From Apprentice to Electrical Contractor in Oregon: Every Step and Legal Requirement

Why Oregon

Oregon pays electricians better than any other state. BLS put the annual mean wage for Oregon electricians at $99,750 in May 2025, the highest state mean in the country, with a median of $101,310 and 10,590 electricians employed (BLS OEWS). The Oregon Employment Department projects electrician employment will grow 12.1 percent between 2024 and 2034, from 10,812 to 12,115, with 11,095 total openings over the decade (Oregon Employment Department).

The four credentials

Two agencies license the individual and the business.

• The Building Codes Division (BCD), part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, licenses individual electricians and also issues the electrical contractor license to the business.
• The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) runs apprenticeship and issues the apprentice license.
• The Construction Contractors Board (CCB) licenses construction businesses, including electrical contractors.

Along the way you'll hold up to four credentials: an apprentice license, a journeyman license, a supervising electrician license, and then the two business licenses.

Oregon's rule on who may do the work is blunt. A person may not "make any electrical installation without a supervising or journeyman electrician's license," may not "perform work on an electrical installation as an electrical apprentice without an electrical apprentice's license," and may not "permit or suffer any electrical installation on property that the person owns, controls, manages or supervises to be made by a person not licensed to make such an installation" (ORS 479.620). There is a list of exemptions in ORS 479.540, mostly for work on your own home or farm, utilities, and a few narrow landlord and maintenance tasks.

If you're coming from a state with an unlicensed helper tier, that's the first thing to adjust to. In Oregon, day one on a job site means you're a registered apprentice.

Step 1: Get into an apprenticeship

Apprentice licenses are issued by BOLI, not BCD, to people "registered in formal electrical apprenticeship programs recognized by the board and the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries" (OAR 918-282-0270).

Entry requirements for the journeyman and limited energy tracks: "Be 17 years of age to apply, 18 years of age to be registered," hold "a high school diploma, GED, or international equivalency," and have "one-year high school algebra, integrated math 2 or its equivalent" or pass a placement test (OAR 918-282-0270).

The program. Inside electrician apprenticeships run 8,000 hours, with "a minimum of 144 hours of related training" required "during each year the apprentice is registered in this program" (Area III Inside Electrical JATC standards).

Supervision. Apprentices work under direct supervision by "a journey worker in the same or a higher license classification than the apprentice" (OAR 839-011-0143). In the final period, an apprentice in an 8,000-hour program who has at least 6,500 hours of on-the-job training can be approved for indirect supervision "on projects not exceeding eight hours duration and limited to 300 volts phase to phase or phase to ground" (OAR 918-282-0270).

One narrow variation exists. Apprentice licenses "may be issued to trainees enrolled in individually approved, employer-sponsored training programs leading to the limited journeyman license" (OAR 918-282-0270). That's still a licensed apprentice card, not an unlicensed helper.

Ratios vary by program. There's no single statewide apprentice-to-journeyman ratio. BOLI's default, which applies only where a program's own standards don't set one, is "not more than one apprentice for the first journey worker on the job site" plus "one apprentice for each three additional journey workers" (OAR 839-011-0143). Inside electrician programs commonly set their own: the Area III standards allow "two (2) apprentices for every three (3) Journeyman or fraction thereof," and require that "The first person assigned to any job site shall be a journeyman." Check the standards for the specific program you join.

Step 2: Pick your license and build hours

BCD issues a general journeyman license and a set of limited licenses. The hours below are the non-apprenticeship routes, which is how most out-of-state and self-taught applicants qualify.

Source: BCD's electrical licensing requirements and OAR chapter 918 division 282.

What the licenses allow. A general journeyman can "make any electrical installation under the supervision, direction, and control of a general supervising electrician." A limited residential electrician is limited to "one- and two-family or multifamily dwelling units, not exceeding three floors above grade." A limited maintenance electrician can "repair and maintain existing electrical installations on or in an existing operable plant, commercial building, or institution," and is not authorized to make new installations or work on services (BCD).

