West Virginia Single Family Dwelling Electrician License: Requirements and the Exam

In West Virginia, the State Fire Marshal's Office (Regulatory and Licensing Division) licenses electricians under W. Va. Code 29-3B and its rule, 103CSR5. Alongside the journeyman and master licenses, it issues a specialty Single Family Dwelling license (SP-SFD) for electricians who work only on houses. You earn it by passing the State Fire Marshal's own exam. Everything below comes from the State Fire Marshal's published notices and 103CSR5.

What the license covers

Under 103CSR5 §2.4.3, an SP-SFD licensee may install, maintain and repair electrical wiring and devices in or on a single family residential dwelling or an ancillary to one.

A single family residential dwelling is a building or a manufactured home used only by one family and not attached to any other building. Porches, cabanas and room additions used by the household count as part of it.
Ancillary structures include a detached garage or carport, a farm or household storage shed, a barn, a pump house, an electric fence and yard lighting.

Inside that scope you may also do work that another specialty license (such as HVAC or low voltage) would otherwise require. The license does not cover duplexes, apartments, or commercial or industrial work. For those you need a journeyman or master license.

Who can sit the exam

Requirement	Single Family Dwelling
Age	At least 18
Experience	At least 1 year in single family dwelling electrical work
Education	The rules allow that year to be earned through an educational program

Students in an approved West Virginia electrical vocational program can test before 18, but the license is issued only once they turn 18. Unlike the journeyman and master licenses, there is no 90-day temporary license for this specialty.

The exam in brief

Item	West Virginia Single Family Dwelling Electrician
Given by	West Virginia State Fire Marshal, on paper
Questions	50 multiple choice, 2 points each
Time	4 hours
Passing score	70%
Code	2023 NEC (since January 1, 2026)
Format	Open book; calculations are built into the multiple choice
Fee	$25, non-refundable

The State Fire Marshal's 2026 exam notice names the Single Family Dwelling exam alongside the journeyman and master exams: all three moved to 50 two-point multiple-choice questions on the 2023 NEC. There is no law or business section, because the rules say every exam is derived from the NEC.

Fees and renewal

Exam application review fee: $25.
License: $50 a year. Every license expires June 30, and you can renew for one to three years at a time.
Late renewal in the same license year: $50 plus a $50 penalty. A lapsed license can be renewed without retesting within five years of the last renewal, at double the fee.

Licensed in another state?

The State Fire Marshal has recognized electrician licenses from other states and from local jurisdictions with a letter of good standing from your licensing agency, as long as you meet West Virginia's minimum experience (1 year for a specialty license). 103CSR5 also gives universal license recognition to new West Virginia residents who have held a license with a similar scope for at least a year.

Contractors are licensed separately

Your SP-SFD license lets you do the electrical work. A business that contracts electrical work needs a separate license from the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board (Division of Labor), with its own exams given by Prov.

Practice for the exam

Our West Virginia Single Family Dwelling Electrician practice test is on the 2023 NEC, and every question cites its section. See what is on the exam and what to expect on exam day.

West Virginia Single Family Dwelling Electrician License: Requirements and the Exam