Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

The card most people want

Colorado Journeyman Electrician License: Hours and Exam

Colorado issues a real journeyman electrician license to a person, which is not true in every state. It asks for four years of hours with a commercial block inside them, 288 hours of class, and a PSI paper you pass before you apply.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

What it allows

C.R.S. 12-115-103 defines a journeyman electrician as a person having the necessary qualifications, training, experience, and technical knowledge to wire for, install, and repair electrical apparatus and equipment for electric light, heat, and power.

Two things are missing from that sentence and both matter. There is no dwelling size limit, which is the line above residential wireman. There is no planning, laying out or supervising, which is the line below master.

12,549 journeyman licenses were active in the September 2026 data pull, more than any other grade.

8,000 hours, and 2,000 of them commercial

The Board's applications page prints 8,000 hours of experience earned in no less than 4 years, 2,000 hours of which must be in commercial or industrial work.

C.R.S. 12-115-110(2)(a)(I) puts the 8,000 in statute as eight thousand hours over a period of at least four years' apprenticeship in the electrical trade, or the same over at least four years' practical experience in wiring for, installing, and repairing electrical apparatus and equipment. The commercial block is described as two thousand hours over a period of at least two years in commercial, industrial, or substantially similar work.

The Board's own application preview repeats both and adds a line worth taking literally: if you have not obtained this experience yet, do not apply.

The commercial figure is 2,000 in every state source we read. A prep site publishes 4,000. The hours page prints both and names the source of each.

288 classroom hours, for everybody

The Board's page is unqualified: 288 hours of classroom education is required for ALL applicants, with no grandfathering of any apprentice registration.

The statute describes what the hours have to be about: training in safety, the national electrical code and its applications, and any other training required by the board, delivered by an accredited college or university, an established industry training program, or a provider whose training complies with Board rules.

Rule 3 CCR 710-1.7 adds that the 288 hours are in addition to any stipulated on-the-job training requirement and cannot count for any other education, training or experience credit. The rule places them in the last four years of apprenticeship, while the statute says the last eight years. Both are printed on the hours page, and neither is resolved here.

The exam comes first

The Board's journeyman preview asks you to have achieved a passing score on the Colorado Journeyman Electrician examination administered by PSI Testing before the application is submitted.

PSI lists Journeyman Wireman as 90 scored items, 240 minutes, 70 percent or 63 items correct to pass, with up to 10 unscored items and 30 more minutes on top. The fee is $78 and the retest is $73, non-refundable, valid for one year from the date of payment.

Since August 1, 2026 the questions are consistent with the 2026 National Electrical Code, and PSI hands you the book. You may not write, highlight, underline or index on it, and you may not use any other materials. The journeyman exam page goes through the paper.

The employment condition on the application

The application preview carries a condition people miss. You must be employed with a Colorado electrical contractor and registered as a Colorado apprentice electrician with that company to perform electrical work in Colorado, or qualify for an exemption.

Four exemptions are listed: not currently employed, employed but not performing electrical work, employed by the federal government on federal property only, or not residing in Colorado.

So an out of state applicant is not caught by it, and neither is someone between jobs. Somebody working electrically in Colorado without an apprentice registration is.

Proving the hours

Rule 3 CCR 710-1.7 asks for documented written evidence of all in state and out of state experience, with exact employment dates, a breakdown of the work by type and supervisor signatures. The categories it names are commercial, residential, industrial and maintenance or service.

The Board publishes an Electrician Affidavit of Experience form for this. Your employer already has the underlying record, because rule 1.6.B makes contractors keep hours and months split residential against commercial or industrial, and rule 1.6.C makes them hand it over on request.

The version of this exam nobody chooses

If you have been a registered apprentice for at least six years, have 8,000 hours and meet the other journeyman requirements, sitting the exam stops being optional.

C.R.S. 12-115-115(4)(a)(I) makes you take the journeyman electrician license examination at least every three years in alignment with the license renewal cycle until you get a passing score, and C.R.S. 12-115-115(5) lets the Board suspend your apprentice registration if you do not. PSI runs it as a separate paper.

The six year exam page is where that sits.

Renewal, CE and money

Licenses expire September 30 every three years. The current cycle expires 9/30/2026 and can be renewed through 11/30/2026, and the rule gives a 60 day grace period with a delinquency fee whose amount is not published.

CE is 24 hours per three year period, with at least four hours in code changes and no more than four in safety. Your first renewal after passing the licensing exam is exempt.

State application, license and renewal fees are not published on any page we could reach. C.R.S. 12-115-117 authorizes them at subsections (1)(c), (1)(d) and (1)(f) and sets no amount.

Questions people ask

Does Colorado have a journeyman electrician license?

Yes, issued to an individual by the State Electrical Board. 12,549 were active in the September 2026 state data pull, and C.R.S. 12-115-109(1) makes the license mandatory before you work at the trade.

How many hours do I need for a Colorado journeyman license?

8,000 hours earned in no less than 4 years, with 2,000 of them in commercial or industrial work over at least 2 years, plus 288 classroom hours. All three figures are on the Board's applications page.

Can I apply before I have the hours?

The Board's own application preview says if you have not obtained this experience yet, do not apply. The exam is a separate step and comes first.

What is on the Colorado journeyman exam?

PSI lists it as 90 scored items in 240 minutes with 63 correct to pass. Since August 1, 2026 the questions are consistent with the 2026 National Electrical Code, and PSI supplies the code book and a formula page at the test center.

Do I need to be working to apply?

You need to be employed by a Colorado electrical contractor and registered as an apprentice with that company, unless you fit one of four exemptions: not currently employed, employed but not doing electrical work, federal employment on federal property, or not residing in Colorado.

What does a Colorado journeyman license cost?

The exam is $78 and a retest is $73. No state application, license or renewal fee is published on any reachable state page, and the statute that authorizes those fees sets no amounts.

What this page cites

• State Electrical Board applications page The 8,000 hours, the 2,000 commercial hours, the 288 classroom hours and the renewal cycle. Read 7 September 2026. source
• C.R.S. 12-115-110, license requirements The statutory hours, the commercial split over at least two years and the content of the 288 hours of training. source
• Board journeyman application preview The exam before application order, the employment condition and its four exemptions, and the instruction not to apply without the hours. Read 7 September 2026. source
• PSI candidate information bulletin 3395 The Journeyman Wireman format, the pass mark, the fees and the code book rules. Bulletin updated 6/18/2026. source
• 3 CCR 710-1.7, application for licensure The documentation requirements, the work categories and the four year classroom window. Text current through Register Vol. 48, No. 11, June 10, 2025. source