The journeyman hours have category minimums. Within the 8,000 hours, the rule requires at least 1,000 hours each of residential wiring, commercial, and industrial work, plus 500 hours of intercom, signal and control, 250 of troubleshooting, 100 of stock room, 100 of underground, and 50 of finishing (OAR 918-282-0170). The statute puts it as four years of experience "including not fewer than 1,000 hours in wiring on single or multifamily dwelling units" (ORS 479.630).

Two rules shape how those hours count:

• The 300 percent rule. "No more than 300 percent credit shall be allowed" for any one subject category, so you can't reach 8,000 on residential alone (OAR 918-282-0170).
• The 2,000-hour year. BCD "will consider no more than 2,000 hours of experience per year," so working overtime doesn't shorten the clock (OAR 918-030-0030).

If you can't produce transcripts, the rules let you "submit verification of twice the amount of equivalent work experience required for the license" instead (OAR 918-030-0030). That's where the 16,000-hour figure comes from. Military training and experience is "evaluated on a case-by-case basis" (OAR 918-030-0050).

Step 3: Pass the state exam

Oregon writes and grades its own electrician exams. There's no national testing vendor: BCD sends the exam to test sites in Bend, Eugene, Hermiston, Klamath Falls, Ontario, Pendleton, Portland, Roseburg, Salem and White City, and "the examination location forwards the exam to the Building Codes Division for grading" (BCD exam information).

• Application fee: $100 for the journeyman, supervising, limited residential and limited maintenance licenses, and $50 for the sign, stage, limited energy, building maintenance and renewable energy licenses (BCD application). No separate exam fee is published.
• Format: the general journeyman exam is 52 questions in 3 hours, open book. Limited residential is also 52 questions in 3 hours; limited maintenance is 28 questions in 2 hours (Oregon Business Xpress).
• Passing score: "An applicant required by statute or appropriate rule to pass a written examination must score at least 75 percent correct" (OAR 918-030-0020).
• Scheduling: you get a Letter of Authorization and "The examination must be taken within 60 days of the date of the Letter of Authorization" (BCD).
• Retakes: "There is no waiting period to reapply after a failed exam," but "Exam retakes are scheduled no less than 30 days from the date of the failed exam" (OAR 918-030-0060).
• Code edition: the 2023 Oregon Electrical Specialty Code, which adopts the 2023 National Electrical Code with Oregon amendments, took effect October 1, 2023 (OAR 918-305-0100). BCD has started the adoption process for the 2026 edition, based on the 2026 NEC, with an anticipated adoption date of October 1, 2026 (BCD code adoption).

Step 4: Keep the license current

• Term and fee: electrician licenses run three years. The fee is "$100 for a three-year license" for the journeyman, supervising and manufacturing plant licenses, and $50 for the elevator, limited energy, sign, stage and building maintenance licenses (ORS 479.840).
• Continuing education: a general journeyman needs 24 hours per three-year cycle, "must include 8 hours of code change," and a general supervising electrician needs 24 hours including 12 hours of code change. Limited residential and manufacturing plant licenses need 16 hours including 8 of code change; limited maintenance and limited energy Class B need 8 hours including 2 of code change (OAR 918-030-0120 to -0135).
• The Oregon rule and law course: a separate 4-hour course is required "in addition to the code-change hour requirement" (OAR 918-030-0125).
• New licensees get a prorated requirement, and "New licensees are not required to complete a code-change course" (OAR 918-030-0150).
• If it lapses: you have one year to reapply, pay the renewal fee and complete the outstanding continuing education. After a year, you have to take the exam again (OAR 918-030-0230). An expired licensee "must not perform work requiring the expired license."

If you're coming from another state

Oregon has reciprocity, which California doesn't. For the general journeyman license, BCD lists agreements with Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. For the general supervising license, the list is Arkansas and Utah (BCD reciprocity).

