Colorado Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements, Hours, and How to Apply

Colorado Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements and How to Apply

Colorado licenses electricians through the State Electrical Board, part of the Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA). There are three individual licenses — Residential Wireman, Journeyman Electrician and Master Electrician — and each has its own exam, given by PSI. Here is what the journeyman license takes.

Experience

You need 8,000 hours of apprenticeship or practical experience in electrical wiring, earned over at least four years. At least 2,000 hours must be commercial, industrial or similar work, so a career spent only in houses does not qualify; the Residential Wireman license (4,000 hours over two years) is the route for that.

Apprentices register with the Board and work under the supervision of a licensed electrician. Keep your own record of hours, months and type of work as you go — the Board asks for residential and commercial hours separately.

Training: the 288 hours

On top of the on-the-job hours, journeyman applicants document 288 hours of training in safety, the National Electrical Code and electrical theory, earned during the last eight years of their experience. Registered apprenticeship programs and accredited schools cover it; the Board does not pre-approve individual courses.

Applying and testing

1. Apply to the State Electrical Board with your experience and training records. An incomplete application is kept for one year.
2. Once approved, schedule with PSI online or by phone, at a center in Colorado or elsewhere in the U.S.
3. Take the exam within three years of approval, or you start the application over. If you test but have not passed within five years, you also reapply.

The exam is 90 scored questions in 4 hours, 70% to pass, on the 2026 NEC since August 1, 2026. PSI supplies the code book at the center. What is on the exam breaks down all 13 content areas.

Licensed in another state?

Colorado grants a journeyman license by reciprocity to holders of a current journeyman (or master) license from a state in the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance (NERA), or from a jurisdiction with its own agreement with the Board. A license that was grandfathered without a state exam does not qualify. Check the Board's current list before you apply.

Renewal

Licenses renew every three years, on the Board's NEC adoption cycle. Each license period needs 24 hours of continuing education in grounding and bonding, NEC changes, wiring methods, theory and calculations, or safety — at least 4 hours on NEC changes and no more than 4 on safety. The CE requirement does not apply to your first renewal after passing the exam.

Getting ready

The exam is the hard part. Try our free 10-question practice test on the 2026 NEC, weighted like the PSI outline, or see the full Colorado Journeyman Electrician exam prep.