Vermont · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Vermont licenses the electrician and not the company. The Division of Fire Safety at the Department of Public Safety, through the Electricians' Licensing Board, issues master, journeyman and Type-S specialist licenses to individuals under 26 V.S.A. Chapter 15. There is no separate electrical contractor license. A master electrician license is what lets you run electrical work as your business and employ other licensed people.
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Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety, Electricians' Licensing BoardState-level license
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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.
Vermont runs electrical licensing out of the Division of Fire Safety at the Department of Public Safety, the same department and the same division that runs plumbing licensing. There is no separate electrical contractor license and no company license. Vermont licenses people. The Electricians' Licensing Board, created by 26 V.S.A. section 901, consists of the Commissioner of Public Safety or a designee plus four members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate: one licensed master electrician, one licensed journeyman electrician, one person associated with the public electrical utility industry, and one person associated with the fire insurance industry. The four appointed members serve three year terms and not more than two terms may expire in the same year. The Division states that the state electrical safety program works through adoption of nationally recognized safety codes, licensing, education and training of people doing electrical installation work, and code enforcement. The master license is what carries the business. Under 26 V.S.A. section 902(c), a master electrician is entitled to design, install, repair, maintain and replace electrical installations including lightning rods, fire alarms and fire detection systems as his or her principal business or in the course of another business, and may employ other licensed persons or electricians' helpers to work under his or her direction. That sentence is the whole legal basis for an electrical company in Vermont.
Sourcesfiresafety.vermont.gov 1legislature.vermont.gov 2firesafety.vermont.gov 3firesafety.vermont.gov 4
Vermont issues three electrical licenses and the Division's own ledger shows the prefixes: EM for Electrical Master, EJ for Electrical Journeyman and ES for Electrical Specialist. The specialist is the Type-S journeyman electrician created by 26 V.S.A. section 904, and it is licensed per field. The 2025 Vermont Electrical Safety Rules list the fields by code: A1 automatic gas or oil heating including geo-thermal and ground source heat pumps, B2 outdoor advertising, C3 refrigeration or air conditioning and air to air heat pumps, D4 appliance and motor repairs, E5 well pumps, F6 farm equipment, G7c commercial fire alarm systems, G7g gas pump installation including canopy and bulk plant work, G7k electrical lock installation including delayed egress and access control, G7l lightning rod installation, and G7s solar installation. The scope difference matters when you bid. A journeyman performs electrical installations under the direction of a master electrician, or of a Type-S journeyman in connection with that specialty field. A Type-S journeyman may design, install, repair, maintain and replace electrical installations only in the specialty field on the license, and the rules add a hard limit: a Type-S may only install branch circuits from the existing electrical service. The rules also state that nobody other than a licensed master electrician may engage in the business of installing lightning rods, fire alarms or fire detection systems for another unless they hold the appropriate Type-S license.
Sourcesfiresafety.vermont.gov 1firesafety.vermont.gov 2legislature.vermont.gov 3
Vermont's master requirement is short and it is a time requirement rather than an hours requirement. Under 26 V.S.A. section 902(a), an applicant must have been licensed as a journeyman electrician under the chapter for at least two years, or have had comparable experience and training within or outside the state acceptable to the Board, and must pass an examination to the satisfaction of the Board. The 2025 Vermont Electrical Safety Rules tighten the first route slightly, requiring the applicant to have been licensed as, and working as, a journeyman electrician for at least two years. The Division's own application instructions confirm the paperwork: if you are applying after holding a Vermont Electrical Journeyman license for two years, you submit the completed application with a copy of that qualifying license. The master examination is broader than the journeyman one. Section 905(b) requires the master examination to contain questions on the installation of lightning rods, fire alarms and fire detection systems, and the 2025 rules state that the master examination shall contain questions on all specialty fields designated for Type-S journeyman electricians. Supervision is defined for the master as well: under the rules, supervising an apprentice or helper means either that the master is physically present on the work site and immediately available, or that a journeyman under the master's direction is immediately available.