Reciprocity applicants must "have qualified to take the examination for their journeyman electrician certificate of competency or license by completing four (4) years of electrical apprenticeship vocational education (576 classroom hours minimum) and completing a minimum of four (4) years (8,000 hours) in the electrical trade under the direct supervision of a licensed journeyman electrician."

The rule adds four conditions (OAR 918-030-0045):

• hold "an equivalent or higher license from the reciprocal state that is current and active with no violations or conditions attached within the past three (3) years"
• have qualified there "by passing an examination in the reciprocal state with a score of 75 percent or better"
• have "worked a minimum of six (6) months (1,000 hours) under the license in the reciprocal state"
• have "not taken and failed the Oregon examination within the past two (2) years"

Washington applicants have an extra condition: they "must have completed an apprenticeship program in the state of Oregon or Washington and passed the licensing exam for the State of Washington." The reciprocal license application fee is $100 (BCD form 4794e).

If your state isn't on the list, you apply the normal way, documenting hours and classroom training, and take the Oregon exam. BCD can refuse to test an applicant whose out-of-state training "is not equivalent" to Oregon's (ORS 479.632).

Step 5: Move up to supervising electrician

Every electrical contracting business has to employ a supervising electrician, so this is the license that makes the business possible.

A general supervising electrician needs "at least four years of experience as a general journeyman electrician or its equivalent" plus a written exam (ORS 479.630). In practice, BCD asks a licensed Oregon journeyman to "provide verification of an additional 8,000 hours of on-the-job journeyman experience" (BCD). Someone who isn't already licensed here documents both sets of hours: the 8,000 that qualify for journeyman and another 8,000 as a journeyman (OAR 918-282-0140).

The supervising exam runs 4 hours and has 52 code questions plus 12 calculation questions (Oregon Business Xpress). The license allows the holder to "design, plan, and lay out work" and to "sign all permits," and makes them "the only individual authorized to direct, supervise, or control the installation or alteration of an electrical service" (BCD).

Step 6: Get the CCB license

This one comes first on the business side, because BCD requires it before issuing the electrical contractor license.

Oregon law says a person "that undertakes, offers to undertake or submits a bid to do work as a contractor must have a current license issued by the Construction Contractors Board and possess an appropriate endorsement" (ORS 701.021). Advertising counts: no one may "advertise or otherwise hold out to the public that person's services as a contractor" without a current license (OAR 812-003-0120).

What it takes:

• Be an independent contractor. "An applicant must qualify as an independent contractor under ORS 670.600 to be eligible for a license" (ORS 701.035).
• Register the business with the Secretary of State. An assumed business name costs $50 and is "good for 2 years"; LLC articles of organization cost $100 (Oregon Secretary of State).
• Name a Responsible Managing Individual. "A business licensed under this chapter must at all times have at least one responsible managing individual" (ORS 701.091). The RMI can be an owner, officer, partner or employee with management authority.
• Training and exam. The RMI must "Complete at least 16 hours of pre-license training from an approved pre-license education provider and pass the Oregon exam" (CCB). The test is "80 multiple choice questions; a passing score is 70 percent (56 correct answers). You have three hours to complete the test, and the cost is $60." There's no exemption for electrical contractors.
• Application fee: $400, and the license runs two years (OAR 812-003-0142, ORS 701.063). It rose from $325: for renewals on July 1, 2024, and for new licenses on July 1, 2025.

Endorsements, bonds and insurance. An electrical contractor is a specialty contractor, so the usual endorsements are residential specialty and commercial specialty. Each endorsement carries its own bond and liability insurance minimum (ORS 701.081 and ORS 701.084):

Every bond minimum went up $5,000 on January 1, 2024. If you hold both a residential and a commercial endorsement, you carry both bonds and the higher insurance amount. Commercial specialty level 1 also requires "one or more key employees with a combined total of at least eight years of experience."

