Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (DHBC), Electrical Division administers electrician licensing in Kentucky. 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
Kentucky licenses individual electricians — the state electrician license is issued by the Kentucky Department of Housing 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician (individual license) | 8,000 hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade since the applicant's 16th birthday. Any one of the following substitutes for 4,000 of those hours: an approved electrical-work training course; 2 years of a minimum 4-year approved training course (remaining years completed within 4 years of licensure); an associate's degree/diploma in electrical technology from KCTCS or an accredited college; or 2 years teaching electrical technology at an accredited college/university. | Must pass, with a minimum score of 70%, an examination administered by an approved examination provider (KRS 227A.060(3)(c); 815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 4). A passing score is valid for 3 years. | $100 biennial application fee (815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 1(1)(c)); statutory application-fee cap is $50/yr per KRS 227A.060(3)(a), plus an examination fee not exceeding the actual cost of the exam. |
| Master Electrician | 16,000 hours of verifiable experience in the electrical trade since the applicant's 16th birthday. Substitutions: an approved electrical training course OR 2 years teaching electrical technology at an accredited college = 4,000 hours; an associate's degree/diploma in electrical technology from KCTCS or an accredited college = 6,000 hours. | Must pass, with a minimum score of 70%, an examination administered by an approved examination provider (KRS 227A.060(2)(c); 815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 4). A passing score is valid for 3 years. | $200 biennial application fee (815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 1(1)(b)); statutory application-fee cap is $100/yr per KRS 227A.060(2)(a), plus an examination fee not exceeding the actual cost of the exam. |
| Electrical Contractor | No statutory hours-of-experience requirement. Applicant must name and affiliate a licensed master electrician, and (if a business entity) designate an owner/officer/director/full-time employee to sit the exam. | Designee must pass, with a minimum score of 70%, an examination administered by an approved examination provider (815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 4). | $400 biennial application fee (815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 1(1)(a)); statutory application-fee cap is $200/yr per KRS 227A.060(1)(a). Also requires proof of workers' compensation coverage and a general liability policy of at least $1,000,000 (KRS 227A.060(1)(c)). |
| Electrician - Provisional (nonrenewable) | At least 6 years of verifiable experience working 2,080 hours/year in the electrical trade since the applicant's 16th birthday (KRS 227A.060(5)(a)). | Provisional license is valid for up to 1 year; holder must pass the electrician exam (per subsection (3)(c)) before it expires to convert to a full electrician license, otherwise it expires and is nonrenewable. | Application fee not to exceed $50/yr plus examination fee not exceeding actual cost (KRS 227A.060(5)(c)). |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
Kentucky’s electrical licensing law (KRS 227A.010 to 227A.140) carries a single exemption section, KRS 227A.030, and every exemption in it applies to all three state credentials alike — electrician, master electrician, and electrical contractor — because each subsection disapplies the whole of KRS 227A.010 to 227A.140. Kentucky exempts: (1) installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities for communication, metering, or the generation, control, transformation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy, when located in buildings used exclusively by utilities for those purposes, on utility-owned or leased property, on public highways, streets, or roads, or outdoors by established rights on private property (KRS 227A.030(1)); (2) maintenance workers and maintenance engineers performing routine maintenance of electrical systems (KRS 227A.030(2)); (3) homeowners and farmers installing or repairing electrical wiring on their own real property (KRS 227A.030(3)); (4) retailers and their agents installing appliances purchased at a retail establishment (KRS 227A.030(4)); (5) persons making installations that KRS 227.460 exempts from the state electrical-inspection law — utility-controlled installations (KRS 227A.030(5)); (6) unlicensed nonresident electricians in temporary, emergency, or industrial-shutdown situations — they must apply for a Kentucky electrician or master electrician license after 10 days of electrical work in the state, may not work more than 30 days in a calendar year without applying, and must obtain the license within 60 days of securing employment (KRS 227A.030(6)); (7) work at surface or underground coal mines and coal preparation plants (KRS 227A.030(7)); (8) work for a telecommunications company at 50 volts or less (KRS 227A.030(8)); (9) factory-authorized representatives (factory engineers or equivalently trained third-party service companies) installing, maintaining, or servicing medical equipment devices — but not electrical feeds into the power distribution unit or installation of conduits and raceways (KRS 227A.030(9)); (10) low-voltage, power-limited installations for control or coordination of interconnected devices separated from the power source by a Class 2 or Class 3 transformer, when installed by specified licensees of other trades — master or journeyman HVAC technicians employed by a licensed HVAC contractor, fire protection sprinkler contractors, manufactured-housing dealers or certified installers, boiler mechanics, master or journeyman plumbers, and onsite sewage disposal system installers (KRS 227A.030(10)); (11) work performed at industrial manufacturing facilities or natural gas pipeline facilities by employees of those facilities (KRS 227A.030(11)); and (12)-(13) out-of-state-licensed disaster response employees and disaster response businesses as defined in KRS 141.010 (KRS 227A.030(12)-(13)).
Fees
Biennial application/renewal fees (815 KAR 35:060): Electrical Contractor $400; Master Electrician $200; Electrician $100. Late renewal fee $50. Reinstatement fee for a terminated license equals the renewal fee (paid in addition to it). Application fees may be prorated for not less than 13 months. Exam fee is separate and not to exceed actual cost. All application/renewal/reinstatement/late fees are non-refundable.
Exam
Examination administered by an approved examination provider (per the DHBC application checklist, PROV, NASCLA, or Pearson VUE; the Electrical Contractor’s Business and Law exam is offered by PROV or Pearson VUE); minimum passing score 70%; a passing score is valid for 3 years (815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 4). A copy of passing results must be submitted. Examination fee is not fixed in regulation — it may not exceed the actual cost of the examination (KRS 227A.060).
Renewal & continuing education
Biennial — a license is valid for 2 years and must be renewed on or before the last day of the licensee’s birth month in the second year (for business-entity contractor licenses without a birth month, the last day of the issuance month in the second year). Renewal requires Form DHBC L-1, the renewal fee, proof of continuing education, and (for contractors) proof of insurance. (815 KAR 35:060 Sec. 8) 6 hours of approved continuing education prior to each license renewal for electricians, master electricians, and electrical contractors (815 KAR 2:010 Sec. 2(1)). CE must be obtained during the 12 months prior to renewal; excess hours may carry forward. Electrical-inspector certification (separate) requires 12 hours. Course topics for electricians/master electricians: job safety, codes related to the electrical industry, or subject matter directly related to the electrical trade; for contractors: business or job safety.
How to apply
Applications are handled by Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (DHBC), Electrical Division. Start at the official application page .