Do I have to take the Minnesota journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Nevada?

Yes. Minnesota requires the trade exam on this path.

What does it cost to get a Minnesota journeyman electrician license from Nevada?

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

Do my Nevada work hours count in Minnesota?

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

Does it work the other way, from Minnesota to Nevada?

Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Minnesota to Nevada, the mechanism is not applicable.

Nevada to Minnesota: journeyman electrician license reciprocity

No credit· Start overVerified September 15, 2026· 7 sources

Nevada does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Minnesota'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 a state that is not on Minnesota's reciprocity list gets no exam waiver; the license itself carries no credit and the applicant qualifies by examination like any other candidate. Out-of-state hours do count: Minn. R. 3800.3520 credits electrical work performed outside Minnesota that DLI determines is substantially equivalent to work for a Minnesota licensed contractor, documented on the Work Experience Verification form by each employer (capped at 160 hours per month or 2,000 hours per year), and DLI's licensing page confirms credit for verifiable work in another state. The applicant must show at least 48 months of qualifying experience including 24 months of wiring and installing, file the Personal Electrical License Examination Application with the $50 fee (marking 'Licensed in a state other than Minnesota' and attaching a copy of the license), and pass the Class A Journeyworker exam. The license fee is paid separately once the exam is passed. Minnesota has no separate law or business exam for individual electricians.

DLI's pages describe no endorsement route for non-reciprocal states. The initial license fee is prorated to the two-year expiration cycle from the statutory base of $20 per year plus a $4 per year board fee (Minn. Stat. 326B.092, subd. 7); DLI's licensing page states the amount is determined after the exam is passed.

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 48 months of qualifying work experience.At least 48 months of qualifying experience under Minn. R. 3800.3520, including at least 24 months wiring for and installing electrical wiring, apparatus and equipment; up to 12 months of credit for an approved two-year electrical course. Out-of-state work is credited when DLI finds it substantially equivalent.

What you'll do to get licensed in Minnesota

1Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($50). Application and examination fee (non-refundable), Minn. Stat. 326B.092, subd. 1.
2Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Minnesota Class A Journeyworker Electrician written examination administered by DLI.
3Other. Electrical Work Experience Verification form completed by each employer, plus a copy of the out-of-state license.
4License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee. Class A Journeyworker license fee on approval, prorated from $20 per year plus $4 per year board fee (Minn. Stat. 326B.092, subd. 7).

Published fees on this path total $50, 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 · $50
Trade exam

How Minnesota licenses journeyman electricians

Minnesota journeyman electrician · “Class A Journeyworker Electrician”

Statewide license

Verified September 15, 2026· 4 sources

Issued by Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), Board of Electricity

Minnesota issues a statewide Class A Journeyworker Electrician license through the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI); there is no municipal electrician licensing. A new applicant documents at least 48 months of qualifying experience (Minn. Stat. 326B.33, subd. 2 and Minn. R. 3800.3520), pays the $50 application and examination fee, and passes the DLI-administered written exam. Under Minn. Stat. 326B.33, subd. 20 the commissioner, with Board of Electricity approval, has reciprocity agreements with nine states whose journeyworker licensees are licensed without the Minnesota exam. Licenses expire every two years and renewal requires 16 hours of continuing education, 12 of them on the NEC.

Moving to Minnesota Leaving Minnesota

Why Nevada has nothing to transfer

Nevada journeyman electrician

Licensed by cities and counties

Verified September 15, 2026· 10 sources

Issued by Nevada State Contractors Board (contractor licensing only); journeyman cards issued at county/city level

