Georgia · electrician licensing · verified July 2026
Georgia electrician license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Georgia licenses ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS statewide through the Division of Electrical Contractors of the State Construction Industry Licensing Board (administered by the Secretary of State); the Board explicitly does not license individual electricians, so journeyman-level workers need no license and work under a licensed contractor. Class I (restricted to single-phase installations up to 200 amperes) and Class II (unrestricted) licenses require being at least 21, a minimum of 4 years of primary hands-on electrical experience (with limited credit for education/secondary experience), three references, and a score of at least 70 on the PSI-administered exam.
Do you need a license to work as an electrician in Georgia?
Georgia licenses electricians statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
Only contractors are licensed, the Board's FAQ states 'the Board licenses Electrical Contractors, not electricians,' and companies are not registered, only individuals. Renewal and exam fee amounts live in the GOALS portal fee schedule (interactive, not extractable); reinstatement (non-restricted, lapsed <3 yrs) is $310 and license verification $35 per the official pages read.
What licenses does Georgia issue?
The State Construction Industry Licensing Board - Division of Electrical Contractors (Georgia Secretary of State) issues the credentials below for this trade. Boards often list further classes for specialties and business licenses; these are the ones this page covers.
Hours are what each class asks for on its own terms. Where a senior class shows fewer than a journeyman, the board is counting time served after the earlier license rather than from the start; the prerequisite column says which.
| License | On-the-job hours | Classroom hours | Exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical Contractor Class I (Restricted) | not published | not published | Yes |
| Electrical Contractor Class II (Non-restricted) | not published | not published | Yes |
Source: State Construction Industry Licensing Board - Division of Electrical Contractors (Georgia Secretary of State) (rules.sos.ga.gov). Verified July 2026.
What exam does Georgia require?
Georgia Electrical Contractor examination (Class I or Class II) - minimum score 70; after two failures a Board-approved review course is required. Administered by PSI (Board's testing vendor; register after receiving Board exam approval letter, valid 1 year).
How much does a Georgia electrician license cost?
Getting a journeyman electrician license in Georgia costs $110 in board fees, before any training. That is the application fee charged once. No board publishes this total, so it is added up here from the schedule it does publish. An exam is required and its fee is not in that figure, because no amount for it appears in the board material this page is built from. Check the board's current fee schedule before budgeting.
- Application fee$110
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: Biennial, renew online April through June, due June 30 of even-numbered years (late renewal July 1-31 with late fee)
Continuing education: 4 continuing education hours required each year (8 hours total per biennial renewal), from providers per Board Rule 121-4-.07(4); random CE audits; hours reported via CE Broker for the 2026 cycle.
How does the apprenticeship route work?
Georgia has no state apprentice or journeyman credential; apprentices simply work (unlicensed) under a licensed electrical contractor, and those years count toward the 4-year primary-experience requirement for the contractor exam. Education credit is limited: completion of a 2-year academic diploma or vocational-technical certificate program can substitute for part of the experience (credited per Rule 121-3-.01, generally capped at 1 year of credit at a 50% rate alongside secondary experience; max 2 years on the 6-year alternative path).
Which states does Georgia have license reciprocity with?
Georgia appears in 2 published reciprocal licensing agreements for this trade, covering North Carolina, South Carolina. Boards write these as agreements between two states rather than as a one-way list, and some publish the list while their counterpart does not, so this counts every agreement naming Georgia from either side. Recognition is never automatic: the board you apply to decides, and most require the original license to have been earned by examination and to be in good standing.
How does Georgia compare to neighboring states?
Requirements stop at the state line, which matters if you live near one or expect to move. Here is what the neighboring states ask of the same trade.
| State | Journeyman hours | Licensing model |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | not published | Statewide |
| Alabama | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Florida | not published | Contractor level only |
| North Carolina | not published | Statewide |
| South Carolina | not published | Contractor level only |
| Tennessee | not published | Contractor level only |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- How-To Guide: Electrical Contractors (Georgia Secretary of State)
- Board of Electrical Contractors FAQ (Georgia Secretary of State)
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Rule 121-3-.01 - Statewide Electrical Contractor License
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Rule 121-3-.01 Statewide Electrical Contractor License
Last verified July 2026, independently re-verified before publication. Found an error? Report it and it will be corrected and logged on the corrections page.
Other states with published requirements for this trade: Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa.
Price the whole path with the license cost estimator, or weigh earning against paying for school with the apprenticeship comparison. Back to electricians overview.
Licensing requirements change between our verification sweeps. This page is informational only, so confirm current requirements with State Construction Industry Licensing Board - Division of Electrical Contractors (Georgia Secretary of State) before making decisions. Not legal advice.