South Carolina to Hawaii: journeyman electrician license reciprocity
South Carolina does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Hawaii'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: experience credited, full Hawaii exam (all states)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
Hawaii has no reciprocity or endorsement for journeyman electricians from any state. An out-of-state journeyman applies for the EJ exam like a new candidate, documenting at least 10,000 hours (five years) of residential or commercial wiring on notarized Experience Verification forms signed by each licensed electrician who supervised the work; if the state where the experience was gained licenses only contractors, the Board accepts a form signed by the licensed contractor together with verification of that contractor's license dates, and a self-employed electrical contractor may self-attest with a copy of the contractor license. The applicant must also show 240 hours of electrical academic coursework, which out-of-state apprenticeship, college or military training can satisfy if Honolulu Community College reviews and accepts it as equivalent, and must submit a License Verification form from every jurisdiction where a license has ever been held. The $40 application goes to the Board, which meets in even-numbered months and must approve the applicant before PSI will register them; the exam is open code book and eligibility lasts two years. On passing, the license fee is $306 in the first year of the triennium (July 2026 to June 2027), $204 in the second and $102 in the third. A Hawaii contractor's license under HRS ch. 444 is separately required to contract for electrical work.
Board meetings are usually in February, April, June, August, October and December with exams the following month, so allow roughly two to four months from filing to exam. The exam fee is paid directly to PSI and is not printed on the current DCCA form; the Board's 2018 FAQ listed $95. The coursework requirement (Act 35, SLH 2010) applies to all journey worker and maintenance classes; coursework not on the approved list must be sent to Honolulu Community College for review, which charges its own fee.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Required
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
- Typical processing
- About 90 days
What you must already have
- You must document at least 10,000 hours of qualifying work experience.At least five years full-time in residential or commercial wiring under the supervision of a journey worker or supervising electrician (HRS §448E-5(b)(1)); out-of-state hours count when verified by the supervising licensee or licensed contractor.
- 240 hours of electrical academic coursework completed at, or reviewed and accepted as equivalent by, a University of Hawaii community college (HRS §448E-5(b)(1)(B))
- License Verification form completed by every jurisdiction in which the applicant has ever held a license, showing any discipline
What you'll do to get licensed in Hawaii
- 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($40). Non-refundable application fee payable to Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
- 2Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Hawaii Journey Worker Electrician examination administered by PSI Services (open code book); Board approval required before registering.
- 3Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. Examination fee paid directly to PSI at registration (amount set in the PSI candidate bulletin; $95 in the Board's 2018 FAQ).
- 4License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($306). Initial license fee if licensed in the first year of the triennium (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027), including the compliance resolution fund fee; $204 in the second year and $102 in the third.
- 5Continuing education. Complete continuing education. For each triennial renewal (by June 30, 2029): proof of a University of Hawaii community college NEC update course or approved equivalent (HRS §448E-8.5); renewal fee $306.
Published fees on this path total $346, 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.
- Trade exam
- Exam fee
Continuing education
Renewals usually need approved CE hours, often on the latest NEC. Reciprocal licensees are rarely exempt.
- Continuing education
How Hawaii licenses journeyman electricians
Hawaii journeyman electrician · “Journey Worker Electrician (EJ)”
Statewide license
Issued by Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers (DCCA Professional and Vocational Licensing Division)
Hawaii issues a statewide Journey Worker Electrician (EJ) license through the Board of Electricians and Plumbers in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and under HAR §16-80-4 anyone who performs electrical work in the state must hold it (or work under a licensee who is physically present). Eligibility under HRS §448E-5(b) is five years full-time and not less than 10,000 hours of residential or commercial wiring experience under a journey worker or supervising electrician, plus 240 hours of electrical academic coursework accepted by a University of Hawaii community college, followed by the PSI-administered open-book Hawaii exam. Narrower journey-level classes exist for industrial (EJI, 8,000 hours), specialty/low-voltage (EJS, 6,000 hours) and maintenance (EM) electricians. The Board's application form states that Hawaii does not reciprocate with any jurisdiction: an out-of-state journeyman license is never exchanged for a Hawaii license and the exam is never waived, but out-of-state work experience counts in full when verified by the licensed electrician (or, where that state licenses only contractors, the licensed contractor) under whom it was earned. Licenses run on a three-year cycle ending June 30 (2026, 2029, 2032) and renewal requires an NEC update course.
