New Hampshire to Vermont: master electrician license reciprocity
Vermont has a reciprocity agreement with New Hampshire: a New Hampshire master electrician can get a Vermont license without retaking the trade exam.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Reciprocal license for New Hampshire residents (master)
A signed state-to-state agreement. The trade exam is waived; you apply, prove your history, and pay the fee.
Vermont's application form and the 2025 Electrical Safety Rules preserve a reciprocal agreement with New Hampshire for the master license, available to New Hampshire residents only. A New Hampshire-resident master electrician files the notarized all-classifications application checking 'Reciprocal license - New Hampshire', attaches a certified statement of licensure from the New Hampshire Electricians' Board (which replaces the employer affidavit of experience) and a photocopy of the New Hampshire license, and pays the $150 three-year fee; no Vermont examination or three-year holding period is stated for the reciprocal route. New Hampshire in turn lists Vermont as a qualifying jurisdiction for master endorsement.
The residency restriction is printed on the form ('Residents of these states only'); non-resident New Hampshire licensees use the Universal (three-year) route.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Typical processing
- About 60 days
- Agreement
- Active
What you must already have
- Applicant must be a resident of New Hampshire
- Your New Hampshire license must be active and in good standing.
What you'll do to get licensed in Vermont
- 1License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($150). Master three-year license fee.
- 2Other. Notarized application with certified letter from the New Hampshire Electricians' Board and a photocopy of the New Hampshire license.
Published fees on this path total $150, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
How Vermont licenses master electricians
Vermont master electrician · “Master Electrician”
Statewide license
Issued by Vermont Electricians' Licensing Board, Division of Fire Safety (Department of Public Safety)
Vermont issues a statewide Master Electrician license through the Electricians' Licensing Board within the Division of Fire Safety; a master may design, install and maintain electrical installations as a business and employ other licensees. A new applicant must have been licensed and working as a Vermont journeyman for at least two years or have comparable experience and training within or outside Vermont acceptable to the board (the board may credit journeyman experience in another state under 26 V.S.A. s. 907), then pass the Prov-administered master exam ($80), which also covers the Type-S specialty fields; the license costs $150 for a three-year term with 15 hours of NEC continuing education per term. Out-of-state masters have the same non-examination routes as journeymen: a reciprocal license for Maine and New Hampshire residents, a 'Universal' license for a master license held in good standing in any other U.S. jurisdiction for at least three years, and one-year recognition for NERA member-state licenses under the 2025 rules.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Vermont master electrician exam if I'm licensed in New Hampshire?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path under the agreement with New Hampshire.
- What does it cost to get a Vermont master electrician license from New Hampshire?
- Published fees on this path total $150, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 60 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Vermont to New Hampshire?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Vermont to New Hampshire, the mechanism is endorsement.
Sources
- Division of Fire Safety - Electricians' License Application and Instructions, All Classifications (June 2026) · Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety · Form · verified September 15, 2026Fees: Master $150.00 three-year license; Journeyman $115.00; Type-S Specialist $115.00 per field; exam fees not included. 'If Reciprocal, Maine or New Hampshire (Residents only) check which state/s and include a certified letter/s from reciprocating state/s, and include a photocopy of license/s.' 'If Universal license be sure to include a certified letter/s from issuing state/s and include a photocopy of license/s... Include original date/s of issuance, and the means of obtaining the license'; the Universal license box says '3 Year Minimum' and 'Reciprocating a license from any other state'. Section 6 asks for a certified letter, license copy and documentation of the requirements to obtain the origin license. Applications must be notarized, list three references, and reach the Division two weeks before a board meeting.
- Vermont Division of Fire Safety - Electricians (electrical licensing home page) · Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Licensing landing page: links the Vermont Electrical Statute (26 V.S.A. chapter 15), the Vermont Electrical Safety Rules 2025 Edition (effective 11/05/2025), the 'Electrical Application and Instructions - All Classifications' form, online renewal, and the licensed-electrician lookup; licensing office at 45 State Drive, Waterbury, 802-479-7564, [email protected].
- Vermont Electrical Safety Rules, 2025 edition - section 3.3 Type-S specialty electrician licenses · Vermont Electrical Safety Rules 2025, s. 3.3 · Vermont Electricians' Licensing Board, Division of Fire Safety · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Opened through the r.jina.ai text proxy. Section 3.3 lists the Type-S specialty fields including A1 'Automatic gas or oil heating, including geo-thermal, ground source heat pumps' and C3 'Refrigeration or air conditioning, air to air heat pumps'. A Type-S licensee may 'design, install, repair, maintain and replace electrical installations as an employee or an independent contractor only in connection with the specialty field designated on the person's license, and may only install branch circuits from the existing electrical service'. Qualification: complete an accredited training and experience program recognized by the board or equivalent training and experience acceptable to the board, then pass the specialty exam ($80). The reciprocity provision in 3.4(f) applies to master and journeyman electricians only.
- 26 V.S.A. Chapter 15 - Electrical Installations (ss. 902-907: master and journeyman qualifications, fees, examinations not required, recognition of experience) · 26 V.S.A. ss. 902, 903, 905, 906, 907 · Vermont General Assembly · Statute · verified September 15, 2026s. 902: master applicant must have been a licensed journeyman under the chapter for at least two years or have comparable experience and training within or without the state acceptable to the board, and pass an exam. s. 903: journeyman applicant must show Vermont Apprenticeship Council completion or equivalent training and experience within or outside the state, and pass an exam. s. 905(d): three-year fees master $150, journeyman $115, type-S $115 per field; late renewal within one year $25 extra. s. 906(a): a license for an individual licensed by another state shall be issued without examination as provided in the section; s. 906(b)(1) reciprocity for licenses from states with equivalent standards that grant Vermont licensees a similar privilege; s. 906(b)(2)(A) uniform endorsement: the board shall license masters and journeymen licensed in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction for at least three years regardless of reciprocity; (C) the Commissioner may waive the practice requirement. s. 907: the board may credit journeyman experience or an apprenticeship served in another state.
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.