Idaho Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements, Hours, and the PSI Exam
What the Idaho Electrical Board requires for a journeyman license: 8,000 apprentice hours plus four years of instruction or 16,000 hours of experience, the $75 Idaho-specific PSI exam, fees, three-year renewal, no current CE and how reciprocity works.
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Idaho Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements and the Exam
Idaho licenses electricians statewide through the Idaho Electrical Board, part of the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL). The program pages are at dopl.idaho.gov/ele. The exam is given by PSI, and since December 1, 2025 it has been an Idaho-specific exam, developed by DOPL with subject matter experts and PSI. Here is what the license takes.
Two routes to sit the exam
You qualify one of two ways:
- Apprenticeship: 8,000 hours as a registered apprentice, plus completion of a four-year sequence of instruction approved by Idaho Career & Technical Education.
- Experience: 16,000 hours of electrical experience. Idaho law describes this as eight years of work, at least 16,000 hours.
You can sit the exam once you have proof of the four-year instruction or the 16,000 hours.
A few rules on what counts:
- Apprentices must have been registered with DOPL for all the hours they claim.
- Appliance repair, motor winding and communications work do not count.
- No more than 2,000 hours from limited-installer or trainee work can count toward the journeyman license.
Provisional journeyman
If you have the 16,000 hours but have not yet passed the exam, Idaho can issue a provisional journeyman license. It runs six months and can be renewed once, so plan to pass within that window.
The exam
| Item | Journeyman exam |
|---|---|
| Vendor | PSI |
| Questions | 100 |
| Time | 270 minutes (4½ hours) |
| Passing score | 70 |
| Fee | $75 per attempt |
| Retakes | As many as needed; no waiting period stated |
| References | 2020 or 2023 NEC, plus Ugly's Electrical References 2023 |
It is open book, and there is no Idaho law or rules section. What is on the exam breaks down all seven areas.
To apply, create a PSI account, select the exam and complete the application (it is accepted automatically), then pay and schedule. After you pass, you apply for the license through DOPL at edopl.idaho.gov.
DOPL stopped offering the older NASCLA journeyman exam from July 1, 2026, but passing NASCLA scores are still accepted.
Which code?
Idaho adopts the 2023 NEC by statute. Idaho Code 54-1001 reads: "The 2023 National Electrical Code, NFPA 70, is hereby adopted by the Idaho legislature." DOPL began enforcing it on April 19, 2024. The Board's rules (IDAPA 24.39.10) add Idaho amendments, many of them relaxing GFCI, AFCI and surge-protection requirements for dwellings. Those amendments govern installations; they are not exam references.
The PSI exam lets you bring either the 2020 or the 2023 NEC. No 2026 NEC adoption is pending: changing editions would take a change to the statute, and the Board's current rulemaking is limited to exceptions to the 2023 code.
Fees
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application | $15 |
| Journeyman license | $55 |
| Renewal | $45 |
| PSI exam | $75 per attempt |
Renewal and continuing education
Journeyman licenses run three years and expire on your birthday. DOPL is moving to biennial licensing from October 30, 2026: license periods shorter than two years move to two years, and those already two years or longer are not affected.
No continuing education is currently required. The 2025 Legislature struck the CE requirements from the Board's rules, and the current rules have no CE section.
Reciprocity
Idaho law lets the Board enter reciprocal agreements with states whose requirements are at least equal to Idaho's, and people licensed that way do not take a written exam. We could not find a published list of reciprocal states. Ask DOPL before you move. If there is no agreement with your state, plan on the PSI exam.
Pass rates
DOPL does not publish pass-rate figures. The Board's minutes say only that pass rates on the new PSI exams "continue to trend positively."
Moving up to master
The master license requires at least four years as a licensed journeyman, and its exam has a higher 75% pass mark. See Idaho Master Electrician requirements.
Getting ready
Try our free practice test on the 2023 NEC, or see the full Idaho Journeyman Electrician exam prep. For test-day logistics, see Idaho Journeyman Electrician exam day.
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