Oregon Electrician License Requirements

By Castleport Test Prep Editorial Team · Last verified October 2, 2026 against Oregon Building Codes Division forms and web pages, Oregon Administrative Rules chapter 918, and the Oregon license directory

Oregon's Building Codes Division (BCD) issues individual electrician licenses. For electricians who need Oregon's general installation scope, the main individual credential is the General Journeyman Electrician (J) license. Here's what it takes:

• Training: finish an approved Oregon apprenticeship, or document 576 classroom hours plus 8,000 hours of out-of-state work, or document 16,000 hours of out-of-state work. (BCD Form 440-2570I, p. 2)
• Education: a high school diploma, GED or equivalent. A college degree also works.
• Exam: open book, 52 questions in 3 hours. You need 75% to pass. (license directory; BCD exams)
• Fee: $100, and it's nonrefundable. (Form 440-2570, Step 3)
• Renewal: every three years on October 1, with 24 hours of continuing education.
• Licensed by exam in Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington or Wyoming? You may qualify without the Oregon exam. See reciprocity.

Oregon credits no more than 2,000 hours of experience a year, so 8,000 hours takes at least four years (OAR 918-030-0030(4)). Supervising, residential, limited energy, sign and other licenses have different rules, covered below.

Find your path

Oregon electrician license types

Each license covers a set scope of work, and each has its own routes, fee and exam. "Apprenticeship" below means an approved Oregon apprenticeship. Hour routes that mention out-of-state work mean experience earned outside Oregon.

Sources: qualifications, scopes and fees from Form 440-2570I, pp. 2–4 and Form 440-2570, Step 3; exam formats from BCD's current individual electrical license table; continuing education from OAR 918-030-0120 through -0135 and BCD's CE page.

A few terms in that table:

• The 300% rule. For most licenses, BCD won't credit more than three times the minimum in any one work category. BCD's own example: if the residential minimum is 1,000 hours, no more than 3,000 residential hours count.
• Code change courses cover new code editions. The rule & law course is a 4-hour course on Oregon's electrical statutes, rules and code amendments.

How to get your journeyman (J) license

1. Qualify. Oregon apprentices finish their program, then get referred to BCD for the exam. Out-of-state applicants gather transcripts and experience records.
2. Get your experience verified. Each employer fills out and signs a separate Electrical Experience Verification form (440-2570A), listing your hours by work category with a description of duties. If the employer can't be found, the person who supervised you can sign. A co-worker can sign only when neither can be found, and must include records showing you worked together. BCD won't accept hours you verify yourself, and only lawful work experience counts (OAR 918-030-0030(5)).
3. Put the packet together. Use the checklist below. Pick a test location on the application.
4. Mail or fax it as one packet. BCD asks applicants not to email application documents (BCD application page). The mailing address and payment instructions are on the form.
5. Wait for your Letter of Authorization. If BCD approves you, it mails a letter naming your test site and listing the materials you can bring. If it denies you, the letter explains your hearing rights.
6. Schedule the exam yourself with the test site, and take it within 60 days of the letter's date. If you want a different location after the letter goes out, you'll have to pay the license fee again (BCD exams).
7. Get your results by mail in about two weeks. If you pass, your license and photo ID card come in the mail.

Will Oregon count your out-of-state hours?

Oregon doesn't just add up your hours. For the 576-classroom-hour + 8,000-hour journeyman route, it checks three things:

1. Eight work categories, each with its own minimum.
2. The 300% cap on credit in any one category.
3. No more than 2,000 hours a year.

Lots of hours in one kind of work can still leave you short.

The eight categories for the journeyman (J) license

These minimums apply to the 8,000-hour route. They come from the rule behind BCD's form (OAR 918-282-0170(3)).

Your credited total must still reach 8,000 hours. Your transcripts must also show a C or better (or a pass, in ungraded classes) in each of these subjects:

• Electrical mathematics
• Safety and accident prevention
• Care and use of hand and power tools
• Blueprint reading and electrical symbols
• Introduction to the National Electrical Code
• Electrical fundamentals and basic AC/DC theory
• Electrical measuring devices
• Wiring methods
• Low voltage and limited energy circuits
• Residential, industrial and commercial calculations
• Motors, generators and transformers
• Practical circuit sketching
• Lighting circuits
• Fundamentals of electronics
• High voltage distribution and equipment

No classroom training? The 16,000-hour route needs at least 2,000 hours each of residential, commercial and industrial work. With the 300% rule, no more than 6,000 count in each of those three (Form 440-2570I, p. 2). BCD's form doesn't list minimums for the other categories on this route. Record all your work by category on your verification forms and let BCD evaluate it.

Worked example: 9,900 hours that count as 7,900

Suppose you have the 576 classroom hours and worked five years outside Oregon:

Your employers split those same 9,900 hours like this:

What happened:

• The yearly limit trims 9,900 hours to 9,100.
• The 300% cap trims residential from 5,000 to 3,000, so the categories add up to only 7,900.
• Oregon can't credit more than either limit allows, so the credited total is 7,900. That's 100 short of 8,000.
• Industrial is also 100 short of its 1,000-hour minimum.

