Oklahoma Limited Electrical Contractor License: Who It's For, Requirements, and Fees

Oklahoma Limited Electrical Contractor License: Requirements and the Exams

Oklahoma licenses electrical contractors statewide through the Construction Industries Board (CIB). Most people know the Unlimited contractor license, which comes up through the journeyman ranks. The Limited Electrical Contractor license is a different path for people who run electrical work without doing it. CIB decides who is eligible; PSI gives the exams.

Who the Limited license is for

Under OAC 158:40-7-4, a limited electrical contractor may not do the work of a journeyman electrician, and may not perform or supervise field work. In return, the license does not require a journeyman license, and estimating and project-management experience counts toward it.

That makes it a fit for:

• Electrical engineers who want to qualify an electrical contracting firm.
• Estimators and project managers with years of commercial or industrial electrical experience but no journeyman license.

If you do the installations yourself, or want to supervise crews in the field, this is the wrong license. Look at the Unlimited Electrical Contractor license instead.

Eligibility: two routes

You must be at least 18 and qualify one of two ways:

Route	Education	Experience
Engineering degree	A degree in electrical engineering from an accredited college or university	8,000 hours (4 years) in field construction, electrical estimating or electrical project management, in commercial and industrial electrical work
Experience only	None required	16,000 hours (8 years) in the electrical trade performing electrical work, estimating or project management, verified in commercial and/or industrial work

Unlike the Unlimited license, there is no requirement to hold a journeyman license first.

Two exams, not one

Every Oklahoma electrical contractor must pass both portions of the contractor exam, at 70% on each (OAC 158:40-9-2):

Portion	Questions	Time	Pass mark	Fee
Limited Electrical Contractor trade exam	100 scored	240 minutes	70%	$92
Electrical Business and Law	50 scored	120 minutes	70%	$92

The Limited trade exam is not a lighter exam. PSI publishes the same 13 areas, the same question counts and the same references for it as for the Unlimited contractor trade exam, all on the 2023 NEC as adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission. The licenses differ in who may apply and what work they allow, not in what the trade exam covers. Engineers and estimators who have not lived in the Code book should plan their study time accordingly. What is on the exam breaks down the outline.

Business and Law covers bidding, contracts, finance, payroll, liens and Oklahoma licensing rules. See Oklahoma Electrical Business and Law requirements and the Business and Law exam prep.

A passed portion is banked for three years from the date CIB approves you to test. Pass the other inside that window and you only retake the one you missed; otherwise you retake both. If you already hold an Oklahoma electrical contractor license and passed Business and Law for it, a new contractor category does not require it again.

Applying

1. Submit the contractor application to CIB with the $30 application fee and your experience documentation.
2. Once CIB approves it, you get an Ok Con ID number for your PSI account.
3. Schedule and pay for each portion with PSI at $92 per portion. PSI fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
4. Pass both portions, then meet the bond, insurance and workers' compensation requirements.

Fees

Fee	Amount
CIB contractor application	$30
CIB initial contractor license	$300 ($480 from July 1, 2028, under Senate Bill 1732)
PSI exam, per portion	$92 ($184 for both)
Annual renewal	$200
Late renewal (more than 30 days after expiration)	$300

Bond, insurance and workers' comp

An active contractor license needs, on file with CIB (OAC 158:40-5-5):

• A continuous $5,000 license bond.
• General liability insurance of at least $50,000 combined single limit, with the Construction Industries Board as certificate holder.
• Proof of workers' compensation coverage or an exemption.

Without them CIB issues an inactive contractor license, and you can switch to active at any time by filing the bond and insurance. The bond and insurance can be waived if your employer files an affidavit that you will only do electrical work on its own property and that it assumes financial responsibility.

Pass rates

CIB does not publish pass rates for the electrical exams.

Renewal and continuing education

• The license renews every year and expires on the last day of your birth month: $200, or $300 if more than 30 days late.
• 12 hours of continuing education every three years, 6 of them on the codes OUBCC adopts. You are exempt for three years after passing your current licensing exam.
• From November 1, 2026, a license expired for more than a year can be reinstated without retesting by filing a reinstatement application, paying the renewal fee plus a $200 penalty, and completing the missed continuing education (59 O.S. 1688).

Reciprocity

CIB's published reciprocity agreements are for journeyman licenses (Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming). A contractor who qualifies under a written contractor agreement is licensed first as a journeyman and becomes a contractor after passing the Oklahoma Business and Law exam and filing the bond and insurance (OAC 158:40-7-5).

From a state with no agreement, CIB may approve exam equivalency in the category of your home-state license, if it has already approved that jurisdiction's exam. Equivalency waives the trade exam but never Business and Law (OAC 158:40-9-2.4).

Getting ready

Try our free practice test on the 2023 NEC, or see the full Oklahoma Limited Electrical Contractor exam prep. For the test itself, see Oklahoma Limited Electrical Contractor exam day.