not the rest of the application, so the Tennessee Business and Law exam, the financial statement, the reference letter, insurance and the affidavit still apply. And the agreement applies only to the Contractor licence with the board. It does not apply to Home Improvement, LLE or LLP, which the board's LLE package repeats as no state reciprocal agreements for out-of-state electricians.
The board enforces through citations and civil penalties rather than through a single headline fine. Rule 0680-01-.21 lets the executive director issue citations against persons acting in the capacity of or engaging in the business of a contractor without a license in violation of T.C.A. 62-6-103, with each citation in writing, describing the basis with particularity, containing an order to cease all violations, and assessing a civil penalty of $50 to $1,000 for a violation of T.C.A. 62-6-103(a)(1) and $50 to $1,000 for a violation of 62-6-103(b). Rule 0680-01-.19 sets the board's own schedule: $50 to $1,000 for violations of T.C.A. 62-6-101 et seq., $50 to $5,000 for violations of T.C.A. 62-6-120(d), $50 to $1,000 for most board rules and orders, and $50 to $5,000 for violations of Rule 0680-01-.13(4) and Rule 0680-01-.18. Each day of continued violation is a separate violation. The bidding consequence is in Rule 0680-01-.18: no person, firm or corporation who engages or offers to engage in contracting without a valid contractor's license, or in violation of the terms and conditions of that license, shall be awarded any contract for the project on which it contracted without a license, or be permitted to participate in any re-bidding of it. Rule 0680-01-.27(3) makes it misconduct to pull a building, electrical, plumbing or like permit for a job where an unlicensed contractor is acting as the general contractor, or to consent to or allow a contractor's license number to be used by an unlicensed or improperly licensed contractor. That one catches licensed electricians who permit for someone else.
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Tennessee has no statewide rule putting a contractor's licence number on a truck, but it has several rules about what you may call yourself and what has to appear where. The strongest is Rule 0680-3-.01(2): limited licensed electricians are not authorized to use the appellation contractor unless they also hold a valid contractor's license issued by the board. The board's LLE package repeats it as a prohibition on advertising as an electrical contractor. Rule 0680-01-.25(1) puts an affirmative responsibility on a licensee to enter into contracts and operate its related contracting business under the name in which it is licensed, in order to notify the public of its licensure status, and makes contracting under a different name a violation of the chapter. Rule 0680-01-.24(1) requires an electrical subcontractor to furnish evidence to the prime contractor of an active license with the appropriate name, classification, monetary limit, and expiration date, regardless of how the bid is transmitted, and exposes a subcontractor who does not to board discipline. Rule 0680-01-.24(2) requires a prime contractor bidding under T.C.A. 62-6-119(b) to list on the outside of the bid envelope or in an electronic bid submission only one electrical contractor with the appropriate classification and monetary limit, or the bid is not considered, and makes awarding the subcontract to anyone not listed subject to board review and disciplinary action. On site, Rule 0780-02-01-.05(8) requires a copy of the electrical permit to be posted where the inspection is to occur before the first inspection is conducted, and warns that failure to post may result in a rejected inspection.
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Tennessee is an outlier on code vintage and contractors should price accordingly. Rule 0780-02-01-.02(1) adopts by reference the National Electrical Code, 2017 edition, published by the National Fire Protection Association, effective October 1, 2018, as the required minimum standard for materials, installations, use of facilities, equipment, devices and appliances conducting, conveying, consuming or using electrical energy in or in connection with any building, structure or premises in the state. Two state amendments ride with it: Section 110.24 available fault current is optional, and arc fault circuit interrupters are optional for bathrooms, laundry areas, garages, unfinished basements limited to storage or work areas, and for branch circuits dedicated to supplying refrigeration equipment. The administrative history records the current amendments as filed December 19, 2017 and effective March 19, 2018. The Division of Fire Prevention states on its electrical permits page that its section is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the 2017 edition of the National Electric Code and all state laws and rules concerning electrical energy in the state, using roughly 100 contracted deputy electrical inspectors across the state. Rule 0780-02-01-.17 bars any city, county, town, municipal corporation, metropolitan government or political subdivision from adopting or enforcing any ordinance prescribing less stringent electrical standards than the state's, as determined by the division, and Rule 0780-02-01-.20 requires a local government's adopted electrical code publication to be current within seven years. Local jurisdictions may therefore be on a newer edition than the state, but never an older one.
