Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) / Minnesota Board of Electricity administers electrician licensing in Minnesota. 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
Minnesota licenses individual electricians — the state electrician license is issued by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class A Journeyworker electrician | Minimum 48 months of qualifying electrical work experience (Minnesota Rules 3800.3520). Up to one year of credit allowed for completing a board-approved two-year post-high-school electrical course. | Written journeyworker exam required before applying; must provide evidence of sufficient work experience to sit. Exam fee $50. | Exam $50; renewal $53 (plus $20 late fee). |
| Class A Master electrician | Minimum 60 months of qualifying electrical work experience (Minnesota Rules 3800.3520). To qualify to take the master exam: a degree in electrical engineering from an accredited college/university, OR one year of experience as a journeyworker electrician, OR five years of experience planning for, laying out, supervising and installing wiring/apparatus/equipment for electric light, heat and power. | Written master exam required before applying. | Renewal $93 (plus $40 late fee). Initial license fee amount not published on the pages reviewed (DLI states you receive payment instructions after passing the exam). |
| Maintenance electrician | Minimum 48 months of qualifying experience, chiefly maintaining and repairing electrical wiring/apparatus/equipment (Minnesota Rules 3800.3520). Up to one year of credit for a board-approved two-year post-high-school technical course. | Written exam required (per DLI exam program). | |
| Lineman | Minimum 48 months of qualifying experience, chiefly line work (Minnesota Rules 3800.3520). | Written exam required (per DLI exam program). | |
| Class B installer | Minimum 12 months of qualifying experience (Minnesota Rules 3800.3520). Requires an Installer B personal bond. | Written exam required (per DLI exam program). | |
| Power limited technician | Minimum 36 months of qualifying experience in technology-circuit/system work (Minnesota Rules 3800.3520). | Written exam required (per DLI exam program). | |
| Registered unlicensed electrician (registration, not a license) | No experience prerequisite; entry-level registration allowing supervised electrical work. Must be a W-2 employee of a licensed electrical contractor or registered employer. | No exam. | Initial application $14; renewal $19 (plus $5 late fee). |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
Minnesota’s exemptions from personal electrician licensing (journeyworker, master, maintenance electrician, lineman, installer, power limited technician) are collected in Minn. Stat. § 326B.33, subd. 21. A homeowner is exempt: an individual who physically performs electrical work on a residential dwelling the individual owns and occupies (or will occupy on completion of construction) needs no license, provided the dwelling has its own electrical utility service not shared with another dwelling (subd. 21(f)). In-plant maintenance staff are exempt: a maintenance electrician maintaining and repairing the employer’s own equipment on the employer’s own premises needs no license if supervised by a qualifying licensed person and the employer keeps a current certificate of responsible person on file with the commissioner (subd. 21(a)). Employees of electrical, communications, or railway utilities, cable communications companies, and telephone companies — and independent contractors working on their behalf — are exempt while working on the utility side of the service point (generation, transformation, distribution, transmission, metering, railway signals, transmission of intelligence), on street lighting, or on utility-owned outdoor area lights on distribution poles (subd. 21(e)). Heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration contractors and their employees are exempt when performing HVAC or refrigeration work described in Minn. Stat. § 326B.38 (subd. 21(d)). Elevator companies licensed under Minn. Stat. § 326B.164 are exempt while performing elevator work (subd. 21(g)). Employees of licensed contractors are exempt from personal licensing for most technology circuits or systems work when supervised by a master electrician or power limited technician, with carve-backs for certain class 2/3, class 4, and hazardous-location work (subd. 21(b)), and companies installing class 2 or class 3 remote control wiring for cord-and-plug appliances (other than security or fire alarm systems) in residential dwellings are exempt (subd. 21(c)). Minnesota has no minor-work dollar threshold: all other electrical work requires a licensed individual, and an unlicensed individual may perform such work only after registering with the Department of Labor and Industry and only under the direct supervision of a licensed individual employed by the same employer — a registration path, not an exemption (§ 326B.33, subds. 12-13).
Fees
journeyworker_exam: $50; journeyworker_renewal: $53 (+$20 late); master_renewal: $93 (+$40 late); registered_unlicensed_initial: $14; registered_unlicensed_renewal: $19 (+$5 late); note: Initial license issuance fees for journeyworker/master (paid after passing the exam) are not stated as dollar amounts on the DLI pages reviewed.
Exam
Written examinations administered through DLI’s exam program (personal electrical license examination application; exams scheduled after approval). Journeyworker exam fee is $50; a written exam is required before applying for journeyworker or master licenses. A License Examination Guide is published by DLI.
Renewal & continuing education
Biennial. Journeyworker licenses expire every two years at the end of the month in which the license was originally issued. Master electrician licenses expire on the last day of February of each odd-numbered year. Registered unlicensed electrician registration is valid one year from the end of the month of registration. Journeyworker and master: 16 hours of DLI-approved continuing education per two-year renewal, of which at least 12 hours must relate to the National Electrical Code. Registered unlicensed electrician: 2 hours of DLI-approved CE per one-year renewal.
How to apply
Applications are handled by Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) / Minnesota Board of Electricity. Start at the official application page .