01
Requirements and steps
We use the state's published licensing requirements throughout this page. If the state doesn't publish a requirement, we don't guess.
1Figure out which license you need
There are two different licensing paths here: one for people working as electricians, and one for the contracting business. If you're starting your career, focus on the worker license first. You may need the one for the business later, if you decide to run the contracting business yourself.
2Choose the license class you're working toward
Each license class below has its own experience requirements, fees and exam rules. Start with the class you're working toward: everything below depends on it. We use the state's official license names, so you'll see the same terms on its forms.
3Build the required experience
The experience requirements for each license are quoted below exactly as the state publishes them. The licensing authority decides whether your experience qualifies, so keep your own record from day one and make sure your employer can verify your hours.
4Take the exam
If your license requires an exam, the exam name and its fee are listed under that license class. The licensing authority and the testing company are often different organizations, so the exam fee is often paid to the testing company. That's why the exam fee may appear in the candidate bulletin instead of the fee schedule.
5Apply, pay, and keep it current
Each license class below lists the fees the state publishes for it. Renewal varies by class too, so check the renewal period and fee for the class you are working toward rather than for the trade as a whole.
02
If you want to do the work
Two of Virginia's licenses are held by the worker. Each is a separate license with its own experience requirements, fees and exam rules.
Not published for any class here: job hours or an application fee.
Journeyman Electrical (ELE) tradesman license4
Held by the worker · issued by the state
240 hours in a classroom.5 $150 for the license itself.8 $200 to take the exam.7 PSI administers the exam.2 You renew this every three years, for $160, with 3 hours of approved continuing education.9
Worth knowing240 hours is the top of a range rather than a requirement. You can also qualify with 160 hours and five years on the job, 80 with six, 40 with seven, or eight years and no classroom hours at all.
Worth knowing$150 is the fee in the rule, and every level pays it. The board's current form charges $171.75, which is this fee plus three years of the $7.25-a-year technology charge added in July 2026.
Worth knowingThe rule sets a cap rather than a price: the board's testing vendor can charge up to $200 for the journeyman exam, and what the vendor actually charges is not on any board page we read.
Journeyman Electrical (ELE) tradesman license
Eight years of practical experience in the trade for which licensure is desired5
DPOR doesn't list states that recognize it.
Master Electrical (ELE) tradesman license4
Held by the worker · issued by the state
$150 for the license itself.8 $225 to take the exam.7 PSI administers the exam.2 You renew this every three years, for $160, with 3 hours of approved continuing education.9
Worth knowing$150 is the fee in the rule, and every level pays it. The board's current form charges $171.75, which is this fee plus three years of the $7.25-a-year technology charge added in July 2026.
Worth knowingThe rule sets a cap rather than a price: the board's testing vendor can charge up to $225 for a master exam in any trade, and what the vendor actually charges is not on any board page we read.
Master Electrical (ELE) tradesman license
Having held a valid journeyman license in the trade for which licensure is desired for a minimum of one year5
DPOR doesn't list classroom hours.
03
Apprenticeship and hours
Nothing on this page counts your time in hours. Where a board states the requirement in years instead, the years are in its own wording with each class, and turning them into hours would need a working week no board here publishes.
DPOR does say whether the hours it requires can be earned online.
Journeyman Electrical (ELE) tradesman license
"Formal vocational training" means courses in the trade administered at an accredited educational facility; or formal training, approved by the board, conducted by trade associations, businesses, the military, correspondence schools, or other similar training organizations.6
Class A contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification · Class B contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification · Class C contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification
All courses offered by prelicense education providers must be approved by the board prior to the initial offering of the course and cover business principles related to the standards of conduct found in 18VAC50-22-260 B and other applicable requirements of continued licensure set forth in this chapter. Courses must be six hours in length. Correspondence and other distance learning courses must include appropriate testing procedures to verify completion of the course.13
04
What it pays
Among the electricians on a payroll in Virginia, half earn more than $30.24 an hour and half earn less. The federal wage survey puts the annual figure at $62,900.3
- $19.61The bottom tenth earn this or less3
- $50.83The top tenth earn this or more3
These figures cover every experience level, from first-year apprentices to workers with decades on the job, so this is not what an apprentice earns. The survey counts 23,630 of these jobs. Self-employed workers are not included in the survey.3
The yearly figure assumes 2,080 paid hours, which is full time with no long gaps. Actual earnings can be lower where work is interrupted or seasonal.
Figures from the federal wage survey for May 2025, read 2026-08-16. The survey’s state file is a spreadsheet in a zip, not a web page.
05
If you want to run an electrical business
These credentials apply if you plan to take work in your own name. Each is issued to the business itself rather than to any one person.
Class A contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification12
Held by the business · issued by the state
8 hours in a classroom.2 $400 for the license itself.12 $200 to take the exam.15 PSI administers the exam.2 You renew this every two years, for $270. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.16
Worth knowingThese eight hours are a basic business course rather than trade training, and the board requires the same eight of all three contractor classes.
Worth knowingThis is one payment made with the application, so there is no separate application fee. A $25 recovery fund charge rides with it and is not part of the license fee.
Worth knowingThis is a cap rather than a price, and it applies per exam element. Take more than one element and you pay more than once.
Class A contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification
Master electrician tradesman license issued by the Board for Contractors14
DPOR doesn't list licenses it recognizes from other states.
Class B contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification12
Held by the business · issued by the state
8 hours in a classroom.2 $380 for the license itself.12 $200 to take the exam.15 PSI administers the exam.2 You renew this every two years, for $260. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.16
Worth knowingThese eight hours are a basic business course rather than trade training, and the board requires the same eight of all three contractor classes.
