LicensebyState

Kansas to District of Columbia: master electrician license reciprocity

No credit· Start overVerified September 15, 2026· 10 sources

Kansas does not issue a statewide master electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is District of Columbia'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 master from a state other than Maryland or Virginia

Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.

The Board of Industrial Trades publishes reciprocity only for Maryland and Virginia. A master electrician from any other state applies through the DLCP online portal as a new applicant with employment verification letters, a letter of good standing and a copy of the state-issued license, pays the $65 application fee, must document the journeyman-level prerequisites plus at least 4 years of work as a journeyman electrician, and schedules the master exam with PSI. D.C. Code § 47-2853.12(b) directs boards to waive the exam for anyone licensed in good standing in a state with equivalent standards that reciprocates with the District, and § 47-2853.08 lets the Board find another state's standards substantially equivalent and license by reciprocity or endorsement, so an applicant may ask the Board to apply those provisions case by case; the Board's pages describe no such process beyond Maryland and Virginia. The national-certification substitute in § 47-2853.92(b-1) is written for the journeyman license only. No District-law exam is published for master electricians.

The Board's fee table refers exam fees to 17 DCMR § 3500.3, which charges national exams at actual cost; PSI's candidate bulletin for District of Columbia exams lists the master exam fee as $52. DLCP's application instructions state the master experience requirement as 8 years and 16,000 work hours, and ask an applicant who is already a master electrician in another state to submit a copy of that license with the employment verification letters. The Board does not publish whether journeyman years worked under an out-of-state license count toward the 4-year journeyman requirement.

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 8,000 hours of qualifying work experience.Journeyman-level prerequisite: at least 8,000 apprentice hours over at least 4 years, or an electrical engineering degree plus 2 certified years, or equivalent (D.C. Code § 47-2853.92(b)).
  • Worked as a journeyman electrician for at least 4 years (D.C. Code § 47-2853.92(c))
  • Completed a class on Title 12C DCMR (DC Electrical Code) or an equivalent code within the 2 years before applying

What you'll do to get licensed in District of Columbia

  1. 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($65). Application fee (non-refundable).
  2. 2Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. DC Master Electrician examination administered by PSI, open book (schedule directly at psiexams.com or 1-855-557-0616 under the Board's test-first process).
  3. 3Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($52). PSI examination fee as listed in PSI's District of Columbia candidate bulletin (17 DCMR § 3500.3 charges national exams at actual cost).
  4. 4License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($120). Master electrician license fee, 2-year term (renewal $155).

Published fees on this path total $237, 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 · $52

How District of Columbia licenses master electricians

District of Columbia master electrician · “Master Electrician”

Statewide license

Verified September 15, 2026· 4 sources

Issued by DC Board of Industrial Trades (Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection)

The District of Columbia issues a person-held Master Electrician license through the Board of Industrial Trades in the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP). It is the District's highest individual electrician credential; the Board also issues a Master Electrician Limited (low voltage) specialty license with journeyman-level qualifications, and a separate Electrical Contractor business license that requires an electrical bond. Under D.C. Code § 47-2853.92(c) a master applicant must meet the journeyman requirements (a DC Electrical Code class within 2 years and 8,000 apprentice hours over 4 years or equivalent) and in addition have worked as a journeyman electrician for at least 4 years, then pass the PSI-administered master exam. Fees are a $65 application fee and a $120 license fee for a 2-year term ($155 on renewal). Maryland and Virginia master electricians licensed by examination are licensed by reciprocity without the DC exam under a program the Board opened on February 8, 2021.

Moving to District of ColumbiaLeaving District of Columbia

Compare: getting a District of Columbia license from scratch

Why Kansas has nothing to transfer

Kansas master electrician

Licensed by cities and counties

Verified September 15, 2026· 10 sources

Kansas does not issue a master electrician license; the master credential exists only at the county and city level under the framework in K.S.A. 12-1525 to 12-1527. State law requires a master certificate of competency to rest on a valid journeyman certificate held for at least two years plus a passing score of 75% on an ICC, IAPMO or Prometric standard master exam, and makes that certificate valid proof of competency in every Kansas jurisdiction that licenses electricians. Sedgwick County/Wichita (MABCD) issues master electrician certificates ($35) to certified journeymen with two more years of field experience who pass ICC 554/KGD/F16/G16/T16; Kansas City, Kansas licenses master electricians after four years of experience including two years of commercial or industrial work; Lawrence certifies masters with four years of field experience or two years as a journeyman ($20); and Johnson County uses the ICC Standard Master Electrician exam (554/KGD) to qualify the individual behind a Class DE electrical contractor license ($325 for a new license). None of these jurisdictions has a reciprocity agreement with another state - MABCD states it does not reciprocate with other jurisdictions - so an out-of-state master's advantage is limited to submitting an already-passed ICC master exam score (Johnson County and MABCD accept the ICC national master exams) and documented experience in place of retesting.