Sourceslegislature.vermont.gov 1firesafety.vermont.gov 2firesafety.vermont.gov 3
Under 26 V.S.A. section 903(a) a journeyman applicant must provide verification by the Vermont Apprenticeship Council of completion of an apprenticeship in electrical wiring that included both instruction and practice in work processes, or have had equivalent training and experience within or outside the state acceptable to the Board, and must pass an examination to the satisfaction of the Board. The 2025 rules add a scheduling allowance that is worth knowing if you are trying to move a senior apprentice up: the Board may approve an applicant who has completed the instruction portion of the apprenticeship program to take the examination before completing the practice in work experience, but where the applicant passes the examination without the work experience, the license is not issued until the practice portion is finished. The Division's application instructions confirm that an applicant who completed the Vermont Apprenticeship Program within the past two years includes a copy of the completion certificate and does not need experience affidavits. A journeyman may supervise an apprentice electrician or an electrician's helper employed by a master electrician under the master's direction, and the rules define supervise in that case as the journeyman being physically present on the work site and immediately available to direct and supervise. There is also a military route: 26 V.S.A. section 906(c) requires a journeyman license to be issued to a service member or veteran designated as a 12R electrician or equivalent who has completed a minimum of 8,000 hours and four years of active duty field work.
Sourceslegislature.vermont.gov 1firesafety.vermont.gov 2firesafety.vermont.gov 3
The Type-S license is the one a specialty business runs on, and the Division's application instructions state the entry requirement plainly: submit proof of completion of a recognized training program plus one year, expressed as 2,000 hours, of experience through signed affidavits for each specialty you are applying for. The statute at 26 V.S.A. section 904(a) puts the same test as completing an accredited training and experience program recognized by the Board, or training and experience within or without the state acceptable to the Board, plus passing an examination in one or more of the listed fields. Each field is a separate license and carries its own fee. The practical limit is the one to price around: under the 2025 rules a Type-S journeyman is entitled to design, install, repair, maintain and replace electrical installations, as an employee or as an independent contractor, only in connection with the specialty field designated on the license, and may only install branch circuits from the existing electrical service. Anything upstream of that, or outside the named field, needs a journeyman or master on the job. A Type-S journeyman may employ other licensed persons and may supervise an apprentice or helper, with supervise again meaning physically present on the work site and immediately available.
Sourcesfiresafety.vermont.gov 1legislature.vermont.gov 2firesafety.vermont.gov 3
Vermont contracts its electrical examinations out and the Board sets the fee at no more than the cost of administering the exam. The 2025 Vermont Electrical Safety Rules carry a note stating the current examination fee is $80 for the standard test or $80 for the computer based test, paid directly to the contracted testing agency Prov. Under 26 V.S.A. section 905(b) examinations are conducted in writing and shall include a practical skills examination, covering theoretical and practical aspects of electrical work together with pertinent laws and rules. The 2025 rules update that to allow the examination to be conducted in writing or computer based, still including a practical skills examination. Two timing rules follow. The Board's approval of an applicant to take the required examination is valid for three years from the date of approval. An applicant who fails may retake the exam two more times, and where an applicant has failed the third attempt the applicant must reapply with a new application, additional fees and Board approval, and the Board requires the applicant to obtain a minimum of 8 hours of education on the National Electrical Code, the National Fire Alarm Code, or an exam prep course before retaking. The Division's application instructions add that applications must be received at the Central Office two weeks before a Board meeting date to be heard at that meeting, and the Board publishes its meeting dates for the year.
