To work as an electrician in Oregon, you need your own state license. It's yours, not your employer's, and it stays with you when you change jobs.
If you're starting with no experience, the usual path is a registered apprenticeship. The program hires you, pays you from day one, and gives you the on-the-job hours you need for the general journeyman electrician license.
Oregon issues nine licenses for people doing electrical work, one apprentice license for people still in training, and one license for the business. If you're starting your career, focus on the journeyman path. The business license matters later if you decide to run your own electrical business.
Where are you today?
Pick where you are to see your first steps. The full details follow.
Your first move is a job application, not a license form. A registered apprenticeship hires you and pays you from day one while you build hours. 47 programs are on the state registry, starting at $14.60 to $44.08 an hour.
Oregon licenses its electrical apprentices through the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. You must be 17 to apply and 18 to be registered, with a high school diploma, GED, or international equivalent.
The general journeyman electrician license requires 8,000 hours on the job plus 576 hours of classroom training. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship satisfies both requirements.
Applying costs $100, and the Oregon Building Codes Division administers the exam. The state does not publish a separate exam fee. At a full-time pace, the journeyman path takes roughly four years.
The general journeyman electrician license takes 8,000 hours on the job plus 576 hours of classroom training. The limited licenses range from 2,000 hours for building maintenance to 8,000 for manufacturing plant work. Each license has its own hours requirement.
If your hours are from outside Oregon, the journeyman license accepts 8,000 verified hours plus the classroom training, or 16,000 hours without it. The state decides whether your experience qualifies, so line up proof it can verify.
Each license has its own state exam, given by the Oregon Building Codes Division. Applying costs $100 or $50 depending on the license, and the state does not publish a separate exam fee.
Oregon recognizes Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming licenses toward the general journeyman electrician license. For the general supervising license, it recognizes Arkansas and Utah.
Contact the Oregon Building Codes Division before you move and ask whether your license or your hours count toward a license here.
| The job you start in | Registered apprentice (a program hires you first, then you build hours) |
|---|---|
| General journeyman electrician (J) | 8,000 hours on the job, plus 576 hours of classes |
| Limited residential electrician (LR) | 4,000 + 288 |
| Limited building maintenance electrician (BME) | 2,000 hours on the job |
| Rough time to journeyman | about 4 years at full-time hours |
| Applying | $100 or $50, depending on the license |
| Registered apprenticeships | 47, with starting rates of $14.60 to $44.08 an hour |
Oregon has nine licenses for people doing electrical work, one apprentice license for people still in training, and one license for the business. Each is separate, with its own experience requirements, training rules, and fees.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 8,000 hours on the job plus 576 hours of classroom training. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship satisfies both requirements. The application fee is $100.
Worth knowingWith hours from outside Oregon, you can qualify with 8,000 verified hours plus the classroom training, or 16,000 hours without it.
Renewal is every 3 years, costs $100, and requires 24 hours of approved continuing education.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 8,000 hours of on-the-job journeyman experience beyond the journeyman license requirements. The application fee is $100.
Worth knowingYou can hold the Oregon journeyman license, or just meet its qualifications; either way you need 8,000 more hours of journeyman experience.
Renewal is every 3 years, costs $100, and requires 24 hours of approved continuing education.
The state does not publish a classroom-hour requirement.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 4,000 hours of on-the-job residential experience plus 288 hours of classroom training. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship satisfies both requirements. The application fee is $100.
Worth knowingWith hours from outside Oregon, you can also qualify with 8,000 hours of residential experience without the classroom training.
Renewal is every 3 years, costs $100, and requires 16 hours of approved continuing education.
The state does not publish a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 8,000 hours of on-the-job commercial and industrial experience plus 576 hours of classroom training. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship satisfies both requirements. The application fee is $100.
Worth knowingWith hours from outside Oregon, you can also qualify with 16,000 hours without the classroom training.
Renewal is every 3 years, costs $100, and requires 16 hours of approved continuing education.
The state does not publish a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 4,000 hours of on-the-job sign electrical experience. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship also satisfies the requirement. The application fee is $50.
Worth knowingWith hours from outside Oregon, you can also qualify with 8,000 hours of sign experience, broken down into specific work categories.
Renewal is every 3 years and costs $50.
The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.
The state does not publish a classroom-hour requirement or a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 4,000 hours of on-the-job training or experience plus 288 hours of classroom training. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship satisfies both requirements. The application fee is $100.