Nevada has no statewide journeyman electrician license. The Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) licenses electrical contractors under classification C-2 (NRS/NAC 624) and states that it does not issue licenses to individual journeymen, so an out-of-state journeyman license has nothing to transfer to at the state level and is not required for employment by a licensed C-2 contractor in most of the state. Journeyman cards are instead required by local building codes in the urban jurisdictions: Clark County, the City of Las Vegas, the City of Henderson and the City of Reno all require a master electrician, electrical qualified individual or journeyman electrician to be on site for permitted electrical work, and their journeyman credential is a Nevada Electrical Qualifications Card obtained by passing the ICC national G17 Journeyman Electrician (or G18 Residential Electrician) exam at 70% and applying to Electrical Safety Professionals (ESP), the third-party card administrator, with 2,000 documented hours of electrical work or apprenticeship (a requirement added January 1, 2024). No jurisdiction publishes a waiver of the ICC exam for an out-of-state license; Clark County recognizes only certificates from its accepted testing agency or from other Nevada political subdivisions within the county, and Reno lets holders of a reciprocal license from another city, county, state or country work for 12 months inside the city before obtaining the Reno certification. Cards are valid three years and renewed with ESP continuing education.

How local licensing works in Nevada

How local licensing works. NRS Chapter 624 licenses only contractors; a C-2 Electrical Contracting license is issued to a business and qualified by an individual with four years of journeyman-or-higher experience, and the NSCB's own FAQ says Nevada does not license individual journeymen. Whether a working electrician needs a personal credential is decided by each county's or city's building administrative code. The southern Nevada jurisdictions and Reno run a common program: exams are the ICC National Electrician exams (G17 Journeyman Electrician, G18 Residential Electrician, G16 Master Electrician) taken through Pearson VUE, and photo ID cards are issued by Electrical Safety Professionals (ESP), the Nevada non-profit that took over the Clark County ID card program on September 1, 2019.

Clark County (unincorporated Las Vegas valley, Laughlin, Mesquite area). Clark County Code §22.02.250 requires the contractor to have a master electrician or electrical qualified individual, or a journeyman electrician, present in a supervisory capacity whenever permitted electrical work is under way. §22.02.255 defines a journeyman as someone who has passed the journeyman examination accepted by the Building Official; §22.02.260 lists Journeyman Electrician (all electrical work), Journeyman Residential Electrician (one- and two-family dwellings), Journeyman Sign Electrician and Technician (low voltage) categories and requires certificates to be kept current with the county's accepted third-party testing agency. The only equivalency in the code is for a current certificate from an accepted independent testing agency or from a political subdivision of Nevada within Clark County; there is no provision for other states' licenses. Since 2019 the accepted exam is the ICC G17/G18 and the card comes from ESP.

City of Las Vegas. The City of Las Vegas Administrative Code (2019 edition) §306 carries the same on-site supervision rule (master electrician or electrical qualified individual, or a journeyman electrician). The city uses the same ESP card as Clark County.

City of Henderson. ESP's program notice lists Henderson among the municipalities that require at least a journeyman electrical card for installing electrical systems; Henderson's own building pages could not be opened for this record, so its ordinance text is unverified.

City of Reno (Washoe County). Reno Municipal Code Title 14 prohibits electrical installations, alterations or additions unless done by a person holding a valid journeyman certificate, with exceptions for homeowners, licensed contractors under direct supervision arrangements, and contractors with reciprocal licenses from another city, county, state or country, who must obtain the Reno certification after 12 months of work in the city. The ICC G17 or G18 exam needs no pre-approval; the applicant then sends the score report to ESP for a card valid three years.

ESP card requirements (all of the above). Pass the ICC exam (70% journeyman, 75% master); since January 1, 2024 a new card also needs 2,000 documented hours of electrical work or apprenticeship; renewal every three years with 15 CEU hours for journeymen (30 for masters) including an 8-hour NEC update class; a card expired more than one year requires re-examination. ESP's card and exam fees are not published on the official jurisdiction pages and were not verified.

Out-of-state holders. None of these jurisdictions publish a reciprocity or endorsement path for a journeyman license from another state. Reno's 12-month grace period for reciprocal licenses is the only accommodation found. In practice an arriving journeyman takes the ICC G17 exam once and obtains the ESP card, which is honored by Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson and Reno. Rural counties and Carson City were not surveyed.