Sourcesfiresafety.vermont.gov 1legislature.vermont.gov 2firesafety.vermont.gov 3firesafety.vermont.gov 4
Vermont electrical license fees are set by the Legislature in 26 V.S.A. section 905(d) and they run for three years rather than one or two. A master's license, initial and renewal, is $150.00. A journeyman's license, initial and renewal, is $115.00. A Type-S journeyman's license, initial and renewal, is $115.00 per field, so a specialist holding three fields pays three times. The Division's application instructions repeat all three figures as three year license fees and state that exam fees are not included in the application. Two smaller fees sit alongside. A certificate suitable for framing is $10.00, and replacement of a lost or damaged license is $20.00. If a license lapses it may be renewed within one year of its expiration date by paying $25.00 in addition to the renewal fee. Section 905(g) requires the Board, on request and under qualifications and procedures determined by the Commissioner, to waive application fees for qualified military members and military spouses. What is not on the list is as useful as what is. Vermont sets no state bond requirement for an electrician and no state liability insurance minimum in Chapter 15, because the state is licensing the tradesperson rather than the contracting business.
A Vermont electrical license is valid for three years and expires on the last day of a month designated by the Board, under 26 V.S.A. section 908(a). The continuing education requirement is tied directly to the code book. Section 908(b) requires all journeyman and master electricians, as a condition of renewal, to complete 15 hours of instruction approved by the Board on the national electrical code during the preceding 36 month period. Type-S journeyman license holders complete eight hours of instruction approved by the Board on the subject of their specialty during the preceding 36 months, and a holder of multiple Type-S licenses is not required to complete more than 15 hours. The 2025 rules add an exception: a person licensed only as a Type-S A1 and C3 is not required to complete more than 8 hours. On top of that sits the energy module. Section 905(h) requires each applicant to complete an education module regarding the state's energy goals and how the electrician profession can further them, and section 905 caps that module at not more than two hours as a condition of both initial licensure and renewal. A Division memo dated June 17, 2021 states that the module came from S.220 in the 2020 legislative session, that anyone applying for a new license or renewing a license due to expire after July 1, 2021 must complete it and provide a copy of the completion certificate with the application, that it takes approximately 20 minutes, and that it applies to licensed electricians, licensed plumbers, oil and gas appliance technicians and commissioned boiler inspectors. A lapsed license blocks work: the rules state that an electrician whose license has lapsed shall not do any unsupervised electrical installation work, and that work notices will not be processed for an expired license.
Sourceslegislature.vermont.gov 1firesafety.vermont.gov 2firesafety.vermont.gov 3firesafety.vermont.gov 4
Vermont has three separate routes in from another jurisdiction and the Division names all three. Reciprocity under 26 V.S.A. section 906(b)(1) issues a master's or journeyman's license to a person already licensed by another state whose standards are equivalent, provided that state grants a similar privilege to Vermont licensees. The Division's application instructions limit this route in practice to residents of Maine and New Hampshire, asking for a certified letter from the reciprocating state and a photocopy of the license, and the 2025 rules carry a note that reciprocal agreements for residents of New Hampshire and Maine obtaining licenses in Vermont remain in place. The second route is endorsement. Section 906(b)(2)(A) requires the Board to issue a license to master and journeyman electricians licensed in good standing in another United States jurisdiction for at least three years, regardless of whether that jurisdiction meets the reciprocity test. The rules call the result a Universal license and the application asks for a certified letter from each issuing state, a photocopy of each license, the original dates of issuance and the means by which the license was obtained. The third is new: the 2025 rules state that Vermont has joined the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance, and that a license held in a NERA member state must be held in good standing for one year before applying for a Vermont electrician's license.
