Do I have to take the Wisconsin master electrician exam if I'm licensed in New York?

Yes. Wisconsin requires the trade exam on this path.

What does it cost to get a Wisconsin master electrician license from New York?

Published fees on this path total $265, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.

Do my New York work hours count in Wisconsin?

Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Wisconsin's eligibility requirements.

Does it work the other way, from Wisconsin to New York?

Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Wisconsin to New York, the mechanism is not applicable.

New York to Wisconsin: master electrician license reciprocity

No credit· Start overVerified September 15, 2026· 7 sources

New York does not issue a statewide master electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Wisconsin'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 without a reciprocity agreement

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

A master electrician licensed in any state other than Iowa gets no exam waiver in Wisconsin and applies under Category A of Form 3107 like a first-time candidate. The out-of-state license itself is not credited, but experience is: the applicant documents 60 months with at least 10,000 hours installing, repairing and maintaining electrical wiring (or 1,000 hours per year for seven years) on the Experience Table (Form 3107T), or uploads a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering. The 12-months-as-a-licensed-journeyman route asks for a copy of the journeyman license and the form does not say whether an out-of-state journeyman license qualifies. The application and fees are submitted in LicensE ($35 application, $30 examination and $200 license fee under Table 305.02), DSPS makes the applicant eligible to test, and the applicant must pass the Wisconsin master electrician exam. Wisconsin has no separate law or business exam for individual electricians.

DSPS publishes no endorsement route for non-reciprocal states. Whether an out-of-state journeyman license satisfies the 12-month journeyman route was not confirmed from an official page; the 10,000-hour route is available regardless. Fee amounts are from Table 305.02 of the administrative code; the forms say fees are calculated in LicensE.

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 10,000 hours of qualifying work experience.At least 10,000 hours over at least 60 months installing, repairing and maintaining electrical wiring (or 1,000 hours per year for seven years); up to 3,000 hours and three years may come from full-time electrical schooling. Alternatives: 12 months of experience while licensed as a journeyman electrician, or an electrical engineering degree.

What you'll do to get licensed in Wisconsin

1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($35). Master Electrician license application fee (Table 305.02 line 25g), paid in LicensE.
2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($30). Master Electrician examination fee (Table 305.02 line 25g); paid again for each retake.
3Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Wisconsin Master Electrician examination (open book on SPS 305, SPS 316 and the NEC).
4License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($200). Master Electrician initial license fee (Table 305.02 line 25g); two-year credential.
5Other. Experience Table (Form 3107T) with witness signatures, journeyman license copy, or engineering transcripts, uploaded to LicensE.

Published fees on this path total $265, 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.

Exam fee · $30
Trade exam

How Wisconsin licenses master electricians

Wisconsin master electrician · “Master Electrician”

Statewide license

Verified September 15, 2026· 5 sources

Issued by Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS)

Wisconsin issues a statewide, person-held Master Electrician license through DSPS; the separate Electrical Contractor license is a business credential that must designate a master electrician and is not covered here. A new applicant under Wis. Stat. 101.868 qualifies with 12 months of experience as a licensed journeyman electrician, or 60 months with at least 10,000 hours of experience, or a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, applies in the LicensE portal, and passes the DSPS master electrician exam. Under Wis. Stat. 101.874 DSPS may enter into reciprocal agreements; Form 3107 currently waives the exam only for Iowa Master A Electricians. The license is renewed every two years for $40.

Moving to Wisconsin Leaving Wisconsin

Why New York has nothing to transfer

New York master electrician

Licensed by cities and counties

Verified September 15, 2026· 18 sources

New York issues no statewide master electrician license; the Department of State's Division of Licensing Services licenses no electricians, and master electrician licenses are issued by city and county examining boards under local ordinances. The largest is New York City's Department of Buildings Master Electrician license (with a companion Special Electrician license for in-house work), which requires seven years of experience within the last ten working with tools under a licensed master or special electrician in the United States, at least two of them in New York City, a $585 written and $530 practical exam, a background investigation, and a New York City business with general liability, workers' compensation and disability insurance; the license costs $310 and is renewed yearly for $60. Buffalo requires 11 years (22,000 hours) of experience and a 75 percent ICC G-16 score; Rochester requires four years (6,000 hours of three-phase work) and an ICC-based exam; Westchester County licenses master and special electricians by examination ($500 license) and its license is what Yonkers permits require; Suffolk County licenses master and restricted electricians; Syracuse and Albany run their own boards. None of these jurisdictions publishes a reciprocity or endorsement path for a master license from another state, although Westchester's fee schedule lists a 'Reciprocal Electrician' license category. A master electrician arriving from another state must qualify with each local board where they intend to work, and in New York City must first accumulate two years of supervised experience inside the city.

