Wisconsin trade license reciprocity

Wisconsin issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS); under Wis. Stat. 101.862 no one may install, repair or maintain electrical wiring without a DSPS license or registration, and there is no municipal electrician licensing. A new applicant under Wis. Stat. 101.87 either completes a recognized construction electrician apprenticeship or documents 48 months with at least 8,000 hours of experience, applies in the LicensE portal, and passes the DSPS journeyman exam (open book, 70% to pass; based on the 2017 NEC until October 1, 2026, then the 2023 NEC). Under Wis. Stat. 101.874 DSPS may enter into reciprocal agreements, and Form 3106 currently waives the exam only for journeymen licensed by examination in Iowa or New Hampshire. The license is renewed every four years for $100.

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.

Wisconsin does not license HVAC technicians, journeymen or refrigeration mechanics as individuals. Under Wis. Stat. 101.178 and SPS 305.70 the business that installs or services heating, ventilating or air conditioning equipment must hold a DSPS HVAC Contractor registration ($15 application fee plus $160 registration fee, renewed every four years for $40), which has no exam, no experience requirement and is issued to the business owner, partner or chief executive; employees who do the work need no state credential. The only person-held state HVAC credential is the voluntary HVAC Qualifier certification (treated as the master level in this file), which requires four years of experience or education and an exam. Because there is nothing to transfer to, an out-of-state journeyman HVAC license is neither required nor recognized for employment in Wisconsin, and the statute bars cities from imposing their own certification on state-certified HVAC businesses except for local requirements that predate November 1993. Technicians who handle refrigerants must hold federal EPA Section 608 certification, which SPS 305.70 notes but which is not a state license. Wisconsin separately licenses journeyman electricians and plumbers for the electrical and plumbing portions of HVAC installations; those licenses are not covered here.

Wisconsin's highest person-held HVAC credential is the HVAC Qualifier certification issued by DSPS under Wis. Stat. 101.178(3) and SPS 305.71, which this file treats as the master level. It is issued to an individual who documents at least 1,000 hours per year for four years of experience supervising or performing the design, installation, servicing or maintenance of HVAC systems (or four years of HVAC-related schooling, or a combination) and passes the open-book DSPS exam (70% to pass, 4 hours, $95 at Pearson VUE); the credential is renewed every four years for $100 with no continuing education. Certification is voluntary: the mandatory credential is the business-level HVAC Contractor registration, but a business that employs a qualifier is a 'certified HVAC business' that no city or village may require to obtain a local certification, license or other approval. DSPS publishes no reciprocity agreements and no licensure-by-endorsement route for HVAC qualifiers; the experience requirement is not restricted to Wisconsin, so out-of-state work counts toward eligibility, but every applicant takes the Wisconsin exam. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is separately required to handle refrigerants.