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

Yes. Wisconsin requires the trade exam on this path.

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

Published fees on this path total $215, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.

Do my Indiana work hours count in Wisconsin?

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

Does it work the other way, from Wisconsin to Indiana?

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

Indiana to Wisconsin: 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 Wisconsin'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 without a reciprocity agreement

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

A journeyman licensed in any state other than Iowa or New Hampshire gets no exam waiver in Wisconsin and applies under Category A of Form 3106 like a first-time candidate. The license itself carries no credit, but the experience behind it does: Form 3106 and Wis. Stat. 101.87 count experience in installing, repairing and maintaining electrical wiring wherever it was earned, so the applicant documents 48 months with at least 8,000 hours (or 1,000 hours per year for five years) on the Experience Table (Form 3106T) signed by witnesses, or submits a certificate of completion from a U.S. DOL- or state-recognized electrical construction apprenticeship. The application and fees are submitted in LicensE ($35 application, $30 examination and $150 license fee under Table 305.02), DSPS then makes the applicant eligible to test, and the applicant must pass the Wisconsin journeyman exam. Wisconsin has no separate law or business exam for individual electricians.

DSPS publishes no endorsement route for non-reciprocal states. Form 3106 does not say out-of-state experience is excluded; the credit for out-of-state hours is inferred from the experience definition, which has no geographic limit, and was not confirmed by an explicit DSPS statement. Fee amounts are from Table 305.02 of the administrative code; the forms say fees are calculated in LicensE, and Pearson test-center exams cost marginally more than DSPS-site exams.

At a glance

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

What you must already have

You must document at least 8,000 hours of qualifying work experience.At least 8,000 hours over at least 48 months installing, repairing and maintaining electrical wiring (or 1,000 hours per year for five years); up to 2,000 hours and two years may come from full-time electrical schooling at 500 hours per semester. A recognized three-year construction electrician apprenticeship is an alternative.

What you'll do to get licensed in Wisconsin

1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($35). Journeyman Electrician license application fee (Table 305.02 line 26e), paid in LicensE.
2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($30). Journeyman Electrician examination fee (Table 305.02 line 26e); paid again for each retake.
3Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Wisconsin Journeyman Electrician examination (open book on SPS 305, SPS 316 and the NEC; 70% to pass).
4License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($150). Journeyman Electrician initial license fee (Table 305.02 line 26e); four-year credential.
5Other. Experience Table (Form 3106T) with witness signatures, or apprenticeship completion certificate, uploaded to LicensE.

Published fees on this path total $215, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.

What you'll need to buy or arrange

Exam preparation

Most boards contract PSI, Prov, or ICC for exams. Check which code edition the exam is written to before buying a prep course.

Exam fee · $30
Trade exam

How Wisconsin licenses journeyman electricians

Wisconsin journeyman electrician · “Journeyman Electrician”

Statewide license

Verified September 15, 2026· 6 sources

Issued by Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS)

Wisconsin issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS); under Wis. Stat. 101.862 no one may install, repair or maintain electrical wiring without a DSPS license or registration, and there is no municipal electrician licensing. A new applicant under Wis. Stat. 101.87 either completes a recognized construction electrician apprenticeship or documents 48 months with at least 8,000 hours of experience, applies in the LicensE portal, and passes the DSPS journeyman exam (open book, 70% to pass; based on the 2017 NEC until October 1, 2026, then the 2023 NEC). Under Wis. Stat. 101.874 DSPS may enter into reciprocal agreements, and Form 3106 currently waives the exam only for journeymen licensed by examination in Iowa or New Hampshire. The license is renewed every four years for $100.

Moving to Wisconsin Leaving Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Indiana?: Yes. Wisconsin requires the trade exam on this path.
What does it cost to get a Wisconsin journeyman electrician license from Indiana?: Published fees on this path total $215, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Do my Indiana work hours count in Wisconsin?: Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Wisconsin's eligibility requirements.
Does it work the other way, from Wisconsin to Indiana?: Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Wisconsin to Indiana, the mechanism is not applicable.

