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Indiana to New Jersey: journeyman electrician license reciprocity

No credit· Start overVerified September 15, 2026· 8 sources

Indiana does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is New Jersey's standard path for out-of-state applicants.

Your origin state does not issue a statewide license at this level, so there is no license to transfer. The destination's standard out-of-state path is shown; expect to meet it in full.

Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.

Out-of-state journeyman: Board review under N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.8 or a standard experience-based application

Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.

New Jersey has no journeyman examination, so nothing is waived by reciprocity except the documentation burden. Under N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.8 the Board may grant a Class A journeyman license to a journeyman licensed in good standing in another jurisdiction, but only where that jurisdiction gives equal reciprocity to New Jersey Class A journeymen and the Board finds its qualifications substantially equivalent; the applicant must also have practiced as a journeyman for two of the last five years, have no discipline or unresolved complaints, be current on the origin state's continuing education, complete a 15-hour Board-approved NEC course, and have the origin board send license verification directly. Because the Board publishes no partner list, every out-of-state journeyman should expect a case-by-case determination. The alternative, open to anyone, is the standard application: document 8,000 hours of hands-on experience (at least 4,000 within five years) and 576 classroom hours with employer work-experience certifications, which may come from out-of-state employers, and pay the $100 application fee plus the prorated license fee ($150 in the first year of the triennial period). Journeymen coming for a short job can instead obtain one 30-day temporary Class A journeyman license per triennial period ($75) to work under a licensed electrical contractor.

The Board's FAQ page (njconsumeraffairs.gov/elec/pages/faq.aspx) could not be opened, so whether the Board has actually recognized any state under 13:31-5.8 is unconfirmed; the rule itself was adopted June 2, 2025. The journeyman application form on the Board's site still uses the pre-2025 'registration' title and quotes an older $40 application fee; the current fee schedule (N.J.A.C. 13:31-1.6) sets $100.

At a glance

Trade exam
Waived
Law / code exam
Not required
Out-of-state hours
Count toward eligibility

What you must already have

  • Your Indiana license must be active and in good standing.
  • Origin jurisdiction provides equal reciprocity to New Jersey Class A journeymen and the Board finds its qualifications substantially equivalent (reciprocity route only)
  • Active practice as a journeyman electrician for at least two of the last five years (reciprocity route only)
  • You must have no disciplinary action or unresolved complaints on your record.
  • You must document at least 8,000 hours of qualifying work experience.Standard route: 8,000 hours of practical hands-on experience with tools (at least 4,000 within five years of application) plus 576 classroom hours of related instruction, documented by employer certifications (N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.1).

What you'll do to get licensed in New Jersey

  1. 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($100). Non-refundable application fee for all licenses (N.J.A.C. 13:31-1.6).
  2. 2License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($150). Initial Class A journeyman electrician license fee when paid in the first year of the triennial period ($100 in the second year, $50 in the third).
  3. 3Continuing education. Complete continuing education. Reciprocity route: 15-hour Board-approved course on the most recent National Electrical Code before licensure; all licensees: 15 CE hours per triennial renewal.
  4. 4Other. Reciprocity route: written or electronic verification of licensure sent directly to the Board by the origin state board, plus a list of all jurisdictions where ever licensed.
  5. 5Other. Standard route: work-experience certification completed by each employer for the 8,000 hours claimed and certificates of completion for the 576 classroom hours.

Published fees on this path total $250, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.

What you'll need to buy or arrange

Continuing education

Renewals usually need approved CE hours, often on the latest NEC. Reciprocal licensees are rarely exempt.

  • Continuing education

How New Jersey licenses journeyman electricians

New Jersey journeyman electrician · “Class A Journeyman Electrician

Statewide license

Verified September 15, 2026· 6 sources

Issued by New Jersey Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors (Division of Consumer Affairs)

New Jersey issues a statewide, person-held Class A Journeyman Electrician license through the Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors. Until recently the credential was a voluntary 'qualified journeyman electrician' registration; P.L. 2021, c.479 converted it into a license and, with the Class A electrical apprentice and Class B wireman licenses, made a Board license mandatory for anyone performing electrical work for a business-permit holder, with the implementing rules taking effect June 2, 2025. The license is earned on experience rather than examination: 8,000 hours of practical hands-on work with tools in the installation, alteration or repair of wiring (at least 4,000 within the last five years) plus 576 classroom hours of related instruction, documented by employer work-experience certifications; supervising, estimating and managerial time does not count. Licenses run on a three-year cycle with 15 hours of NEC continuing education per renewal. A Class A journeyman may perform in-house electrical work for an employer under N.J.S.A. 45:5A-18(k) and may supervise electrical work, but contracting still requires the separate Electrical Contractor license and business permit. New Jersey's rules include a reciprocity path (N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.8) and a 30-day temporary license for out-of-state journeymen, but the Board publishes no list of reciprocal states.

