New York to Wyoming: master electrician license reciprocity
New York does not issue a statewide master electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Wyoming'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.
Licensure by examination with out-of-state experience (states without a master reciprocal agreement)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
Only Idaho, South Dakota and Iowa masters can reciprocate; a master electrician from any other state (including the fourteen journeyman-only reciprocal states) applies for the Wyoming master exam. Out-of-state experience counts toward the 16,000-hour requirement when documented by notarized employer letters or the Work Verification Form, notarized union letters, or official letters from other licensing boards, and the department may accept a current license from a state board with equal or stricter work-history requirements as proof of hours; 8,000 of the hours must have been as a licensed journeyman. The applicant must also show 576 hours of approved classroom instruction (or the 20,000-hour exemption), pass the exam with 75%, and pay the $200 license fee. W.S. 35-9-126(d) permits a discretionary reciprocal license for any out-of-state license earned by an equal or greater exam, but the department applies reciprocity only to its listed agreement states.
Exam vendor and exam fee are not published on the licensing page (fees are paid to the testing facility; statutory cap $300).
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Required
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
- Typical processing
- About 15 days
What you must already have
- You must document at least 16,000 hours of qualifying work experience.Eight years in the electrical wiring industry across residential, commercial and industrial work, of which 8,000 hours were as a licensed journeyman electrician
- Held a journeyman electrician license for four years (8,000 hours)
- 576 hours of electrically related classroom instruction from an approved apprenticeship program, or 10 years / 20,000 hours as a licensed journeyman or master approved by the Chief Electrical Inspector
What you'll do to get licensed in Wyoming
- 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Wyoming Master Electrician examination, open book on the current NEC, 75% to pass.
- 2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. Examination fee paid to the testing facility (amount not published on the licensing page; statutory cap $300).
- 3License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($200). Initial Master Electrician license fee paid after uploading the exam pass letter (plus 2.5% card processing fee).
- 4Other. Government-issued ID verification in the eLicense portal, work verification documents and apprenticeship education transcripts.
Published fees on this path total $200, 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
How Wyoming licenses master electricians
Wyoming master electrician · “Master Electrician”
Statewide license
Wyoming issues a statewide Master Electrician license through the Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety. To sit for the master exam an applicant documents eight years (16,000 hours) of work in the electrical wiring industry, of which four years (8,000 hours) were as a licensed journeyman, plus 576 hours of approved classroom instruction (or the 20,000-hour exemption), and must score 75% on the open-book NEC exam. The initial license fee is $200; the license runs three years, expiring July 1, and renews for $100 with 16 hours of approved continuing education, 8 of them on the NEC. A master electrician may serve as master of record for only one electrical contractor (W.S. 35-9-126). Wyoming has master-level reciprocity agreements with Idaho, South Dakota and Iowa only.
Why New York has nothing to transfer
New York master electrician
Licensed by cities and counties
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.
- New York City (Department of Buildings)
- Buffalo (Electrical Examining Board)
- Rochester (Electrical Examining Board)
- Syracuse (Division of Code Enforcement)
- Albany (Electrical Examining Board)
- Suffolk County (Department of Consumer Affairs)
- Westchester County (Department of Consumer Protection, Electrical Board)
- Yonkers (uses Westchester County licenses)
- Nassau County (Office of Consumer Affairs)
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Wyoming master electrician exam if I'm licensed in New York?
- Yes. Wyoming requires the trade exam on this path.
- What does it cost to get a Wyoming master electrician license from New York?
- Published fees on this path total $200, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my New York work hours count in Wyoming?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Wyoming's eligibility requirements.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 15 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Wyoming to New York?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Wyoming to New York, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- Wyoming Statutes Title 35, Chapter 9, Article 1 - Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety · W.S. 35-9-126(a), 35-9-126(d), 35-9-129 · Wyoming Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 202635-9-126(a): applicants for master and journeyman licenses apply to the chief electrical inspector, pass the examination and pay the license fee; a master license expires July 1 and a journeyman license January 1 in the third year after issue; up to 4,000 hours of electrical school credit toward work experience. 35-9-126(d): the department may issue a reciprocal license to an applicant who obtained an out-of-state or foreign license through an examination equal to or exceeding Wyoming's. 35-9-129: fee caps - master $200, journeyman $100, temporary permit $50, examination $300.
- Wyoming State Fire Marshal's Office - Fire Council and Electrical Board · Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026The five-member Electrical Board appointed by the governor adopts the rules for licensing master and journeyman electricians, technicians, apprentices, temporary permits and reciprocal licenses.
- Wyoming State Fire Marshal's Office - Electrical Safety Home Page · Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Effective April 1, 2025 a 2.5% processing fee (minimum $1) is added to card payments; Wyoming currently enforces the 2023 NEC with the 2026 NEC effective July 1, 2026; links the licensing portal and the statutes and rules.
- Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety - Licensing · W.S. 35-9-101 et seq. · Wyoming State Fire Marshal's Office, Electrical Safety Division · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026The only statewide construction-trade licensing program in Wyoming; the page lists apprentice, low-voltage/limited technician, journeyman and master electrician licenses and electrical/low-voltage contractor licenses. It contains no HVAC, mechanical or refrigeration license. The one HVAC-related state credential is the LM-H Limited Technician license, which covers the electrical wiring of HVAC systems only.
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.