Why South Carolina has nothing to transfer
South Carolina journeyman electrician · “Journeyman Electrician certification (CAGC SC Trades Certification, formerly MASC)”
Licensed by cities and counties
Issued by Local building departments, using the CAGC SC Trades Certification (formerly MASC) journeyman card
South Carolina has no state journeyman electrician license. The LLR Contractor's Licensing Board licenses mechanical contractors (entities qualified by an individual qualifying party) for electrical work over $10,000 and the Residential Builders Commission licenses residential electricians, and neither chapter of the contractor law creates a journeyman credential; an electrician who is not a contractor works under one of those licensees without any state license. The journeyman-level credential that does exist is the journeyman electrician card of the SC Mechanical Trades Certification Program, run since 1965 by the Municipal Association of South Carolina (the association of the state's cities) and, since January 1, 2026, by the Carolinas AGC Foundation; the program's own page says the card is not a license and must not be represented as one. Whether a card is needed depends on the city or county building department, and the local ordinances themselves could not be confirmed from an official page on this verification date. No reciprocity or out-of-state acceptance is published for the journeyman card, so an arriving journeyman should expect to document two years of experience, pay the $35 application fee and take the Prov exam if a local jurisdiction or employer requires the card; the card's master-level counterpart is what LLR accepts toward the state contractor licenses.
How local licensing works in South Carolina
How local licensing works. State law licenses contractors, not electricians: S.C. Code § 40-11-30 requires a Contractor's Licensing Board license (Mechanical Contractor, Electrical classification) for mechanical contracting work whose total cost exceeds $10,000, and Chapter 59 requires a Residential Builders Commission license for residential specialty (electrical) work over $500. Employees of those licensees need no state credential. The Contractor's Licensing Board home page lists no journeyman license, and the Residential Builders Commission licenses the residential electrician, not a journeyman.
The trades certification card. The SC Mechanical Trades Certification Program was created in 1965 by the Municipal Association of South Carolina, the statewide association of cities, to give municipalities a common examination and certification for journeyman and master electricians, plumbers, HVAC and gas fitters. MASC handed the program to the Carolinas AGC Foundation on January 1, 2026; cards issued by MASC remain valid until the expiration printed on them, and CAGC now issues verification letters. CAGC charges a $35 application fee, uses PROV as its exam provider, and states that the card 'should not be confused with' the LLR mechanical contractor or residential specialty licenses and that a holder 'will not represent to anyone that the ... trade certification card is evidence of a license'. The master electrician card (issued by exam by MASC between December 1990 and December 2025, or by CAGC after January 1, 2026) is accepted by LLR as a technical-exam waiver for both the Mechanical Contractor Electrical classification and the Residential Electrician license, which is the card's main statewide use.
Which cities require it. Requirements are set by each city or county building department. The official pages of the largest jurisdictions that could be opened on this date (Greenville County Building Safety, the City of Greenville Building & Permit Center) do not state a journeyman card requirement, and the Columbia, Charleston and Charleston County pages tried could not be opened, so no city-by-city list is given here; electricians should ask the local building department where they will work.
Out-of-state holders. Neither CAGC nor MASC publishes reciprocity for journeyman licenses from other states, and LLR's waiver agreements apply only to contractor-level exams. An out-of-state journeyman can work for a licensed South Carolina contractor without any state credential and, if a card is required locally, applies to CAGC with two years of documented experience.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Hawaii journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in South Carolina?
- Yes. Hawaii requires the trade exam on this path.
- What does it cost to get a Hawaii journeyman electrician license from South Carolina?