How local licensing works in New York

How local licensing works. New York has no state electrical board. Licensing authority rests with individual cities and counties, each with its own examining board, ordinance, exam and fee schedule; a license is valid only in the issuing jurisdiction.

New York City. The Department of Buildings issues the Master Electrician license (independent contracting anywhere in the city) and the Special Electrician license (work as an employee in or on specific buildings). Qualifications (NYC Admin. Code 28-430.3; 1 RCNY 104-01): age 18, read and write English, fitness and good moral character, and one of: seven years within the last ten working with tools on wiring and appliances for light, heat and power under the direct and continuing supervision of a licensed master or special electrician in the United States, at least two years of it in NYC; a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or engineering technology plus three years within five (two in NYC); a New York State DOL-registered apprenticeship plus five years within ten (two in NYC); or electrical-inspection employment credited at 50 percent up to 2.5 years. Candidates pay $585 for the closed-book written exam on the 2025 NYC Electrical Code (70 percent to pass) and $530 for the practical, which must be passed within 24 months of the written result; the background application (experience verification signed by supervisors, Social Security earnings history, physical exam) is filed through DOB NOW within one year. License fee $310, seal $50, annual renewal $60 with continuing education, late renewal $310. The licensee must be an officer, partner or sole proprietor of a business with a NYC location carrying general liability, workers' compensation and disability insurance. The exam can be waived only for city-agency applicants (28-430.6); no out-of-state waiver exists, and the two-years-in-NYC rule means an out-of-state master cannot qualify immediately.

Buffalo. The Electrical Examining Board's Master Electrician License requires 11 years (22,000 hours) of experience in electrical construction within the last 11 years, structured as four years (8,000 hours) as an apprentice plus seven years (14,000 hours) as a journeyman working for a licensed master, documented by notarized employer and master electrician affidavits; a passing (75 percent or higher) ICC G-16 Master Electrician exam taken within one year; a $100 application fee; and general liability and workers' compensation certificates before issuance. The master electrician affidavit asks in which city the supervising master is licensed, so experience under masters licensed elsewhere is accepted as documentation.

Rochester. The Electrical Examining Board issues a Master (three-phase) license requiring four years of applicable experience, interpreted as at least 6,000 hours of three-phase experience within the past ten years (at least half in the field with tools; up to 3,000 hours may be course work, estimating, design, supervision or single-phase work), and an ICC-based exam with a 70 percent passing grade. Applications are filed online; the Board's rules contain no reciprocity clause.

Westchester County and Yonkers. The Department of Consumer Protection's Electrical Board licenses Master and Special Electricians by examination: exam application $50, master license $500 with $500 annual renewal, special electrician $350. The fee schedule also lists a 'Master and Reciprocal Electrician' license at the same $500, but the conditions for a reciprocal license are not published on the pages that could be opened. Yonkers does not license electricians; its electrical permits are issued to master electricians licensed by Westchester County.

Suffolk County. The Department of Consumer Affairs issues Master Electrician and Restricted Electrical licenses (codes ME and RE). Experience, exam and fee details are in the county code and were not available on the pages that could be opened.

Syracuse and Albany. Syracuse licenses electricians through its Division of Code Enforcement (2026 applications were due June 26 with in-person consideration July 28). Albany's Electrical Examining Board, under General Code Chapter 171, Article III, examines every applicant and includes master electricians licensed by the city for at least five years. Neither city publishes reciprocity rules on the pages reviewed.

Nassau County. The county FAQ treats electricians as a trade licensed under a 'standard of competency', but no Nassau page describing the master electrician license, its requirements or fees could be opened, so Nassau's rules are unverified here.