Sourceslegislature.vermont.gov 1firesafety.vermont.gov 2firesafety.vermont.gov 3
Vermont's licensing reach is narrower than most states and the boundary is the complex structure. The 2025 rules open the licensing chapter by stating that, with limited exceptions, anyone performing electrical work in Vermont other than in a residential building containing two or fewer dwelling units, or electrical work regulated under NEC Article 800 communications circuits, is required to be licensed. 26 V.S.A. section 910 lists the exemptions, and subsection (6) is the important one: no license is required for any electrical work in a building used for dwelling or residential purposes that contains no more than two dwelling units. The other exemptions cover work in an industrial or manufacturing plant owned or leased by the operator when done under the supervision of an electrical engineer or master electrician in the operator's employ, exposed wiring installed in laboratories for experimental purposes, work by an owner or the owner's regular employees in the owner's freestanding single unit residence and its outbuildings or any structure on an owner-occupied farm, installations done as part of a vocational school training project, work by an electrician's helper under direct supervision of an appropriately licensed person, and installation of solar electric modules and racking on complex structures to the point of connection to field-fabricated wiring plus erection of net metered wind turbines. Separately, 26 V.S.A. section 882 puts public utility work, telecommunications, ships, pipelines, railway rolling stock, automotive equipment, portable sound equipment, in-plant equipment manufacture and owner-occupied farm buildings outside the chapter entirely.
Vermont does not call it a permit. Under 26 V.S.A. section 893(a), electrical work in a complex structure shall not commence until a work notice accompanied by the required fee is submitted to the Department and validated. The base fee is $40.00 for each work notice, except for electrical work done in one and two family residential dwellings, and a schedule of additional fees sits on top. Services are $30.00 temporary, $35.00 permanent single or three phase through 400 amp, $50.00 for 401 to 800 amp and $100.00 for 801 amp and larger. Transformers run $10.00 to $35.00 each by size, and motors and generators $10.00 to $25.00 each. Other work includes $35.00 for each panel and feeder after the main disconnect, $20.00 per 50 receptacles, switches, fixtures or baseboard units or portion thereof, $5.00 per yard light or sign, $15.00 per fuel pump, $10.00 per boiler or furnace, $75.00 per elevator, $40.00 per platform lift, $30.00 per 50 fire alarm devices, $50.00 per fire alarm main or annunciator panel and $50.00 per fire pump. Reinspection for code violations is $125.00. The rules add that a validated work notice expires if the work is not commenced, or is suspended or abandoned, for 12 months, and that the Commissioner may refuse to validate a work notice if the licensee has other ongoing work with no notice filed or owes the Department fees or penalties.
Vermont has two penalty routes and they stack differently from most states. The criminal one is 26 V.S.A. section 911, which provides that any person who installs, replaces or repairs any electrical installation except as provided in sections 882 and 910 without first obtaining an appropriate license, or who employs a person to make any electrical installation for which that person is not properly licensed, or who procures any license wrongfully or by fraud, shall be fined not more than $500.00 for each offense. Note the middle clause, because it reaches the company that puts an unlicensed person on a job, not only the person doing the work. The administrative route is 26 V.S.A. section 897(a), under which the Commissioner may, after notice and an opportunity for hearing, assess an administrative penalty of not more than $1,000.00 for each violation against a person who violates any rule adopted under the subchapter or any order lawfully issued under it, with penalties based on the severity of the violation. The 2025 rules repeat that $1,000 figure among the Commissioner's powers of enforcement and point to the Division's Rules for Administrative Citations and Penalties for procedure. Section 897(b) lets the Commissioner go to Superior Court for an injunction without giving up the administrative penalty, and section 897(c) makes violation of any rule prima facie evidence of negligence in a civil action for damage or injury resulting from the violation. The Board can separately revoke, suspend or refuse to renew a license under section 909.
Vermont's display rule is about the person, not the truck. Sections 902(b), 903(b) and 904(b) of 26 V.S.A. each state that the license is issued in the form of a wallet-size card, that it shall be carried by the licensee at all times while performing his or her trade, and that it shall be displayed upon request. The 2025 rules modernize that: the license, or an electronic version accompanied by photo identification, shall be carried while performing the trade and displayed upon request. A framed certificate is available on request for the $10.00 fee, but it does not replace the card. What Vermont does not do is require a license number on vehicles, on signage, on a website or in advertising, and no such requirement appears in Chapter 15 or in the 2025 rules. The rules do impose four duties on every licensee: not to install, repair or maintain conductors and equipment in a manner likely to be unsafe to people and property, to observe the rules on installation work and supervision of unlicensed employees, not to begin electrical work until a work notice has been validated, and to notify the Division of any change in contact information, mailing address, email address and phone number. A licensee who has filed a work notice must also keep records of who accomplished the work and give the electrical inspector at least five working days notice for any required inspection.