- Published fees on this path total $346, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my South Carolina work hours count in Hawaii?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Hawaii's eligibility requirements.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 90 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Hawaii to South Carolina?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Hawaii to South Carolina, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- DCCA PVL - Requirements for Examination and License, Electricians and Plumbers (Forms EP-00 / EP-01, rev. 06/2026) · HRS ch. 448E; HAR ch. 16-80 · Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division · Form · verified September 15, 2026States 'IMPORTANT: Hawaii does not reciprocate with any jurisdiction.' Lists each electrician class with its requirement (EJ 5 years/10,000 hours plus 240 hours of coursework; ES 4 years as a licensed journey worker electrician or equivalent; EJI 4 years/8,000 hours plus 200 hours; ESI 3 years; EJS 3 years/6,000 hours plus 120 hours; ESS 2 years; EM 1 year plus 80 hours). Defines equivalent experience for supervising categories as having been licensed as a journey worker or supervising level electrician for at least 4 years in another county, state or country whose licensure requirements are substantially equivalent. Experience Verification forms must be signed by the licensed electrician who supervised the work (or by a licensed contractor where that state licenses only contractors); License Verification forms are required from every jurisdiction where a license was ever held. Application fee $40; exams through PSI Services (open code book); license fee on passing $306 in the first year of the triennium, $204 in the second, $102 in the third.
- DCCA PVL - Board of Electricians and Plumbers · Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Board home page. Electricians renew by June 30 every three years (2026, 2029, 2032); the current licensing period runs July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029; on-time renewal cost for all electrician classes is $306 active ($12 inactive).
- DCCA PVL - Electrician and Plumber Application Deadline and Examination Dates · Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Applications must be filed at least seven days before a Board meeting and approved by the Board before the exam; the electrician and plumber exams are offered by PSI Services, LLC; exam eligibility is valid for two years from the approval letter.
- DCCA PVL - Frequently Asked Questions, Electricians and Plumbers (July 2018) · Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division · Faq · verified September 15, 2026Same class requirements as the application form. 2018 fee table: application $40, examination $95, license $306/$204/$102 by year of the triennium, renewal $306. Renewal by June 30 every three years; all electricians except maintenance electricians must show attendance at a University of Hawaii community college NEC update course (or equivalent courses by the Hawaii Electricians Training Fund or ABC) to renew; licensees licensed within one year of the renewal date are exempt. The exam fee figure is from 2018 and may have changed.
- Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 16, Chapter 80 - Electricians and Plumbers · HAR §§16-80-3, 16-80-4, 16-80-5, 16-80-6 · Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026§16-80-3 defines 'equivalent experience in the trade' for supervising electricians as including having been licensed as a journey worker electrician or supervising electrician in another county, state or country whose requirements for licensure are substantially equivalent to Hawaii's (same definition for supervising specialty electricians). §16-80-4: anyone who performs electrical work needs a journey worker electrician license and anyone who directs or supervises it needs a supervising electrician license; unlicensed helpers may work only under a licensee physically present on site. §16-80-5: no license is issued unless the person applies for, takes and passes the board's written examination, and must submit documentary proof of experience. §16-80-6: triennial renewal fees due by July 1 every third year.
- HRS §448E-5 - Minimum requirements (electricians and plumbers) · HRS §448E-5(b) · Hawaii State Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026§448E-5(b)(1): journey worker electrician applicants must be 18, have at least five years full-time (not less than 10,000 hours) of residential or commercial wiring experience under the supervision of a journey worker or supervising electrician, and have completed 240 hours of electrical academic coursework accepted by a University of Hawaii community college. §448E-5(b)(3): supervising electrician applicants must have been registered with the board as a journey worker electrician for at least four years 'or shall have equivalent experience in the trade'.
- HRS §448E-5.5 - Examination · HRS §448E-5.5 · Hawaii State Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Every applicant shall be examined and shall pass an examination to be eligible for licensure; the board may contract with a professional testing service and the exam fee may be paid directly to the testing agency.
- HRS §448E-8.5 - Continued competency; license renewals · HRS §448E-8.5(a), (c) · Hawaii State Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Before each renewal all licensed electricians except maintenance electricians must furnish proof of attendance at a community-college NEC update course or pass a board-prescribed NEC update exam; a licensee issued a new license within one year of the renewal date is exempt.
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.