Who licenses electricians in the states we cover
We hold electrical permits for 45 cities in 21 states. Electrical is the one trade that almost every state licenses; the differences are who holds it (the firm, a master electrician, or both) and whether the city adds its own.
| State | License to ask for | Look it up |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | ROC specialty residential license whose class covers electrical | ROC Contractor Search |
| California | CSLB C-10 Electrical | CSLB Check a License |
| Colorado | DORA electrical contractor registration, owned by or employing a master electrician (C.R.S. 12-115-110); Colorado Springs also requires PPRBD registration | DORA Verify a License |
| Florida | Electrical contractor, Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board | MyFloridaLicense |
| Hawaii | C-13 electrical | PVL search |
| Iowa | Electrical Examining Board license, plus contractor registration | EEB search |
| Illinois | No state license. Chicago trade license; Naperville electrical contractor registration | Chicago trade contractors |
| Massachusetts | Master or journeyman electrician, Board of State Examiners of Electricians | eLIPSE |
| Minnesota | DLI electrical contractor license, $25,000 bond, master electrician as responsible person | DLI iMS |
| North Carolina | NCBEEC electrical contractor: Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited or SP | NCBEEC search |
| North Dakota | State Electrical Board license | NDSEB lookup |
| Nevada | NSCB C-classification covering electrical, with a monetary limit | NSCB search |
| New York City | DOB Master Electrician | DOB electricians look-up |
| Ohio | OCILB electrical license, required by Cleveland and Cincinnati registration | OCILB lookup |
| Oregon | CCB license plus a BCD electrical license; ask for both numbers | CCB, BCD |
| Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh: City Electrical Trade License, held by a person | Ask for a copy; no public search found |
| Tennessee | CE Electrical for jobs of $25,000 and up | verify.tn.gov |
| Texas | TDLR electrical contractor, holding or employing a master electrician | TDLR License Search |
| Virginia | DPOR contractor license with the electrical (ELE) specialty, plus the electrician's tradesman license | DPOR License Lookup |
| Vermont | Electrician license, Division of Fire Safety | Licensed electricians |
| Washington | L&I electrical contractor license, $4,000 bond | L&I Verify |
Utah, New Mexico and Missouri have electrical rules too (Utah E200/E201, New Mexico EE-98/ER-1; Missouri's state license is optional), but we hold no electrical permits there.
Ten questions to ask an electrician, and how to check each answer
| Ask | A good answer | How to check it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What is your electrical license number? | A number in the firm's name, in an electrical class | The board in the table above |
| 2. Whose master license covers this job? | A named person, employed by this firm | The board record lists the master or qualifier |
| 3. Who pulls the electrical permit? | "We do" | The permit on the city portal; the contractor field should name this firm |
| 4. Which inspections will this job get? | Rough-in before walls close, then final, or just final for a swap | The inspection list on the permit |
| 5. How many electrical permits have you pulled here in three years? | A number | The firm's page here: search by name |
| 6. How many passed final? | Near your city's share (table below) | Finished share on the firm page |
| 7. How long from permit to final, usually? | Near your city's usual days | Days to final on the firm page |
| 8. Is the utility work (meter, service drop) in the price? | A written yes or no | The contract |
| 9. What is the deposit and schedule? | Payment tied to inspections passed; in California no more than $1,000 or 10% down | The contract (B&P § 7159.5) |
| 10. Who will be on site: a master, a journeyman, apprentices, or a sub? | Named people, each with their own license number, or a named licensed sub | Each name on the same board; in Texas even an apprentice must be licensed (TDLR) |
Red flags the permit record can show
| City | Electrical permits | Firms | Usual filed value | Usual days to final | Reached final | 10th-percentile firm | Firms under 70% finished | License no longer active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle, WA | 15,130 | 749 | $4,067 | 44 | 94.6% | 85.1% | 2 of 252 | 77 firms |
| Austin, TX | 24,726 | 1,193 | not filed | 76 | 90.4% | 76.3% | 14 of 336 | 59 firms |
| Saint Paul, MN | 17,041 | 671 | $1,100 | 54 | 84.4% | 73.8% | 17 of 230 | 77 firms |
| Miami, FL | 6,214 | 1,029 | $6,000 | 184 | 86.6% | 78.7% | 2 of 65 | not tracked |
| Arlington, VA | 4,143 | 524 | $3,000 | 99 | 86.5% | 75.5% | 5 of 108 | not tracked |
| Cleveland, OH | 4,049 | 361 | $3,000 | 146 | 64.3% | 48.7% | 49 of 88 | no license file |
"Not filed": Austin records no job value on electrical permits. "Not tracked": the Miami and Arlington license files we match hold only current licenses, so a lapsed one shows as no match rather than as expired.
1. The permit is in your name, or there is none. The FTC lists a contractor who asks you to get the permits among its scam signs (FTC, read October 2026). On the portal, the contractor named on the electrical permit should be the firm on your contract.
2. Its finished share is below its city's 10th percentile. In Seattle that line is 85.1%; in Cleveland it is 48.7%, where 49 of 88 electrical firms with 10 or more permits finish under 70%. Compare within the city: Cleveland closes fewer permits across the board.
3. Its permits stay open much longer than the city's usual. Seattle's usual electrical permit closes in 44 days and Miami's in 184. An open electrical permit on your house means no inspector has signed off on the wiring; see why a permit stays open and how to close it.
4. The quote is far from what the city's electricians file. In Seattle the middle half of electrical firms have a usual filed value between $2,250 and $8,000; in Arlington, $2,000 to $5,590. A panel upgrade costs more than an outlet, so compare like with like, and treat a filed value as what the firm told the city, not a price.
