Wisconsin · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
Wisconsin licenses electrical work at the state level only; cities lost the power to add their own electrical licenses in 2014. The Department of Safety and Professional Services issues an Electrical Contractor license to businesses and a ladder of individual credentials, Apprentice through Journeyman to Master, under Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 305. A journeyman needs 8,000 hours of experience or a 3-year apprenticeship, then a 70 percent exam score.
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.
Wisconsin regulates electrical work through the Department of Safety and Professional Services, headquartered at 4822 Madison Yards Way in Madison, Wisconsin. Wis. Stat. 101.862 sets the baseline rule: no person may install, repair, or maintain electrical wiring unless licensed as an electrician or enrolled as a registered electrician by DSPS, and no person or entity may engage in the business of that work unless it holds a DSPS Electrical Contractor license. DSPS administers both requirements under Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 305, subchapter IV, which defines nine separate electrician credentials: Electrical Contractor, Master Electrician, Residential Master Electrician, Registered Master Electrician, Journeyman Electrician, Industrial Journeyman Electrician, Residential Journeyman Electrician, Registered Electrician, and Electrical Apprentice, plus industrial and residential apprentice variants. Every one of those is a state credential. There is no separate county license, and as of April 1, 2014, Wisconsin cities and villages lost the authority to license, register, or certify electrical contractors, electricians, or electrical inspectors on top of the state credential; any municipal electrical licensing ordinance that predated that date stopped applying under Wis. Stat. 101.861. That fact separates Wisconsin from states where a state-licensed contractor still has to pull a second local trade license before working in a given city. Municipalities can still write and enforce their own electrical code provisions under Wis. Stat. 101.86, provided the local code strictly conforms to the state electrical wiring code, and they still issue building permits for the work, but the credential itself comes from one place, DSPS.
DSPS credentials split into a business-level license and several individual field credentials, and the individual credentials split again by scope. The Electrical Contractor license belongs to the business. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305.41(3) requires the applicant to be the owner of the contracting business, a partner applying on the partnership's behalf, or the chairman of the board or chief executive officer applying on a corporation's behalf, and SPS 305.41(2)(c) requires a statement certifying compliance with worker's compensation and unemployment compensation requirements. On the individual side, the general, unrestricted track runs Electrical Apprentice, then Registered Electrician or Journeyman Electrician, then Master Electrician. Wisconsin also licenses two narrower scopes. The Residential track, Residential Electrical Apprentice, Residential Journeyman Electrician, and Residential Master Electrician, is limited under SPS 305.40(2) to wiring in dwellings, dwelling units, and the detached structures that serve them, such as garages, carports, gazebos, and swimming pools; a residential-only electrician can work outside that scope only under the direct supervision of someone who holds the general Master or Journeyman license. The Industrial track, Industrial Electrical Apprentice and Industrial Journeyman Electrician, is limited under SPS 305.40(3) to wiring within the facility or property of the electrician's employer, with the same supervised exception. A journeyman or apprentice on any track must work under the general supervision of a licensed master electrician or registered master electrician, and SPS 305.40(5) caps the number of registered beginning electricians on a job site at twice the number of licensed master and journeyman electricians present, plus two.
Two credentials let a beginner legally work on electrical wiring before finishing a journeyman-level apprenticeship. A Registered Electrician enrollment under SPS 305.45 has no experience prerequisite beyond an application and fee; the tradeoff is that a registered electrician must work under the direct supervision of a licensed master or journeyman electrician, or a residential master or journeyman electrician for dwelling work, at all times under SPS 305.40(4)(d), and the enrollment runs one year. An Electrical Apprentice, Industrial Electrical Apprentice, or Residential Electrical Apprentice registration under SPS 305.46 instead requires the applicant to already be entered into an electrical apprentice contract recognized under Wis. Stat. ch. 106, the state's registered apprenticeship law administered by the Department of Workforce Development. Apprentice registrations also run one year and renew on evidence that the DWD contract is still active; neither entry tier requires passing an exam to obtain. Both feed the journeyman exam. Completing a construction electrician apprenticeship of at least 3 years, approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, is one of the two paths to sit for the Journeyman Electrician exam; the other is logging raw field hours, described below. A person enrolled as a registered electrician who then signs an apprenticeship contract may keep working as a registered electrician under supervision until that enrollment expires, at which point SPS 305.46 requires switching to the apprentice registration.