Worth knowingWith hours from outside Oregon, you can also qualify with 8,000 hours, broken down into specific work categories.
Renewal is every 3 years, costs $100, and requires 8 hours of approved continuing education.
The state does not publish a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 2,000 hours of on-the-job training or experience, or completion of an approved one-year Oregon training program. The application fee is $50.
Worth knowingThe hours cover maintenance, repair, and replacement of electrical appliances, light switches, light fixtures, fans, receptacles, and fluorescent ballasts.
Renewal is every 3 years and costs $50.
No continuing education is required.
The state does not publish a classroom-hour requirement or a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 6,000 hours of on-the-job training plus 432 hours of classroom training. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship satisfies both requirements. The application fee is $50.
Worth knowingYou can also qualify with 12,000 hours of work experience from outside Oregon, including trade-specific installation experience in protective signaling.
Renewal is every 3 years, costs $50, and requires 8 hours of approved continuing education.
The state does not publish a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You need 4,000 hours on the job plus 288 hours of classroom training. Completing an approved Oregon apprenticeship satisfies both requirements. The application fee is $50.
Worth knowingYou can also qualify with 4,000 equivalent hours plus an approved 32-hour training program, or with 8,000 hours broken down into specific work categories.
Renewal is every 3 years, costs $50, and requires 8 hours of approved continuing education.
The state does not publish a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
Held by the worker · issued by the state
You must be 17 to apply and 18 to be registered. You need a high school diploma, GED, or international equivalent, plus a year of high school algebra or equivalent math.
Worth knowingThis license comes from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, not the Building Codes Division.
The state does not publish job hours, classroom hours, an application fee, renewal terms, or a list of out-of-state licenses it recognizes.
The electrical contractor license and a Construction Contractors Board license are not the same thing. The electrical contractor license comes from the Building Codes Division and covers the electrical work. The Construction Contractors Board license comes under a separate law, and an electrical contractor must hold both.
Held by the business · issued by the state
The application fee is $375. The business must employ a full-time general supervising electrician to supervise the electrical work and sign permits, and hold a Construction Contractors Board license.
Renewal is every 3 years.
The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.
Oregon's registry lists 47 electrical apprenticeships, with published starting rates of $14.60 to $44.08 an hour and journey rates of $22.96 to $65.50.
47 registered electrical apprenticeships pay you while you earn these hours.
See all 47 programs and what they pay →Among the electricians on a payroll in Oregon, half earn more than $48.71 an hour and half earn less. The federal wage survey puts the annual figure at $101,310. Apprentices and people decades into the trade are both in those numbers. Neither is a starting wage.
Oregon gives these exams itself: the Building Codes Division administers all nine, one per worker license. Applying costs $100 or $50 depending on the license, and the state does not publish a separate exam fee. Use the official exam names when you book or call.
Moving to Oregon? The state recognizes licenses from seven states toward the general journeyman electrician license, and from two toward the general supervising license. From any other state, contact the Oregon Building Codes Division before you move. Ask whether your license or your hours count toward a license here. Leaving Oregon? Ask the licensing authority in the state where you plan to work.
General journeyman electrician (J): Oregon accepts a license toward it from Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming
General supervising electrician (S): Oregon accepts a license toward it from Arkansas and Utah
Almost every electrician license Oregon issues comes from one office: the Oregon Building Codes Division. Contact the division to apply, renew, or ask questions about your experience hours. The exception is the electrical apprentice license, which comes from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.
Oregon Building Codes Division
Licenses the worker and the business, for everything except the apprentice license.
https://www.oregon.gov/bcd/licensing/Pages/individual-licenses.aspx
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
Issues the electrical apprentice license.
https://www.oregon.gov/boli/apprenticeship/Pages/default.aspx
The general journeyman electrician license takes 8,000 hours on the job plus 576 hours of classes, or an approved Oregon apprenticeship. The limited licenses range from 2,000 hours for building maintenance to 8,000 for manufacturing plant work. The state publishes the hours, not a timeline.
Yes. A registered apprenticeship hires you with no experience and pays you from day one, and completing it satisfies the journeyman requirement on its own. 47 programs are on the state's registry.
$100 to apply for the journeyman license and $50 for some limited licenses, and the state does not publish a separate exam fee. The electrical contractor license costs $375. The journeyman license renews every 3 years for $100, with 24 hours of approved continuing education.
Checked against these documents through 2026-08-20.
Get hired into one of the 47 registered apprenticeships that pay you from day one.