Do I have to take the West Virginia journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Indiana?

No. The trade exam is waived on this path.

How long do I need to have held my Indiana license?

At least 1 year before applying.

What does it cost to get a West Virginia journeyman electrician license from Indiana?

Published fees on this path total $50, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.

Do my Indiana work hours count in West Virginia?

Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward West Virginia's eligibility requirements.

Does it work the other way, from West Virginia to Indiana?

Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from West Virginia to Indiana, the mechanism is not applicable.

Indiana to West Virginia: journeyman electrician license reciprocity

No credit· Start overVerified September 15, 2026· 6 sources

Indiana does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is West Virginia'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.

Licensure without written examination for out-of-state journeymen (all other jurisdictions)

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

A journeyman licensed by any other state (or a county or city that licenses electricians) does not take the West Virginia trade exam. W. Va. Code 29-3B-4 provides that for jurisdictions licensing electricians the State Fire Marshal shall grant the same or equivalent classification of license without written examination upon satisfactory proof that the applicant can perform the work safely and competently and is in good standing with every jurisdiction where they are licensed, once the fee is paid. Separately, 103CSR5 section 6.3 (the RECAP Act, W. Va. Code 29-33-3) obliges the SFM to issue the license when the applicant has held a similar out-of-state license for at least one year, met that state's education and exam requirements, is in good standing with no revocation, surrender or pending complaint, has no disqualifying criminal record, and has established West Virginia residency; a person who worked at least two years in a state that does not license electricians can qualify on experience (section 6.4). The applicant files the SFM application with a written certification of current licensure from the home jurisdiction, documents at least one year of electrical experience (the WV minimum for the journeyman class), and pays the $50 annual license fee; licenses expire June 30. Anyone who previously failed a West Virginia electrician exam or let a West Virginia license lapse is not eligible for a reciprocal license and must test.

103CSR5 section 6.5 lets the board require a West Virginia jurisprudence exam, but the SFM's pages do not say one is given for electricians, so examLawRequired is false. The SFM does not publish a reciprocity application form or fee sheet online; the $50 figure is the annual license fee set in 103CSR5 section 7.2 and cited in section 9.1.1.e for reciprocal licenses. Third-party sources describe bilateral agreements with Kentucky and Ohio and SFM acceptance of licenses from 'all 50 states'; neither could be confirmed on an official page. The residency condition applies only to the RECAP route (section 6.3), not to the statutory 29-3B-4 route.

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.
You must have no disciplinary action or unresolved complaints on your record.
You must have held your Indiana license for at least 1 year.Required under the RECAP route (103CSR5 section 6.3.2); the statutory 29-3B-4 route states no minimum holding period.
Your Indiana license must have been obtained by examination, not by reciprocity or grandfathering.
You must document at least 2,000 hours of qualifying work experience.West Virginia's journeyman class requires at least one year of electrical work experience (W. Va. Code 29-3B-2; 103CSR5 section 4.2); 2,000 hours is the one-year equivalent, the rule itself is expressed in years.
Has never failed a West Virginia electrician examination and has not let a West Virginia electrician license expire without renewal (103CSR5 section 9.6)
West Virginia residency (as defined in W. Va. Code 11-21-7(a)) is required for the RECAP universal-recognition route

What you'll do to get licensed in West Virginia

1License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($50). Annual journeyman electrician license fee (103CSR5 sections 7.2 and 9.1.1.e); licenses expire June 30 each year.
2Other. Written statement from the origin jurisdiction certifying a current electrician license, submitted with the SFM application (paper or the sfm-permit-public.wvoasis.gov portal).

Published fees on this path total $50, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.

How West Virginia licenses journeyman electricians

West Virginia journeyman electrician · “Journeyman Electrician”

Statewide license

Verified September 15, 2026· 5 sources

Issued by West Virginia Office of the State Fire Marshal, Regulatory and Licensing Division