Vermont adopts its electrical code through the Electricians' Licensing Board rather than through the legislature. The 2025 Vermont Electrical Safety Rules, effective November 5, 2025, adopt NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, 2023 edition, and amend it. The amendments are specific and they change what you install. GFCI protection in laundry areas and rooms is required for receptacles installed within 6 feet of a washing machine or sink, replacing NEC 210.8(A)(11). A new exception to 210.8(F) exempts water wells, sewer discharge pumps and hardwired electric vehicle chargers with integral GFCI protection and a properly terminated equipment grounding conductor. A new exception to 210.12(D)(2) removes AFCI protection where an existing conductor extension is used solely to hardwire single station smoke or carbon monoxide alarms in an existing dwelling or dormitory unit. NEC 230.70(A)(1) is replaced with a rule putting the service disconnecting means outside the building or inside nearest the point of entrance, not exceeding 10 feet of conductor length from the point of entrance. Article 334.12(A)(2) is deleted and 518.6 is rewritten. The same rules adopt NFPA 73, the standard for inspections of existing dwellings, 2021 edition, and NFPA 780, the lightning protection code, 2023 edition. The Division states that if an adopted code and a referenced standard conflict, the adopted code applies, and if a general and a specific requirement conflict, the specific one applies.
Vermont lets cities take over inspection, and the largest city has. Under 26 V.S.A. section 898, a legislative body may establish inspection procedures and appoint trained and qualified municipal inspectors to conduct electrical inspections, and if the Commissioner determines that the procedures, training and qualifications are sufficient, the Commissioner may assign the Department's responsibility to that municipality. The 2025 rules list that assignment among the Commissioner's powers of enforcement. Burlington's Permitting and Inspections Building and Trades Division states that it works under the 2025 Vermont Fire and Building Safety Code, the Burlington Code of Ordinances and its municipal agreement with the State of Vermont, and that it administers and enforces standards that meet or exceed state minimums. The city issues a Trades permit for mechanical, electrical or plumbing work separately from the building permit, and it notes that as of November 2025 the state adopted updated Fire and Building Safety codes, Electrical Safety Rules and Plumbing Rules. Burlington building permit fees are set by Burlington Code of Ordinances Chapter 8-28(a) at $8.50 per $1,000.00 of estimated cost of construction with a minimum permit fee of $30.00, and the city warns that work started without an active issued permit is subject to additional work-without-permit fees under BCO 8-28(f). Inspections at rental properties require 48 hours advance notice to tenants and the contractor must meet the inspector for a trades permit.
Sourceslegislature.vermont.gov 1firesafety.vermont.gov 2burlingtonvt.gov 3burlingtonvt.gov 4
Vermont requires residential construction contractors to register with the Office of Professional Regulation, and electricians are carved out of it. Under 26 V.S.A. section 5501(a), a person must register before contracting with a homeowner to perform residential construction for more than $10,000.00 including labor and materials, and the definition of residential construction expressly includes installation or repair of electrical systems. Section 5502(2)(A) then exempts a tradesperson licensed, registered or certified by the Department of Public Safety acting within the scope of that license, and 5502(2)(B) exempts a business that performs residential construction if the work is performed primarily by or under the direct supervision of employees who are individually exempt. A licensed Vermont electrician working inside the scope of the license, and the company built around that license, therefore fall outside the registration. For anyone who does need it, the fees are $75.00 for an individual and $250.00 at initial application and biennial renewal for a business organization, and registrants must carry minimum liability insurance of $1,000,000.00 per occurrence and $2,000,000.00 aggregate. Verification is easy for a customer to do. The Division of Fire Safety publishes a Licensed Electricians dataset on the state open data portal, described as a master list of all active licenses with the Division of Fire Safety, with columns for last name, first name, town, license number, license expiry date, type and level.