If those 100 additional industrial hours are otherwise creditable under Oregon's 2,000-hours-per-year limit, they meet the industrial minimum and bring the credited total to exactly 8,000. Too much residential work, not too few raw hours, was the real problem.

Check your own hours

If you're using the 576-classroom-hour + 8,000-hour route, enter your hours by year and by category. The checker applies the same three rules as the worked example. It reports your credited total, which category minimums you miss and by how much, and how many hours the 300% cap or yearly limit removes. It does not evaluate the 16,000-hour no-classroom route because BCD's form requires that experience to be broken down by specific work categories without publishing the same complete category-minimum table for that route. BCD makes the actual licensing decision, including whether your work fits each category.

Your application checklist

Gather everything before you mail it. Fees are nonrefundable, so a complete packet matters.

• I picked the exact license class that matches my work.
• I picked the qualifying route that matches my training and experience.
• Form 440-2570 is complete, with the Step 8 affidavit signed and dated.
• I have a Form 440-2570A from each employer, with hours split by work category (out-of-state and experience-route applicants).
• My hours meet the category minimums after the 300% cap and the 2,000-hours-per-year limit.
• I have apprenticeship completion proof or official classroom transcripts, if my route needs them.
• I have a copy of my high school diploma, GED or equivalent, or a college degree.
• I listed every electrical license I hold or have held in any state, with copies of out-of-state licenses.
• I have a 2×2-inch passport-style photo with my name on the back, not stapled.
• I'm paying the right fee by check or money order to the Department of Consumer and Business Services, or by card with the cardholder's signature.
• I'm mailing or faxing everything together, not emailing it.

The form also asks for your Social Security number, which BCD says is required by law. Giving false information or cheating on the exam means your application is denied and you can't apply or test for a year (Form 440-2570, Step 8).

The Oregon electrical exam

All BCD licensing exams need 75% or better to pass (BCD exams). The formats above come from BCD's current individual electrical license table. Your Letter of Authorization controls the instructions for your own exam.

What you can bring

You bring your own books. In September 2025, Oregon's Electrical and Elevator Board unanimously approved updated rules for exam materials (board agenda item VII.B; minutes). The approved list:

• National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) and errata, with Oregon amendments
• National Electrical Code Handbook
• Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 479
• Oregon Administrative Rules division 918
• American Electrician's Handbook
• Electrical Black Book
• Ugly's Electrical References
• Ferm's Fast Finder Index
• Tom Henry's Key Word Index
• A silent, non-printing, non-programmable calculator

You can add commercial or homemade tabs, highlight, and write short notes by hand in the side margins that point to code sections or amendments.

You can't bring practice tests, class prep materials or class notes. You also can't add written-out calculations or examples, or extra pages, whether stapled, pasted, hand-copied into blank spaces or shrunk to fit. Anything else, including other electronics, isn't allowed, and the proctor removes materials that aren't on the list.

BCD's posted exam guidelines PDF is still the July 2019 version, which allowed printed notes in the margins too. Follow the list that comes with your Letter of Authorization.

On test day, bring the letter and a photo ID. The test site won't seat you without both. Bring your own pencils; scratch paper is provided (BCD exam information).

Which code edition?

Oregon is changing code editions right now. BCD's rules page lists a 2026 Oregon Electrical Specialty Code adoption for October 1, 2026, and the 2026 adoption page says the new code is based on the 2026 NEC — but that adoption page still calls October 1 the anticipated adoption date. As of October 2, BCD's adopted-codes page and electrical program page still showed the 2023 OESC. Don't buy a code book on a guess. Use the edition named in your Letter of Authorization. Our NEC adoption by state table tracks the change.

Results and retakes

• Results come by mail in about two weeks. BCD doesn't give results by phone, and the test site can't tell you.
• If you fail, you get a strength and weakness report plus a reapplication form. You can reapply anytime, but you have to wait at least 30 days after each failed exam to retest (OAR 918-030-0060).
• You don't have to prove your experience again unless the license requirements changed since you first applied.

If your Letter of Authorization names the 2023 NEC, our free journeyman electrician practice test has 50 original questions with explanations built on that edition. Our guide on how to tab an NEC code book covers both the 2023 and 2026 editions. Use the edition BCD authorizes for your exam.

Supervising license and running a business

General Supervising Electrician (S). You need 8,000 more hours of journeyman experience on top of the journeyman qualifications, then the 64-question exam. Oregon credits at most 2,000 hours a year, so that's at least four more years of work. Only an S licensee can supervise installing or altering an electrical service and sign permits (Form 440-2570I, p. 2).

Running a contracting business takes a separate BCD electrical contractor license, in addition to licensing and bonding with the Construction Contractors Board (CCB). An electrical contractor generally has to employ a full-time general supervising electrician (OAR 918-282-0000 and -0010). See BCD's contractor license types.

