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Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

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Colorado Master Electrician License: The Four Routes

The master license is where planning and supervision get added to your scope, and it is the credential a business needs before it can register as an electrical contractor. Colorado gives four ways to qualify, and a degree can cut years off the wait.

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On this page
  1. What it allows
  2. Route one: 10,000 hours over five years
  3. Route two: an engineering degree and 2,000 hours
  4. Route three: trade school or community college and 8,000 hours
  5. Route four: journeyman plus 2,000 hours
  6. The exam, before the application
  7. Schooling for the master license
  8. Renewal, CE and the numbers
  9. Questions people ask
  10. What this page cites

What it allows

C.R.S. 12-115-103 defines a master electrician as a person having the necessary qualifications, training, experience, and technical knowledge to properly plan, lay out, and supervise the installation and repair of wiring apparatus and equipment for electric light, heat, and power.

Planning, laying out and supervising are what the journeyman definition does not carry. That is the whole difference in the statute.

The second thing the license does is commercial rather than technical. C.R.S. 12-115-110(5) bars a business from contracting without registering, and the Board says a registration has to hold or employ a licensed master electrician to serve as the responsible individual for the company.

Route one: 10,000 hours over five years

The Board's applications page prints 10,000 hours of experience earned in no less than 5 years. Board rule 3 CCR 710-1.7 prints the same as 10,000 hours earned in no less than five years.

This is the route for someone who has been in the trade a long time without a degree and without the journeyman license, and it is the plainest of the four.

Route two: an engineering degree and 2,000 hours

The Board prints a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from an accredited college or university, and 2,000 hours of construction experience earned in no less than 1 year.

C.R.S. 12-115-110(1)(I) states it as the applicant being a graduate electrical engineer of an accredited college or university with one year of practical electrical experience in the construction industry.

One year of hours against five is the largest reduction of the four routes, and the hours it wants are construction hours.

Route three: trade school or community college and 8,000 hours

The Board prints graduate of an electrical trade school or community college, and 8,000 hours of experience earned in no less than 4 years.

The statute at 12-115-110(1)(II) says a graduate of an electrical trade school or community college with at least four years of practical experience in electrical work. The Board's own master application preview describes the same route as 8,000 hours of electrical experience in no less than 4 years and holding a community college or trade school degree in an electrical construction field.

Note the word degree in the Board's preview against the word graduate on the applications page. If your qualification is a certificate rather than a degree, ask the Board how it will be read before you pay for anything.

Route four: journeyman plus 2,000 hours

The Board prints 2,000 hours of experience earned in no less than 1 year in addition to the journeyman requirements, some of which must be in planning and layout, and some of which must be supervision while in possession of a journeyman electrician license.

C.R.S. 12-115-110(1)(III) says at least one year of practical experience in planning, laying out, supervising, and installing wiring, apparatus, or equipment beyond the practical experience requirements for the journeyman's license.

This is the working electrician's route, and it is the only one that tells you what kind of hour to log. Planning and layout hours, and supervision hours earned while you hold the journeyman card. Start recording them separately the day you get licensed.

The exam, before the application

The Board's master application preview is direct: you must have taken and passed the Colorado Master Electrician examination administered by PSI Exams before submitting this application.

PSI lists Master Electrician as 90 scored items, 240 minutes, 70 percent or 63 items correct to pass, with up to 10 unscored items and 30 extra minutes. The fee is $78, the retest fee is $73, and the fee is valid for one year from the date of payment.

PSI provides the code book and the formula page and bars writing, highlighting, underlining and indexing on them. Since August 1, 2026 the questions follow the 2026 National Electrical Code. The master exam page covers the paper.

Schooling for the master license

No separate classroom hour figure is stated for master beyond the routes above. The 288 hour requirement is written into the journeyman requirements, and route four builds on those requirements.

So if you are coming through route four, the 288 hours are already behind you. If you are coming through route one with 10,000 hours and no journeyman license, read the Board's page carefully and ask how the 288 hours apply to you, because the published text does not settle it.

Renewal, CE and the numbers

Master licenses expire September 30 every three years like the others. The current cycle expires 9/30/2026 and can be renewed through 11/30/2026.

CE is 24 hours per three year period, at least four in the National Electrical Code changes competency, no more than four in safety, with the first renewal after an examination exempt.

7,441 master licenses were active in the September 2026 data pull, against 4,789 active electrical contractor registrations. Since every registration needs a master behind it, the difference is roughly the number of masters working for somebody else.

Questions people ask

How do I get a master electrician license in Colorado?

Qualify through one of four routes, pass the PSI master examination, then file the application. The routes are 10,000 hours in no less than 5 years, an electrical engineering degree with 2,000 hours, a trade school or community college qualification with 8,000 hours, or 2,000 hours beyond the journeyman requirements.

Do I need a journeyman license first in Colorado?

Not on every route. Route four builds on the journeyman requirements and asks for supervision hours earned while holding that license, but the 10,000 hour route and the two education routes do not name a journeyman license.

What kind of hours does route four want?

The Board says some hours must be in planning and layout, and some must be supervision while in possession of a journeyman electrician license. The statute describes one year of practical experience in planning, laying out, supervising and installing beyond the journeyman requirements.

Is the master exam harder than the journeyman exam?

It is the same shape: 90 scored items, 240 minutes, 63 correct to pass. PSI publishes no difficulty statement and neither the Board nor DORA publishes a pass rate for any Colorado electrician exam.

Do I need a master license to own an electrical company in Colorado?

The registration has to hold or employ a licensed master electrician as the responsible individual. You can own the business and employ that master, and the Board's own data carries 321 registrations frozen in a Need Master Hire status.

What does the Colorado master license cost?

The exam is $78 and a retest is $73. C.R.S. 12-115-117 authorizes master license, renewal and examination fees at subsections (1)(a), (1)(b) and (1)(e) without setting amounts, and no reachable state page publishes them.

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What this page cites

If your notes still say 2023

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NEC and National Electrical Code are registered trademarks of the National Fire Protection Association.

Trojan Digital Marketing is an independent company. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NFPA, the Colorado State Electrical Board, PSI, or any licensing authority, school or union.

The Colorado examinations are open book only in the sense that PSI puts a book on the desk. PSI provides the National Electrical Code and a formula page at the test center, bars writing, highlighting, underlining and indexing on them, and allows no other materials. The questions have followed the 2026 edition since 1 August 2026, and the 2023 book is provided on request until 1 November 2026.

All practice questions are original. They are not actual exam questions.

Built and maintained by Jeff Clerisier, Trojan Digital Marketing.

Every rule here is cited to the section it comes from, and corrections are logged in public with the date. This is study material rather than electrical advice, and it does not replace your own code book or your inspector.

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