West Virginia issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Office of the State Fire Marshal (SFM); under W. Va. Code 29-3B-2 nobody may perform electrical work for hire without an SFM license, and 29-3B-9 bars cities and counties from requiring any additional electrician license. A new applicant qualifies for the exam with one year of experience as an electrician's assistant/helper under a master or journeyman, completion of a registered apprenticeship, or a 1,080-hour WV Board of Education vocational program, pays a $25 application review fee, and must score 70% on an NEC-based exam (2023 NEC as of January 1, 2026; 50 questions, two points each) given at least four times a year in Charleston and other sites. Licenses expire June 30 every year and renew for $50 per year. Out-of-state journeymen have two statutory routes that both waive the written exam: 29-3B-4 directs the SFM to grant the same or equivalent classification without written examination to anyone licensed by another jurisdiction who proves competency and good standing, and the 2024 electrician rule (103CSR5 section 6.3, implementing the RECAP Act) requires licensure of a person who has held a similar license for at least one year and has established WV residency. The SFM may also sign formal reciprocal agreements (103CSR5 section 9); Virginia's Board for Contractors lists a journeyman and master examination-reciprocity agreement with West Virginia.

Moving to West Virginia Leaving West Virginia

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 Indiana Leaving Indiana

Common questions

Do I have to take the West Virginia journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Indiana?: No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
How long do I need to have held my Indiana license?: At least 1 year before applying.
What does it cost to get a West Virginia journeyman electrician license from Indiana?: Published fees on this path total $50, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Do my Indiana work hours count in West Virginia?: Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward West Virginia's eligibility requirements.
Does it work the other way, from West Virginia to Indiana?: Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from West Virginia to Indiana, the mechanism is not applicable.

Sources

103CSR5 - State Fire Marshal Legislative Rule, Series 5, Electrician Licensing Rules (effective May 1, 2024) · W. Va. Code R. 103-5-4, 103-5-5, 103-5-6, 103-5-7, 103-5-9 · West Virginia Office of the State Fire Marshal · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Section 4: journeyman needs 1 year as an assistant/helper, a registered apprenticeship, or a 1,080-hour WV vocational program; master needs 2 years as a journeyman. Section 5: $25 application review fee, 70% passing grade, exams from the NEC, exam fees paid to the testing agent. Section 6.3: universal recognition (RECAP) - the board shall license a person who holds a similar out-of-state license for at least one year, met that state's exam requirements, is in good standing and has established WV residency; 6.5 allows a jurisprudence exam. Section 7: licenses expire June 30, renewal $50 per year. Section 9: formal reciprocal agreements let nonresident licensees obtain a WV license without written examination on proof of current licensure and payment of the annual license fee; persons who failed a WV exam or let a WV license lapse are ineligible.
W. Va. Code 29-33-3 - Review and Credential Acknowledgement Procedures (RECAP) Act: issuance of occupational licenses to persons licensed in another state · W. Va. Code 29-33-3 · West Virginia Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Boards shall issue a license to an applicant who holds a valid license in another state with a similar scope of practice and similar education, experience and exam requirements, has held it at least one year, met that state's exam requirements, is in good standing, has established WV residency, has no disqualifying record, revocation, surrender or pending complaint, and pays the fees.
W. Va. Code 29-3B-2 - Necessity of license; definitions · W. Va. Code 29-3B-2 · West Virginia Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026No electrical work for compensation without a State Fire Marshal license. Defines journeyman electrician (at least one year of experience, may not design systems) and master electrician (at least two years of experience in all phases, competent to design and supervise).
W. Va. Code 29-3B-4 - License classes; issuance; qualifications; expiration; renewal; reciprocity · W. Va. Code 29-3B-4 · West Virginia Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Classes: master, journeyman, temporary and specialty electrician. For jurisdictions licensing electricians, the Marshal shall grant the same or equivalent classification of license without written examination upon satisfactory proof that the person can perform work safely and competently and is in good standing with every jurisdiction where licensed, after payment of the fee.
W. Va. Code 29-3B-9 - Nonapplicability of local ordinances; exclusive license · W. Va. Code 29-3B-9 · West Virginia Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026No municipality or county may require any license or other evidence of competence as an electrician from a person who holds a valid State Fire Marshal license.
WV Office of the State Fire Marshal - Regulatory and Licensing Division (electrician licensing) · West Virginia Office of the State Fire Marshal · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026The division administers electrician licensing statewide. States that as of January 1, 2026 all WV electrical examinations are based on the 2023 NEC and that the master, journeyman and single family dwelling exams contain 50 multiple-choice questions worth two points each. Links the 2026 exam dates/locations sheet and the online license portal (sfm-permit-public.wvoasis.gov). The page does not list reciprocity partner states or fee amounts.

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

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