Worth knowingThis is one payment made with the application, so there is no separate application fee. A $25 recovery fund charge rides with it and is not part of the license fee.
Worth knowingThis is a cap rather than a price, and it applies per exam element. Take more than one element and you pay more than once.
Class B contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification
Master electrician tradesman license issued by the Board for Contractors14
DPOR doesn't list licenses it recognizes from other states.
Class C contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification12
Held by the business · issued by the state
8 hours in a classroom.2 $235 for the license itself.12 PSI administers the exam.2 You renew this every two years, for $220. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.16
Worth knowingThese eight hours are a basic business course rather than trade training, and the board requires the same eight of all three contractor classes.
Worth knowingThis is one payment made with the application, so there is no separate application fee. A $25 recovery fund charge rides with it and is not part of the license fee.
Class C contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification
Master electrician tradesman license issued by the Board for Contractors14
DPOR doesn't list an exam name, an exam fee or a reciprocity list either way.
06
The examination
PSI administers every exam listed on this page. The exam provider sets the exam content, publishes the study material and sets retake fees. Use the official exam names below when you look for study material, application instructions or retake information. Exam fees are listed with each class above.
- Journeyman Electrical (ELE) tradesman license
- Virginia journeyman electrician examination7
- Master Electrical (ELE) tradesman license
- Virginia master electrician examination7
- Class A contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification
- Virginia Board for Contractors Class examination2
- Class B contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification
- Virginia Board for Contractors Class examination2
07
The licensing office, and how to reach it
The Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Board for Contractors issues all worker and contractor credentials covered on this page.
08
Bringing a license in, and taking one out
Virginia publishes a list of the states whose licenses it recognizes, class by class, and the lists are below. It does not publish the other direction: whether another state recognizes a license from Virginia is that state's decision. Moving to Virginia? Contact Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Board for Contractors and ask whether your current license will be recognized. Leaving? Contact the licensing authority in the state where you plan to work.
Journeyman Electrical (ELE) tradesman license: Virginia accepts a license toward it from District of Columbia, Kentucky and West Virginia10
Master Electrical (ELE) tradesman license: Virginia accepts a license toward it from Alabama, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia10
Master Electrical (ELE) tradesman license: accepted the other way by Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio11
Class A contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification: accepted the other way by Alabama, North Carolina11
Class B contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification: accepted the other way by Alabama, North Carolina11
09
Questions people ask
Do you need a license to be an electrician in Virginia?
Virginia licenses individual electricians. You need a state license in your own name to do this work here, whoever you work for. Virginia licenses electrician contractors as well. Taking work in your own name, rather than working for somebody who holds that license, needs a second and different one.
How long does it take to become an electrician in Virginia?
Not as a number: Virginia doesn't publish an hours figure for any license on this page. Several states on these pages state the requirement in years instead, and turning years into hours needs a working week nobody publishes. So this page prints what was published. The experience wording with each class is where the answer is.
How much do electricians make in VA?
The middle half of the electricians on a payroll in Virginia earn between $23.76 and $37.59 an hour, and half of all of them earn more than $30.24. These are straight-time figures, before any overtime, at every experience level, counted by the federal wage survey in May 2025. Self-employed workers are not included in them.3
How to make $100,000 a year as an electrician?
The top tenth of electricians on a payroll in Virginia earn above $50.83 an hour, which over a 2,080-hour year comes to more than $105,720. Those are straight-time figures: overtime pay is outside them, and so are self-employed workers. The federal wage survey counts what the top tenth earn above, not how many reach any figure past it.3
How much does an electrician license cost in Virginia?
The state publishes these: $150 to be issued Journeyman Electrical (ELE) tradesman license, $150 to be issued Master Electrical (ELE) tradesman license, $400 to be issued Class A contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification, $380 to be issued Class B contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification and $235 to be issued Class C contractor license, Electrical (ELE) classification. Each is per class, not per trade. None of them is the exam: where a vendor administers the exam, that fee is the vendor's and lives in its own bulletin.
Can I use an electrician license from another state in Virginia?
Yes, for some. Virginia recognizes a license toward Journeyman Electrical (ELE) tradesman license from District of Columbia, Kentucky and West Virginia and Master Electrical (ELE) tradesman license from Alabama, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. This is the inbound direction only, and it says nothing about taking a license from here somewhere else. The conditions attached, such as how long you have held yours, are published by the state rather than in the list.
How long does it take to become an electrician?
There is no national answer. Any page that gives you one is averaging states whose requirements differ by thousands of hours. Licensing is set state by state, and in some states city by city, so the honest version of this question has a place in it. What is the same everywhere is the shape: you learn on the job, the hours that count are the ones somebody signs for, and the clock starts the day the work does.
Can you become an electrician with no experience?
Yes, and that is the ordinary way in. These trades are learned at work rather than before it, which is why boards mostly require time on the job. What you cannot skip is the paperwork: the hours that count are the ones somebody signs for, so the question to ask an employer is who signs, not whether they will train you.
Is 30 too late to become an electrician?
No. Boards set a minimum age, not a maximum. No board on these pages sets an upper limit, and where age shows up at all it is a floor. The real question at 30 is money: an apprenticeship pays you while you learn and school charges you while you learn. That difference usually decides it.
How hard is the electrician licensing exam?
None of the boards on these pages publishes a pass rate. The useful question is who administers the exam: that organization sells the reference material for it and sets what a retake costs.