Out-of-state holders. No New York jurisdiction reviewed publishes an agreement with another state. The practical route is to meet each local board's experience threshold (documented under licensed masters, wherever they were licensed, where the board allows), pass that board's exam, which in Buffalo, Rochester and several other boards is an ICC exam that may already have been taken elsewhere, and pay the local fees; in New York City the two years of supervised experience inside the city must be earned first.

Moving to New York Leaving New York

Common questions

Do I have to take the Wisconsin master electrician exam if I'm licensed in New York?: Yes. Wisconsin requires the trade exam on this path.
What does it cost to get a Wisconsin master electrician license from New York?: Published fees on this path total $265, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
Do my New York work hours count in Wisconsin?: Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Wisconsin's eligibility requirements.
Does it work the other way, from Wisconsin to New York?: Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Wisconsin to New York, the mechanism is not applicable.

Sources

Wisconsin DSPS Form 3107 - Master Electrician License Application Information (Rev. 12/04/2025) · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Form · verified September 15, 2026Category A (experience/degree and examination): 12 months of experience as a licensed journeyman electrician, or 60 months with at least 10,000 hours of experience (or 1,000 hours per year for seven years; up to 3,000 hours / three years of schooling credit), or a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering. Category C (reciprocity): a valid, unexpired Master Electrician license acquired through a state examination in Iowa (Master A), held continuously for at least one year immediately before applying, licenses without the Wisconsin exam. Fees are calculated in LicensE.
Wisconsin DSPS - Master Electrician · Wis. Stat. 101.862; Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305.43 · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Program page: applications (Form 3107) are filed in LicensE; exams reflect SPS 316 and the NEC; links to the Trades Renewal Dates and Fees document. Does not itself list reciprocity states.
DSPS - Trades Renewal Dates and Fees · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Other · verified September 15, 2026HVAC Qualifier: 4-year credential renewing from date of issuance, renewal fee $100, no CE, reinstatement $200. HVAC Contractor: 4-year registration from date of issuance, renewal $40, reinstatement $200. (SPS 305 Table 305.07 still lists a 2-year term for these credentials; DSPS's current schedule is used here.) Read with pdftotext after download.
Wisconsin DSPS - Trades Credentialing Examination Information · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Trades exams are given at DSPS locations or, at a marginally higher fee, at Pearson test centers selected in the LicensE application; exam reviews are $15.
Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 305 - Licenses, Certifications and Registrations (Register August 2025) · SPS 305.02 Table 305.02; SPS 305.70; SPS 305.71 · Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Admin Rule · verified September 15, 2026Table 305.02: HVAC Contractor registration $15 application fee and $160 registration fee; HVAC Qualifier certification $15 application fee, $25 examination fee, $60 certification fee. SPS 305.70: HVAC contractor registration is mandatory for any person, entity or business installing or servicing HVAC equipment and is applied for by the owner, partner or chief executive; a note reminds that federal Section 608 technician certification is required for refrigerant work. SPS 305.71: an individual may obtain an HVAC qualifier certification by meeting the 4-year experience/education standard, passing the exam under SPS 305.09 and paying the certification fee; a business that uses a qualifier is a 'certified HVAC business' that cannot be required to obtain local approval. The chapter contains no reciprocity or credential-by-endorsement provision for HVAC. Read with pdftotext after download.
Wis. Stat. 101.868 - Master electrician license · Wis. Stat. 101.868 · Wisconsin Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026Master electrician qualifications: a bachelor's or master's degree in electrical engineering, or 12 months of experience while licensed as a journeyman electrician, or 60 months with at least 10,000 hours of experience installing, repairing and maintaining electrical wiring; each followed by passage of the department's examination.
Wis. Stat. 101.874 - Reciprocal agreements (electrical credentials) · Wis. Stat. 101.874 · Wisconsin Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 2026DSPS may enter into a reciprocal agreement with another state recognizing electrician credentials as comparable only if the other state's education, experience and examination requirements are at least equivalent to Wisconsin's; under an agreement DSPS issues a credential to an applicant who submits an application, pays the fee under s. 101.82(4), and holds a valid comparable credential from the other state.

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