How to Get an Idaho Electrician License

Idaho licenses electricians statewide, through the Idaho Electrical Board at the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL). The journeyman license takes 8,000 apprentice hours plus a 4-year approved apprenticeship school, or 16,000 hours without the school. The master license takes 4 years as a licensed journeyman.

In Idaho you test first: register with PSI, pass the open-book exam, then apply to DOPL with your score. You can bring the 2020 or 2023 NEC.

Choose your license

• Journeyman: Finish a board-approved four-year apprenticeship school and log 8,000 hours as an apprentice. Without the school, you need 16,000 hours (about eight years) of electrical installation work. Idaho hours count only while you're registered with DOPL as an apprentice. Appliance repair, motor winding and communications work don't count.
• Master: You must have held a journeyman license for at least four years. DOPL issues a journeyman license with your master license at no extra cost.
• Provisional journeyman: If you have the 16,000 hours but haven't passed yet, DOPL can issue a six-month provisional license so you can work under supervision while you test. It renews once.
• Electrical contractor: This is a separate business license. You pass the PSI Electrical Contractor exam on business and law, carry $300,000 in liability insurance, and name a licensed supervising electrician.

Book the exam, then apply

1. Create an account on PSI's Idaho site, pick "ID Journeyman Electrician" or "ID Master Electrician," and fill out the short application. Acceptance is automatic.
2. Schedule and pay the $75 exam fee. PSI tests in Boise, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, Moscow and Twin Falls, and at PSI centers in Washington, Oregon, Wyoming and Nevada.
3. Your score shows on screen when you finish.
4. Apply for the license through eDOPL with your passing score, work verification forms and school certificate.

Already passed the NASCLA Journeyman or Electrical Contractor exam? Idaho still accepts those passing scores.

Retakes: If you fail, retake as many times as you need. Each attempt costs $75. Cancel at least two days ahead to keep your fee. A paid fee is good for one year.

The exam and your books

The journeyman and master exams have no separate state law section. Under the reference rules, bring the 2020 NEC or the 2023 NEC, plus the 2023 Ugly's Electrical References. You may also bring Ferm's Fast Finder and Tom Henry's Key Word Index, but neither is required. If you study with JCR's 2020 NEC exam prep course, take the 2020 edition into the exam, since that's what the course uses. Idaho inspects field work to the 2023 NEC with Idaho amendments.

Mark up your books ahead of time with highlighting, underlining and permanent tabs. Once the exam starts, no writing in them, and no sticky notes or loose papers. Your calculator must be silent, nonprinting and nonprogrammable.

For the contractor exam, print the Contractors' Business and Law Reference Manual, hole-punch it and put it in a three-ring binder.

Reciprocity and renewal

Idaho grants a journeyman license without the exam to journeymen licensed by exam in a state on its reciprocity list. Per DOPL's journeyman application, those states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Your license must be active. DOPL contacts your state to confirm it.

Oregon journeymen qualify under a separate agreement. You need four years of apprenticeship school, 8,000 hours, and a license earned by exam. Masters licensed in another state can apply by reciprocity with proof of a license by exam and at least four years as a journeyman.

Journeyman and master licenses renew every three years and expire at the end of your birth month. Renewal is $45. Idaho removed its continuing education requirement in 2025. You can revive an expired license within one year.

Related: All state license guides · Montana · NASCLA exam guide