Wis. Stat. 101.862(4) lists activities DSPS does not require a license or registration for. A residential property owner may wire premises they own and occupy as a residence, unless a local ordinance still requires a permit or registration for that work. A person maintaining or repairing wiring within an existing industrial or manufacturing facility they own, lease, or work for as an employee or agent is exempt, as is anyone installing, repairing, or maintaining wiring for elevators and escalators, equipment or systems operating at 100 volts or less, or an electronic system that monitors a premises for an emergency and issues an alarm. The exemption list also covers wiring for telecommunications transmission facilities, certain manufactured equipment where the work is limited to conductors past the last junction or device box, wiring for manufactured home or building components while still at the factory, utility employees and their subcontractors doing utility-related work, lighting or signal wiring for public roads and airports, replacing an existing switch or outlet rated at 20 amperes or less, and limited buried-conductor work tied to a private wastewater system or a well pump. A separate exemption in Wis. Stat. 101.862(5) covers electricians born on or before January 1, 1956 with at least 15 years of experience, which is the population eligible for the permanent Registered Master Electrician credential under SPS 305.437. None of these exemptions cover a business offering electrical contracting services to others; that always requires the Electrical Contractor license.
An applicant for the general Journeyman Electrician exam needs one of two qualifying paths under SPS 305.44(3) and Wis. Stat. 101.87(1). The first is completion of a construction electrician apprenticeship in installing, repairing, and maintaining electrical wiring that runs at least 3 years and is approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. The second is direct field experience: not less than 48 months, with at least 8,000 hours of experience over that period, installing, repairing, and maintaining electrical wiring. Education can substitute for part of that second path. A 2-year degree or diploma from a school of electrical engineering, or from an accredited technical or vocational school in an electrical-related program, counts as the equivalent of 12 months and 2,000 hours of the required experience, so a graduate of such a program still needs 36 months and 6,000 hours of verified field work to reach the 48-month, 8,000-hour threshold. Neither path is optional once chosen; an applicant must document whichever route they take when applying, and the application must be filed with DSPS before the person can sit for the exam. Passing the exam, covered below, is required before DSPS will issue the Journeyman Electrician license itself; the qualifying hours or apprenticeship only earn the right to test.
SPS 305.43(2) and Wis. Stat. 101.868(1) give an applicant for the general Master Electrician exam three qualifying options. The first is a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering. The second is 12 months of experience installing, repairing, and maintaining electrical wiring while already licensed as a journeyman electrician, which is the path most working electricians take since it builds directly on the journeyman credential. The third is raw field experience without a degree or journeyman license: not less than 60 months, with at least 10,000 hours of experience, over that period. Unlike the journeyman requirement, the rule does not describe an education credit that shortens the 60-month, 10,000-hour track for master electrician, so an applicant without a journeyman license or an engineering degree has to log the full five years. Once qualified, a master electrician license holder may exchange it for a journeyman license and later exchange back under SPS 305.43(6), which is useful for someone who wants to work under another master's supervision for a stretch without losing standing. A master electrician is responsible for the electrical work performed under their supervision and, under SPS 305.43(5), must utilize appropriately licensed or registered individuals for any installation, repair, or maintenance carried out under that supervision, and may not begin work requiring a uniform building permit until the permit is issued.
Wisconsin sets separate, shorter experience thresholds for the scope-limited residential and industrial credentials. A Residential Journeyman Electrician applicant needs at least 1,000 hours per year for at least 3 years, 3,000 hours total, in residential electrical wiring work under SPS 305.447(3), or can qualify instead by completing a residential electrical wiring apprenticeship; each full-time semester in an accredited electrical-related college, university, technical, or vocational program counts as 500 hours of credit, capped at 2,000 hours and 2 years. An Industrial Journeyman Electrician applicant needs 1,000 hours per year for at least 5 years, 5,000 hours total, in industrial electrical wiring work under SPS 305.443(3), with the same 500-hour-per-semester education credit capped at 2,000 hours and 2 years, or can qualify by completing an industrial electrical apprenticeship. A Residential Master Electrician applicant needs 1,000 hours per year for at least 5 years, 5,000 hours total, in electrical wiring work under SPS 305.435(2), with education credited at 500 hours per semester up to a higher cap of 3,000 hours and 3 years. All three still require passing the corresponding licensure examination except where the apprenticeship path is used instead. Each of these credentials carries the scope limits described earlier: residential wiring in dwellings and their accessory structures, or industrial wiring confined to the license holder's own employer's facilities.
