Texas to Alabama: journeyman electrician license reciprocity
Alabama has a reciprocity agreement with Texas: a Texas journeyman electrician can get a Alabama license without retaking the trade exam.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Reciprocal agreement with Texas (journeyman)
A signed state-to-state agreement. The trade exam is waived; you apply, prove your history, and pay the fee.
Texas is the only state whose journeyman license the Alabama Board accepts by reciprocity; the Board's forms page lists the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for 'EC or Journeyman', and TDLR announced the journeyman and master agreements on March 20, 2026. A Texas journeyman who passed the Texas exam and holds a current, valid license applies with the notarized Reciprocal Application for Licensure and a Verification of License form completed by TDLR showing the license date, status, exam date, passing score and disciplinary status; TDLR must also send a letter of good standing directly to the Alabama Board. No Alabama trade exam is required. The Board's published reciprocal application fee is $315; the fee table and rule 303-X-3-.10(m) label it a reciprocal electrical contractor fee and do not state a separate journeyman reciprocal fee.
The Board's five-step reciprocity instructions begin with passing the Alabama Business and Law exam, but form ERC-1 lists that exam only among the items 'active contractors must submit'; whether journeyman reciprocal applicants must pass it, and whether they pay $315 or the $35 journeyman license fee, is not stated in the board's published materials. Confirm with the Board before filing.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Agreement
- Active since March 20, 2026
What you must already have
- Your Texas license must have been obtained by examination, not by reciprocity or grandfathering.
- Your Texas license must be active and in good standing.
- You must have no disciplinary action or unresolved complaints on your record.
What you'll do to get licensed in Alabama
- 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($315). Reciprocal License Application Fee published by the Board (effective February 14, 2026), non-refundable; see notes on whether it applies to journeymen.
- 2Other. Notarized Reciprocal Application for Licensure (ERC-1) with copy of the Texas license, Verification of License form (EVL-1) completed by TDLR, and a letter of good standing sent directly from TDLR to the Alabama Board.
Published fees on this path total $315, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
How Alabama licenses journeyman electricians
Alabama journeyman electrician · “Journeyman Electrician”
State license plus local requirements
Issued by Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors
Alabama issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors. A new applicant must document at least 8,000 hours of experience installing electrical wiring, apparatus or equipment (up to 2,000 hours may be substituted with approved education or apprenticeship) and pass the journeyman exam administered by Prov, either the Alabama exam or the NASCLA Portable Journeyman exam ($115 either way); the license fee is $35 and it renews annually for $35. Exams currently reference the 2023 NEC and will move to the 2026 NEC on January 1, 2027. Alabama law also lets counties and municipalities license and examine journeymen for work inside their boundaries, but a statewide Board license is deemed qualifying in every county and municipality, and journeymen employed by a Board licensee are exempt from local licensing. The Board's only journeyman reciprocity partner is Texas; every other out-of-state journeyman must qualify by documented experience and take the Alabama exam.
How local licensing works in Alabama
Ala. Code §34-36-13(a) requires a journeyman to hold a license 'from the board or from the county or municipality where the electrical contracting work is being performed', and §34-36-13(b)(2) preserves the authority of counties and municipalities to require their own examinations. A holder of a valid statewide Board license is deemed qualified and must be allowed to work in any county or municipality on proof of the license, subject to the local building permit and business license. Local journeyman cards therefore exist only as a substitute for the state license within the issuing jurisdiction; the Board's reciprocity applies only to state-issued licenses, and no Alabama city or county reciprocity rule was verified from an official page.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Alabama journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Texas?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path under the agreement with Texas.
- What does it cost to get a Alabama journeyman electrician license from Texas?
- Published fees on this path total $315, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Sources
- Alabama Administrative Code Chapter 303-X-3 - Licensing (certified rules effective February 14, 2026) · Ala. Admin. Code 303-X-3-.02, -.03, -.06, -.10 · Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors · Admin Rule · verified September 23, 2026
- Alabama Electrical Contractors Board - Annual Renewal Form (all license types) · Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors · Form · verified September 23, 2026
- Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors - How to Get Licensed (examination and reciprocity steps) · Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors · Agency Page · verified September 23, 2026
- Form JCE-1 - Electrical Journeyman Examination Application · Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors · Form · verified September 23, 2026
- Form ERC-1 - Reciprocal Application for Licensure (Alabama Electrical Contractors Board) · Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors · Form · verified September 23, 2026
- Code of Alabama 1975, Title 34, Chapter 36 - Electrical Contractors and Journeyman Electricians · Ala. Code §§ 34-36-3, 34-36-7, 34-36-13 · Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors (compilation of the Code of Alabama) · Statute · verified September 23, 2026
- TDLR News - Texas Expands Electrician Reciprocity with Alabama (March 20, 2026) · Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.