Clark County (Department of Building and Fire Prevention)
City of Las Vegas (Department of Building and Safety)
City of Henderson (per ESP program notice; ordinance not verified)
City of Reno (Development Services)

Moving to Nevada Leaving Nevada

Common questions

Do I have to take the Minnesota journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Nevada?: Yes. Minnesota requires the trade exam on this path.
What does it cost to get a Minnesota journeyman electrician license from Nevada?: Published fees on this path total $50, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Do my Nevada work hours count in Minnesota?: Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Minnesota's eligibility requirements.
Does it work the other way, from Minnesota to Nevada?: Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Minnesota to Nevada, the mechanism is not applicable.

Sources

Minnesota DLI - Personal Electrical License Examination Application and Work Experience Verification Form · Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry · Form · verified September 15, 2026Exam application fee $50.00, non-refundable. Has a checkbox for applicants 'Licensed in a state other than Minnesota' (copy of license required). Experience is verified per employer on the Work Experience Verification form; credit capped at 160 hours per month / 2,000 hours per year and must qualify under Minn. Stat. 326B.33 and Minn. R. 3800.3520. Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering is an alternative qualification for the Master A exam.
Minnesota DLI - Experience requirements for an electrical license · Minn. R. 3800.3520; Minn. Stat. 326B.33 · Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Class A Journeyworker: 48 months minimum (24 months wiring/installing); Class A Master: 60 months minimum. Up to one year of credit for an approved two-year electrical course. Electrical work performed outside Minnesota counts if the department determines it substantially equivalent to work for a Minnesota licensed contractor; foreign-country experience capped at 12 months.
Minnesota DLI - Electrical licensing basics · Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Journeyworker and master licenses both require passing a written exam after documenting experience; exam application fee $50. Work experience credit is given for verifiable electrical work performed in another state. Journeyworker licenses expire every two years (renewal $53); master licenses expire the last day of February of odd-numbered years (renewal $93); 16 hours of CE per cycle including 12 on the NEC.
Minnesota DLI - Electrical license reciprocity · Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Lists the Class A Journeyworker reciprocity states (Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming) and the Class A Master reciprocity states (Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska); the eligibility bullets (license obtained by state-level exam, held at least one year, current and in good standing, no failed Minnesota exam of the same or greater class, no pending denial/suspension/revocation); and the $50 application fee plus the license fee due on approval.
Minnesota Rules 3800.3520 - Experience requirements for electrical licenses · Minn. R. 3800.3520 · Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Sets the month-by-category experience tables (48 months journeyworker, 60 months master) and allows credit for electrical work performed outside Minnesota that the department determines is substantially equivalent to work in the employ of a Minnesota licensed contractor, based on employer certification. Military experience is credited on the same basis; foreign experience is capped at 12 months.
Minnesota Statutes 326B.092 - License fees and license renewal fees · Minn. Stat. 326B.092, subds. 1, 7 · Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Subd. 1: application and examination fee of $50, separate from the license fee. Subd. 7: base license fee journeyworker $20 per year ($40 for two years), master $40 per year ($80 for two years), plus a $4 per year board fee and a $5 continuing-education fee on renewal.
Minnesota Statutes 326B.33 - Electrical licenses and registration · Minn. Stat. 326B.33, subds. 1, 2, 20 · Minnesota Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Subd. 1: Class A master requires a four-year electrical engineering degree, one year as a licensed journeyworker, or five years of planning/laying out/supervising/installing experience. Subd. 2: Class A journeyworker requires four years of experience (one year credit for approved coursework). Subd. 20: the commissioner may enter into reciprocity agreements with another state if approved by the Board of Electricity, and may then issue a personal license without exam to an applicant who holds a valid comparable license obtained under a statewide program with comparable exam and experience, has held it continuously for at least one year, and has not failed the same or greater class Minnesota exam or had such a license revoked or suspended.

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

Report an error on this page