Washington 06 Limited Energy Electrician: Requirements, Hours, and How to Apply

Washington 06 Limited Energy Electrician: Requirements and How to Apply

In Washington, low-voltage work is electrical work. Installing fire alarm, security, data, sound or control wiring is part of the electrical construction trade under RCW 19.28, and doing it takes a certificate from the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) Electrical Program. For most low-voltage technicians, that certificate is the 06 limited energy system specialty. PSI gives the exam.

What the 06 covers

WAC 296-46B-920 limits the 06 to the installation, repair, replacement and maintenance of signaling and power-limited circuits and their equipment, and restricts it to low-voltage circuits. It names:

• telecommunications,
• fire protection signaling systems and intrusion alarms,
• HVAC/refrigeration low-voltage wiring,
• energy management, building automation and industrial control systems,
• lighting control systems,
• amplified sound and public address systems,

in all occupancies and locations.

The line-voltage side is tightly fenced. A 06 may repair or replace line-voltage connections inside the cabinet to a power supply in the low-voltage equipment, like-in-kind, on a circuit of no more than 120 volts, 20 amps with a disconnect. A 06 may not replace or modify the line-voltage circuit or its cabling.

A 06 card covers installing fire alarm wiring and devices. Inspection, testing and programming of fire alarm systems in Washington take NICET Fire Alarm Level II under the state building code, a separate credential, so many alarm technicians hold both. See Washington fire alarm license requirements.

Experience and training

You need 4,000 hours as a trainee in the 06 specialty, with:

• an electrical training certificate from L&I for the whole time,
• a certified electrician on the same jobsite for at least 75% of each working day, and no more than two trainees per certified electrician,
• 48 hours of basic classroom training.

A two-year apprenticeship in the specialty registered with the state apprenticeship council is the other route.

Applying and testing

1. Apply to L&I. The journey/specialty application fee is $114.60, of which $44.20 is non-refundable.
2. L&I approves you and sends an approval letter with your Exam Unique ID, which you use to book and log in with PSI.
3. Sit the exam: two separately scored sections, NEC and Theory (34 questions, 2 hours) and Washington Codes (17 questions, 1 hour), 70% on each, on the 2020 NEC. What is on the exam breaks down both.

PSI bills by the exam hour, so the full three-hour 06 exam is $65. Retaking a single section costs less: $45 for the one-hour Washington Codes section, $55 for the two-hour NEC section.

The one-year window

You must pass every section within one year of L&I approving you, or you retake the whole exam. After a failed section you wait 14 days; after three failures of the same section within a year, 90 days. A pending rule would change these limits — to two years and 60 days — from November 20, 2026, but it is only proposed.

L&I does not publish a pass rate for the 06 exam.

Licensed in another state?

Washington's only reciprocity agreement is with Oregon, and it is written for journeyman licenses. Check with L&I before you count on an Oregon limited energy license transferring.

Renewal

Certificates renew every three years, on your birthday. You need 24 hours of continuing education, including at least 8 on NEC code update and 4 on RCW 19.28 and WAC 296-46B.

Getting ready

Try our free 10-question practice test on the 2020 NEC, or see the full Washington 06 Limited Energy exam prep.