Arkansas Residential Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements, Fees, and Limits

Arkansas Residential Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements and the Exam

Arkansas has a separate residential track alongside its journeyman and master licenses. The residential journeyman license has an experience requirement built around wiring dwellings up to a quadruplex, a shorter path in and a shorter exam than the full journeyman license. It is issued by the Board of Electrical Examiners at the Department of Labor and Licensing (Electrical Inspection and Licensing), and Prov gives the exam.

Residential vs full journeyman

	Residential journeyman	Journeyman
Experience (rule)	2 years wiring dwellings + a 2-year approved training program	4-year apprenticeship, or 8 years / 16,000 hours
Exam	40 questions, 120 minutes	60 questions, 180 minutes
Outline	By NEC chapter, heavy on Chapter 2	10 trade areas, including motors and calculations
License fee	$25 a year	$25 a year
Reciprocity	None	17 states

If you might ever move states, note that the residential licenses do not reciprocate and the full journeyman license does. See Arkansas Journeyman Electrician requirements.

Experience

The Board's rules (17 CAR 210-404(h)) require all three of:

• 2 years of experience wiring dwellings, up to a quadruplex;
• a 2-year combination of training and experience approved by the Board, such as an apprenticeship;
• a letter from the school verifying your classroom and on-the-job hours.

The Board's Employment Verification form states it as 2 years of USDOL apprenticeship and 4,000 hours of qualifying on-the-job training.

For every class:

• No more than 2,000 hours a year count, and overtime does not.
• Verification letters must be dated within 6 months of applying.
• Unlicensed work done in violation of state law does not count.

Applying

1. Apply through the Board's online licensing portal with the notarized Employment Verification form and your school letter.
2. Applications must reach the Board 5 business days before a Board meeting; the Board then publishes the approved list.
3. Schedule with Prov within your 183-day approval window.

Fees

Fee	Amount
Exam (paid to Prov)	$80
Residential journeyman license	$25
Annual renewal	$25

We found no separate application fee.

The exam

Item	Residential journeyman exam
Vendor	Prov
Questions	40
Time	120 minutes
Passing score	70%
Reference	NFPA 70, 2023 edition (open book)

The outline is organized by NEC chapter, and Chapter 2 alone is 18 of the 40 items. There is no law section. What is on the exam has the full breakdown.

Which code?

The exam is written from the 2023 NEC. Arkansas enforces something else: the Board's earlier rules adopted the 2020 NEC, and the current rules adopt the 2026 NEC with Arkansas amendments, including changes to AFCI and GFCI requirements and to island and peninsula receptacles. Those amendments matter on a house, but the exam bulletin lists only NFPA 70, 2023 and does not reference them. We have not found a published effective date for the 2026 rule, and Prov has not announced an exam switch.

After you pass, obtain the license within 6 months after the end of the month you tested, or retest.

Renewal and CE

• The license renews every year, expiring on the last day of the month one year after issue.
• Late renewal within 36 months: a year's renewal plus $10 a month. After 36 months: a $1,000 penalty and a retest.
• Continuing education: the state statute requires 8 hours per NEC code cycle for residential journeymen, completed in the first year of each cycle before renewing. The Board's rule text names only journeyman and master licenses, so confirm with the Board what it expects of residential licensees. Approved courses are tracked through StateReporting.com.

Reciprocity

There is none. The Board's verification form says it plainly: "License does not reciprocate." The residential journeyman license is good in Arkansas only.

Moving up

The next step on this track is the residential master license: 3 years wiring dwellings, including 1 year as a licensed residential journeyman. See Arkansas Residential Master Electrician requirements.

Getting ready

Try our free practice test on the 2023 NEC, or see the full Arkansas Residential Journeyman exam prep.