Utah Department of Commerce, Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) — Electricians Licensing Board administers electrician licensing in Utah. 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
Utah licenses individual electricians — the state electrician license is issued by the Utah Department of Commerce 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 | No prior experience required; must submit a Verification of Supervision form completed and signed by the employer (apprentices work under the supervision of a licensed journeyman or master electrician). | None (no exam required for this classification). | $110 application fee (Electrician, all classifications, per DOPL fee schedule). |
| Residential Journeyman Electrician | Completion of a 2-year (288 classroom hours) electrical apprenticeship education program PLUS 4,000 hours as a licensed Apprentice Electrician under a licensed Journeyman or Master; OR 8,000 hours of licensed electrical experience under a licensed Journeyman or Master. (Note: the DOPL exam-information page states 3,000 apprentice hours for the education-program path rather than 4,000 — the board's own pages disagree on this figure.) | Utah Residential Journeyman Electrician Written exam AND Utah Residential Electrician Practical exam (4 modules). | $110 application fee (Electrician, all classifications, per DOPL fee schedule). |
| Journeyman Electrician | Completion of a 4-year (576 classroom hours) electrical apprenticeship education program PLUS 8,000 hours of licensed electrical experience under a licensed Journeyman or Master; OR 16,000 hours of licensed electrical experience under a licensed Journeyman or Master. (Note: the DOPL exam-information page states 6,000 hours for the education-program path rather than 8,000 — the board's own pages disagree on this figure.) | Utah Journeyman Electrician Written exam AND Utah Electrician Practical exam (6 modules). | $110 application fee (Electrician, all classifications, per DOPL fee schedule). |
| Residential Master Electrician | 4,000 hours of work experience as a licensed Residential Journeyman Electrician; OR a Bachelor's or Master's degree in an EAC/ABET-accredited Electrical Engineering program PLUS 2,000 hours as a licensed Apprentice Electrician. | Utah Residential Master Electrician Law and Rule exam AND Utah Residential Electrician Practical exam (4 modules; Practical waived if previously passed as a Residential Journeyman). | $110 application fee (Electrician, all classifications, per DOPL fee schedule). |
| Master Electrician | 8,000 hours of experience as a licensed Journeyman; OR a Bachelor's or Master's degree in an EAC/ABET-accredited Electrical Engineering program PLUS 2,000 hours as a licensed Apprentice Electrician; OR an Associate's degree in applied science from an electrical trade school program PLUS 4,000 hours as a licensed Journeyman Electrician. | Utah Master Electrician Law and Rule exam AND Utah Electrician Practical exam (Practical waived if previously passed as a Journeyman). | $110 application fee (Electrician, all classifications, per DOPL fee schedule). |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
Utah’s electrician licenses (Apprentice, Residential Journeyman, Journeyman, Residential Master, Master) are issued under the Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act, and the Act’s exemption section, Utah Code § 58-55-305, lists who may work without them. The exemption most specific to electricians: a person who would ordinarily need an electrician license is exempt while employed by railroad corporations, telephone corporations or their corporate affiliates, elevator contractors or constructors, or street railway systems, or by public service corporations, rural electrification associations, or municipal utilities that generate, distribute, or sell electrical energy (§ 58-55-305(1)(m)). Also exempt is minor electrical work incidental to a mechanical or service installation, including outdoor installation of an above-ground prebuilt hot tub and the installation, maintenance, or repair of on-premise signs (§ 58-55-305(1)(n)). Property owners are covered two ways: a sole owner may build no more than one residential structure per year (and three per five years) on the owner’s own property for noncommercial, nonpublic use, plus incidental structures such as sheds and garages (§ 58-55-305(1)(d)), and owners and lessees of property — together with persons regularly employed for wages by them to maintain the property — are exempt when doing work upon that property (§ 58-55-305(1)(j)), which covers in-plant and building maintenance staff. Unpaid helpers working under the direction of an exempt owner on a noncommercial residential project are exempt if they receive no more than token compensation (§ 58-55-305(1)(e)). Government workers are exempt: authorized representatives of the United States government and authorized state or political-subdivision employees working on government construction within the terms of their employment (§ 58-55-305(1)(a)). Construction or operation incidental to irrigation and drainage districts, farming, dairying, agriculture, livestock or poultry raising, mining, quarries, sand and gravel excavation, well drilling, and lumbering is exempt (§ 58-55-305(1)(b)), as are public utilities operating under Public Service Commission rules on work incidental to their own business (§ 58-55-305(1)(c)). Utah’s minor-work (handyman) exemption for projects under $7,000 largely does NOT extend to electrical work: on such projects, work involving an electrical system must still be performed by a licensed electrical contractor, and work on a component of the system (such as an outlet or electrical switch) may be performed by a licensed journeyman electrician (§ 58-55-305(1)(h)(ii)(A)) — so the dollar threshold does not open electrical-system work to unlicensed persons. Students in commission-approved construction trade education programs are exempt when the work is inspected and a licensed contractor pulls permits (§ 58-55-305(1)(p)), and a narrow grandfather clause preserves solar-panel electrical work for specialty contractors licensed for it in 2009-2011 (§ 58-55-305(1)(o)). In addition, the general Title 58 exemptions in § 58-1-307 apply, including individuals in an apprenticeship or on-the-job training program approved by the Division of Professional Licensing while under the supervision of qualified individuals (§ 58-1-307(1)(c)) and individuals working for federal agencies (§ 58-1-307(1)(a)).
Fees
Application fee: $110 for the Electrician license (all classifications), per the DOPL Professional Licensing Fee Schedule. Renewal fee: $84 (per the DOPL electrical renew-a-license page); the DOPL fee schedule lists the base Electrician renewal fee as $78, plus the $5 Electrician Education and Enforcement Fund fee (EE-02) and the $1 e-library surcharge (EL-01), which is the $84 the renew-a-license page charges. Late Renewal Fee: $20 and Reinstatement Fee: $50 (Department/Division fees on the DOPL fee schedule). Per-exam fees (charged by Prov) are not published on the DOPL pages and are left unsourced.
Exam
Administered by Prov (Utah electrical program). As of Aug 1, 2025 the exams were restructured: Journeyman and Residential Journeyman take a single combined Theory + Code written exam plus a practical exam; Master and Residential Master take a Law and Rule exam plus a practical exam (practical waived if previously passed at the journeyman level). Apprentice requires no exam. Pre-approval for testing is not required.
Renewal & continuing education
Two-year cycle; licenses expire November 30 of even-numbered years. DOPL emails a renewal notice to the licensee’s email address on file 90 days before the expiration date. Renewal fee $84 (renew-a-license page). A $20 Late Renewal Fee and a $50 Reinstatement Fee are listed on the DOPL fee schedule for late/lapsed renewals. 16 hours of continuing education per two-year license term; 12 of the 16 hours must be core education – 8 hours on the National Electrical Code (NEC) and 4 hours on NFPA 70E – and the remaining 4 hours may be core or professional (Utah Administrative Code R156-55b-304, restated on DOPL’s renew-a-license page).
How to apply
Applications are handled by Utah Department of Commerce, Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) — Electricians Licensing Board. Start at the official application page .