How to Get an Alaska Electrical Administrator License

Alaska's electrical administrator license lets you supervise a contractor's electrical work. Most people choose Unlimited Commercial Wiring or Residential Wiring. The state approves your experience first, then you take one PSI exam based on the 2020 NEC.

Choose your category

Unlimited Commercial Wiring covers inside wiring, including residential, controls and inside communications work. Residential Wiring is limited to homes.

If you don't have 4 years as a commercial journeyman, UCW has other routes. You can count years as a field superintendent in inside wiring. An electrical engineering degree plus 1 of the past 3 years in the field also works. So does 3 of the past 6 years as a journeyman plus 1 year as an inspector or instructor. A registered electrical engineer needs 1 of the past 3 years in electrical construction management.

Journeyman certificates are a separate Alaska Department of Labor program.

Apply, then book your exam

1. Send the administrator application and your experience records to the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. Include the $320 in fees.
2. The Division reviews your experience and mails an eligibility letter. You have one year from that letter to pass, and you can retest as often as you need in that year.
3. Book your exam through PSI Alaska Electrical Administrators, the state's testing company.
4. After you pass, send your passing score to the Division. Scores are good for one year. Passing alone does not issue the license.

The exam and your books

Each exam includes 5 Alaska law questions, not a separate law test. Both categories let you bring four Alaska law documents: the electrical administrator rules, contractor rules, centralized licensing statutes and centralized licensing regulations. For OSHA, you can bring the full 29 CFR Part 1926 or PSI's selected text. The full book list is in the PSI bulletin. American Electricians' Handbook is not on the allowed list.

PSI's book rules allow highlighting, underlining, notes and permanent tabs added before exam day. Removable tabs and extra papers are not allowed. Bind any printed PDFs or put them in a binder. Bring a silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator.

Other licenses and renewal

If you hold an administrator-level license in another state and passed an equivalent exam, apply by credentials using the license-by-credentials application. Alaska's journeyman reciprocity agreements do not apply to administrators.

Licenses expire December 31 of odd-numbered years. To renew UCW or RW, finish one approved 8-hour NEC course during the two-year period. If you passed the licensing exam during that period, you don't need the course. See the renewal and education rules and the licensing page.