Colorado Master Electrician License: Requirements, Experience, and How to Apply
What the Colorado State Electrical Board requires for a master license: 10,000 hours over five years including a year of planning and supervising, the PSI exam, renewal, and why there is no reciprocity for masters.
Colorado Master Electrician License: Requirements and How to Apply
The master electrician license is the top individual license the Colorado State Electrical Board issues. A master plans, lays out and supervises electrical work, and every registered electrical contractor needs a master electrician responsible for its work. Here is what it takes.
Experience
The Board's rules put the master requirement at 10,000 hours earned over at least five years. In the statute's terms, that is the journeyman's experience plus at least one more year of practical experience planning, laying out, supervising and installing wiring and equipment for light, heat and power.
There are shorter routes for graduates:
- a graduate electrical engineer of an accredited college or university with one year of practical experience in the construction industry; or
- a graduate of an electrical trade school or community college with at least four years of practical electrical experience.
No reciprocity for masters
A Colorado journeyman license can come by reciprocity from NERA states. A Colorado master license cannot. If you hold a master license elsewhere, your experience still counts toward eligibility, but you take the Colorado exam.
Applying and testing
- Apply to the State Electrical Board with documentation of your experience.
- Once approved, schedule with PSI and test within three years of approval. If you test but have not passed within five years, you reapply.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Exam | $78 |
| Retest | $73 |
The exam is 90 scored questions in 4 hours, 70% to pass, on the 2026 NEC since August 1, 2026, with the code book supplied at the center. Compared with the journeyman exam, it weights special occupancies, special equipment and motors more heavily. What is on the exam has the full outline.
Renewal
Licenses renew every three years on the Board's NEC adoption cycle, with 24 hours of continuing education per license period — at least 4 on NEC changes and no more than 4 on safety. The CE requirement does not apply to the first renewal after you pass the exam.
Getting ready
Try our free 10-question practice test on the 2026 NEC, weighted like the PSI master outline, or see the full Colorado Master Electrician exam prep.
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