Minnesota Electrical License: Classes, Experience, and Exam

To get a Minnesota electrical license, you apply to the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), document the supervised experience your license type requires, pass a state exam on the National Electrical Code and Minnesota’s amendments, and pay the license fee. The three licenses most people pursue are the Class A journeyworker, the Class A master, and the maintenance electrician license. You must be at least 17 to qualify, and you must either work for a licensed electrical contractor as a W-2 employee or own a licensed electrical contracting business.¹

Who Needs a License

Anyone performing electrical work in Minnesota needs a DLI-issued license or must be registered as an unlicensed electrician. The registration route is how apprentices and newcomers start: you can work as a registered unlicensed electrician if your tasks fall within the scope your employer is authorized to perform and a licensed journeyworker or master electrician supervises you directly at all times.¹ Those supervised hours are what you’ll later document to qualify for a full license.

Choosing the Right License Type

DLI issues several categories of electrical license, each with its own scope. The three main ones carry most applicants, and picking the wrong track can cost months of wasted effort.

Class A Journeyworker

A journeyworker license lets you perform electrical installations, maintenance, and repairs, but only under the direction of a master electrician or within a licensed electrical contracting business. You cannot independently contract for electrical work with this license alone.

Class A Master

A master electrician license lets you design, plan, supervise, and perform electrical work. It is also the credential that opens the door to an electrical contractor license, which is what you need to run your own business.

Maintenance Electrician

A maintenance electrician license restricts you to electrical maintenance and repair work within a single employer’s facility, such as a factory, hospital, or commercial building. You cannot install new wiring or work outside your designated employer’s property.

DLI also issues Class B journeyworker and Class B master licenses (limited to smaller-scale residential and farm work), power limited technician licenses, lineman licenses, and satellite installer licenses. If one of those fits your work better, confirm the experience and exam specifics with DLI before applying.

Experience Requirements

Each license has a specific supervised-experience threshold, and DLI will not waive it.

For the Class A journeyworker license, you need four years of experience in wiring, installing, and repairing electrical equipment, verified by DLI as acceptable. You can earn one year of credit by completing a two-year post-high-school electrical program approved by the commissioner.² All experience must be gained under the supervision of a licensed electrician.

The maintenance electrician license requires 48 months of qualifying experience, with the same one-year credit available for a qualifying two-year post-high-school program.³ The time commitment matches the journeyworker license, but the permitted scope of work is much narrower.

The Class A master license has three separate paths:²

Graduate from a four-year electrical engineering program at an accredited college or university.
Hold a Minnesota journeyworker license and accumulate at least one year of experience the commissioner deems acceptable.
Accumulate five years of experience in planning, laying out, supervising, and installing electrical systems, acceptable to the commissioner, without first holding a journeyworker license.

The journeyworker-plus-one-year path is the most common route, and the one-year requirement is shorter than many applicants expect.¹

The Exam

Every license type requires passing a state-administered exam covering the National Electrical Code (NEC), Minnesota’s amendments, and general electrical principles. The passing score is 70 percent across all exams.⁴

Question counts vary by license:

Class A master electrician: 80 questions
Class A journeyworker electrician: 80 questions
Maintenance electrician: 70 questions
Power limited technician: 80 questions
Lineman: 50 questions
Class B and satellite installer: 25 questions

The master and journeyworker exams are the same length, but the master exam covers more advanced material including system design, load calculations, and supervisory-level code knowledge.⁴

Apply online and wait for DLI approval before scheduling your exam date. If you fail, you can reapply 30 days after receiving your failure notification. Each retake requires a new application and another $50 exam fee.⁴

The exams include both open-book sections (where you can reference the NEC codebook) and closed-book sections. Buying the current NEC and tabbing it thoroughly is the most useful preparation for the open-book portion. Minnesota adopts NEC updates on a three-year cycle, so if your exam falls during a code transition year, confirm which edition DLI is testing on before you start studying.

Fees

DLI publishes a full fee schedule. The numbers that matter for a first-time applicant:

Exam fee, all license types: $50, paid when you apply to sit for the exam.
New journeyworker license: $48, paid after passing.
New master license: $88, paid after passing.
New maintenance electrician license: $48, paid after passing.

Renewal fees are $53 for journeyworker and maintenance electricians and $93 for master electricians. Late renewals add $20 for journeyworker and maintenance licenses and $40 for master licenses.⁵ Payments go through DLI’s online portal or by check. Incomplete applications and incorrect payments are rejected and must be resubmitted.

Documenting Your Experience

Experience verification is where most applications stall. DLI requires employers to complete an official Electrical Work Experience Verification Form for each period of qualifying work. The form must include the employer’s name, license or registration number, the name and license number of the supervising master electrician, your employment dates, and a breakdown of actual hours worked by class of work, such as wiring and installing versus maintaining and repairing.⁶

Hours must be supported by payroll records or other documentation the employer can produce. DLI caps qualifying experience at 160 hours per month or 2,000 hours per year. Both the employer’s responsible person (the supervising master electrician) and the applicant must sign the form.⁶

You need a separate verification form from every employer in your qualifying period. Track your hours from the start of your career. Chasing records from a former employer that has closed or lost files is one of the most common sources of delay.

Reciprocity for Out-of-State Electricians

Minnesota recognizes licenses from several states so you can skip the exam. For the Class A journeyworker license, DLI accepts licenses obtained by examination in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Electricians holding a master-equivalent license in those states can also qualify for a Minnesota journeyworker license under the same agreements.⁷

For the Class A master license, reciprocity is narrower: Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska.⁷

To apply under reciprocity, submit proof of current licensure in the reciprocal state, complete a DLI application, and pay the standard license fee. From that point on, you follow Minnesota’s continuing education and renewal rules like any other licensee.

Keeping Your License

Personal electrician licenses renew on a two-year cycle. Journeyworker, master, and maintenance electricians must complete 16 hours of DLI-approved continuing education before each renewal, with at least 12 of those hours covering NEC content. Master electricians in their first year of licensure are exempt from continuing education for that initial period.⁸

Renewal dates differ by license. Journeyworker licenses expire every two years at the end of the month in which the license was originally issued. Master electrician licenses all expire on the last day of February in odd-numbered years.¹

DLI does not grant extensions for incomplete continuing education. Renewing without completing your hours exposes you to license suspension and a $1,000 fine. If your license lapses entirely, you may have to retake the licensing exam to get it back.⁸ Every CE course must be pre-approved by DLI, and you can check your continuing education status through DLI’s website before you submit your renewal.

Running Your Own Business

A master electrician license is a personal credential. If you want to contract directly with customers and run an electrical business, you need a separate electrical contractor license from DLI. The contractor license requires business registration, insurance coverage, and designating a responsible master electrician.

Contractor licenses expire on the last day of February in even-numbered years, with a renewal fee of $188. Late renewals add a $90 penalty.⁹ Minnesota does not publish a single required coverage amount, but commercial clients routinely expect general liability policies in the range of $1 million to $2 million per occurrence, with larger projects demanding higher limits.

1
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Electrical Licensing Basics
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 326B.33
3
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 326B.33
4
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Electrical License Examination Guide
5
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. CCLD Licensing Fee Schedule
6
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Electrical Work Experience Verification Form
7
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Electrical License Reciprocity
8
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Continuing Education – Electrical
9
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Electrical Contractor License Renewal Instructions