South Carolina Residential Electrician License: Requirements, Exams, Fees, and Bond

South Carolina Residential Electrician License: Requirements and Exams

South Carolina has no statewide journeyman license. Residential electrical work is licensed by the Residential Builders Commission (RBC), part of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The Commission calls it the Residential Electrician license (its FAQ says "Residential Electrical Contractor"). It covers residential buildings of up to 16 units and up to 3 stories. PSI gives the exams.

Commercial electrical work needs a different license from the Contractor's Licensing Board: see South Carolina Commercial Electrical Contractor requirements.

Who can apply

You need at least one year of residential electrical experience within the past five years. It can come from any state or country.

• Each supervisor you list fills in a Residential Electrician Experience Affidavit. A supervisor must be a licensed residential electrical contractor or another appropriately licensed professional doing residential electrical work.
• Include W-2s or 1099s from those employers. Without them, or without supervised experience, expect to appear before the Commission.
• A college degree does not replace the year of hands-on experience.
• Include a complete credit report (TransUnion, Equifax or Experian) dated within 30 days. The Commission looks for outstanding liens and judgments, not your score.

Apply first, then test

1. Apply to the Commission with the $135 application fee.
2. Once it approves your experience, you get an examination eligibility letter, good for one year.
3. Schedule both exams with PSI.

Two exams

	Residential Electrical trade exam	Business Management and Law for Residential Builders
Questions	60	50
Time	3 hours	2 hours
To pass	44 correct (73.3%)	34 correct (68%)
Book policy	Open book	Open book
Main references	NEC with SC modifications (2023, or 2020 until July 1, 2027), IRC (2024, or 2021 until July 1, 2027), Ugly's, 29 CFR 1926	NASCLA Contractor's Guide, South Carolina Residential Builders (8th or 9th; 9th only from April 9, 2027)
PSI fee	$75 one portion, $94 both

What's on the Residential Electrical exam breaks the 60 questions down. Our practice exam covers the trade exam only. We do not cover Business and Law yet.

You may instead take the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Residential Electrical Contractors (100 questions, 4.5 hours, 70 to pass, $116) in place of the trade exam.

Three attempts, one year

Your eligibility gives you three attempts within 12 months, and you must pass both exams in that time or apply again. After three failures you wait 12 months from the last attempt.

After you pass

Send the Commission your PSI results and the $220 license fee.

If you will take on any project over $5,000 in labor and materials, you also need a $10,000 surety bond on file, in your own name as principal (not a company's). You don't need it to apply, but you need it before you offer that work.

To work under a company name, you must own at least 51% of the company; otherwise the company needs its own Certificate of Authorization.

Fees

Fee	Amount
Application (RBC)	$135
PSI, one portion / both portions	$75 / $94
License (RBC)	$220
Renewal, every two years	$220
Late renewal	$50

Renewal

The license renews every two years by June 30 of odd-numbered years (2027, 2029). It lapses on June 30 if you don't renew. A lapsed license can stay inactive up to three years before you must apply and test again.

Skipping the trade exam

The Commission waives the technical exam, but not Business and Law, if you:

• hold a South Carolina Mechanical Contractor license with the Electrical classification, by exam, for at least a year;
• hold a license by exam for at least a year from North Carolina or Mississippi (grandfathered licenses don't count);
• passed the NASCLA accredited electrical exam within the past 3 years; or
• hold a master electrician certification by exam from the Municipal Association of South Carolina (1990 to 2025) or Carolinas AGC (from 2026).

Beyond these waivers, the Commission lists no reciprocity agreement for this license, so from another state you normally take both exams.

Which NEC?

PSI allows the 2023 or the 2020 NEC from November 1, 2026, and only the 2023 after July 1, 2027. Buy the 2023. South Carolina modifies the dwelling GFCI and AFCI rules in 210.8(A), 210.8(F) and 210.12(B); the AFCI change drops kitchens and laundry areas from the list.

Getting ready

Try our free South Carolina Residential Electrical practice test, or see the full exam prep. For the test itself, read Residential Electrical exam day.