Outside the exempt jurisdictions, electrical permits are bought through the state. The Division of Fire Prevention sells electrical and residential permits through CORE, the Comprehensive Online Regulatory and Enforcement System, and the same account is used to add inspection services, request inspections and re-inspections, print permits and request refunds. Contracted private persons, companies and governmental entities act as issuing agents at locations across most of the state, and Rule 0780-02-01-.18(1) requires every issuing agent, including business entities, municipalities and cooperatives, to hold a current contract with the Department of Commerce and Insurance administered through the Electrical Section. Rule 0780-02-01-.05(4) requires an applicant for a permit to present the permit fee and, except for a residential property owner's permit, proof of licensure under T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 6. Permits are non-transferable, a rejected installation requires a new permit, and a permit expires two years from issue unless the inspector finds substantial progress or the commissioner grants an exception. Rule 0780-02-01-.21 caps final inspection fees at $35.00 for 0 to 200 ampere capacity, $40.00 for 201 to 400, $50.00 for 401 to 600 and $90.00 for 601 to 1,000, with anything above 1,000 amperes treated as a nonstandard permit at a negotiable fee subject to approval. Rough-in and re-inspection fees are capped at $35.00, inspection of a dwelling unit's heating or cooling system at $35.00, and an optional consultation inspection at $50.00. A homeowner may permit work on a residential dwelling only; commercial work requires a license.
Both of Tennessee's largest cities sit outside the state electrical program, so both run their own front door. Nashville, Davidson County and Metro appear on the division's exempt jurisdiction list, and all of Shelby County, which contains Memphis, appears as well. Metro Nashville's Department of Codes and Building Safety issues electrical trade permits and states that only licensed contractors with an e-permit account can apply for a trade permit through its online system, with everyone else applying in person at the department at 800 President Ronald Reagan Way. Metro's application for an electrical permit asks for the company name and contractor number, asks whether the contract amount is over $25,000, and carries a certification by the applicant that he is in compliance with T.C.A. 62-6-101 et seq., the Tennessee Contractor's Licensing Act, for the work described in the permit. It also sets the work clock: work must start within six months and be completed within two years of the issue date, and permits become invalid if work is suspended one year after the start date. For verification, the Department of Commerce and Insurance runs a single public license search covering the Board for Licensing Contractors, and the board publishes both a Verify a License link and a separate Verify a Qualifying Agent link, which is the one a general contractor uses to confirm that the person named on the licence actually passed the electrical exam. The board also publishes disciplinary actions. Rule 0680-01-.24(1) means the name, classification, monetary limit and expiration date on that record are exactly what a prime contractor will check before your bid counts.
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These are common details other guides publish about Tennessee, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes, through the Board for Licensing Contractors. It issues a contractor's license with the CE electrical classification for projects of $25,000 or more, and a Limited Licensed Electrician license for work under $25,000 in jurisdictions that use the Division of Fire Prevention for permits and inspections.
Both, in different places. The contractor's license is issued to the entity and qualified by a named qualifying agent who sits the exams under Rule 0680-01-.02(4). The Limited Licensed Electrician license is issued to an individual who passes the LLE trade exam.
A contractor's license is required before contracting, including bidding, offering to engage or negotiating a price, for projects of $25,000 or more. Rule 0680-01-.24(1) requires an electrical subcontractor to be licensed when the electrical portion is $25,000 or more including materials and labor.
It covers electrical work of less than $25,000 per project in municipalities that use the Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections. The initial fee is $50, the renewal fee is $50, and reinstatement is $80.
No. The board states that pre-approval and experience are not required to take the LLE exam and that there are no continuing education requirements for the LLE.
No. Rule 0680-3-.01(2) states limited licensed electricians are not authorized to use the appellation contractor unless they also hold a valid contractor's license issued by the board, and the board's application package prohibits advertising as an electrical contractor.
Rule 0680-01-.13(1)(a) uses the lesser of ten times net worth or ten times working capital, plus required experience. An unlimited licence needs at least $300,000 in both working capital and net worth. A ten percent tolerance applies, except on the BC-A/r restricted residential license.
From July 1, 2026, yes. The board added a Contractors' Surety Bond option as an alternative to a CPA-reviewed or CPA-audited statement, in an amount equal to at least 50 percent of the monetary limit requested, on the board-approved form.
Rule 0680-6-.02 requires not less than $100,000 for limits up to $500,000, not less than $500,000 for limits between $500,001 and $1,500,000, and not less than $1,000,000 for limits of $1,500,001 or more. The board must be named as certificate holder.
Not as a license. The board states you cannot operate in Tennessee with a license from another state, but it offers a trade exam waiver for actively licensed electrical contractors from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia, and accepts the NASCLA National Commercial exam.
No. Rule 0680-09-.02 applies the eight hour biennial Residential Continuing Education requirement only to licensees holding the BC-A, BC-A/r or BC-A,b(sm) residential classifications.
The 2017 edition, adopted by Rule 0780-02-01-.02(1) effective October 1, 2018, with Section 110.24 available fault current optional and arc fault circuit interrupters optional in certain areas. Local jurisdictions may not enforce less stringent standards.
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