Exempt or nonexempt. CCB sorts licensees into two classes. The nonexempt class covers businesses "With one or more employees," and also partnerships, corporations and LLCs "with more than two partners, corporate officers or members" who aren't closely related family (ORS 701.035). Everyone else is exempt. A licensee in the exempt class who hires employees "is subject to penalties under ORS 701.992 for improper licensing" and "must reapply to the board in the correct class."

Step 7: Get the BCD electrical contractor license

With the CCB license in hand, you apply to BCD for the electrical contractor license. Without it, a business may not "engage in the business of making electrical installations, advertise as or otherwise purport to be licensed to make electrical installations" (ORS 479.620).

• CCB first. The electrical contractor license "is in addition to the licensing and bonding required by the Construction Contractors Board" (OAR 918-282-0000). If the business is exempt from CCB licensing, BCD wants a letter on letterhead explaining why (BCD fee schedule).
• A full-time supervising electrician. An electrical contractor "Shall continuously employ at least one full-time general supervising electrician" (OAR 918-282-0010). All work must be done by or under the direct supervision of "a continuously employed full-time signing supervising electrician," that person may "perform supervisory duties for only one contractor," and the contractor has to notify BCD in writing "within five days of entering into or termination of that relationship" (OAR 918-282-0015).
• Fee and term: $375 for the electrical contractor license, which covers a three-year term (BCD fee schedule). The statutory rate is "$125 per year for an electrical contractor license for each place of business operated by the applicant" (ORS 479.840).
• Limited classes exist for narrower work, including limited energy, limited sign, limited renewable energy and restricted energy contractors, at the same $375, and limited maintenance specialty and pump installation at $75.

If you're a one-person shop, you are the supervising electrician, and that's why Step 5 matters. If you're not one yet, you can hire one, but they must be a full-time employee and can't be supervising anyone else's business at the same time.

Step 8: Set up the business

• Entity and name. LLC articles of organization cost $100, corporations $100, and an assumed business name $50. LLCs and corporations renew annually; assumed business names renew every two years (Secretary of State).
• Workers' compensation. "Every employer subject to this chapter shall maintain assurance with the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services that subject workers of the employer and their beneficiaries will receive compensation for compensable injuries" (ORS 656.017). Watch the construction carve-out: members of a multi-member LLC are normally exempt, but members "while engaged in work performed in direct connection with the construction, alteration, repair, improvement, moving or demolition of an improvement on real property or appurtenances thereto, are subject workers" (ORS 656.027). The general "LLC members are exempt" advice fails exactly where electrical contractors live.
• Payroll. "All employers with paid employees working in Oregon must register for a business identification number (BIN)" (Department of Revenue). New hires must be reported "Not later than 20 days after the date the employer hires or rehires the employee" (ORS 25.790). The statewide transit tax stays at one-tenth of one percent, "or .001" (Department of Revenue). The Workers' Benefit Fund assessment for 2026 is 1.8 cents per hour worked, with employers paying at least 0.9 cents (DCBS).
• No sales tax. "Oregon doesn't have a general sales or use/transaction tax" (Department of Revenue). That removes the fixtures-versus-materials question California contractors deal with.
• Corporate Activity Tax. A business with Oregon commercial activity of $750,000 must register, and one with more than $1 million must file. The tax is "$250 plus 0.57 percent of taxable Oregon commercial activity of more than $1 million," after subtracting "35 percent of the greater of cost inputs or labor costs" (Department of Revenue).
• Oregon OSHA. Employers with 10 or fewer employees, and employers where more than half of employees report to construction sites, may hold safety meetings instead of forming a safety committee. Construction employers must meet "At least monthly and before the start of each job that lasts more than one week," and must "document, make available to all employees, and keep for three years a written record of each meeting" (OAR 437-001-0765). You also need a written hazard communication program (OAR 437-002).
• Local licenses. Cities have their own rules. Portland, for example, exempts businesses under a gross receipts threshold that is $75,000 for tax years beginning in 2026 and rises to $100,000 in 2027 (Portland City Code 7.02.400).

