To get a journeyman electrician license in Texas, you register as an apprentice with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), work 8,000 hours under a licensed master electrician, then submit a $30 application by mail and pass a two-part exam through PSI. Start to finish, most people take four to five years.
Register as an Apprentice First
Before a single hour counts toward the 8,000 you need, you have to hold an apprentice electrician license. There’s no experience or exam requirement to get one. You apply through the TDLR online portal, pay a $20 non-refundable fee, and you have to be at least 16.1Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Apply for a New Electrical Apprentice License
Once licensed as an apprentice, you work under the direct supervision of a licensed master electrician. The TDLR counts electrical work broadly: installing, maintaining, or extending electrical wiring systems and related equipment in or on buildings, residences, or other structures, including service entrance conductors.1Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Apply for a New Electrical Apprentice License
If you have a criminal history beyond a minor traffic violation, you’ll need to submit a TDLR Criminal History Questionnaire with your application, describing each offense in your own words. Convictions are reviewed individually and don’t automatically disqualify you.2Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Criminal History Questionnaire
Log 8,000 Hours Under a Master Electrician
The core requirement for a journeyman license is 8,000 hours of on-the-job training under a master electrician.3Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Journeyman Electrician License Application At 40 hours a week, that comes out to roughly four years of full-time work.
There’s an early exam option that saves time. Once you’ve hit 7,000 hours, you can apply to sit for the exam before reaching the full 8,000. You can pass the test while finishing the last stretch of hours, but the TDLR won’t issue the license until all 8,000 are documented.3Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Journeyman Electrician License Application
Every master electrician who supervised you must complete and sign a separate Experience Verification Form listing the types of electrical work you performed and your total hours under them. Worked for three employers over your apprenticeship? You need three forms. A letter on company letterhead signed by the supervising master electrician is also accepted.3Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Journeyman Electrician License Application
Collect these forms as you go. Tracking down a former supervisor years later, especially one who’s moved on or retired, is where a lot of applications stall.
Submit the Application by Mail
Initial journeyman applications can’t be filed online. Mail your completed application, all Experience Verification Forms, and a $30 non-refundable fee to:
TDLR
P.O. Box 12157
Austin, TX 78711-21573Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Journeyman Electrician License Application
Once TDLR approves your experience documentation, PSI (the testing vendor) mails you scheduling information for the exam. From the date you file, you have 12 months to meet every remaining requirement, including passing the test. Miss the window and the application terminates, so you’d start over.3Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Journeyman Electrician License Application
Pass the Journeyman Exam
PSI administers the exam, and since March 11, 2025, it comes in two parts: a knowledge portion and a calculations portion.4Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrician Exam Information Together they contain 80 scored questions and 5 unscored pretest questions, with a combined four-hour time limit. You need 70% or better on each part.
The knowledge portion covers NEC code rules, definitions, and electrical theory. The calculations portion tests applied math: conduit and box fill, voltage drop, and service load calculations. Four years on the job should make the material familiar, but the four-hour clock covers both parts, so pace yourself.
What You Can Bring
The exam is open book. You may reference the 2023 Edition of the National Electrical Code, and it must be a soft-bound copy. Loose-leaf, spiral-bound, and ring-bound versions are not allowed in the testing room. PSI supplies electronic notepads for scratch work.4Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrician Exam Information
Exam Fee and Retakes
The exam fee runs approximately $70 to $78, paid to PSI when you schedule.5Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrician Candidate Information Bulletin If you fail, you can retake it, but you pay the fee again each attempt, and every attempt has to fit inside your 12-month application window.
If You’re Already Licensed in Another State
Texas has journeyman reciprocity with ten states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming. If you hold a current journeyman license in one of them and it’s in good standing, you can transfer to Texas without retaking the exam. You’ll typically need to show you passed an exam in your home state and met the 8,000-hour experience threshold, and submit a copy of your license along with a letter of good standing.6Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Transfer Your Out-of-State Electrician License to Texas
A license from any other state doesn’t qualify. You’d apply and test as any new Texas applicant would.
Keeping the License Active
A Texas journeyman license is good for one year. Renewal is $30 and done online through the TDLR portal.7Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Renew a Journeyman Electrician License
Every renewal cycle requires four hours of continuing education covering four specific topics: the current TDLR-adopted or latest NFPA-approved edition of the National Electrical Code; Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305 (the Electrician Law); Texas Administrative Code Chapter 73 (the electrician administrative rules); and electrical safety as defined in NFPA 70E.8Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Continuing Education Information for Electricians TDLR-approved providers offer these courses online, and four hours is a single day’s work.
If you let the license expire, late fees escalate: $45 within 90 days, $60 from 91 days to 18 months, and $60 plus a Request to Executive Director form for expirations between 18 months and three years (that one has to be mailed in). Past three years, the license can’t be renewed at all and you’d reapply as a new applicant.7Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Renew a Journeyman Electrician License
Working Without the License
Performing or offering electrical work without the required license is a Class C violation, with fines of $2,000 to $5,000 and a probated suspension that can escalate to full revocation.9Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrical Safety Penalties and Sanctions
Working with an expired license is a separate Class B violation, with fines of $1,000 to $3,500 and up to a year of full suspension. Using someone else’s license number, or letting another person use yours, carries the same Class B penalties.9Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Electrical Safety Penalties and Sanctions Many Texas cities also require electrical permits, so unlicensed work can trigger local code enforcement on top of TDLR action, and may force you to tear out completed work.