Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division) administers electrician licensing in Hawaii. 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
Hawaii licenses individual electricians — the state electrician license is issued by the Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers and held by the electrician personally (not only by the contractor, as in some states). “Electrician license,” “journeyman electrician license,” “master electrician license” and “electrician certification” are common informal names for the individual credential. The exact license tiers, fees, and any separate electrical-contractor license are set out in the license types and requirements below.
License types & fees
| Type | Experience | Exam | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journey Worker Electrician (EJ) | At least 5 years full-time, but not less than 10,000 hours, of residential or commercial wiring experience under the supervision of a journey worker or supervising electrician, AND satisfactory completion of 240 hours of electrical academic coursework accepted by a University of Hawaii community college (per HRS 448E-5(b)). | Must pass Hawaii's licensure examination (HRS 448E-5.5). | Application fee $40 (non-refundable); license fee prorated by triennium ($306 / $204 / $102) plus Compliance Resolution Fund fee ($50 / $100 / $150), due after exam is passed. |
| Journey Worker Specialty Electrician (EJS) | At least 3 years full-time, but not less than 6,000 hours, in the trade under the supervision of a journey worker/supervising electrician or journey worker/supervising specialty electrician, AND satisfactory completion of 120 hours of electrical academic coursework accepted by a University of Hawaii community college (per HRS 448E-5(b)). | Must pass Hawaii's licensure examination (HRS 448E-5.5). | Application fee $40 (non-refundable); license + CRF fees due after exam is passed (see fees field). |
| Supervising Electrician (ES) | At least 4 years registered/licensed as a journey worker electrician, or equivalent experience in the trade (licensed as EJ, EJS, or ESS for at least 4 years in another jurisdiction with substantially equivalent requirements). | Must pass Hawaii's licensure examination (HRS 448E-5.5). | Application fee $40 (non-refundable); license + CRF fees due after exam is passed (see fees field). |
| Supervising Specialty Electrician (ESS) | At least 2 years registered/licensed as a journey worker specialty electrician, or equivalent experience in the trade. | Must pass Hawaii's licensure examination (HRS 448E-5.5). | Application fee $40 (non-refundable); license + CRF fees due after exam is passed (see fees field). |
| Maintenance Electrician (EM) | 1 year of electrical maintenance work plus electrical academic coursework, OR 2 years of schooling in the electrical trade with not less than 1,000 hours of hands-on lab exercises (per current board application form; HRS 448E-5). | Must pass Hawaii's licensure examination (HRS 448E-5.5). | Application fee $40 (non-refundable); license + CRF fees due after exam is passed (see fees field). |
| Journey Worker Industrial Electrician (EJI) | At least 4 years, but not less than 8,000 hours, of industrial electrical work experience, plus 200 hours of electrical academic coursework, per HRS 448E-5(b)(8) (effective July 1, 2013 -- the current governing subsection) and confirmed by the current official application form. (The 5-year/10,000-hour figure in HRS 448E-5 subsection (a)(8) was superseded by subsection (b) effective July 1, 2013.) | Must pass Hawaii's licensure examination (HRS 448E-5.5). | Application fee $40 (non-refundable); license + CRF fees due after exam is passed (see fees field). |
| Supervising Industrial Electrician (ESI) | At least 3 years experience as a licensed journey worker industrial electrician, or equivalent (per current board application form, 2026-06). | Must pass Hawaii's licensure examination (HRS 448E-5.5). | Application fee $40 (non-refundable); license + CRF fees due after exam is passed (see fees field). |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
Hawaii exempts very few people from its electrician licensing law, and it has no homeowner exemption for electrical work. Under HRS § 448E-13, all employees of a public utility operating in the State under a state-granted franchise or charter and regulated by the public utilities commission, and employees of a community antennae television company, are exempt from the chapter while so employed. The same section conditionally exempts employees of an electrical contractor licensed under HRS chapter 444 that a regulated public utility retains for high-voltage work (600 volts or higher): the exemption applies only after the utility has solicited a request for proposal to licensed C-62 pole-and-line and C-63 high-voltage contractors and certified to the Board of Electricians and Plumbers that no sufficiently qualified, available Hawaii-licensed electricians responded, and it is limited to electric transmission and distribution line construction, maintenance, and connection-to-substation work, with annual reporting to the board (§ 448E-13(a)(2), (c)); this subsection is subject to repeal and reenactment on June 30, 2027 (L 2022, c 68, § 3). Separately, an apprentice or trainee learning the trade of a licensed person is not required to hold a license while acting under the supervision of a person appropriately licensed under the chapter (HRS § 448E-9(b)). Hawaii’s law contains no exemption for property owners doing their own electrical work: the only own-residence proviso in § 448E-9(a) covers emergency plumbing repairs, not electrical work, so a homeowner performing electrical work would be engaging in unlicensed activity. County inspection authority is preserved (HRS § 448E-12), and an electrician’s license does not authorize contracting, which requires a separate contractor’s license under HRS chapter 444.
Fees
Application fee: $40 (non-refundable), submitted with the application, payable to ‘Commerce & Consumer Affairs’. Initial license fee (due only after passing the exam), prorated by position in the 3-year triennium: $306 (first year), $204 (second year), or $102 (third year) per the application’s LICENSE FEES narrative. Compliance Resolution Fund (CRF) fee: $50 / $100 / $150 depending on triennium position. Triennial renewal (on-time, current July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2029 period, from the board renewal page): $306 active status, $12 inactive status. Late restoration (within 1 year of expiration): $406 active, $112 inactive. Dishonored-payment service charge: $25. Examination fee is set by administrative rule and paid directly to the board’s professional testing contractor (amount not published on these pages). NOTE/DISCREPANCY: the application form’s own fee-code summary box lists ‘Lic $52’ and ‘Ren $52/$104’, which does not reconcile with the $306/$204/$102 LICENSE FEES narrative or the $306 current active renewal figure on the board page; the $306-series figures are used here because the current board renewal page (verified at the last check) authoritatively states $306 active renewal, but a licensee should confirm the exact line-item total with the board at application time.
Exam
Hawaii licensure examination required for every classification (HRS 448E-5.5). The Board sets the passing score by rule and may contract with a professional testing service to prepare, administer, and grade the exam; the exam fee is paid to the testing contractor.
Renewal & continuing education
Triennial (every 3 years). Licenses expire June 30; the electrician renewal cycle years are 2026, 2029, 2032. Licenses not renewed by the expiration date are unlicensed and may not practice. No fixed hour count. Prior to each renewal, all electricians except maintenance electricians (EM) must complete a community-college-conducted or -approved course on current National Electrical Code (NEC) updates, or pass a board-prescribed NEC-update exam (HRS 448E-8.5). The 2023-2026 period required verification of the course on the 2020 NEC updates.
How to apply
Applications are handled by Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division). Start at the official application page .