Louisiana to Alaska: journeyman electrician license reciprocity
Louisiana does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Alaska'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.
Reciprocal or provisional certificate for any US jurisdiction with substantially similar requirements
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
Under 8 AAC 90.111 (effective August 8, 2025) Mechanical Inspection may reciprocate an electrical certificate of fitness with any jurisdiction that has substantially similar requirements, without a mutual agreement; it weighs the hours required, whether the jurisdiction tests, whether it requires registered apprenticeship, and other factors. The applicant must hold a current journeyman license that has been held for a full year, files the Reciprocal/Provisional application with a copy of the license, and pays $50 plus $200 for a two-year Reciprocal Electrician Journeyman COF that renews as a normal journeyman certificate; no Alaska exam is taken if the jurisdiction is found substantially similar. If the department decides the origin jurisdiction is not substantially similar it requests proof of hours and the applicant must pass the Alaska journeyman exam before a certificate is issued (8 AAC 90.112(h)). Alternatively, a provisional Electrician Journeyman COF ($50 plus $100, valid up to one year or until the origin license expires, not renewable, no trainee supervision) lets an out-of-state journeyman start work quickly and can be upgraded to a reciprocal certificate on request.
Whether a city- or county-issued journeyman license counts as a 'jurisdiction' under 8 AAC 90.111 is not addressed on any official page. The exam path (for applicants whose jurisdiction is not substantially similar) has no published exam fee; the department administers the exam itself and third-party proctoring is at the applicant's expense.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
- Typical processing
- About 10 days
What you must already have
- Your Louisiana license must be active and in good standing.
- You must have held your Louisiana license for at least 1 year.Held for a full year before the application date (8 AAC 90.112(a))
- Origin jurisdiction's requirements (hours, testing, apprenticeship) must be substantially similar to Alaska's as determined by Mechanical Inspection; otherwise proof of 8,000 hours and the Alaska exam are required
What you'll do to get licensed in Alaska
- 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($50). Nonrefundable certificate of fitness application fee (AS 18.62.030).
- 2License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($200). Two-year Reciprocal Electrician Journeyman certificate fee; a provisional certificate costs $100 instead and lasts up to one year.
- 3Other. Copy of the current out-of-state license (and a prior license if the issue date is missing), picture identification and a 2x2 photo.
Published fees on this path total $250, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
How Alaska licenses journeyman electricians
Alaska journeyman electrician · “Electrician Journeyman Certificate of Fitness”
Statewide license
Alaska issues a statewide Electrician Journeyman Certificate of Fitness (COF) through the Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Mechanical Inspection Section; a state COF is required for construction work subject to the National Electrical Code everywhere in Alaska (AS 18.62.010). A new applicant documents 8,000 hours of supervised electrical work (no more than 2,000 residential; up to 1,000 classroom hours, 1,000 lineman hours and 4,000 military/vocational hours may be substituted) and passes the department's open-book exam on the 2020 NEC with a score of at least 70%. The COF costs $50 to apply for plus $200 on issue, is valid for two years, and renews with 16 hours of continuing education. Since August 8, 2025 the department reciprocates journeyman certificates with any US jurisdiction whose requirements are substantially similar (8 AAC 90.111), still names thirteen long-standing reciprocal states, and offers a one-year provisional certificate to any out-of-state journeyman.
Why Louisiana has nothing to transfer
Louisiana journeyman electrician
Licensed by cities and counties
Louisiana does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license. The only state electrical credential is the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) commercial contractor license with the Electrical classification, required for any electrical project of $10,000 or more; it is issued to the contracting business (or to an individual as a sole proprietor) on the strength of a qualifying party who passed the trade exam, and the LSLBC FAQ and Types of Licenses pages list no journeyman or master electrician license. Journeyman licensing exists only where a parish or city ordinance creates it: New Orleans issues a Class 'D' Journeyman Electrical License ($60 per year) to applicants who pass the ICC F17 National Standard Journeyman Electrician exam, Jefferson Parish administers its own electrical exam and requires a parish-licensed electrician to file electrical permits, and Shreveport directs journeyman and master candidates to ICC testing while requiring contractor registration with the city. None of these jurisdictions publish a reciprocity or endorsement rule for out-of-state journeyman licenses; in practice the portable credential is the ICC National Standard Journeyman Electrician exam, which several cities accept directly. An out-of-state journeyman who only wants to work as an employee needs whatever local card the parish or city requires, and nothing at the state level.
How local licensing works in Louisiana
How local licensing works. The Contractors Licensing Law (La. R.S. 37:2150.1 et seq.) regulates contractors: an electrical contractor is anyone who contracts for electrical work valued at $10,000 or more, and the LSLBC licenses the business through a designated qualifying party. Individual electricians are licensed, where at all, by parish or city ordinance, and requirements differ by jurisdiction.
