South Dakota State Electrical Commission (within the Department of Labor and Regulation) administers electrician licensing in South Dakota. 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 Dakota licenses individual electricians — the state electrician license is issued by the South Dakota State Electrical Commission 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice electrician (registration) | Entry level. Must register with the State Electrical Commission before working; may not work on an installation without personal supervision (SDCL 36-16-21). On commercial sites must be personally supervised on site by a licensed contractor, journeyman, or 501(d) electrician (ARSD 20:44:16:05). | None (registration, not examination). | $20 biennial registration fee (ARSD 20:44:16:17; statutory cap $20, SDCL 36-16-21). |
| Journeyman electrician | At least four years (8,000 hours) of licensed electrical experience under the employment and supervision of a licensed electrical contractor or Class B electrician (SDCL 36-16-2(5); ARSD 20:44:16:08(1)); one year of experience equals 2,000 hours (ARSD 20:44:16:06). | Required written exam; passing score 70% (ARSD 20:44:16:03). | $60 application fee (ARSD 20:44:16:04) + $80 biennial license fee (ARSD 20:44:16:15). |
| Class B electrician | At least 36 months' experience in wiring, installing and repairing electrical apparatus/equipment (SDCL 36-16-2(2)). Advancement from journeyman requires at least two years of licensed journeyman experience, of which at least one year in residential or farmstead wiring (ARSD 20:44:16:08(2)). Authority limited to farm and residential wiring (SDCL 36-16-14). | Required written exam; passing score 70% (ARSD 20:44:16:03). | $60 application fee (ARSD 20:44:16:04) + $100 biennial license fee (ARSD 20:44:16:15). Also requires a $10,000 undertaking (bond), public-liability insurance, and a $50 deposit (SDCL 36-16-20; ARSD 20:44:16:02). |
| Electrical contractor | At least two years of experience as a journeyman electrician (of which at least one year in commercial wiring) OR at least one year of commercial experience as a Class B electrician before applying (SDCL 36-16-19; ARSD 20:44:16:08(3),(5)). | Required written exam; passing score 70% (ARSD 20:44:16:03). | $60 application fee (ARSD 20:44:16:04) + $200 biennial license fee (ARSD 20:44:16:15). Also requires a $10,000 undertaking (bond), public-liability insurance, and a $50 deposit (SDCL 36-16-20; ARSD 20:44:16:02). |
| Electrical inspector | Either a graduate of a recognized electrical school plus 4 years' experience (excluding school), or at least 6 years' practical experience in electrical wiring (SDCL 36-16-2(4)). | Required written exam; passing score 80% (ARSD 20:44:16:03). | $60 application fee (ARSD 20:44:16:04) + $100 biennial license fee (ARSD 20:44:16:15). |
| 501(d) electrician | Qualifications/training/technical knowledge per commission rules; restricted to wiring on 501(d) (religious/apostolic) properties in South Dakota (SDCL 36-16-2(7)). | Required written exam; passing score 70% (ARSD 20:44:16:03). | $60 application fee (ARSD 20:44:16:04) + $80 biennial license fee (ARSD 20:44:16:15). |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
South Dakota’s electrician licensing law (SDCL ch. 36-16, which creates every class this page covers — apprentice, journeyman, Class B, electrical contractor, inspector, and 501(d) electrician) carries its exemptions in two sections. Owner exemption (SDCL 36-16-15): no license is required of a person installing electric wiring in or on the person’s own residence (defined as a detached owner-occupied single-family dwelling) including accessory structures and the parcel they sit on; the person’s own farmstead; a single-family dwelling under construction that the person owns and intends to occupy on completion; or any private, non-habitable property owned by the person that is not substantially used in connection with the person’s trade or business. This owner work remains subject to inspection — entrance installations over 60 amperes, circuits, and other apparatus must be reported and an inspection fee paid, and failure to report is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Persons exempt from the license requirement (SDCL 36-16-16): utility employees engaged in work directly pertaining to the manufacture and distribution of electrical energy (the exemption ’terminates at the first point of service attachment,’ except meter installing/testing and their service maintenance); employees of telephone, telegraph, radio and television communication services and pipelines; persons doing electrical work on automotive equipment, on equipment in a mine, ship, railway, or rolling stock, or on equipment in a packing plant supervised and regulated by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources; a person replacing a lamp or connecting a portable electrical device to a permanently installed receptacle; radio and appliance service repair departments; persons doing maintenance on an oil burner or space heater whose installation was made by a Class B or journeyman electrician; architects, designers, or engineers engaged in planning and laying out electrical work; electric-utility employees installing and maintaining utility street lighting, traffic signal devices, or utility-owned security lights; and employees of alarm and communications companies wiring power-limited Class 2 or Class 3 signaling, fire-protective signaling, alarm, or communications circuits (a low-voltage carve-out). Several of these classes extend to outside persons or companies doing work pertaining directly to those services ‘if the work is designed, supervised, or installed by a person qualified in the work being done.’ Additionally, SDCL 36-16-25 provides that the chapter ‘does not apply to emergency repairs to farmstead and residential wiring.’ South Dakota has no dollar-threshold minor-work exemption and no general government-employee or in-plant industrial maintenance exemption — plant maintenance staff are instead channeled into the maintenance electrician license class that SDCL 36-16-2 and 36-16-17 establish.
Fees
Application fee: $60 for all license classes (ARSD 20:44:16:04). Biennial license fees: electrical contractor $200; journeyman $80; Class B $100; electrical inspector $100; 501(d) $80; inactive licenses $80 (ARSD 20:44:16:15). Apprentice registration: $20 biennial (ARSD 20:44:16:17). Temporary journeyman license: $10 (ARSD 20:44:16:16). Reinstatement of a lapsed license (within one year): $50 (ARSD 20:44:16:18). Contractor/Class B also post a $10,000 undertaking and a $50 fund deposit (SDCL 36-16-20). Statutory fee caps: exam $150, application $100, biennial license fees per SDCL 36-16-17.
Exam
Written examination composed and approved by the State Electrical Commission, with questions drawn from the National Electrical Code and South Dakota statutes and rules. Passing score is 70% for electrical contractor, Class B, journeyman, and 501(d) electrician; 80% for electrical inspector. A failing applicant may be reexamined after 30 days; an applicant who fails a reexamination must wait 90 days (ARSD 20:44:16:03). Statutory examination-fee cap is $150 per exam or reexamination (SDCL 36-16-13).
Renewal & continuing education
Biennial. Each license is for a two-year term and expires at midnight on June 30 of each even-numbered year; it may be renewed within 30 days of expiration upon application, payment of the fee, filing a valid liability-insurance policy, and payment of the required deposit (SDCL 36-16-25). 16 hours of continuing education per two-year renewal cycle for electrical inspectors, electrical contractors, journeyman electricians, Class B electricians, and apprentice electricians. At least one-half (8 hours) must be on the National Electrical Code; up to 8 hours may be pre-approved correspondence/online courses (ARSD 20:44:17:01, 20:44:17:02, 20:44:17:03).
How to apply
Applications are handled by South Dakota State Electrical Commission (within the Department of Labor and Regulation). Start at the official application page .