Arizona to Michigan: master electrician license reciprocity

Michigan issues a statewide, person-held Master Electrician license through LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes under MCL 339.5713; the Electrical Contractor license is a separate business credential that requires a qualifying master and no exam, and is not covered here. A new master applicant must be at least 22, have held an electrical journeyman license for at least two years, document 12,000 hours over at least six years under a master electrician with notarized employer letters, pass the PSI-administered master exam (75% to pass, 2023 NEC) for a $100 exam fee, and pay the $50 license fee; the license renews every year for $50. Michigan has no reciprocity agreements with any state and requires every out-of-state master to pass the Michigan exam, though out-of-state experience may be credited after board review. Under MCL 339.5733 the City of Detroit licenses master electricians who are Detroit residents, and Detroit licenses are valid statewide.

Arizona does not issue a master electrician license. The state-level credential for electrical work is a contractor license from the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) in the R-11 Electrical (residential), C-11 Electrical (commercial, under 600 volts) or CR-11 Electrical (dual) classification; the license is issued to a business (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC or corporation) and is qualified by a named qualifying party rather than to the electrician personally. A master electrician arriving from another state who only wants to work for an employer needs no Arizona license at all. To run their own electrical business they must apply for an ROC license: the qualifying party must show 4 years of practical or management trade experience (at least 2 within the last 10 years, with up to 2 years creditable from accredited technical training), pass the open-book Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE, $61 via Gmetrix) and the classification trade exam with at least 70% ($66 via PSI, or the NASCLA Electrical exam for $116, accepted for R-11, C-11 and CR-11), complete a background check, register the entity with the Arizona Corporation Commission if an LLC or corporation, post a continuous license bond sized by classification and annual volume (commercial specialty $2,500 to $50,000, residential specialty $4,250 to $7,500, dual licenses combine both), and pay application and license fees plus the residential recovery fund assessment ($720 total for R-11, $580 for C-11, $850 for CR-11, before exam fees). Arizona has no direct reciprocity agreement with any state; under A.A.C. R4-9-106(E) the Registrar may waive the trade exam and experience documentation when the qualifying party held a comparable contractor license in another state within the preceding 5 years and obtained it by trade examination (Out-of-State Waiver Request Form RC-L-200G submitted with the application), but the SRE cannot be waived.