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Electrician/Washington/Licensing

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

How to become an electrician in Washington

$76.95Journey rate, per hour · the top of 34 registered apprenticeships on the state's registry

To work as an electrician in Washington, you need your own license from L&I, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. 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 trainee job. You get hired as an electrical trainee and get paid while you build the hours your license requires. When your hours are in, you take the exam.

Washington has four license types, each with its own experience requirements, fees, and exam rules. Early on, focus on the licenses for people doing the electrical work. The contractor license matters later, if you ever run your own electrical contracting business.

Where are you today?

Pick where you are to see your first steps. The full details follow.

1

Get hired as an electrical trainee

Your first move is a job, not a form. You start as an electrical trainee with a licensed contractor, or join a registered apprenticeship; either way you're paid while you build hours. 34 registered programs are on the state registry, starting at $14.60 to $24.75 an hour.

2

Build the hours your license requires

4,000 hours on the job for a specialty license, or 8,000 for the general journey-level license. Keep your own record from day one and make sure your employer can verify your hours.

3

Take the exam and apply

The exam is $80.30 per attempt, run by PSI, the state's testing company. Applying is $114.60, and that payment covers your first certificate. At full-time hours, the journey-level path takes roughly four years.

See the 34 apprenticeships →Jump to license details
01

At a glance

The job you start inElectrical trainee (you get hired first, then build hours)
Specialty electrician license4,000 hours on the job
General journey-level license (01)8,000 hours on the job
Rough time to journey levelabout 4 years at full-time hours
To apply$114.60, and that payment covers your first certificate
The exam$80.30 per attempt, run by PSI
Registered apprenticeships34, with starting rates of $14.60 to $24.75 an hour
02

The licenses, in detail

Washington has three worker licenses and one for the business. Each is a separate license with its own experience requirements and fees.

There's no separate license fee for the worker licenses: the application payment covers your first certificate.

General journey level electrician (01) certificate of competency

Held by the worker · issued by the state

8,000 hours on the job, plus 96 hours of classes. $114.60 to apply.

Worth knowingYou need both: the work hours and the class hours. The 96 class hours are counted separately from your 8,000 work hours, and 96 is the whole classroom requirement for this license.

4,000 of the 8,000 hours must be new industrial or commercial installation work. Hours from a specialty that requires less than two years don't count here at all.

Renewing: every 3 years, with 24 hours of approved continuing education either way.

Online
$92.60
Mail, fax, or in person
$106.40

L&I's page for this license →

Specialty electrician certificate of competency

Held by the worker · issued by the state

4,000 hours on the job, plus 48 hours of classes. $114.60 to apply.

Worth knowingYou need both: the work hours and the class hours, counted separately.

4,000 hours is the larger of two tiers. Eight of the fourteen specialties require 2,000 hours and 24 classroom hours instead. Only the 4,000-hour tier counts toward the journey-level license later.

Classroom hours must be in-person. Washington doesn't allow online or correspondence classes for trainee instruction.

Renewing: every 3 years, with 24 hours of approved continuing education either way.

Online
$92.60
Mail, fax, or in person
$106.40

L&I's page for this license →

Master electrician certificate of competency

Held by the worker · issued by the state

No published hours requirement: you qualify by holding the general journey-level license for at least 4 years. $204.60 to apply, and that covers your first certificate.

Renewing: every 3 years, with 24 hours of approved continuing education either way.

Online
$175.70
Mail, fax, or in person
$202.20

L&I's page for this license →

Two different things

An electrical trainee and a registered apprentice are not the same thing. The state certifies you as a trainee; an apprenticeship is a program that hires you, trains you, and pays you while you build the same hours. Hours from either count toward your license.

If you want to run an electrical business

General electrical (01) contractor license

Held by the business · issued by the state

$353.90 to apply. The business must have a certified, assigned electrical administrator or master electrician.

Worth knowingThe rule prices a first application and a counter renewal from one line, so $353.90 is both. Renewing online costs $306.20, and there is no online route for a first application.

The business also needs a $4,000 electrical/telecommunication contractor's surety bond, or an assignment of savings, on file with L&I.

Renewing: every 2 years.

Online
$306.20
Mail, fax, or in person
$353.90

The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.

L&I's page for this license →

03

What it pays

In a registered apprenticeship

Washington's registry lists 34 electrician apprenticeships, with published starting rates of $14.60 to $24.75 an hour and journey rates of $31.48 to $76.95.

Thirty-four registered electrician apprenticeships pay you while you earn these hours.

See all 34 programs and what they pay →

Across the whole trade

Among the electricians on a payroll in Washington, half earn more than $45.78 an hour and half earn less. The federal wage survey puts the annual figure at $95,220. Apprentices and people decades into the trade are both in those numbers. Neither is a starting wage.

  1. $25.08The bottom tenth earn this or less
  2. $32.04The bottom quarter earn this or less
  3. $58.43The top quarter earn this or more
  4. $64.40The top tenth earn this or more
04

The exam

Washington doesn't run its own license exams. A private testing company called PSI runs them all. The state's exam fee is $80.30 per attempt for the journey-level and specialty certificates, and $106.70 for a first master electrician exam. A master retest is $125. You book the exam with PSI, and the study material and PSI's own charges come from PSI too. When you search or call, use the official exam names.

General journey level electrician (01) certificate of competency
Journey level electrician certificate of competency examination
Specialty electrician certificate of competency
Specialty electrician certificate of competency examination
Master electrician certificate of competency
Master electrician certificate of competency examination
05

Moving states

Moving to Washington? The state publishes which licenses it recognizes, class by class. It recognizes an Oregon license toward the general journey-level license. From any other state, contact the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries before you move and ask whether your current license will be recognized. Leaving Washington? Ask the licensing authority in the state where you plan to work.

General journey level electrician (01) certificate of competency: Washington accepts a license toward it from Oregon

General journey level electrician (01) certificate of competency: accepted the other way by Oregon

Master electrician certificate of competency: accepted the other way by Oregon

06

The licensing office

Every electrician license Washington issues comes from one office: the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. When you apply, renew, or have a question about your hours, that's who you contact.

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

https://lni.wa.gov/licensing-permits/electrical/

07

Questions people ask

How long does it take to become an electrician in WA?

Washington counts hours, not years: 8,000 hours on the job for the general journey-level license, or 4,000 for a specialty license. At full-time hours that's roughly four years for journey level and two for specialty. Your actual pace depends on how much you work, and the state publishes only the hours, not a timeline.

Can you become an electrician with no experience?

Yes. You start as an electrical trainee or a registered apprentice, and the hours you work are the experience. The question to ask an employer is who verifies your hours, not whether they'll train you.

How much does an electrician license cost in Washington?

$114.60 to apply for the journey-level or specialty license, and that payment covers your first certificate. The exam is $80.30 per attempt, paid to the department; PSI's own fee is separate and unpublished. The master license is $204.60 to apply and $106.70 for the first exam.

08

Sources

Checked against these documents through 2026-09-23.

Your next step is a job, not a form.

Get hired as an electrical trainee with a licensed contractor, or compare the 34 registered apprenticeships that pay you from day one.

See the 34 apprenticeships →