5. The license lapsed, or the firm went quiet. In Seattle 77 electrical firms on permits now hold a license that is not active, and 102 firms with 5 or more permits filed none in the last 12 months. In Austin, 59 firms show a non-active TDLR license.
See every Seattle electrician by permit record and license status →
What a clean record does not prove
A final inspection means the work met code on the day the inspector looked; it does not cover work done after, or work that was never on a permit. The permit record does not show whether the firm's insurance is current (ask for a certificate naming you and phone the insurer), whether it carries workers' compensation, or how it handled warranty calls; get the workmanship warranty in the contract, with its length and whether it covers parts as well as labour. A firm that does mostly commercial work may have few house permits here and still be competent. Austin and Seattle let us match licenses by name; where a firm did not match, check the board yourself before reading anything into it. For EV chargers, generators or solar, the electrical permit is often the only permit, so the same checks apply.
How we know this
Counts, usual filed values and days to final come from each city's electrical permits over its three-year window (Saint Paul July 2022 to June 2025; the others October 2023 to September 2026). "Reached final" is the share of permits a year or more old that the city closed with a final; days to final is the median from issue to final. The 10th-percentile and under-70% columns use electrical firms with 10 or more permits; the filed-value range uses firms with 3 or more. License status is matched by business name to L&I (Seattle), TDLR (Austin) and DLI (Saint Paul); a firm we could not match is not shown as unlicensed. State rules are quoted from the boards and statutes under Sources and our state guides, read 20 October 2026.
Numbers come from City of Seattle (SDCI) building, trade and electrical permits on single-family and duplex homes (the city's open-data exports); City of Austin issued construction permits; City of Miami building permits (since 2014); City of Saint Paul approved building permits; Arlington County, VA building and trade permits; City of Cleveland building permits, data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Does an electrician need a license?
In every state on this page except Missouri, where the statewide electrical contractor license is optional (the City of St. Louis licenses electrical contractors itself), and Illinois, where there is no state electrician license and Chicago and Naperville license or register them locally. Several states also require the firm to have a master electrician in charge: Colorado, Minnesota and Texas among them.
- Can a handyman do electrical work?
Usually not for pay. Nevada's under-$1,000 handyman exemption does not apply to electrical work at any price (NRS 624.031), and in California any job that needs a building permit needs a licensed contractor. See our handyman guide for the line in each state.
- What finished share is normal for an electrician?
It depends on the city. 94.6% of Seattle electrical permits a year or more old reached a final, against 64.3% in Cleveland. Among Seattle electrical firms with 10 or more permits, the 10th-percentile firm finished 85.1%; in Cleveland, 48.7%.
- How long does an electrical permit take to close?
The usual electrical permit reached its final in 44 days in Seattle, 54 in Saint Paul, 76 in Austin and 184 in Miami. A job that needs a rough-in inspection before the walls close takes longer than a panel swap.
- Will an apprentice be doing the wiring?
Often, and that is legal when every person on site holds the license the state requires and works under the firm's master. In Texas, TDLR says new hires need an apprentice license before they start on a job site, because "anyone performing electrical work must obtain a license prior to performing the work", and a journeyman needs two years before sitting the master exam (TDLR FAQ, read October 2026). Ask who will be on site and look their names up on the same board as the firm.
- Is the license on the van enough?
No. Look the number up on the board, check the status reads active, and check the name on the license is the business you are paying. In Florida, electrical licenses sit with a separate board from roofers and general contractors, in the same DBPR search.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Contractor red flags, including the three you can see in the public record
- Electrical work cost in 2026: what electrical permits were filed at in 18 cities
- General contractor vs handyman: where your state draws the line
- What's a good completion rate for a contractor? The benchmarks from 12 trades and cities
For one city
- Licensing Classifications — CSLB (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Check a License — CSLB (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Contractor Search — Arizona Registrar of Contractors (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Verify a License — Colorado DORA (accessed 2026-10-20)
- C.R.S. 12-115-110 (electrical contractor registration) (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Verify a License — Florida DBPR (accessed 2026-10-20)
- PVL public license search — Hawaii DCCA (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Electrical license search — Iowa Electrical Examining Board (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Licensed Trade Contractors — City of Chicago (accessed 2026-10-20)
- eLIPSE occupational license search — Massachusetts (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Electrical contractor licensing basics — Minnesota DLI (accessed 2026-10-20)
- License and registration lookup (iMS) — Minnesota DLI (accessed 2026-10-20)
- License search — NC Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Lookup a licensed or registered electrician — North Dakota State Electrical Board (accessed 2026-10-20)
- License Search — Nevada State Contractors Board (accessed 2026-10-20)
- NRS 624.031 (exemptions) (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Electricians look-up — NYC Department of Buildings (accessed 2026-10-20)
- OCILB License Lookup — Ohio Department of Commerce (accessed 2026-10-20)
- License search (plumbing, electrical) — Oregon Building Codes Division (accessed 2026-10-20)
- License Search — Oregon CCB (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Verify a License — Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (accessed 2026-10-20)
- License Search — TDLR (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Electrical Safety and Licensing FAQs — TDLR (accessed 2026-10-20)
- License Lookup — Virginia DPOR (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Electrical licensing — Vermont Division of Fire Safety (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Electrical Contractor — Washington L&I (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Verify a Contractor — Washington L&I (accessed 2026-10-20)
- OSEC contractor FAQ — Missouri Division of Professional Registration (accessed 2026-10-20)
- How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam — FTC Consumer Advice (accessed 2026-10-20)