Arkansas to Oregon: journeyman electrician license reciprocity
Oregon has a reciprocity agreement with Arkansas: a Arkansas journeyman electrician can get a Oregon license without retaking the trade exam.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Reciprocal agreement with Arkansas (journeyman)
A signed state-to-state agreement. The trade exam is waived; you apply, prove your history, and pay the fee.
Oregon has a signed reciprocity agreement with Arkansas covering journeyman electricians. A qualifying Arkansas journeyman is issued the Oregon General Journeyman (J) license without taking the Oregon exam. Under OAR 918-030-0045 the Arkansas license must be current and active with no violations or conditions in the past three years, must have been obtained by examination, and the applicant must have worked at least six months (1,000 hours) under it and not have failed the Oregon exam for this license in the past two years. The applicant must also have qualified for the Arkansas exam through a four-year apprenticeship with at least 576 classroom hours and 8,000 supervised hours.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
- Typical processing
- About 7 days
- Agreement
- Active
What you must already have
- Your Arkansas license must be active and in good standing.
- You must have no disciplinary action or unresolved complaints on your record.
- Your Arkansas license must have been obtained by examination, not by reciprocity or grandfathering.
- You must document at least 1,000 hours of qualifying work experience.
- Qualified for the origin-state exam by completing four years of apprenticeship vocational education (576 classroom hours minimum) and 8,000 hours under the supervision of a licensed journeyman
- Has not taken and failed the Oregon General Journeyman exam within the past two years
What you'll do to get licensed in Oregon
- 1License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($100). Reciprocal General Journeyman (J) license fee, submitted with the Reciprocal Electrical License Application (form 4794e); non-refundable.
Published fees on this path total $100, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
How Oregon licenses journeyman electricians
Oregon journeyman electrician · “General Journeyman Electrician (J)”
Statewide license
Issued by Oregon Building Codes Division (Department of Consumer and Business Services)
Oregon issues a statewide General Journeyman Electrician (J) license through the Building Codes Division. An applicant without a reciprocal license must document either an approved apprenticeship, or 576 classroom hours plus 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience earned outside Oregon, or 16,000 out-of-state on-the-job hours, and then pass the Oregon journeyman exam. Oregon has signed journeyman reciprocity agreements with Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming; qualifying holders of those licenses are licensed without taking the Oregon exam. Licenses renew every three years on October 1 and require 24 hours of continuing education.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Oregon journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Arkansas?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path under the agreement with Arkansas.
- What does it cost to get a Oregon journeyman electrician license from Arkansas?
- Published fees on this path total $100, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Arkansas work hours count in Oregon?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Oregon's eligibility requirements.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 7 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Oregon to Arkansas?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Oregon to Arkansas, the mechanism is experience credit.
Sources
- Reciprocal Agreement - Arkansas Journeyman and Master / Oregon General Journeyman and General Supervising · Oregon Building Codes Division (DCBS) · Agreement Document · verified September 14, 2026Signed agreement PDF linked from the BCD reciprocal page. Scanned image; text not extractable in this session, so effective date and agreement-specific terms are not recorded.
- Oregon Building Codes Division - Apply for an electrical license · Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Building Codes Division · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Application steps for individual electrical licenses; notes that reciprocal agreements exist only for the General Supervising Electrician and General Journeyman Electrician licenses, so the LME has no reciprocity.
- Building Codes Division - Reciprocal licenses · Oregon Building Codes Division (DCBS) · Agency Page · verified September 14, 2026Lists reciprocal states per license type: General Journeyman (J): Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington, Wyoming; General Supervising (S): Arkansas, Utah. States the apprenticeship/8,000-hour qualification and the Washington-specific apprenticeship condition.
- Reciprocal Electrical License Application (form 440-4794e) · Oregon Building Codes Division (DCBS) · Form · verified September 14, 2026Fillable PDF; text could not be extracted in this session, so fee amounts were taken from the Oregon License Directory pages instead.
- OAR 918-030-0045 - Application - Oregon Reciprocal License Requirements · OAR 918-030-0045 · Oregon Secretary of State · Admin Rule · verified September 14, 2026
- ORS chapter 479 - Protection of Buildings from Fire and Electrical Hazards · ORS 479.630, 479.632, 479.840 · Oregon Legislature · Statute · verified September 14, 2026479.630: general journeyman requires four years as apprentice or equivalent and a written exam; general supervising requires four years as general journeyman or equivalent and a written exam. 479.632: the board may refuse to examine an applicant whose out-of-state training or experience is not equivalent.
- Oregon License Directory - General Journeyman Electrician (J) · Oregon Secretary of State / Building Codes Division · Agency Page · verified September 14, 2026Eligibility paths including out-of-state 576 classroom hours + 8,000 OJT hours or 16,000 OJT hours; exam 52 questions, 3 hours, open book; license fee $100; processing 2-3 weeks. Page last updated 01/23/2026.
- Oregon License Directory - Reciprocal General Journeyman (J) · Oregon Secretary of State / Building Codes Division · Agency Page · verified September 14, 2026License fee $100; processing about 1 week; renewal every three years on October 1 with 24 CE hours. Page last updated 02/11/2026.
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.