New Orleans. The Department of Safety and Permits issues a Class 'E' Electrician Trainee license ($30 per year, sponsored by a Class 'A' master license holder or union representative) and a Class 'D' Journeyman Electrical License ($60 per year, delinquent fee $5 per month). The journeyman applicant must be 18 or older and submit a passing ICC Official Results Report for exam F17 National Standard Journeyman Electrician (an unofficial stamped report is not accepted), a passport-style photo and ID; a journeyman must be employed by and work under a Class 'A' electrical contractor. The city page states no experience-hour requirement and no reciprocity for other jurisdictions' licenses; an out-of-state journeyman who has already passed the ICC F17 exam can apply on that score.
Jefferson Parish. The Department of Inspection and Code Enforcement publishes an Electrical Exam Application and requires that electrical permit filings be made by a Jefferson Parish licensed electrician; the parish trade contractor license costs $200 and lists the state license among its checklist items. The exam application is a scanned document whose eligibility text could not be read, and no reciprocity rule was found on the parish site.
Shreveport. The city requires every contractor performing electrical work to register with the city and refers journeyman or master testing to the International Code Council or the LSLBC; electrical work over $10,000 requires the state license.
Baton Rouge and Lafayette. No official page describing a journeyman electrician license or exam was located for the City of Baton Rouge/East Baton Rouge Parish or for Lafayette Consolidated Government; their permit pages cover permitting and inspection only. Applicants should contact the local building official.
Out-of-state holders. No parish or city page reviewed publishes reciprocity or endorsement for journeyman licenses from other states. The LSLBC's reciprocity (trade-exam waiver for anyone who passed another state's exam) applies only to its contractor license.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Alaska journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Louisiana?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
- How long do I need to have held my Louisiana license?
- At least 1 year before applying.
- What does it cost to get a Alaska journeyman electrician license from Louisiana?
- Published fees on this path total $250, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Louisiana work hours count in Alaska?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Alaska's eligibility requirements.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 10 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Alaska to Louisiana?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Alaska to Louisiana, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- Alaska Certificate of Fitness Information Packet - AS 18.62 and 8 AAC 90 (Version 20250715) · AS 18.62.020, AS 18.62.030; 8 AAC 90.111, 8 AAC 90.112, 8 AAC 90.115, 8 AAC 90.160 · Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026AS 18.62.030: $50 application fee and $200 journeyman certificate fee (two years, prorated). 8 AAC 90.111: the department may reciprocate an electrical COF with any jurisdiction that has substantially similar requirements, considering hours, testing, apprenticeship membership and other factors. 8 AAC 90.112: provisional certificate requires a current license held a full year, $50 + $100, expires after one year or when the origin license expires; if the origin jurisdiction is not substantially similar the applicant must prove hours and take the exam. 8 AAC 90.115(c): passing score 70. 8 AAC 90.160: journeyman COF requires the exam plus 8,000 documented hours (max 2,000 residential; up to 1,000 classroom and 1,000 lineman hours substitutable; maintenance experience excluded). Includes the FAQ on the August 8, 2025 reciprocity change.
- Alaska DOLWD Mechanical Inspection - Certificate of Fitness License Requirements (Electrician) · 8 AAC 90.111, 8 AAC 90.112, 8 AAC 90.160 · Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Mechanical Inspection · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Electrician Journeyman: 8,000 hours (max 2,000 residential, 1,000 classroom, 1,000 lineman, 4,000 military/vocational), exam with 70% passing score, $50 non-refundable application fee plus $200 certificate fee, valid 2 years, 16 CE hours to renew. Reciprocal Electrician Journeyman: license held one full year, origin requirements substantially similar as determined by Mechanical Inspection, no exam, $50 + $200. Provisional Electrician Journeyman: held one full year, $50 + $100, valid 1 year, may not supervise apprentices.
- Alaska DOLWD Mechanical Inspection - Frequently Asked Questions · Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Mechanical Inspection · Faq · verified September 15, 2026Covers only electrician and plumber certificates; says 'Alaska also has Mechanical Administrator and Electrical Administrator licenses which cover supervision and sign-off of code work. Refer to DCCED for details on these licenses.' Also notes that provisional plumber certificates do not allow fuel gas work because many states exclude gas from their plumber license.
- Alaska DOLWD Mechanical Inspection - Home · Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Announces the changes effective August 8, 2025: expanded reciprocity for electricians and plumbers, new provisional licensing, and acceptance of military and vocational hours; a state-issued COF is required for construction work subject to the NEC in all parts of Alaska.
- Reciprocal/Provisional Application for Electrical and Plumbing Certificates of Fitness (v.20250828) · Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Mechanical Inspection · Form · verified September 15, 2026Reciprocal Electrician Journeyman $250 for 2 years; Provisional Electrician Journeyman $150 for up to 1 year (not renewable); $50 nonrefundable application fee plus $100 or $200 certificate fee; attach a copy of the current license; processing 7-10 business days.
- Alaska DOLWD Mechanical Inspection - Testing Information · Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Mechanical Inspection · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Electrician journeyman exam is open book on the 2020 National Electrical Code, minimum 70%, four-hour limit, given the first and third Wednesday of each month in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks with proctored options; applications take 7-10 business days to approve before scheduling. No exam fee is listed.
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.