Moving to New JerseyLeaving New Jersey

Why Indiana has nothing to transfer

Indiana journeyman electrician

Licensed by cities and counties

Verified September 15, 2026· 12 sources

Indiana has no statewide journeyman electrician license; the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency licenses plumbers but its list of regulated professions contains no electrical trade, and no state agency examines or registers electricians. Cities and counties license electricians under their own ordinances, and the journeyman level exists only where a local ordinance creates it: Allen County (Fort Wayne) issues an Electrical Journeymans License after four years and 7,000 hours as an apprentice, Evansville licenses Journeyman Electricians who work under a licensed Master Electrician, and Bloomington's ordinance provides for journeyman examination and licensing, while Indianapolis/Marion County, South Bend and Terre Haute license only electrical contractors (with an exam-qualified license holder) and have no journeyman credential at all. An out-of-state journeyman license therefore has no state-level recognition in Indiana; a journeyman must apply in each jurisdiction that licenses individuals, where prior licensure is treated at most as evidence of experience or, in Allen County, as grounds for discretionary reciprocity.

How local licensing works in Indiana

How local licensing works. Indiana regulates plumbers at the state level through the Professional Licensing Agency but has never created a state electrician or electrical contractor license. Each city or county building department decides whether to license electrical contractors, supervisors/masters, journeymen and apprentices, and requirements differ from one jurisdiction to the next. Several jurisdictions accept the ICC National Standard Master Electrician exam, which has become the de facto portable credential.

Indianapolis / Marion County. The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services issues an Electrical Contractor license to a business that has at least one craft license holder who has passed the required examination; license holders may be tied to only one business. The packet requires business registration, a $500,000/$100,000 (or $500,000 combined) certificate of insurance naming the City-County as additional insured, workers' compensation, and a $10,000 surety bond. 2026 fees: new license holder $377 (first half of 2026) or $283 (second half), new business license $247 or $185, renewals $247 each; licenses expire December 31 of odd-numbered years. No journeyman license is issued.

Fort Wayne / Allen County. The Building Department licenses Electrical Supervisors (treated as master electricians; four years and 7,000 hours as a journeyman, $25) and Electrical Journeymen (four years and 7,000 hours as an apprentice, with approved apprenticeship schooling counting for 1,000 hours, $15), registers apprentices ($10) and electrical contracting businesses ($90, which must employ a supervisor licensee). Section H of the rules grants reciprocity subject to the trade's guidelines and the minimum qualifications, and lets the Building Commissioner grant reciprocity to applicants who present the necessary credentials. Examinations are administered by the Building Commissioner or an approved testing vendor.

Evansville. The Building Commission licenses Master Electricians and Journeyman Electricians (a journeyman is employed by a licensed master) and registers apprentices. Applicants submit three notarized letters proving at least four years of experience, are approved to test by the trade board, sit the exam through Ivy Tech (masters need 75% on each part, other exams 70%), then receive a provisional license on paying the fee and providing insurance and a surety bond. Fees: master $300 new/$225 renewal, journeyman $35, apprentice $25.

South Bend. The Building Department registers electrical contractors ($50 application review plus $125 annual registration, $5,000 bond) after verifying four years of experience and a passing score of at least 70% on the ICC National Master Electrician exam (F16-N) through Pearson Vue or Prometric or a comparable board-approved national exam; applicants must be at least 21. South Bend issues reciprocal letters ($70) only to municipalities that accept the ICC master exams. There is no journeyman license.

Terre Haute. The Engineering Department issues commercial and residential electrical contractor licenses to businesses whose full-time employee has passed the Experior/master exam (commercial) or the master, journeyman or residential exam (residential), with a $10,000 bond and $500,000/$100,000 insurance. No individual journeyman license.

Bloomington. A city ordinance requires a license to work as an electrician or electrical contractor inside city limits and creates a Board for the Examination and Registration of Electricians that examines and licenses journeyman and master electricians; current fees were not confirmed.

Out-of-state holders. None of these jurisdictions publish a reciprocity path for another state's journeyman license. Allen County's discretionary reciprocity clause and the widespread acceptance of ICC national exam scores (South Bend, Terre Haute) are the closest equivalents; otherwise expect to document experience and take the local exam in each jurisdiction that licenses journeymen.

