Utah Residential Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements, Hours, and the Exam

Utah Residential Journeyman Electrician License: Requirements and the Exam

Utah's residential journeyman electrician license is issued by the Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) under the Electricians Licensing Act Rule (Utah Admin. Code R156-55b). It takes half the hours of the full journeyman license. The exams are given by Prov.

Two paths to the license

Both routes count hours worked as a licensed apprentice:

Path	Education	Experience for the license
A	An approved 288-hour electrical program, completed over at least 24 months	4,000 hours
B	None	8,000 hours

Programs must be approved by the Utah Board of Higher Education (in-state) or by DOPL with the board (out-of-state). Each semester runs at least 72 classroom hours, and each class has to be passed at 75% or better. Experience credit is capped at 3,000 hours in any 12 months.

A licensed apprentice can also satisfy the education requirement through DOPL's competency exams, 1A through 4B, taken in sequence. Each is attempted once; 75% or better unlocks the next, and a lower score sets where you are placed in a program.

When you can sit the exam

On Path A you can sit the written exam after completing the program and 3,000 hours. On Path B it is the full 8,000 hours. The license still needs all the hours.

The exam

Since August 1, 2025, the residential exam is one combined theory and code test:

Item	Residential exam
Vendor	Prov
Questions	100
Time	240 minutes (4 hours)
Passing score	75%
Fee	$85 per attempt
Code edition	2023 NEC
Retake	After 30 days

The references are the same as the full journeyman exam: the 2023 NEC, Ugly's Electrical References (2023) and the Utah licensing laws and rules. The outline is different, though. It drops motors and special occupancies and adds an area on pools, photovoltaic systems and wind. What is on the exam has the full outline.

There is also a hands-on Utah Residential Electrician Practical: four tasks in 95 minutes, covering torque settings, wiring an evaporative-cooler motor from a schematic, three-way and four-way switching, and wiring from a schematic.

Scheduling and school approval

Register on Prov's scheduler under "UT Electrical", choose Residential Journeyman, and upload the Verification of Electrician Experience form (plus transcripts if you trained out of state).

From January 1, 2026, Prov's bulletin requires first-time journeyman and residential journeyman candidates to be approved by their training school before scheduling. DOPL's own page says its preapproval is not required; the school approval step still applies.

Pass rates

DOPL and Prov do not publish current pass rates for the written exams.

Renewal and continuing education

Licenses run on a two-year cycle, with 16 hours of continuing education per term:

• At least 12 hours core: 8 hours on the NEC and 4 hours on NFPA 70E.
• The other 4 hours core or professional: OSHA/MSHA, motors and motor controls, tool use, or supervision.

Reciprocity

Utah grants licensure by endorsement under Utah Code 58-1-302. You submit a Verification of Licensure from your home state, and DOPL compares the license to Utah's. If your state has no equivalent license, you meet Utah's requirements, exam included.

Moving up to residential master

The residential master license takes 4,000 hours as a licensed residential journeyman (or an ABET-accredited electrical engineering degree plus 2,000 hours as a licensed apprentice). Its written exam is the Master Electrician Law and Rule exam, the same one master electricians take. See Utah Master Electrician requirements.

A law change coming on January 1, 2027

Title 58, Chapter 55, the Construction Trades Licensing Act, is reorganized from January 1, 2027, with electrician qualifications and CE moving into a new Part 3, "Electricians". The section numbers change; check which numbering is in force on your test date.

Getting ready

Try our free practice test on the 2023 NEC, or see the full Utah Residential Journeyman Electrician exam prep.