Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) administers electrical contractor licensing in Louisiana. 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
In Louisiana the state credential is a contractor license carrying the electrical classification, not an individual electrician license. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) licenses the electrical CONTRACTOR; a state commercial license with the electrical classification is required to bid or perform commercial electrical work. A search for a “Louisiana electrician license” maps to that contractor license. “Electrician license” and “journeyman electrician license” are common informal names for it; local jurisdictions may register or license individual electricians separately.
License types & fees
| Type | Experience | Exam | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial license with ELECTRICAL major classification (electrical contractor) | No state work-hour/apprenticeship requirement. Under the LSLBC rules every classification is qualified by a written trade examination and/or an outside credential, not by documented hours (Rules Ch.3 §301.E). Qualification is via a Qualifying Party who passes the Electrical trade exam and completes the Business & Law course. Required once an electrical project (wiring/fixtures/equipment for supply of electricity) exceeds $10,000 including labor and materials. | Electrical trade examination administered by PSI (LACON program, test-takers.psiexams.com/lacon), plus the Business & Law course/exam completed by the Qualifying Party. | Statutory maximums: License fee $100.00; Examination fee $50.00 per classification. Out-of-state applicants may be assessed an additional surcharge up to $400. An additional $100/yr construction-education dedication fee applies at each renewal (opt-out available). |
| Electrical Transmission Lines (subclassification of Electrical / Heavy Construction) | Same contractor pathway; required when project value exceeds $10,000. | Trade exam. | Same statutory fee schedule as above ($100 license / $50 exam maxima). |
| Electrical Controls, Instrumentation and Calibration (subclassification of Electrical) | Same contractor pathway; required when project value exceeds $10,000. | Trade exam. | Same statutory fee schedule as above ($100 license / $50 exam maxima). |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
Louisiana licenses the electrical CONTRACTOR (a business credential issued by the State Licensing Board for Contractors), not the individual electrician, so its exemptions are exemptions from the contractor-licensing law (La. R.S. 37:2150-2192). The first exemption is definitional: a person is an ’electrical contractor’ only when the electrical project’s value is ten thousand dollars or more (La. R.S. 37:2150.1(6)) — electrical work under $10,000, labor and materials included, does not require the state license. Beyond the threshold, La. R.S. 37:2157(A) exempts from the licensing law (as relevant to electrical work): public utilities providing gas, electric, or telephone service under Louisiana Public Service Commission or New Orleans city council regulation, including work performed in furnishing their authorized service (A)(1); property owners who assume charge of construction on their own property for their own use — not for sale or rent, with owner-controlled access limited to employees and nonpublic invitees (A)(2); farmers doing construction for agricultural purposes on owned or leased land (A)(4); persons bidding or performing work on projects totally owned by the federal government (A)(5); persons engaged in rail or pipeline construction on property they own or lease (A)(6); persons assembling, repairing, or dismantling patented or proprietary equipment supplied to a contractor (A)(8); employees of any licensee (A)(12) — which is how individual electricians work under a licensed electrical contractor without any state credential of their own; and homeowners who assume charge of construction, alteration, repair, or maintenance of their personal residence, limited to one residence per year (measured from the certificate of occupancy, with exceptions for a change in marital status or a job relocation more than fifty miles away) and requiring an affidavit of exemption to obtain the building permit (A)(13). Louisiana also exempts electrical, mechanical, and plumbing licensees acting exclusively within the scope of their classification from the rest of the contractor-licensing scheme (A)(37:2157(A)(19)). Two boundaries matter: subcontractors working for residential or building license holders are exempt EXCEPT for electrical (and mechanical, plumbing, mold, asbestos, hazmat) scopes of work — an electrical subcontractor still needs the license (A)(17)-(18); and none of these exemptions waives local or state health and life-safety code requirements (37:2157(B)). Separately, a firm holding the LSLBC electrical classification statewide is granted a limited exemption from the State Fire Marshal’s life-safety licensing law: it may install wire, conduit, raceways, boxes, fittings, and fire-alarm initiating and notification devices (and intrusion-alarm, CCTV, and special locking systems) without a license under that law (La. R.S. 40:1664.5.1). Individual journeyman or master electrician cards, where required, are issued by parish or municipal governments, and those local schemes set their own exemptions.
Fees
License fee $100.00; Examination fee $50.00 per classification; Delinquent (late-renewal) fee up to $50.00; up to $400 surcharge for out-of-state applicants; +$100/yr construction-education dedication fee at each renewal (opt-out available). These are statutory maximums (La. R.S. 37:2158(C)); the board may set the annual fee each July (Rules §131).
Exam
Electrical trade exam via PSI (LACON program, test-takers.psiexams.com/lacon; Candidate Information Bulletins on PSI’s site) plus the LSLBC Business & Law course/exam. Statutory examination fee cap is $50 per classification. Trade exams need not be retaken on renewal if the same qualifier and classifications remain.
Renewal & continuing education
Licenses expire on the anniversary of the original issue date. At renewal the licensee elects a 1-, 2-, or 3-year term (multi-year not available for licenses dependent on insurance/certifications). Renewal cannot be filed until 60 days before expiration; a 15-day grace period follows expiration before a delinquent fee applies; a license not renewed within one year of expiration is no longer renewable and requires a new application. Renewal notices are emailed at 60 and 15 days prior. None for the electrical (Commercial) contractor. Continuing education (minimum 6 hours annually by a board-approved provider) is required only of Residential Building Contractors; there are no CE requirements for commercial, mold, or home improvement contractors/registrants.
How to apply
Applications are handled by Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC). Start at the official application page .