California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) - Electrician Certification Unit (ECU) administers electrician licensing in California. Every figure below is verified against the board’s own official pages and dated. Who must personally hold a credential — the contractor, the business, or the individual worker — is set out under Requirements.
What it’s called
California CERTIFIES individual electricians rather than issuing a “license.” The state’s Electrician Certification Program (Department of Industrial Relations) certifies people who perform electrical work for C-10 electrical contractors. “Electrician license,” “journeyman electrician license” and “California electrician card” are common informal names for that certification. The C-10 electrical CONTRACTOR license is a separate credential — it is what a business needs to contract electrical work.
License types & fees
| Type | Experience | Exam | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Electrician | 8,000 hours of work for an electrical contractor installing, constructing or maintaining electrical systems covered by the National Electrical Code (from two or more work categories, with per-category caps). Applicants without enough hours may register as an Electrician Trainee and enroll in a state-approved school. | General Electrician certification exam: 100 multiple-choice questions, 4 hours 30 minutes, open book (materials provided), based on the NEC and references in the content outline; 70% required to pass. | $175 |
| Residential Electrician | 4,800 hours of work for an electrical contractor installing, constructing or maintaining electrical systems covered by the National Electrical Code (from two or more work categories, with per-category caps). | Residential Electrician exam: 80 multiple-choice questions, 3 hours 30 minutes, open book; 70% required to pass. | $175 |
| Fire/Life Safety Technician | 4,000 hours of work for an electrical contractor installing, constructing or maintaining electrical systems covered by the National Electrical Code (from two or more work categories, with per-category caps). | Fire/Life Safety exam: 50 multiple-choice questions, 2 hours 15 minutes, open book; 70% required to pass. | $175 |
| Voice, Data, Video Technician | 4,000 hours of work for an electrical contractor installing, constructing or maintaining electrical systems covered by the National Electrical Code (from two or more work categories, with per-category caps). | Voice, Data, Video Technician exam: 50 multiple-choice questions, 2 hours 15 minutes, open book; 70% required to pass. | $175 |
| Non-residential Lighting Technician | 2,000 hours of work for an electrical contractor installing, constructing or maintaining electrical systems covered by the National Electrical Code (from two or more work categories, with per-category caps). | Non-residential Lighting Technician exam: 50 multiple-choice questions, 2 hours 15 minutes, open book; 70% required to pass. | $175 |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
California’s electrician certification (the DIR/DLSE credential this page covers, in all five classifications — General Electrician, Residential Electrician, Fire/Life Safety Technician, Voice Data Video Technician, and Non-residential Lighting Technician) is bounded first by a structural rule, then by enumerated carve-outs. The structural rule: ‘Certification is required only for those persons who perform work as electricians for contractors licensed as class C-10 electrical contractors’ (Labor Code § 108.2(b)(1)). Anyone not performing electrical work as an employee of a C-10 contractor — homeowners working on their own property, in-house maintenance staff of businesses, public-agency employees — is outside the certification requirement altogether. On top of that boundary, the statute enumerates: workers for class C-7 low voltage systems or class C-45 electric sign contractors, as long as the work is within the C-7 or C-45 license scope, even if the same contractor also holds a C-10 (Labor Code § 108.2(b)(2)); workers on high-voltage electrical transmission or distribution systems owned by utilities (local publicly owned electric utilities, electrical corporations, and related PUC-defined entities) when employed by the utility or by a licensed contractor principally engaged in installing or maintaining transmission or distribution systems (§ 108.2(b)(3)); registered apprentices performing electrical work in a state- or federally approved apprenticeship program (§ 108.2(d)); uncertified workers employed as trainees under Labor Code § 108.4 — enrolled in an approved school and working under a certified electrician’s direct supervision (§ 108.2(e)); nonresidential lighting trainees in an approved on-the-job instructional program under onsite supervision of a certified nonresidential lighting technician (§ 108.2(f)); and the qualifying person for a C-10 license, who need not also be certified to perform or supervise electrical work for that contractor (§ 108.2(g)). The statute’s definition of ’electricians’ also excludes whole categories of work from certification: electrical connections under 100 volt-amperes; work covered by Business and Professions Code § 7042.5 (public utilities doing construction, maintenance, and development work incidental to their own business, and regulated cable television corporation activities); electrical work ordinarily and customarily performed by stationary engineers; and electrical work on temporary or portable equipment performed by technicians in the theatrical, motion picture production, television, hotel, exhibition, or trade show industries (Labor Code § 108(c)). Note the certification is a distinct credential from the CSLB C-10 contractor license; these exemptions address who must hold the DIR certification, not who may contract for electrical work.
Fees
Application for examination and certification (one exam): $175 = $100 exam fee + $75 administration fee, non-refundable, payable to ‘DIR-Electrician Certification Fund’. Retest exam fee: $100 per exam. Renewal: $100 per certificate. Renewal after certification has expired/lapsed (requires re-taking the exam): $200. Replacement certification card: $30. SSA employment history report (SSA-7050): SSA charges approximately $115.
Exam
Computer-based, multiple-choice, open-book exam administered by classification (100 questions/4 hours 30 minutes for General; 80 questions/3 hours 30 minutes Residential; 50 questions/2 hours 15 minutes for Fire-Life-Safety, Voice-Data-Video, and Non-residential Lighting). Minimum passing score 70%. Failing candidates must wait 60 days to retake and pay a $100 exam fee per retest. Exam is offered in English and Spanish. Exams taken on or after June 1, 2026 are administered by CPS HR Consulting: after DLSE approval, CPS HR Consulting ([email protected] , 855-298-4917) sends scheduling instructions within 1-2 business days and the exam is scheduled through Pearson VUE (866-302-9666 or online). The exam must be taken within one year of the eligibility notice.
Renewal & continuing education
Certification expires three years from the effective date. Renew before expiration; renewal applications accepted up to one year before expiration. 32 hours of continuing education relevant to the certification category, plus 2,000 hours of work in the industry within the past three years, required to renew before the card expires. If renewing after the card has expired, the CE requirement is waived but the exam must be re-taken.
How to apply
Applications are handled by California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) - Electrician Certification Unit (ECU). Start at the official application page .