Moving to IndianaLeaving Indiana

Common questions

Do I have to take the New Jersey journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Indiana?
No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
What does it cost to get a New Jersey journeyman electrician license from Indiana?
Published fees on this path total $250, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Do my Indiana work hours count in New Jersey?
Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward New Jersey's eligibility requirements.
Does it work the other way, from New Jersey to Indiana?
Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from New Jersey to Indiana, the mechanism is not applicable.

Sources

  1. Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors - Application Process Overview · New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs · Other · verified September 15, 2026Board slide deck summarizing the journeyman qualification (8,000 hours with 576 classroom hours, 4,000 hours within five years) and the electrical contractor exam eligibility (over 21, high school diploma, five years hands-on experience, or a four-year federally approved apprenticeship plus one year, or a qualified journeyman plus one year, or a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering plus two years). It lists application fees of $40 (journeyman) and $100 (electrical contractor) and a three-year license term; the $40 figure predates the 2025 fee schedule.
  2. Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors - Application for a Certificate of Registration to Practice as a Qualified Journeyman Electrician · New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs · Form · verified September 15, 2026The Board's journeyman application form still carries the pre-2025 'registration' title. It requires proof of 8,000 hours of practical experience working with tools (at least 4,000 within five years) and 576 classroom hours, supported by work-experience certifications from each employer (the certification asks in what state the employer is licensed). No examination is required; the registration/license fee is billed after approval. A form titled for the Class A journeyman license could not be located on the Board's site.
  3. N.J.A.C. 13:31-1.6 - Fee schedule (Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors) · N.J.A.C. 13:31-1.6 · New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (text via Cornell LII) · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Current fee schedule (effective June 2, 2025): non-refundable application fee for all licenses $100; initial electrical contractor license $225/$150/$75 depending on the year of the triennial period (renewal $225); initial business permit $150/$100/$50 (renewal $150); initial Class A journeyman electrician license $150/$100/$50 (renewal $150); Class B wireman $75/$50/$25; temporary courtesy license $75; 30-day temporary license $75; late renewal $50; reinstatement $100.
  4. N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.1 - Class A journeyman electrician license required; qualifications · N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.1 · New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (text via Cornell LII) · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026As amended effective June 2, 2025: a person must hold a Class A journeyman electrician license to perform the in-house electrical work described in N.J.S.A. 45:5A-18(k) and, if not a licensed electrical contractor, to supervise electrical work. Qualification is a current NJ electrical contractor license, or 8,000 hours of practical hands-on experience (at least 4,000 within the last five years) plus 576 classroom hours of related instruction, or equivalent experience shown by alternative means. No examination is listed.
  5. N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.5 - Continuing education for Class A journeyman electricians · N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.5 · New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (text via Cornell LII) · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 202615 credit hours on the most recent National Electrical Code per triennial renewal.
  6. N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.8 - Class A journeyman electrician licensure by reciprocity · N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.8 · New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (text via Cornell LII) · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Adopted effective June 2, 2025. The Board may grant a Class A journeyman license to a journeyman licensed in good standing in another jurisdiction if that jurisdiction gives equal reciprocity to NJ Class A journeymen and its qualifications are substantially equivalent. The applicant must have practiced as a journeyman for two of the last five years, have no discipline or unresolved complaints, be current on the origin state's continuing education, complete a 15-hour Board-approved NEC course, pay the application and license fees, and have the origin board send verification directly. No partner states are listed.
  7. N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.9 - Temporary 30-day Class A journeyman electrician license · N.J.A.C. 13:31-5.9 · New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (text via Cornell LII) · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026An individual from another state who meets Class A journeyman qualifications may receive one 30-day temporary license per triennial period (application fee plus $75 license fee) to work under a licensed electrical contractor without supervising; longer stays require the full license.
  8. P.L. 2021, c.479 - An Act concerning the Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors (Class A journeyman, Class A apprentice and Class B wireman licenses) · N.J.S.A. 45:5A-9, 45:5A-11.1, 45:5A-11.7, 45:5A-11.8, 45:5A-11.9 · New Jersey Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Converts the former 'qualified journeyman electrician' registration into a mandatory Class A journeyman electrician license and creates Class A electrical apprentice and Class B wireman licenses (registrants had 13 months after enactment to exchange registrations). Amends 45:5A-9(b): an electrical contractor exam applicant needs five years in the trade, spent as one year as a Class A journeyman and four years in a U.S. DOL-approved apprenticeship. C.45:5A-11.7: the Board may issue a temporary license without examination to an out-of-state Class A journeyman, apprentice or wireman for up to 30 days (one per triennial period). C.45:5A-11.8: the Board 'may in its discretion grant licenses without examination to applicants so licensed in another state ... provided that equal reciprocity is provided' to New Jersey electrical contractors, Class A journeymen, Class A apprentices and Class B wiremen.

Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.

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