DSPS requires a passing grade of 70 percent or greater on each part of a license examination under SPS 305.09(6)(a), and administers or contracts for at least 4 examinations annually for each credential category. Trade exams are computer-based through Pearson VUE testing centers around the state, including Eau Claire, Madison, Brookfield, Kenosha, Ashwaubenon, and Milwaukee; a candidate applies and becomes exam-eligible through the LicensE online portal, then schedules the seat directly with Pearson, and may request a Spanish-language exam on the application. The Journeyman Electrician and Master Electrician exams each run a 4-hour seat and carry a $95.00 fee payable to Pearson VUE, separate from the DSPS application and examination fees described below. The exam is open-book, and DSPS allows exactly three reference items into the room: one binder containing Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305, Wis. Admin. Code SPS 316, and printed notes; a bound National Electrical Code book or handbook; and up to two bound commercial reference books such as Ugly's or a Mike Holt series title. Loose papers, removable tabs, sticky notes, and paperclips are not allowed. As of this writing the exam is based on the 2017 NEC; DSPS has published that beginning October 1, 2026, the exam content shifts to the 2023 NEC alongside the same SPS 305 and SPS 316 references. An applicant who fails part of a multi-part exam retakes only the failed part, but must pass every part within one year of the first sitting or start over.
Sourcesdsps.wi.gov 1dsps.wi.gov 2dsps.wi.gov 3docs.legis.wisconsin.gov 4
DSPS Table 305.02 sets a separate application fee, examination fee, and license or registration fee for every credential. For the Electrical Contractor license the application fee is $35.00 and the license fee is $200.00, with no separate DSPS examination fee since the contractor credential is not tested. For Master Electrician and Residential Master Electrician the application fee is $35.00, the examination fee is $30.00, and the license fee is $200.00; the Registered Master Electrician registration carries a $35.00 application fee and a $150.00 registration fee with no exam. For Journeyman Electrician, Industrial Journeyman Electrician, and Residential Journeyman Electrician the application fee is $35.00, the examination fee is $30.00, and the license fee is $100.00. A Registered Electrician enrollment costs a $15.00 application fee and a $20.00 enrollment fee. Electrical Apprentice, Industrial Electrical Apprentice, and Residential Electrical Apprentice registrations each cost a $15.00 application fee and a $15.00 registration fee. These are the fees paid to DSPS through the LicensE portal; they do not include the separate Pearson VUE seat fee charged for exam-based credentials, which runs $95.00 for the journeyman and master-level exams. A $15.00 fee applies to replace a lost or destroyed credential, and a $200.00 fee applies to a petition for variance from a chapter SPS 305 rule, or $400.00 if the petitioner requests priority review.
Sourcesdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov
Most Wisconsin electrician credentials run on a 4-year term expiring June 30, per Table 305.06: Electrical Contractor, Master Electrician, Residential Master Electrician, Journeyman Electrician, Industrial Journeyman Electrician, and Residential Journeyman Electrician all renew every 4 years on that date. Registered Electrician enrollments and all three apprentice registrations run 1 year from the date of issuance instead, and the Registered Master Electrician registration does not expire. Continuing education hours required for renewal vary by credential: Journeyman Electrician and Master Electrician each require at least 24 hours before the license expires; Residential Journeyman Electrician, Industrial Journeyman Electrician, and Residential Master Electrician each require at least 18 hours; and a Registered Electrician enrollment requires 24 hours, waived for anyone currently in a youth apprenticeship program under Wis. Stat. 106.13. Only courses, programs, and seminars DSPS has approved in writing count, credited in half-hour increments and rounded down for any partial half hour, under SPS 305.08. DSPS mails a renewal notice at least 30 calendar days before expiration, but SPS 305.07(1)(b) makes clear that not receiving it is no excuse for missing the deadline. A credential filed for renewal within one further term after expiration can still be renewed rather than reinstated, and continuing education completed late but within that window can still count toward it for a $25.00 processing fee, the same figure DSPS lists as the "Late CE" fee. Filing later than that requires reinstatement instead, which SPS 305.07(2)(c) and the DSPS trades fee schedule both set at $200.00, on top of the ordinary application and license fees, and DSPS may also require demonstrating continued competence before reissuing the credential.
Sourcesdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov 1docs.legis.wisconsin.gov 2dsps.wi.gov 3
Wisconsin's electrical licensing rules do not require an electrician or an Electrical Contractor to carry a specific amount of liability insurance, and they do not require a surety bond as a condition of state licensure. What SPS 305.41(2)(c) does require, for the Electrical Contractor license only, is a statement certifying that the business complies with worker's compensation requirements under Wis. Stat. ch. 102 and with unemployment compensation requirements under Wis. Stat. ch. 108; DSPS's own Electrical Contractor application instructions confirm this is an attestation made at the time of application, not a bond or a policy submitted to the department, and direct applicants unsure whether worker's compensation coverage applies to their business to the Department of Workforce Development's Worker's Compensation Division. This is a real gap worth knowing before quoting a job: a Wisconsin electrical contractor license by itself is not proof of any particular insurance limit, and a customer, general contractor, or municipality that wants a certificate of insurance or a bond has to ask for it separately, since the state license does not guarantee one exists. Contractors that want to advertise a bonded status should be prepared to back that claim with an actual bond, since nothing in ch. SPS 305 creates one automatically.
