How to Complete the TDLR Electrician Experience Verification Form ELC017

Form ELC017 is the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s electrician experience verification form, and the detail that catches most applicants off guard is who fills it out: your supervising master electrician completes and signs it, not you. Your only entry is your printed name at the bottom. You need a separate completed ELC017 for every master electrician whose license you worked under, and the hours across those forms have to add up to the total your license type requires.

Who Fills Out the Form

The supervising electrician handles nearly the entire form. The applicant prints last name, first name, middle name, and suffix. That is the full extent of the applicant’s role.

If TDLR suspects the applicant completed the supervisor’s section, the verification will be rejected. Hand the blank form to your supervisor, let them fill it in, and don’t prepopulate anything above your name line.

Who Can Sign as Your Verifying Supervisor

Under 16 TAC § 73.26, the person signing must be licensed by any jurisdiction as a master electrician or master sign electrician, as appropriate for the license you’re pursuing. The form can only cover training you received while working under that person’s license and general supervision.1Cornell Law Institute. 16 Texas Administrative Code 73.26 – Documentation of Required On-The-Job Training

A business owner who doesn’t hold a master-level license can’t sign, even if they employed you. A journeyman who worked next to you every day can’t sign either. The verifier doesn’t have to be Texas-licensed, since the rule says “licensed by any jurisdiction,” but you’ll need to attach a copy of that out-of-state license or a verification letter from the issuing authority.

If a former supervisor goes silent, the rule gives you leverage. When TDLR or the applicant requests verification from a licensee authorized under Occupations Code Chapter 1305, that licensee must provide it within 30 calendar days, verifying the training dates, describing the work, specifying the business name, and supplying any other information the form requires.1Cornell Law Institute. 16 Texas Administrative Code 73.26 – Documentation of Required On-The-Job Training

What the Supervisor Enters on the Form

The ELC017 is a single page in two parts. The supervisor fills in their full name, phone number, and company name, then their license details: license type (Master, Master Sign, etc.), license number, effective date, expiration date, and the jurisdiction that issued it. A copy of the supervisor’s license, or a letter of license verification, must be attached to the form.2Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrician Experience Verification Form ELC017

Next come the supervision dates (start and end), confirmation that the supervisor directly oversaw the applicant’s electrical work during that window, and a note on whether the applicant held a valid license at the time and, if so, what type. The supervisor then checks the categories of work the applicant performed, laid out in a grid:

  • Installed electrical wiring systems: residential, commercial, industrial, exempt, or other
  • Maintained electrical wiring systems: residential, commercial, industrial, exempt, or other
  • Extended electrical wiring systems: residential, commercial, industrial, exempt, or other
  • Serviced entrance conductors: residential, commercial, industrial, exempt, or other

After the grid, the supervisor writes a detailed description of the work performed and records the total hours worked during the supervision period. The signature block is a sworn statement that the supervisor has verified only actual experience performed while the applicant worked under their license and general supervision. False verification can result in disciplinary action up to and including license revocation.2Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrician Experience Verification Form ELC017

How Many Hours Your Forms Need to Add Up To

Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305 sets the on-the-job training thresholds for each license tier. The totals across your ELC017 forms must reach the number for the license you’re applying for. The experience requirements referenced in 16 TAC § 73.20 point to §§ 1305.153 through 1305.1618 of the Occupations Code for the specific numbers.3Cornell Law Institute. 16 Texas Administrative Code 73.20 – Licensing Requirements – Applicant and Experience Requirements

  • Journeyman Electrician: 8,000 hours of supervised on-the-job training
  • Journeyman Sign Electrician: 8,000 hours under a master electrician or master sign electrician4Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Journeyman Sign Electrician License Application
  • Journeyman Industrial Electrician: 8,000 hours as a licensed electrical apprentice under a master electrician5State of Texas. Texas Occupations Code OCC 1305.1601
  • Maintenance Electrician: 8,000 hours under a master electrician or a maintenance electrician6Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electricians at a Glance
  • Master Electrician: 12,000 hours of on-the-job training
  • Residential Wireman: hours vary; check the current TDLR application for the exact requirement

Eight thousand hours is roughly four years of full-time work. If your hours came from several employers, each master electrician you worked under completes a separate ELC017 covering only their own supervision window and hours. Make sure the arithmetic is defensible: full-time work is about 2,000 hours a year, and a form that claims 5,000 hours over two calendar years at one shop invites a deficiency notice.

How to Submit the Form

Form ELC017 doesn’t go to TDLR on its own. Bundle it with the completed license application for your specific license type and the nonrefundable application fee, and mail everything to:

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
PO Box 12157
Austin, TX 78711-21577Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Apply for a New Residential Wireman License

Application fees:

Fees for Master Electrician and other tiers are printed on each license type’s application form on the TDLR electrician forms page. All fees are nonrefundable regardless of whether your application is approved.9Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrician Forms and Publications

Every ELC017 in the packet needs its supervisor’s license copy or verification letter attached. Missing that single attachment is the most common cause of a weeks-long delay.

Mistakes That Trigger a Deficiency Notice

The form is simple in concept and easy to get wrong in execution. Watch for these:

  • Supervisor’s license was expired during part of the claimed dates. Those hours won’t count. Verify your supervisor’s effective and expiration dates before they fill in the form.
  • No copy of the supervisor’s license or verification letter attached. The form explicitly requires it.
  • Vague work description. “Electrical work” isn’t enough; the supervisor should name the system types, the nature of the work, and the setting.
  • Hours that don’t match reality. If payroll shows two years at a shop, the form shouldn’t claim 5,000 hours. Keep the math close to 2,000 hours per full-time year.
  • Applicant completed the supervisor’s section. TDLR will reject the verification if the handwriting, voice, or details suggest the applicant filled it out.

Download the current ELC017 directly from the TDLR electrician forms page before you send it to your supervisor. Older versions may be returned without processing.