Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

The state counts months

Minnesota Electrical Experience: Months, Not Hours, By Type

Most states count hours. Minnesota counts months, in nine named categories, with a floor and a ceiling on each one. Two people with the same four years can qualify for different licenses, and the reason is always in the category split rather than the total.

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How the counting works

DLI publishes a matrix for each license. Every row is a kind of work, and each row carries a minimum number of months you have to have and a maximum number the department will credit.

The rule behind it is Minnesota Rules 3800.3520, headed Examination; Minimum Experience Requirements for Licensure; Acceptable Experience.

Hitting the total is not enough on its own. You have to hit the minimums and stay under the maximums, which is why an electrician with 60 months of maintenance work may still be short for a journeyworker license.

Class A journeyworker, 48 months

Wiring for and installing carries the only minimum on this matrix, at 24 months, and it can supply all 48.

Maintaining and repairing credits up to 24 months. Process control circuits credits up to 12. Technology circuits and installing elevators credit up to 6 each. Line work credits up to 3.

Planning, laying out and supervising all carry a zero maximum. That is the single most expensive line on this page for anybody who moved into a lead role early.

Class A master, 60 months

The master matrix is the only one with minimums outside wiring and maintenance. Planning asks for at least 2 months and credits up to 12. Laying out asks for at least 2 and credits up to 12. Supervising asks for at least 2 and credits up to 12.

Wiring for and installing asks for at least 12 and credits up to 48. Maintaining and repairing credits up to 24, process control circuits up to 12, technology circuits up to 6, installing elevators up to 6 and line work up to 3.

Minnesota Statutes 326B.33, subdivision 1 gives two other routes to the master license that do not run through this matrix at all: a four year electrical course at an accredited college or university, or one year holding a Minnesota journeyworker license.

The other four matrices

Maintenance electrician, 48 months. Maintaining and repairing carries the 24 month minimum and can supply all 48. Wiring for and installing has no minimum and credits up to 24.

Power limited technician, 36 months. Every category is worded for technology circuits. Wiring for and installing technology circuits carries a 12 month minimum and can supply all 36, and maintaining and repairing them credits up to 24. Line work and installing elevators credit nothing.

Lineman, 48 months. Line work carries a 24 month minimum and can supply all 48. Wiring for and installing and maintaining and repairing credit up to 12 each. Minnesota Statutes 326B.33, subdivision 9(b) adds that the experience has to be for an electrical utility.

Class B installer, 12 months. No minimum in any category. Wiring for and installing credits up to 12, maintaining and repairing up to 6, and line work, installing elevators and technology circuits up to 3 each.

What school is worth, by license

DLI words the schooling allowance differently for different licenses and we print each one as written.

For the journeyworker: a maximum of one year of experience credit will be allowed for the successful completion of a two year, post high school electrical course approved by the board. For the maintenance electrician: a maximum of one year of experience credit for a two year, post high school technical course approved by the board. For the power limited technician: a maximum of up to 12 months or 2,000 hours of experience credit for a two year post high school electrical course or other technical training approved by the board.

DLI publishes no list of approved two year programs. The evidence a given college is approved is that college's own statement, and Hennepin Technical College, St. Cloud Technical and Community College, Dakota County Technical College and Anoka Technical College all publish one.

Where the hour figures come from, and why we do not use them

You will see 8,000 hours quoted for a Minnesota journeyworker license. St. Cloud Technical and Community College says graduates can apply 2,000 hours of education as a substitute for 2,000 hours of work experience toward the 8,000 hours needed.

That framing is the college's. Minnesota Rules 3800.3520 and the DLI experience page both count months, and the allowance they describe is one year of credit rather than 2,000 hours. The apprenticeship programs use hours because their own standards are written in hours, and DLI converts nothing on your behalf.

File your experience the way DLI asks for it, in months by category, and let the sponsor keep its own hour ledger.

How the months get verified

Through the registration. DLI renews a registered unlicensed individual against two hours of continuing education and a completed work experience verification form, and there are separate forms for the RE and RT codes.

The registration form says holders with a current registration, or one expired less than 12 months, may renew to prevent the loss of accrued work experience. That is the state telling you the record can be lost.

The elicense entry attributes part of the 60 day processing estimate to response time for experience verification, so give whoever signs your form some warning.

Questions people ask

Does Minnesota count electrician hours or years?

Months. DLI publishes a matrix per license with a minimum and a maximum number of months in each of nine categories of work, and Minnesota Rules 3800.3520 is the rule behind it.

How many months for a Minnesota journeyworker license?

Forty eight, with at least 24 in wiring for and installing. Planning, laying out and supervising credit nothing at all on that matrix.

Is a Minnesota journeyworker license 8,000 hours?

That figure comes from apprenticeship standards and from one college page, not from the state. DLI and Minnesota Rules 3800.3520 count 48 months by category, and the school allowance is worded as one year of credit rather than 2,000 hours.

How much experience credit does a college program give?

A maximum of one year for an approved two year post high school course on the journeyworker and maintenance licenses. The power limited technician wording is up to 12 months or 2,000 hours.

Does maintenance work count toward a journeyworker license?

Up to 24 of the 48 months. It cannot supply the 24 month minimum in wiring for and installing, which is why a purely maintenance record qualifies for the maintenance electrician license first.

How does DLI verify my experience?

Through the work experience verification form filed with your registration renewal, and again when you apply to sit an examination. The elicense entry names response time for experience verification as one reason the process takes about 60 days.

What this page cites

• DLI experience requirements The month matrix for every license, with the category minimums and maximum credit allowances. source
• Minnesota Rules 3800.3520 The rule on examination, minimum experience requirements for licensure and acceptable experience. source
• DLI experience and education The school credit wording, license by license, including the 12 months or 2,000 hours phrasing for power limited technicians. source
• Minnesota Statutes 326B.33 The statutory experience requirements, including the utility requirement for linemen and the three master routes. source
• DLI unlicensed individual registration form Says renewal prevents the loss of accrued work experience. source
• mn.gov elicense, Class A Journeyworker Electrician Attributes part of the 60 day processing estimate to experience verification. source