Step 9: Stay compliant

• Renewals. The CCB license renews every two years for $400, and the BCD electrical contractor license every three years. Your own electrician license renews every three years with its continuing education.
• CCB continuing education. A residential endorsement requires eight hours per two-year license period: "Three of the hours" on "laws, regulations and business practices" and "Five of the hours" from approved providers (ORS 701.082). Commercial endorsements have their own hours (ORS 701.086).
• Public works. Oregon's prevailing wage law doesn't apply to "Projects for which the contract price does not exceed $50,000" (ORS 279C.810). Above that, certified payroll statements "shall be submitted once a month, by the fifth business day of the following month" (ORS 279C.845).
• Only licensed people do the work. "No person or entity shall allow any individual to perform electrical work for which the individual is not properly registered or licensed" (OAR 918-282-0120).

What happens if you skip a license

On the electrical side, the Electrical and Elevator Board can impose civil penalties up to "$5,000 for each offense or, in the case of a continuing offense, not more than $1,000 for each day of the offense" (ORS 455.895). BCD's published penalty matrix, last approved in 2017, sets a first offense for unlicensed activity at $2,000 assessed, with $1,750 of that able to be stayed and $250 minimum due; a second offense at $2,500 with $1,500 minimum due; and a third at $5,000 with $4,000 minimum due (BCD penalty matrix).

On the contractor side, CCB can impose a civil penalty "of not more than $5,000 for each offense," with a schedule that starts at "$500 nor more than $1,000 for the first offense" and escalates to suspension and revocation (ORS 701.992).

There's also a quiet one that costs more than the fines: an unlicensed contractor generally can't sue to collect for the work (ORS 479.670).

Timeline and costs at a glance

At 2,000 hours a year, the 8,000 hours for a journeyman license come to four years, and the extra 8,000 hours for a supervising license come to four more.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a license to do electrical work in Oregon?

Yes. Oregon has no unlicensed helper or trainee category. You need an apprentice, journeyman or supervising electrician license, and the business needs its own licenses from both CCB and the Building Codes Division.

How long does it take to become a journeyman electrician in Oregon?

A general journeyman license takes 8,000 hours of on-the-job training plus 576 classroom hours, or 16,000 hours of work experience with no classroom. At 2,000 hours a year, which is BCD's annual cap, 8,000 hours is four years.

How much do electricians make in Oregon?

The median wage for Oregon electricians was $101,310 a year in May 2025, and the mean was $99,750, which BLS data puts highest among the states.

Does Oregon have electrician license reciprocity?

Yes. For the general journeyman license, Oregon has agreements with Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. For general supervising, it's Arkansas and Utah. You need 1,000 hours under that license and can't have failed the Oregon exam in the past two years.

What's on the Oregon journeyman exam?

It's 52 questions in 3 hours, open book, and you need 75 percent to pass. It's based on the 2023 Oregon Electrical Specialty Code, which adopts the 2023 National Electrical Code with Oregon amendments.

Do I need two licenses to run an electrical business in Oregon?

Yes. You need a Construction Contractors Board license and a Building Codes Division electrical contractor license, and the CCB license has to come first. The business must also employ a full-time supervising electrician.

How much does it cost to start an electrical contracting business in Oregon?

The state fees are $400 for the CCB application, $60 for the CCB exam, and $375 for the BCD electrical contractor license, plus $100 for an LLC and $50 for an assumed business name. On top of that you need a surety bond, which is $20,000 for a residential specialty endorsement, and liability insurance of at least $300,000.

Do LLC members need workers' compensation in Oregon?

Usually LLC members are exempt, but not in construction. Members of a multi-member LLC doing construction work on real property are subject workers under ORS 656.027, so electrical contractors generally can't rely on that exemption.