Reciprocity: bringing a license to Oregon

A listed state isn't enough by itself. To qualify, you must meet all of these (Form 440-4794e, p. 1):

• You hold an equal or higher license from that state. It's current and active, with no violations or conditions in the past three years.
• You qualified for that state's exam through required work experience.
• You passed that state's exam with 75% or better.
• You've worked at least six months (1,000 hours) under that license.
• You haven't failed Oregon's exam for the same license in the past two years.

For the journeyman license, your home-state license must have required four years of apprenticeship classes (at least 576 hours) and four years (8,000 hours) under a licensed journeyman. Washington applicants must have finished an apprenticeship in Oregon or Washington and passed Washington's licensing exam (BCD reciprocity).

One wording difference to know: page 1 of the form bars applicants who failed the Oregon exam in the past two years. The affidavit on page 4 asks you to certify that you haven't applied for or taken it in that time. If you've done either, ask BCD before you pay.

The reciprocal application costs $100 (nonrefundable). With it, send:

• a passport-style photo
• a copy of your license
• a verification form completed by your home state's licensing agency
• an employment affidavit showing at least 1,000 hours under that license

Leaving Oregon instead? Ask BCD for a license verification; BCD says processing currently takes 4 to 6 weeks. Moving between Oregon and Washington is covered in our Washington electrician license requirements guide. Other states' lists are in our electrical license reciprocity by state reference.

Renewal and continuing education

• When: Electrical licenses renew every three years on October 1. Your expiration date is printed on your license.
• How: Your continuing education (CE) hours must show up in BCD's system first. Check them in the License Holder Search. Online renewal opens 45 days before expiration (BCD renewals). The journeyman renewal fee is $100.
• How much CE: see the last column of the license table. A journeyman needs 24 hours: 4 hours Oregon rule and law, 8 hours code change, and 12 hours code-related (BCD electrical CE).
• Newly licensed? You owe less your first cycle (OAR 918-030-0150):
  • Licensed within 6 months of expiration: no CE.
  • Within 12 months: 8 hours, or your license's minimum if lower.
  • Within 24 months: 16 hours, or your license's minimum if lower.
  • No code-change course is required that first cycle.
• Let it lapse more than a year? You'll have to retest.

BCD currently lists October 1, 2027 as the next renewal date for all General Journeyman (J) licenses, and October 1, 2028 for all General Supervising (S) licenses. Check the expiration date on your own license and BCD's current individual license table.

Quick answers

Can I work as an apprentice before I'm licensed? Yes, as a licensed apprentice in a registered program. Apprentices must be 17 to apply and 18 to register. They may assist a properly licensed electrician on the same job site and shift (OAR 918-282-0270). Programs are listed by BOLI Apprenticeship.

Does Oregon accept my Washington license? For the journeyman license, yes, if you finished an Oregon or Washington apprenticeship, passed Washington's exam and meet the other reciprocity conditions above.

Is there a separate exam fee? BCD's application lists only the license fee: $100 for S, J, PS, PJ, LR and LME, and $50 for the other limited licenses. We didn't find a separate exam fee in BCD's materials.

Who issues the license — BCD or the CCB? BCD issues individual electrician licenses. A contracting business needs both a BCD electrical contractor license and CCB licensing.

How long does it take? The 8,000-hour journeyman route takes at least four years of creditable experience because Oregon credits no more than 2,000 hours a year. The 16,000-hour route takes at least eight years under the same annual cap.

Sources

We checked these on October 2, 2026:

• Oregon BCD: individual electrical license types, scopes and exam formats; Form 440-2570 Electrical License Application and Form 440-2570I instructions (both rev. 8/25); Form 440-4794e Reciprocal Electrical License Application (rev. 8/25); application steps; exams and locations; exam information; exam guidelines PDF; reciprocal licenses; renewals; electrical continuing education; adopted codes; laws and rules
• Electrical and Elevator Board: September 25, 2025 agenda, item VII.B and the approved minutes in the November 20, 2025 packet
• Oregon Administrative Rules: 918-030-0030, 918-030-0060, 918-030-0150, 918-282-0170, 918-282-0270, and division 30 continuing-education rules
• Oregon license directory: General Journeyman (J) and the other license entries linked in the license table
• BOLI Apprenticeship

The hours example and checker are our own arithmetic using those rules. This page summarizes public rules. It isn't legal advice, and BCD decides every application. For your own case, contact BCD licensing at 503-373-1268 or license.bcd@dcbs.oregon.gov.

AI assistance was used in researching and drafting this page. See our editorial standards.

Castleport Test Prep is an independent exam prep publisher. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Oregon Building Codes Division, the Electrical and Elevator Board, the Bureau of Labor and Industries, or the Construction Contractors Board. License and code names are used to identify their subjects, and trademarks belong to their respective owners.

For licensing rules in other states, see electrician license requirements by state.

This page has not been reviewed by a licensed Oregon electrician or an attorney.