How local licensing works in Kansas

How local licensing works. Kansas has no state master electrician license. K.S.A. 12-1526(f) requires applicants for a master certificate to have held a valid journeyman certificate for at least two years, and 12-1525 designates the ICC, IAPMO and Prometric master exams (75% minimum). A master certificate of competency earned on a standard exam is accepted for licensure in any other Kansas county or city without re-examination; a license based on a local alternative exam is valid only in that jurisdiction unless a reciprocal agreement exists (12-1527).

Sedgwick County and Wichita (MABCD). Master electrician certificate: current electrical journeyman certificate plus two years of field experience as a certified journeyman, and a 75% score on ICC 554, KGD, F16, G16 or T16 Master Electrician. New certificate $35, two-year term, renewal $35 with six trade and six general CEUs. An electrical contractor license additionally needs a qualified person holding the master certificate, $300,000 general liability insurance naming MABCD, and 12 hours of CE per renewal; trade contractor licenses expire December 31 of odd years. MABCD states it does not reciprocate with other jurisdictions or with state testing.

Johnson County. The county licenses electrical contractors (Class DE, electrical services only) rather than individual masters. The company's Qualifying Individual must show a passing score on the ICC Standard Master Electrician exam (554 or KGD, Pearson VUE); the county accepts equivalent ICC, Prometric, ETS-subsidiary and IAPMO exams and may recognize ICC National exams with a verified score of 75% or higher. Fees: $100 application plus $225 per license type ($325 for one new license), $225 renewal, $75 late fee; eight hours of CE per classification per year for the Qualifying Individual.

Kansas City, Kansas (Unified Government). Code sec. 8-158: no one may work as a master electrician without a Unified Government master electrician's license. Applicants must be 21 and document one year of experience planning, laying out and supervising electrical installations plus three additional years under a licensed electrical contractor or master electrician, at least two of them in commercial or industrial work; an approved post-high-school electrical course earns up to two years' credit. Testing is through Prometric via the Building Inspection division; fees and reciprocity are not published.

Lawrence. Master electrician certification requires four years of practical field experience or two years as a journeyman, verified by notarized employer statements, and a 75% score on the K.S.A. standard exam ($50 exam application); license $20, renewal $10, six hours of CE per year. Certificates of competency from other Kansas jurisdictions are accepted.

Out-of-state masters. No interstate reciprocity is published anywhere in Kansas. A master who already passed an ICC master exam elsewhere should present the score (Sedgwick County lists the national ICC 554/F16/G16/T16 exams; Johnson County will consider ICC National scores of 75%+) with experience documentation; otherwise the ICC or Prometric master exam must be taken through a sponsoring Kansas jurisdiction, after which the certificate is portable statewide.

Moving to KansasLeaving Kansas

Common questions

Do I have to take the District of Columbia master electrician exam if I'm licensed in Kansas?
Yes. District of Columbia requires the trade exam on this path.
What does it cost to get a District of Columbia master electrician license from Kansas?
Published fees on this path total $237, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Do my Kansas work hours count in District of Columbia?
Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward District of Columbia's eligibility requirements.
Does it work the other way, from District of Columbia to Kansas?
Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from District of Columbia to Kansas, the mechanism is not applicable.

Sources

  1. D.C. Code § 47-2853.08 - Powers of the boards (reciprocity and endorsement) · D.C. Code § 47-2853.08(2) · Council of the District of Columbia · Statute · verified September 16, 2026
  2. D.C. Code § 47-2853.12 - License, certification, and registration criteria; waiver · D.C. Code § 47-2853.12(b)-(d), (l) · Council of the District of Columbia · Statute · verified September 23, 2026
  3. D.C. Code § 47-2853.91 - Scope of practice for electricians · D.C. Code § 47-2853.91 · Council of the District of Columbia · Statute · verified September 15, 2026
  4. D.C. Code § 47-2853.92 - Electricians: eligibility requirements · D.C. Code § 47-2853.92 · Council of the District of Columbia · Statute · verified September 23, 2026
  5. 17 DCMR § 3500 - Licensing fees · 17 DCMR § 3500.2(o), 3500.3 · District of Columbia Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances · Admin Rule · verified September 23, 2026
  6. District of Columbia Board of Industrial Trades · District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
  7. DLCP Board of Industrial Trades - Electrician License (Low and Regular Voltage) Application Instructions · District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) · Form · verified September 23, 2026
  8. DC DLCP - Board of Industrial Trades landing page (apply, items needed, examination, reciprocity) · District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) · Agency Page · verified September 23, 2026
  9. DC Board of Industrial Trades - Test First Examination Process Notice · District of Columbia Board of Industrial Trades (DLCP) · Agency Page · verified September 23, 2026
  10. PSI Candidate Information Bulletin - Washington D.C. Contractor/Trades Examinations · PSI Services LLC for the District of Columbia Board of Industrial Trades · Form · verified September 23, 2026

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

Related