Wisconsin's reciprocity authority is discretionary, not automatic. Wis. Stat. 101.874 lets DSPS enter into a reciprocal agreement with another state under which credentials issued to electricians, electrical apprentices, electrical contractors, and electrical inspectors by either state are recognized as comparable by the other, but only if the other state's education, experience, and examination requirements are at least equivalent to Wisconsin's own requirements for that credential, and only for states DSPS has actually signed an agreement with; SPS 305.47 restates the same authority in the administrative code. Where an agreement exists, Wis. Stat. 101.874(3) still requires the individual to submit an application and pay the applicable fee, and to hold a valid, comparable credential from the other state; reciprocity waives the Wisconsin exam and experience review, not the application itself. Neither the statute nor SPS 305.47 names which states currently have an agreement in place with Wisconsin, so an out-of-state electrician should confirm through DSPS directly, at application time, whether their home state's credential currently qualifies rather than assume it does because the two states seem similar on paper. Absent a reciprocal agreement, an out-of-state electrician moving to Wisconsin still has to meet the same experience, education, and exam requirements as anyone else applying from scratch, credential by credential, under the same SPS 305 sections that apply to a Wisconsin resident with no prior license at all.
Wis. Stat. 101.88(3) sets the statutory penalty for working without the required credential: anyone who violates the electrical licensing subchapter, or any rule DSPS has promulgated under it, forfeits to the state not less than $25.00 nor more than $500.00 for each violation, and each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense, so an unlicensed contractor running a multi-day job faces that per-day exposure rather than a single flat fine. Separately, DSPS can suspend or revoke an existing license, certification, registration, or enrollment; SPS 305.10 lists fraud or deceit in obtaining the credential, negligence, incompetence, or misconduct in the work the credential allows, and failing to correct a flagged installation within the time DSPS sets, among the grounds available for other trades under this chapter, with the department authorized to summarily suspend any credential without a prior hearing when it finds immediate action necessary for public health, safety, or welfare. A suspension under SPS 305.10 may not exceed one year, and a person whose credential is suspended or revoked must surrender it to DSPS on request. A credential holder is also required under SPS 305.11 to carry the license itself while performing licensed work and to present it to DSPS or its representative on request; that requirement applies to the individual credential, not to a business's license.
Wisconsin's advertising rule for electrical contractors is narrow but specific. SPS 305.41(4)(d) states that a person or entity holding an Electrical Contractor license shall include the license number on all construction bids and contracts; DSPS repeats that same requirement, word for word, on the Electrical Contractor application instructions. The rule does not separately require the number on vehicles, a website, or general advertising copy, so a contractor's practical exposure is on the paperwork a job actually runs on: the bid document and the signed contract. Individual credential holders face a related but different requirement under SPS 305.11: a person who holds a license, certification, registration, or enrollment under chapter SPS 305 must carry it on their person while performing the licensed activity and present it for identification on request from DSPS or its representative, though that carry-and-present duty applies to individuals and not to a business's Electrical Contractor license itself. Because each credential carries a defined scope, general, residential, or industrial, at a defined level, apprentice, registered, journeyman, or master, describing your own work with a title or scope you do not actually hold risks misrepresenting the credential, which SPS 305.10 lists as grounds for discipline in other parts of this chapter; the safer practice is to advertise exactly the license type and number DSPS issued.
Sourcesdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov 1docs.legis.wisconsin.gov 2dsps.wi.gov 3
Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and every other Wisconsin city or village lost the authority to license, register, or certify electrical contractors, electricians, or electrical inspectors on top of the DSPS credential once Wis. Stat. 101.861 took full effect on April 1, 2014; any municipal ordinance that licensed electrical work before March 19, 2008 stopped applying at that point regardless of what it said. That means a contractor who holds a valid DSPS Electrical Contractor license does not need a separate Milwaukee or Madison electrical trade license to do wiring work inside those cities. What does not go away is the local building permit: under SPS 305.41(1)(b) and the note attached to SPS 305.41, a licensed electrical contractor still may not start work that requires a uniform building permit until that municipality, or a Uniform Dwelling Code inspection agency acting for it, issues the permit, and municipalities retain authority under Wis. Stat. 101.86 to adopt and enforce their own electrical code provisions as long as those provisions strictly conform to the state code DSPS promulgates. In practice that means a Wisconsin electrical contractor's core credential travels statewide without a second local license, but the permit and inspection process still runs through whichever city or county the job is actually in.
