Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05

Two agencies, one trade

California Electrician License: Certification and C-10

California does not issue a journeyman or a master electrician license. The state certifies individual electricians through the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and it licenses the contracting business through the Contractors State License Board. This page sets out both, and the order most people take them in.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

Who licenses what in California

The Department of Industrial Relations runs the Electrician Certification Unit inside the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. It certifies people. The legal basis is Labor Code section 3099, with the working rules in California Code of Regulations, Title 8, sections 290 through 296.4.

The Contractors State License Board licenses the business that contracts for electrical work, in the C-10 Electrical classification. Those are two separate agencies, two separate applications and two separate exams.

There is no state journeyman license and no state master license here. When a job ad in California says journeyman, it usually means a General Electrician certification plus the years behind it.

Who has to hold the certification

The Electrician Certification Unit puts it plainly in its FAQ: all electricians who make connections of greater than 100 volt amps and who work for C-10 contractors must be certified.

Two groups sit outside that. Sole owners who hold the license in their own name are exempt, and C-7 and C-45 contractors are exempt while they work inside their own classification. Everyone else on a C-10 payroll either holds a card or is registered as an electrician trainee.

The five certifications the state issues

The Electrician Certification Unit issues five, and each one carries its own hour total under CCR Title 8 section 291.1. All qualifying hours have to be worked for a C-10 electrical contractor.

• General Electrician, 8,000 hours across two or more work areas. This is the one most people mean when they say journeyman.
• Residential Electrician, 4,800 hours, weighted to residential wiring.
• Fire/Life Safety Technician, 4,000 hours on systems under National Electrical Code Article 760, or NICET Fire Alarm Systems Level II or above.
• Voice Data Video Technician, 4,000 hours on systems inside Articles 725, 770, 800, 810 and 820.
• Non-residential Lighting Technician, 2,000 hours of nonresidential lighting work for a C-10 contractor.

Nothing stops you holding more than one. The application instructions price two exams at $275 and three at $375, which tells you how often people do it.

The path from nothing to a card

1. Get hired by a C-10 electrical contractor. Every hour that counts has to be worked for one.
2. If you do not yet have the hours or the classroom time, register as an electrician trainee and enroll in a state approved school. The trainee fee is $25.
3. Build the hours for your classification and finish the approved curriculum. Section 291.2(g) requires proof of that curriculum with the application.
4. File the Application for Electrician Examination and Certification with the fees. The instructions page prices one exam at $175, which is the $100 exam fee plus the $75 application fee.
5. The Division answers on eligibility within 30 days, and you then have one year to sit the exam.
6. Pass at 70 percent or better. Cards are mailed within about two weeks of the exam.

The exam, in one paragraph

CPS HR Consulting delivers the certification exam through Pearson VUE for exams on or after June 1, 2026, and the authorization to test arrives by email. The General Electrician exam is 100 questions in 4 hours 30 minutes, Residential is 80 questions in 3 hours 30 minutes, and the three specialty exams are 50 questions in 2 hours 15 minutes. The pass mark on all of them is 70 percent.

It is open book, but not your book. The Candidate Information Bulletin says you may not bring or use your own reference materials, because the testing system supplies them on screen: the 2023 National Electrical Code, NFPA 70E 2024, and the Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide for the Construction Industry.

The C-10 contractor license beside it

A certification lets you do the work. A C-10 license lets you take the contract. CSLB asks for four years of experience in the classification, credited only at journey level or as a foreman, supervising employee, contractor or owner-builder, and education can stand in for up to three of those years as long as at least one year is practical.

Applicants sit two exams, Law and Business plus the C-10 trade exam, and both are closed book. At issuance CSLB requires a $25,000 contractor bond, a $25,000 bond of qualifying individual where one applies, and proof of workers compensation coverage or an exemption.

Keeping the card and the license

Certification renews every three years under CCR Title 8 section 291.5. You provide 32 hours of further electrical education and certify under penalty of perjury that you worked 2,000 hours in the industry in the previous three years. Let it lapse and the rule sends you back to the exam.

C-10 licenses renew on a different clock. Active licenses expire every two years and inactive ones every four, and CSLB names no continuing education requirement on its renewal page.

Where local rules still bite

Cities and counties do not issue a competing electrician license, but a few run registrations of their own. Los Angeles County Public Works issues a Certificate of Registration as a Maintenance Electrician for an electrician permanently employed by one firm to work on that firm's own premises.

San Francisco requires a state licensed contractor to register with the Department of Building Inspection before filing electrical permits online. Check the city page for your metro before you assume the state card is the whole story.

Questions people ask

Does California have a journeyman electrician license?

No. The state certifies individual electricians instead, and the General Electrician certification is the classification that matches what other states call journeyman. The Contractors State License Board issues the C-10 license to the contracting business, not to the worker.

How much does the California electrician certification cost?

The application instructions price a single exam at $175, which is a $100 exam fee plus a $75 application fee. Two exams cost $275 and three cost $375. Renewal is $100 every three years, and a lapsed card costs $200 to renew.

How long does it take to get certified in California?

For the General Electrician certification the rule asks for 8,000 hours of work for a C-10 contractor, which is about four years at full time. The Division answers on eligibility within 30 days of your application, and you then have one year to take the exam.

Do I need a license to work as an electrician in California?

If you make connections of greater than 100 volt amps for a C-10 contractor, you need a certification card or a trainee registration. Sole owners licensed in their own name are exempt, as are C-7 and C-45 contractors working inside their own classification.

Is the California electrician exam open book?

Yes, but the books are supplied on screen and you may not bring your own. The Candidate Information Bulletin lists the 2023 National Electrical Code, NFPA 70E 2024 and the Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide for the Construction Industry as the references every candidate gets.

What happens if I fail the certification exam?

You wait 60 days from the day you took it before sending in a retest application, and the retest exam fee is $100. Exam payments are neither refundable nor transferable, so a missed appointment costs the fee.

What this page cites

• DIR Electrician Certification Unit The state page for the certification program, its classifications and its forms. source
• CCR Title 8 section 291.1 Sets the hours of on the job experience for each certification and ties them to work for a C-10 contractor. source
• ECU FAQ States who must be certified, names the exemptions, and lists the five certification types. source
• Candidate Information Bulletin Gives the question counts, the times, the 70 percent pass mark and the references supplied on screen. source
• CSLB C-10 classification Defines the scope of the C-10 Electrical contracting classification under Business and Professions Code sections 7008 and 7059. source
• CCR Title 8 section 291.5 Sets the three year renewal, the 32 hours of education and the 2,000 hour work declaration. source