Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) administers electrical contractor licensing in Nevada. 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 Nevada the state credential is an electrical contractor license, not an individual electrician license. The Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) licenses the electrical CONTRACTOR. A search for a “Nevada electrician license” maps to that contractor license; an electrician working under a licensed contractor needs no separate state license. “Electrician license” and “journeyman electrician license” are common informal names for the contractor credential.
License types & fees
| Type | Experience | Exam | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| C-2 Electrical Contracting (state contractor license) | The qualifying individual must have had, within the 15 years immediately before the application is filed, at least four full years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee, or contractor in the specific classification requested. Training in a program offered at an accredited college, university, or equivalent program accepted by the Board (documented by items such as apprenticeship certificates or college transcripts) may substitute for experience, but not more than 3 of the 4 years. | Two exams, both administered by PSI: (1) the Business and Law / 'CMS' (Construction Management Survey) examination and (2) a trade examination specific to the classification. Business and Law exam is open book (Construction Business and Law Manual for Nevada); trade exams are closed book except certain code references. Three attempts are allowed per exam; the retake interval between attempts is set by the independent testing service, PSI (NAC 624.600(4)). If an exam is failed on the third attempt the application becomes void and the applicant may reapply after a 30-day waiting period. | $300.00 nonrefundable application fee, payable to 'Nevada State Contractors Board' |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
Nevada licenses electrical work through the C-2 Electrical Contracting contractor license (NRS chapter 624), so the exemptions are the chapter-wide contractor exemptions in NRS 624.031, which lists twelve classes to which the chapter does not apply. Government work is exempt: work performed exclusively by an authorized representative of the United States Government, the State of Nevada, or a Nevada city, county, irrigation district, reclamation district, or other municipal or political subdivision (NRS 624.031(1)), as is construction financed in whole or in part by the federal government and conducted on federal land (NRS 624.031(9)). Public utilities are exempt for work performed exclusively on construction, maintenance, and development work incidental to their business, under Public Utilities Commission regulation (NRS 624.031(4)). Owner-builders are exempt: an owner building or improving a residential structure for his or her own occupancy and not for sale or lease — but the owner must apply to the State Contractors Board for the exemption, and selling or leasing the structure within one year of completion creates a rebuttable presumption of intent to sell (NRS 624.031(5)). An owner of agricultural or farming property is likewise exempt when building or improving a structure on it for his or her own use or occupancy and not for sale or lease (NRS 624.031(10)). Nevada’s minor-work exemption is expressly unavailable for electrical work: repair or maintenance work worth less than $1,000 including labor and materials is generally exempt, but not if a building permit is required, not if the work ‘is of a type performed by a plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, heating or air-conditioning contractor,’ and not if it is part of a larger project of $500 or more (NRS 624.031(6)). The chapter also does not apply to the sale or installation of a finished product that does not become a permanent fixed part of the structure (NRS 624.031(7)), to work on personal property (NRS 624.031(8)), to officers of a court acting within the scope of office (NRS 624.031(3)), to certain 501(c)(3) organizations facilitating government-contracted repair or weatherization work performed by licensed contractors (NRS 624.031(2)), to construction oversight of volunteer labor by long-term disaster recovery groups (NRS 624.031(11)), or to real estate licensees who merely schedule repair or maintenance work of $10,000 or less on managed residential property when no building permit is required (NRS 624.031(12)). Counties and incorporated cities may still require an additional local contractor’s license (NRS 624.035). Nevada issues no statewide journeyman or master electrician card, so these exemptions concern who may contract for and perform electrical work without a C-2 license.
Fees
$300.00 nonrefundable application fee. A $200.00 administrative fee applies if a cash deposit is established with the Board in lieu of a surety bond (NAC 624.130). Exam fees are set and collected by PSI (amount not yet verified).
Exam
Business and Law (CMS) examination + classification-specific trade examination, both administered by PSI; three attempts each, application voids after three failures with a 30-day reapply wait (NAC 624.600).
Renewal & continuing education
Biennial — a license expires two years after the date it is issued (NRS 624.283); the Board may set staggered biennial renewals.
How to apply
Applications are handled by Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB). Start at the official application page .