Nevada · electrician licensing · verified July 2026
Nevada electrician license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Nevada licenses electrical work at the state level only at the contractor tier: the Nevada State Contractors Board issues the C-2 Electrical Contracting license, requiring 4 years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee, or contractor within the 15 years before application, plus PSI-administered Business & Law and trade exams. Nevada issues no state journeyman or apprentice electrician license, individual electricians work under a licensed C-2 contractor. Licenses are biennial ($600) with a $300 application fee and a surety bond of $1,000-$500,000.
Do you need a license to work as an electrician in Nevada?
Nevada licenses electricians statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
There is no Nevada state journeyman or individual electrician license, the C-2 Electrical Contracting license is the only state credential, held by the business/qualifying individual; employees work under the contractor's license (verify locally whether any jurisdiction imposes its own card requirements). The reciprocity list reflects NSCB licensure-by-endorsement equivalency for C-2 (requires an active license in the endorsing state with the same qualified individual for the past 4 years, no disciplinary history, and passing the Nevada Business & Law exam).
What licenses does Nevada issue?
The Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| C-2 Electrical Contracting license | not published | not published | Yes |
Source: Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) (nvcontractorsboard.com). Verified July 2026.
What exam does Nevada require?
Nevada Business and Law (CMS) examination - required of all qualifying individuals (3 attempts allowed; application void after third failure). Administered by PSI.
C-2 Electrical trade examination. Administered by PSI.
Source: examination page (nvcontractorsboard.com). Verified July 2026.
How much does a Nevada electrician license cost?
Getting a journeyman electrician license in Nevada costs $900 in board fees, before any training. That is the application fee and the initial license fee charged once, with renewal charged separately below. 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$300
- Initial license fee$600
- Renewal fee (recurring)$600
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: 2 years (biennial license, $600)
How does the apprenticeship route work?
Nevada has no state apprentice-electrician registration through the Contractors Board; electrical apprentices train in registered apprenticeship programs while employed by a licensed C-2 contractor. Apprenticeship leads to journeyman status, but the NSCB's 4-year qualifying experience for a C-2 license must be at journeyman level or above (journeyman, foreman, supervising employee, or contractor), documented by four certificates from persons with firsthand knowledge.
Which states does Nevada have license reciprocity with?
Nevada appears in 8 published reciprocal licensing agreements for this trade, covering Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia. 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 Nevada 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 Nevada 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nevada | not published | Statewide |
| Arizona | not published | Statewide |
| California | not published | Statewide |
| Idaho | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Oregon | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Utah | 8,000 | Statewide |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- NSCB - FAQ for General Requirements (experience, fees, bond, exams)
- NSCB - License Examinations (PSI)
- NSCB - Licensure by Endorsement (C-2 equivalency states)
- NSCB - Classification of Contractors (Class C / NAC 624)
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: New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota.
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 Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) before making decisions. Not legal advice.