South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) — regulated by two boards for electrical work: the Residential Builders Commission (residential) and the Contractor’s Licensing Board (commercial) administers electrician licensing in South Carolina. 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
South Carolina licenses individual electricians at the state level (SC LLR), but there is no single generic “journeyman” or “master” electrician license. The individual state credential is the Residential Electrician License (SC Residential Builders Commission), held by the electrician personally. People commonly search for it as an “electrician license” or “residential electrician license.” A “Master Electrician” in South Carolina is a private trade certification (administered by MASC through Dec. 2025, then the Carolinas AGC from Jan. 1, 2026) that serves as an exam-waiver path — not a state license. The exact license tiers, fees, and the separate commercial electrical-contractor license (Mechanical Contractor, EL classification) are set out below.
License types & fees
| Type | Experience | Exam | Fee | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Electrician License (SC Residential Builders Commission) | Minimum of one (1) year of residential electrical experience performed within the past five (5) years (verified via Residential Electrician Experience Affidavit + W2s/1099s), approved before exam eligibility. | PSI-administered. Must pass BOTH the SC Business Management and Law portion AND the Residential Electrical technical portion. Eligibility valid one year; up to 3 attempts within a 12-month period. | $135 initial application fee (non-refundable, due at end of application) | Residential electrical work exceeding $500. Individual credential. |
| Mechanical Contractor License — Electrical (EL) classification (SC Contractor's Licensing Board) | At least 2 years of work experience performed within the past 5 years for the electrical classification (Work Experience Affidavit, Doc. 167); primarily commercial experience. | PSI-administered. Pass the SC Electrical technical exam AND the SC Business Management and Law for Commercial Contractors exam. (NASCLA Accredited Trade Examination for Electrical Contractors accepted for multi-state applicants.) | $350 initial license fee; $135 biennial renewal | Commercial electrical construction over $10,000. Issued to a firm/individual entity via a designated Primary Qualifying Party (PQP). |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
South Carolina regulates electrical work through two separate credentials, and each has its own exemptions. For the Residential Electrician (residential specialty contractor) license under the Residential Builders Commission (S.C. Code Title 40, ch. 59): the license only reaches undertakings that ’exceed five hundred dollars and are not regulated by the provisions of Chapter 11’ (sec. 40-59-20 definition), so residential electrical jobs of $500 or less need no specialty license. South Carolina also exempts an owner of residential property who improves the property or builds/improves structures on it, if the owner does the work himself, with his own employees, or with licensed contractors, the structure is intended solely for the owner’s or the owner’s family’s occupancy and not for sale or rent, and the general public does not have access (sec. 40-59-260(A)); sale or rent within two years of completion is prima facie evidence the exemption was abused, the owner must personally appear and sign the building-permit application with a state disclosure statement, and the exemption does not extend to a person employed by the owner who acts as a builder or specialty contractor (sec. 40-59-260(B)-(C)). Sec. 40-59-265 additionally exempts owners of residential property for listed minor electrical work: cord-and-plug temporary decorative lighting, reinstallation of attachment plug receptacles (not the outlets), replacement of branch-circuit overcurrent devices of the required capacity in the same location, wiring and equipment operating at less than 25 volts and not capable of supplying more than 50 watts, and minor repair work such as replacing lamps or connecting approved portable equipment to permanently installed receptacles. A mechanical contractor licensed under Chapter 11 is exempt from the residential-specialty-contractor chapter when contracting within his licensed classification (sec. 40-59-270). For the Mechanical Contractor license with the Electrical (EL) classification under the Contractor’s Licensing Board (S.C. Code Title 40, ch. 11): a license is required only when the total cost of construction is greater than $10,000 for mechanical contracting (sec. 40-11-30, threshold raised from $5,000 by 2023 Act No. 69), so smaller jobs are below the licensing line. Sec. 40-11-360 then exempts: licensed fire-sprinkler and burglar/fire-alarm entities; installation of finished products, materials, or merchandise that do not become a permanent fixed part of the structure; work on federal sites where the United States holds title or federal law supersedes; contractors performing SCDOT work under that department’s prequalification requirements; an owner of residential property building or improving for the owner’s sole/family occupancy, not for sale or rent and without public access (with the same two-year sale/rent presumption) (item (5)); an owner of nonowner-occupied property building or improving structures of less than 5,000 square feet, if all structural and mechanical work is done by licensed contractors when the work meets the sec. 40-11-30 threshold, and the property is not sold for two years (item (6)); an owner constructing a farm building or portable storage building with less than 5,000 square feet used only for livestock or storage (item (7)); public owners performing their own project work within License Group 3 general / Group 4 mechanical limits (item (8)); Department of Corrections renovation/maintenance with its own labor forces (item (9)); the S.C. Public Service Authority for maintenance and renovation of existing facilities (item (10)); and sign/billboard installation, repair, or maintenance — though ‘an electrical license is required to perform a final connection to a branch circuit conductor’ (item (11)).
Fees
Residential Electrician License: $135 initial application. Mechanical Contractor (Electrical/EL): $350 initial license fee; $135 biennial renewal (on time), $235 if renewed 11/01–11/30, $285 if 12/01–12/31, $335 if 01/01–01/31; reinstatement $350. Exam fees paid separately to PSI.
Exam
All exams administered by PSI. Residential Electrician: SC Business Management & Law + Residential Electrical technical (PSI portal scrb; 3 attempts/12 months). Electrical Mechanical Contractor: SC Electrical technical exam + SC Business Management & Law for Commercial Contractors (PSI portal sccon). PSI: (855) 746-8173.
Renewal & continuing education
Biennial. Mechanical Contractor (Electrical) licenses expire October 31 of every odd-numbered year. Residential Builders Commission credentials renew on two-year cycles (e.g., 2026–2028).
How to apply
Applications are handled by South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) — regulated by two boards for electrical work: the Residential Builders Commission (residential) and the Contractor’s Licensing Board (commercial). Start at the official application page .