Sources

Wisconsin DSPS Form 3106 - Journeyman Electrician License Application Information (Rev. 12/04/2025) · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Form · verified September 15, 2026Category A (apprenticeship/experience and examination): completed recognized electrical construction apprenticeship, or 48 months with at least 8,000 hours of experience installing, repairing and maintaining electrical wiring, or 1,000 hours per year for five years; up to 2,000 hours / two years of credit for full-time electrical schooling at 500 hours per semester. Category B (reciprocity): a valid, unexpired journeyman license acquired through a state examination in Iowa (Journeyman A) or New Hampshire, held continuously for at least one year immediately before applying, licenses without the Wisconsin exam; Iowa applicants must have completed an apprenticeship or the experience hours, New Hampshire applicants a 600-hour apprenticeship-schooling program. Fees are calculated in LicensE.
Wisconsin DSPS - Journeyman Electrician Exam Information · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Exam is open book with a 70% passing score; allowed references are SPS 305 and SPS 316, the NEC, and up to two bound reference books. Exams are based on the 2017 NEC until October 1, 2026, when the 2023 NEC takes effect.
Wisconsin DSPS - Journeyman Electrician · Wis. Stat. 101.862; Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305.40 · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Program page: licensing is required to install, repair or maintain electrical wiring; journeymen work under the general supervision of a master electrician; applications (Form 3106) are filed in the LicensE portal at license.wi.gov. Does not itself list reciprocity states or fees.
DSPS - Trades Renewal Dates and Fees · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Other · verified September 15, 2026HVAC Qualifier: 4-year credential renewing from date of issuance, renewal fee $100, no CE, reinstatement $200. HVAC Contractor: 4-year registration from date of issuance, renewal $40, reinstatement $200. (SPS 305 Table 305.07 still lists a 2-year term for these credentials; DSPS's current schedule is used here.) Read with pdftotext after download.
Wisconsin DSPS - Trades Credentialing Examination Information · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Trades exams are given at DSPS locations or, at a marginally higher fee, at Pearson test centers selected in the LicensE application; exam reviews are $15.
Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 305 - Licenses, Certifications and Registrations (Register August 2025) · SPS 305.02 Table 305.02; SPS 305.70; SPS 305.71 · Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Table 305.02: HVAC Contractor registration $15 application fee and $160 registration fee; HVAC Qualifier certification $15 application fee, $25 examination fee, $60 certification fee. SPS 305.70: HVAC contractor registration is mandatory for any person, entity or business installing or servicing HVAC equipment and is applied for by the owner, partner or chief executive; a note reminds that federal Section 608 technician certification is required for refrigerant work. SPS 305.71: an individual may obtain an HVAC qualifier certification by meeting the 4-year experience/education standard, passing the exam under SPS 305.09 and paying the certification fee; a business that uses a qualifier is a 'certified HVAC business' that cannot be required to obtain local approval. The chapter contains no reciprocity or credential-by-endorsement provision for HVAC. Read with pdftotext after download.
Wis. Stat. 101.87 - Journeyman electrician license · Wis. Stat. 101.87 · Wisconsin Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Journeyman electrician qualifications: completion of a construction electrician apprenticeship of at least three years approved by the U.S. DOL or Wisconsin DWD, or 48 months with at least 8,000 hours of experience; each followed by passage of the department's examination. A two-year electrical degree or diploma counts as 12 months and 2,000 hours.
Wis. Stat. 101.874 - Reciprocal agreements (electrical credentials) · Wis. Stat. 101.874 · Wisconsin Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026DSPS may enter into a reciprocal agreement with another state recognizing electrician credentials as comparable only if the other state's education, experience and examination requirements are at least equivalent to Wisconsin's; under an agreement DSPS issues a credential to an applicant who submits an application, pays the fee under s. 101.82(4), and holds a valid comparable credential from the other state.

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

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