Texas Electrical License Guide
This guide is for anyone working through the Texas electrician license system: people starting out as an apprentice, journeymen working toward Master, and licensed electricians who just need to keep their license current. It covers how to apply, what the exam involves, how renewal works every year, and what happens if a license expires.
The license ladder
Texas licenses electricians in stages. Each stage has its own hours requirement and its own application.
Apprentice Electrician
The entry point. You apply online, there is no exam, and no prior experience is required. An apprentice works under the general supervision of a licensed Master Electrician, Journeyman Electrician, or Residential Wireman. Clean online applications are issued a temporary license automatically.
Journeyman Electrician
This is where hours start to matter, and it trips people up because two different numbers apply.
- 7,000 hours of on-the-job training lets you apply for the Journeyman license and sit the exam.
- 8,000 hours is what’s required for full licensure.
These are not a contradiction. You can apply and test once you hit 7,000 hours, but TDLR expects you to reach 8,000 hours of total training before you hold full Journeyman status. Keep logging hours after you apply, not just before.
Master Electrician
To apply for Master, you need two years holding a Journeyman license, plus 12,000 hours of on-the-job training. An exam is required.
Residential Wireman is a real, separate Texas license type, but it does not sit as a rung in this ladder. It is covered later in this guide under other license types.
How to apply, by license type
Apprentice Electrician: apply online. If you have a criminal history, you will also complete a Criminal History Questionnaire as part of the application.
Journeyman and Master Electrician: these applications are mailed in, not submitted online. Each requires an Experience Verification Form signed by every supervising Master Electrician under whom you trained. No notarization is required.
The exam
An exam is required to become a Journeyman or Master Electrician. Contractor licenses do not require an exam.
- Passing score is 70 percent.
- Your score is given to you at the test center, and results go to TDLR electronically.
- Retakes are unlimited, but you pay the exam fee again for each attempt.
- If you miss your scheduled exam or arrive late, you forfeit that exam fee.
- The name on your application must match your government-issued photo ID exactly, and you must bring that ID to the test center.
Exam figures last verified against TDLR’s own website: July 2026.
For where to test, how to schedule, and what to bring on exam day, use TDLR’s own website. Their site has the current requirements.
How long it takes
TDLR publishes one processing time: criminal history review, which takes one to six weeks. That is the main documented delay in the system.
TDLR does not publish a general processing time for applications beyond that. Rather than guess, plan around the one number TDLR does give you and expect some wait on the rest.
TDLR sends a renewal reminder about 60 days before your license expires, but renewing on time is your responsibility, not something TDLR chases you down for.
Approved TDLR Provider #2520 · Course #32815. IERhub is a TDLR-approved continuing education provider, and our English electrical renewal course is approved under that course number. Spanish-language help and support are available for the buying experience; the Spanish translation of the course itself is still under TDLR review, so only the English course counts toward your renewal right now.
Renewing your license every year
Every Texas electrician license, at every level, is valid for one year and renews annually. The renewal loop has four steps:
- Take 4 course hours of TDLR-approved continuing education before your license expires.
- The provider reports your completed course hours to TDLR within 7 days of completion. That reporting is the provider’s legal obligation, not yours.
- The provider issues you a course completion certificate. Keep it for one year.
- You go to TDLR yourself, file the renewal application, and pay the renewal fee.
That last step matters: taking the course does not renew your license by itself. IERhub provides the coursework and reports your course hours to TDLR, but you still have to file the renewal application and pay TDLR directly. A service to file that renewal on your behalf is coming soon, but it is not available yet.
The 4 course hours apply to: Master, Journeyman, Journeyman Lineman, Journeyman Industrial, Residential Wireman, Maintenance, Master Sign, Journeyman Sign, Apprentice Electrician, and Apprentice Sign licenses.
Contractors and Residential Appliance Installers are exempt from the CE requirement.
Apprentices, read this before you buy a course: if you are enrolled in a TDLR department-registered electrical apprenticeship training course, you are exempt from the 4 course hours. “Department” here means TDLR, not any other agency. Check whether your apprenticeship training is TDLR department-registered before you pay for a CE course you may not need.
If your license has expired
What you need to do depends on how long it has been expired.
| Time expired | What to do |
|---|---|
| Under 18 months | Renew online at a late fee tier |
| 18 to 36 months | Mail the first two pages of the license application, the Request to Executive Director for Expired License Renewal form, and the fee |
| 36 months or more | Cannot be renewed. You reapply as a new applicant |
Working in other states, reciprocity
Texas has reciprocity agreements with a limited set of states, and only for Master and Journeyman Electrician licenses.
Master Electrician, reciprocity honored from: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio.
Journeyman Electrician, reciprocity honored from: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming.
To use reciprocity, you submit an application, a fee, a copy of your home-state license, and a letter of good standing. Master Electrician reciprocity also requires one to two years of journeyman experience, depending on the state. Reciprocity fees are $45 for Master and $30 for Journeyman.
TDLR states that no other license types have reciprocal agreements. There is also no transfer path for electrical contracting business licenses. If you hold a contractor license in another state, you cannot transfer it into Texas, you apply fresh.
Other Texas electrical license types
- Residential Wireman: electrical wiring in residential properties.
- Maintenance Electrician: electrical maintenance on existing systems.
- Master Sign Electrician and Journeyman Sign Electrician: oversight and installation or maintenance of electrical sign systems.
- Electrical Contractor, Electrical Sign Contractor, Residential Appliance Installation Contractor: business licenses that let you offer electrical work commercially.
Fees
| License | New | Renewal | Expired 90 days or less | 91 days to 18 months | 18 to 36 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | $20 | $20 | $30 | $40 | $40 |
| Journeyman | $30 | $30 | $45 | $60 | $60 |
| Master | $45 | $45 | $67.50 | $90 | $90 |
Reciprocity fees: Master $45, Journeyman $30.
Ready for your renewal course hours
Your 4 course hours are due before your license expires, and the provider has to report them to TDLR on time. Take the English course from a TDLR-approved provider so the course hours actually count.
Approved TDLR Provider #2520 · Course #32815. Take your required course hours and IERhub reports them to TDLR for you. You still file your renewal with TDLR yourself.