Texas Journeyman Electrician License: Hours, Exam, and Application

Separate permission to test from permission to work as a journeyman

The training must be under a Texas-licensed master electrician. Obtain a separate signed experience-verification form from each supervising master. If a supervisor is hard to reach, TDLR suggests contacting the electrical contractor or using its license search to locate contact information.

Official sources: TDLR: journeyman application and experience verification.

Assemble the mailed application

The initial journeyman application is submitted by mail with the nonrefundable $30 application fee. Use the current form linked from TDLR’s application page and include the experience certifications. Complete the criminal-history questionnaire if the disclosure questions require it.

For an applicant with several employers, prepare a reconciliation sheet before mailing: list each period of work, the master who will verify it, the hours claimed, and the attached form. Check that names and dates agree across the application and certifications. A résumé can help organize your history, but it does not replace the required signatures.

Official sources: TDLR: journeyman application and experience verification.

Use the current two-part examination instructions

TDLR must approve the application before you schedule with PSI. Since March 11, 2025, the journeyman examination has separate knowledge and calculations portions. Use the candidate bulletin linked from TDLR’s examination page for the current portions, fees, permitted references, identification rules, and retake arrangements.

You have one year from TDLR’s receipt of the application to satisfy the licensing requirements, including the exam. If applying at 7,000 hours, plan the remaining work and its verification within that window. Put the application receipt date, exam appointments, and expected final-hours submission on the same calendar.

The $30 application fee is not an all-inclusive exam budget. Record PSI’s current charge separately when booking. A generic exam-preparation advertisement may describe an older exam format; the current agency-linked bulletin is the document to use.

Official sources: TDLR: electrician exams, eligibility period and PSI bulletin.

A journeyman license is an individual credential

TDLR requires non-exempt electrical work to be performed through a licensed electrical contractor. Passing the journeyman exam does not issue that business license. If your aim is to open a company, read the separate electrical contractor business guide and the master electrician requirements.

For example, an employee seeking promotion needs an individual qualification. An owner planning to sign electrical contracts needs to establish the business’s licensing route as well. Keeping those applications separate avoids using an individual card as evidence that an unlicensed company may contract.

Official sources: TDLR: individual and business licensing requirement; TDLR: electrical contractor application.

Maintain the license after issuance

The license renews annually. The normal renewal fee is $30, and four hours of continuing education are required each cycle. TDLR lists $45 for renewal within 90 days after expiration and $60 for longer eligible late renewals; expiration beyond 18 months requires additional mailed paperwork, and a license expired more than three years cannot be renewed.

Set the renewal reminder using your issued license’s expiration date. Preserve the exam result, final experience submission, license confirmation, and subsequent education records as separate documents so you can explain each part of your licensing history.

Official sources: TDLR: journeyman renewal.

Primary Sources

• TDLR: journeyman application and experience verification
• TDLR: electrician exams, eligibility period and PSI bulletin
• TDLR: individual and business licensing requirement
• TDLR: electrical contractor application
• TDLR: journeyman renewal

The requirements above come from the cited agencies and official rules. Examples, budgeting distinctions, and document-organization suggestions are editorial guidance, not additional agency requirements.