DSPS publishes a single public "Public Look-Up" page that points to the two tools it maintains for verifying its own credentials. For trades credentials, including every electrician and Electrical Contractor license described here, DSPS directs the public to the LicensE License Lookup, an online search that covers Health, Business, Trades, Manufactured Homes, and Unarmed Combat Sports credentials issued by the department. A separate tool, the Electronic Safety and Licensing Application public lookup, covers plan review and permit status for categories that include Electrical work, alongside Amusement Rides, Elevators, Gas Systems, Mechanical Refrigeration, Plumbing, and several other regulated systems, which is the tool to check on a submitted plan or permit rather than a person's credential. Both tools are linked directly from the DSPS Public Look-Up page rather than requiring a search engine guess, and using them before hiring a contractor, or before a contractor starts work under a subcontractor's credential, is the direct way to confirm a license is current rather than relying on a number printed on a truck or a bid. Because the Electrical Contractor license number is required on bids and contracts under SPS 305.41(4)(d), a customer who receives a bid already has the exact number needed to run that check before signing anything, and can confirm both that the license exists and that it has not lapsed, been suspended, or been revoked before work begins.
These are common details other guides publish about Wisconsin, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Department of Safety and Professional Services issues the Electrical Contractor license statewide under Wis. Stat. 101.862 and Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305.41, and no Wisconsin city or county can add its own electrical contractor license on top of it.
A Journeyman Electrician works under the general supervision of a master electrician, while a Master Electrician can supervise others and is responsible for the installation. Qualifying for the journeyman exam takes 8,000 hours over 48 months or a 3-year apprenticeship; qualifying for the master exam typically takes 12 months as a licensed journeyman, or 10,000 hours over 60 months without one.
A residential property owner may install, repair, or maintain electrical wiring on a home they own and occupy without a state license, under Wis. Stat. 101.862(4)(a), unless a local ordinance still requires a permit or registration for that work.
SPS 305.44(3) requires either a construction electrician apprenticeship of at least 3 years approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, or 8,000 hours of field experience over not less than 48 months, with up to 2,000 hours and 12 months creditable from a 2-year electrical-related degree or diploma.
The Electrical Contractor license itself is issued to the business owner, partner, or corporate officer and does not require holding a Master Electrician license personally, but SPS 305.41(4)(a) requires the licensed contractor to use appropriately licensed or registered individuals, such as a master electrician supervising journeymen, to actually construct, install, repair, or maintain the wiring.
It depends on the credential. Journeyman Electrician and Master Electrician each require at least 24 hours before expiration; Residential Journeyman Electrician, Industrial Journeyman Electrician, and Residential Master Electrician each require at least 18 hours; a Registered Electrician enrollment requires 24 hours unless the holder is in a youth apprenticeship program.
No. Wisconsin's electrical licensing rules do not set a surety bond or a specific liability insurance minimum for the Electrical Contractor license. SPS 305.41(2)(c) only requires an attestation of compliance with worker's compensation and unemployment compensation requirements.
A license, registration, or enrollment can still be renewed, not reinstated, if the application and fees are filed within one further term after expiration. Filing later than that requires reinstatement under SPS 305.07(2)(c), which adds a $200 administrative fee on top of the normal application and license fees and may require demonstrating continued competence.
No. Wisconsin cities and villages lost the authority to license, register, or certify electrical contractors, electricians, or electrical inspectors as of April 1, 2014, under Wis. Stat. 101.861. A DSPS Electrical Contractor license is valid statewide, though local building permits are still required for permitted work.
Yes. DSPS's Public Look-Up page links to the LicensE License Lookup for trades credentials, including every electrician and Electrical Contractor license, and to a separate Electronic Safety and Licensing Application lookup for plan and permit status on electrical projects.
Wis. Stat. 101.88(3) sets a forfeiture of not less than $25 nor more than $500 for each violation of the electrical licensing subchapter or its rules, and each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense.
DSPS may enter reciprocal agreements under Wis. Stat. 101.874, but only with states whose education, experience, and exam requirements are at least equivalent to Wisconsin's, and only where an agreement actually exists; an applicant still files an application and pays the fee even under a reciprocal agreement.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.