Utah · electrician licensing · verified July 2026
Utah electrician license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Utah licenses electricians statewide through the Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) in the Department of Commerce, with five classifications: Apprentice, Residential Journeyman, Journeyman, Residential Master, and Master. A journeyman needs a 4-year apprenticeship education program (576 classroom hours) plus 8,000 supervised hours, or 16,000 hours without the program, plus written and practical exams administered by Prov. Licenses renew every two years (November 30 of even years, $84) with 16 hours of continuing education.
Do you need a license to work as an electrician in Utah?
Utah licenses electricians statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
Utah has no formal state-to-state reciprocity agreements for electricians; out-of-state licensees apply by endorsement if their state's license has a similar scope of practice (DOPL publishes an equivalency list), otherwise by the standard route with documentation. The $116 non-refundable application fee is stated on DOPL's official Electrician Application form (v2026-05-21) covering JE, ME, RJE, and RME; the apprentice application fee was not confirmed. Exam fees are paid directly to Prov and are listed in the Candidate Information Bulletin. Electrical exams were restructured August 1, 2025 under rule R156-55b (combined written exams, retake limits). Electrical contracting businesses are licensed separately under Utah's contractor licensing (Utah Code 58-55). Statute: Utah Code 58-55 (Construction Trades Licensing Act).
What licenses does Utah issue?
The Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Department of Commerce - Electricians Licensing Board 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice Electrician | not published | not published | No |
| Residential Journeyman Electrician | 4,000 | 288 | Yes |
| Journeyman Electrician | 8,000 | 576 | Yes |
| Residential Master Electrician | 4,000 | not published | Yes |
| Master Electrician | 8,000 | not published | Yes |
Source: Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Department of Commerce - Electricians Licensing Board (commerce.utah.gov). Verified July 2026.
Residential Journeyman Electrician: Hours earned as a licensed Apprentice Electrician under supervision of a licensed Journeyman or Master Electrician
Journeyman Electrician: Hours earned as a licensed Apprentice Electrician under supervision of a licensed Journeyman or Master Electrician
Residential Master Electrician: 4,000 hours as a licensed Residential Journeyman Electrician (or EE degree + 2,000 licensed apprentice hours)
Master Electrician: 8,000 hours as a licensed Journeyman Electrician (alternatives: EE degree + 2,000 apprentice hours, or AAS + 4,000 journeyman hours)
How many hours do you need in Utah?
Utah requires 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience for a Journeyman Electrician license, plus 576 classroom hours. At a 40-hour week the on-the-job portion is roughly 4 years of full-time work.
What exam does Utah require?
Utah Journeyman Electrician Written Exam (combined Theory and Code since Aug 1, 2025) and Utah Electrician Practical Exam (6 modules). Administered by Prov (Candidate Information Bulletin at utahboi.provexam.com); no preapproval required to test.
Utah Residential Journeyman Written Exam and Utah Residential Electrician Practical Exam (4 modules). Administered by Prov.
Utah Master / Residential Master Electrician Law and Rule Exam. Administered by Prov.
Source: examination page (commerce.utah.gov). Verified July 2026.
How much does a Utah electrician license cost?
Getting a Journeyman Electrician license in Utah costs $116 in board fees, before any training. That is the application 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$116
- Renewal fee (recurring)$84
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: 2 years, electrical license renewals are due November 30 of even-numbered years
Continuing education: 16 hours of approved CE per 2-year licensing period (Utah Admin. Rule R156-55b-304): 12 hours must be core, including 8 hours on the NEC and 4 hours on NFPA 70E; the remaining 4 hours may be core or professional
Source: renewal requirements (commerce.utah.gov). Verified July 2026.
How does the apprenticeship route work?
Apprentices must hold a DOPL Apprentice Electrician license (employer Verification of Supervision required) and work under immediate supervision of a licensed journeyman or master; those licensed hours are what count toward the residential journeyman (4,000), journeyman (8,000/16,000), and degree-path master requirements. Completing a 4-year registered apprenticeship education program (576 classroom hours) is the standard education component for the journeyman license.
Which states does Utah have license reciprocity with?
Utah's own board publishes no reciprocity agreements and takes out-of-state licensees through an endorsement or equivalency review instead. 5 other states name Utah in their agreements, so the route in the other direction may exist: Colorado, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Wyoming. Each of those boards decides its own case.
Source: reciprocity agreement (commerce.utah.gov). Verified July 2026.
How does Utah 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Arizona | not published | Statewide |
| Colorado | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Idaho | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Nevada | not published | Statewide |
| New Mexico | 8,000 | Statewide |
| Wyoming | 8,000 | Statewide |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
How does Utah compare nationally?
24 states publish an explicit hour figure for this trade, and they range from 8,000 to 10,000 hours. Utah's 8,000 hours is what 23 of them ask, making it the standard rather than an outlier; no state asks less and 1 asks more. The full comparison is on the hours by state table.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- DOPL - Journeyman Electrician (Utah applicants)
- DOPL - Master Electrician (Utah applicants)
- DOPL - Residential Journeyman Electrician (Utah applicants)
- DOPL - Residential Master Electrician (Utah applicants)
- DOPL - Apprentice Electrician
- DOPL - Electrical Exam Information
- DOPL - Renew an Electrical License ($84, Nov 30 even years)
- DOPL - Continuing Education for Electrical
- DOPL - Electrician Application form ($116 application fee)
- DOPL - Journeyman Electrician licensure by endorsement
Last verified July 2026. Found an error? Report it and it will be corrected and logged on the corrections page.
Other states with published requirements for this trade: Vermont, West Virginia, Alaska.
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 Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Department of Commerce - Electricians Licensing Board before making decisions. Not legal advice.