Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

Start to finish

Minnesota Electrician License: Every Step and Every Fee

One department issues every electrical license in Minnesota and runs the examination itself. That makes the route unusually simple to describe and unusually easy to stall on, because nothing moves until DLI approves your application.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

Who licenses you

The Department of Labor and Industry, through its Construction Codes and Licensing Division, at 443 Lafayette Road N., St. Paul, MN 55155. Licensing is on 651-284-5034 and dli.license@state.mn.us.

The Board of Electricity sits alongside DLI. Its own page says the board adopts the electrical code including any amendments, adopts rules that regulate licensure or registration of the electrical industry, and issues final interpretations of the electrical code. It has 12 members, 11 appointed by the governor and one by the DLI commissioner, and meets quarterly.

No Minnesota city licenses an electrician. Cities handle permits and inspections, which is a separate layer that starts to matter after you are licensed.

Step one, register

Minnesota Statutes 326B.33, subdivision 13 requires unlicensed individuals performing electrical work for a contractor or employer to register with the department. That registration is $14, has no examination, and lasts one year from the end of the registration month.

Renewal costs $19 and asks for two hours of DLI approved continuing education and a completed work experience verification form. The registration form says renewing prevents the loss of accrued work experience, which is the sentence that matters most on this page.

Step two, build the months

Minnesota counts experience in months, not hours. The Class A journeyworker license needs 48 months with at least 24 in wiring for and installing. The Class A master needs 60 with minimums in planning, laying out and supervising. Power limited technician needs 36 and Class B installer needs 12.

An approved two year post high school electrical course is worth a maximum of one year of experience credit. DLI publishes no list of approved programs, so the evidence a college is approved is its own published statement.

Read the experience page for each matrix, because the category minimums decide whether your four years qualify for the license you want.

Step three, apply and wait for approval

The personal electrical license examination application carries a $50 fee that covers every license type. The form says the paid application fee is not refundable and that cash is not accepted by mail or walk-in.

The Licensing Examination Guide is direct about the order: before anyone may schedule an examination date, the individual's examination application must be approved by the department. It also says applicants must schedule ahead and that walk-ins are not permitted.

The elicense entry puts the whole cycle at approximately 60 days, dependent on response time for experience verification, board approval and examination scheduling.

Step four, sit the exam

DLI runs the examination itself. No PSI, no Pearson VUE, no Prov. Examinations are held weekly, generally every Wednesday, at 443 Lafayette Road N. in St. Paul, and every examination type begins at 8:15 a.m. and ends at 1:45 p.m.

Question counts run from 25 for the installer papers to 80 for master, journeyworker and power limited technician. The time allowed is five and a half hours for all of them and the passing score is 70 percent for all of them.

The department provides the code book and it has no tabs. A picture ID has to be presented. Results are emailed generally within two weeks. Read the test day page before you plan your morning.

Step five, pay for the license

Passing does not license you. The license fee is separate and it is paid after approval.

Class A journeyworker, maintenance electrician, power limited technician, Class B installer and satellite system installer are all $48 new. Lineman is $48 too, and it stays at $48 to renew because it carries no continuing education fee. Class A master is $88. The contractor licenses are $188.

Step six, keep it

Sixteen hours of DLI approved continuing education per renewal period for most licenses, with at least 12 on the National Electrical Code. Power limited technicians invert that to at least 4 on the code. Satellite installers owe 4 code hours. Linemen owe none.

DLI warns that renewing without completing continuing education may result in license suspension and a fine of $1,000. Find approved classes in the DLI course directory. We do not run classes and we are not a continuing education provider.

The book you will be tested on

Minnesota adopted the 2026 National Electrical Code with an effective date of August 17, 2026, and DLI states that electrical licensing exams transitioned to the 2026 NEC beginning September 8, 2026. Those are two different dates for two different things, and the examination guide compresses them into one sentence.

Read which edition the exam uses before you buy anything. It matters more than usual right now.

Questions people ask

How do I get an electrician license in Minnesota?

Register as an unlicensed individual, build the months your target license needs, file the $50 examination application with DLI, wait for the department to approve it, sit the examination in St. Paul and then pay the license fee. DLI puts the whole cycle at about 60 days.

How long does it take to become a licensed electrician in Minnesota?

Four years of qualifying experience for the Class A journeyworker license, which the state counts as 48 months with at least 24 in wiring for and installing. An approved two year post high school course can supply one of those years.

Who issues electrician licenses in Minnesota?

The Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division, at 443 Lafayette Road N., St. Paul. No Minnesota city licenses electricians.

Where do you take the Minnesota electrician exam?

At the Department of Labor and Industry, 443 Lafayette Road N., St Paul. Examinations are held weekly, generally every Wednesday, and every type begins at 8:15 a.m. and ends at 1:45 p.m.

What does a Minnesota electrician license cost in total?

Fifty dollars for the examination application plus the license fee. That license fee is $48 for the journeyworker, maintenance, power limited technician, lineman, installer and satellite licenses, $88 for the Class A master and $188 for a contractor license.

Do I need to be 18 to get a Minnesota electrician license?

DLI states that applicants must be at least 17 years old. That age appears on the DLI licensing basics page and not in the text of Minnesota Statutes 326B.33.

What this page cites

• DLI electrical licensing basics The department's own summary of the licenses, the supervision limit, the age of 17 and the renewal cycles. source
• Minnesota Statutes 326B.33 The licensing statute, with the qualifying routes, the registration duty, the bonds and the expiration dates. source
• DLI Licensing Examination Guide The examination schedule, the question counts, the 5.5 hour limit, the 70 percent pass mark and the room rules. source
• DLI personal exam application Prints the $50 fee, the no refund rule and the note that cash is not accepted by mail or walk-in. source
• CCLD licensing fee schedule Every license fee, board fee, continuing education fee and late fee, updated July 1, 2025. source
• DLI electrical codes and standards The August 17, 2026 permit date and the September 8, 2026 examination transition to the 2026 National Electrical Code. source