Sourceslegislature.vermont.gov 1sos.vermont.gov 2data.vermont.gov 3firesafety.vermont.gov 4sos.vermont.gov 5
These are common details other guides publish about Vermont, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Division of Fire Safety at the Department of Public Safety licenses electricians statewide under 26 V.S.A. Chapter 15, through the Electricians' Licensing Board. It is the same department that runs plumbing licensing, not a separate trade board.
The individual only. Vermont issues master, journeyman and Type-S journeyman licenses to people and does not issue an electrical contractor license to a company. Under 26 V.S.A. 902(c) a master electrician may carry on electrical work as a principal business and employ other licensed persons and helpers.
Master (EM), Journeyman (EJ) and Specialist or Type-S journeyman (ES). The Type-S license is issued per specialty field, with codes for automatic gas or oil heating, outdoor advertising, refrigeration and air conditioning, appliance and motor repairs, well pumps, farm equipment, commercial fire alarm, gas pump installation, electrical locks, lightning rods and solar.
Under 26 V.S.A. 902(a) you must have been licensed as a journeyman electrician in Vermont for at least two years, or have comparable experience and training acceptable to the Board, and pass the Board's examination. The 2025 rules require you to have been licensed as, and working as, a journeyman for those two years.
Three year fees are set by statute at 26 V.S.A. 905(d): $150.00 for a master's license, $115.00 for a journeyman's license and $115.00 per field for a Type-S journeyman's license, initial and renewal alike. A framing certificate is $10.00 and a replacement license is $20.00.
Every three years. Journeyman and master electricians complete 15 hours of Board-approved instruction on the national electrical code in the preceding 36 months. Type-S holders complete eight hours on their specialty, capped at 15 hours for multiple fields. All licensees must also complete the Vermont Energy Goals education module.
26 V.S.A. Chapter 15 sets no state liability insurance minimum and no bond for an electrician, because Vermont licenses the tradesperson rather than the contracting business. Residential contractors who do need to register with the Office of Professional Regulation must carry $1,000,000.00 per occurrence and $2,000,000.00 aggregate, but licensed electricians acting within their scope are exempt from that registration.
The 2023 edition of NFPA 70, adopted by the 2025 Vermont Electrical Safety Rules effective November 5, 2025, with Vermont amendments including a laundry GFCI rule measured within 6 feet of a washing machine or sink, a new exception to 210.8(F), and a rewritten 230.70(A)(1) with a 10 foot conductor length limit from the point of entrance.
Not for a building used for dwelling or residential purposes containing no more than two dwelling units. 26 V.S.A. 910(6) exempts that work, and the 2025 rules state the licensing requirement reaches electrical work other than in a residential building of two or fewer dwelling units. Anything larger, and any complex structure, needs a license and a work notice.
It is Vermont's electrical permit. Under 26 V.S.A. 893(a) work in a complex structure cannot begin until a work notice with the required fee is submitted and validated. The base fee is $40.00, except for one and two family residential dwellings, plus a schedule of additional fees by service size, transformer, motor, panel, device count and equipment type. Reinspection for code violations is $125.00.
Under 26 V.S.A. 911 a fine of not more than $500.00 for each offense, and that reaches the employer who puts an unlicensed person on the work as well as the person doing it. Separately, 26 V.S.A. 897(a) lets the Commissioner assess an administrative penalty of not more than $1,000.00 for each rule violation after notice and an opportunity for hearing.
No such requirement appears in 26 V.S.A. Chapter 15 or the 2025 Vermont Electrical Safety Rules. What Vermont does require is that you carry the wallet-size license card, or an electronic version with photo identification, while performing the trade and display it on request.
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