Arizona electrical license requirements and insurance

Who it applies to

1Who needs an electrical license in Arizona? What is this?

R-11 Electrical (residential): a business that does electrical work on houses, townhouses, condos and anything else inside residential property lines

License	Who needs it	What it covers
R-11 Electrical (residential)	A business that does electrical work on houses, townhouses, condos and anything else inside residential property lines	Install and repair residential electrical systems
C-11 Electrical (commercial)	A business that does electrical work on anything that is not residential, such as shops, offices, restaurants, warehouses and public buildings	Install, alter and repair wiring, materials and equipment used to make, carry or use electricity under 600 volts. Includes overhead wiring on public rights-of-way for signs and street decorations. Includes underground distribution under 600 volts serving private property. Also outside, overhead and underground work, and all wiring in or on a building
CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial)	A business that wants one license for both houses and commercial buildings	Everything the C-11 and the R-11 allow, in one license
Handyman exemption (no license)	Anyone doing a job where the whole contract price, labor and materials, is under $1,000 and no building permit is needed	Casual or minor work only. The moment a permit is needed the exemption is gone, whatever the price

License

Who needs it

What it covers

R-11 Electrical (residential)

A business that does electrical work on houses, townhouses, condos and anything else inside residential property lines

Install and repair residential electrical systems

C-11 Electrical (commercial)

A business that does electrical work on anything that is not residential, such as shops, offices, restaurants, warehouses and public buildings

Install, alter and repair wiring, materials and equipment used to make, carry or use electricity under 600 volts. Includes overhead wiring on public rights-of-way for signs and street decorations. Includes underground distribution under 600 volts serving private property. Also outside, overhead and underground work, and all wiring in or on a building

CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial)

A business that wants one license for both houses and commercial buildings

Everything the C-11 and the R-11 allow, in one license

Handyman exemption (no license)

Anyone doing a job where the whole contract price, labor and materials, is under $1,000 and no building permit is needed

Casual or minor work only. The moment a permit is needed the exemption is gone, whatever the price

Who runs it

2Who issues electrician licenses in Arizona? What is this?

Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) issues electrical licenses in Arizona.

See how this compares in every state: How to check a contractor's license, state by state

Name	Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC)
Website	roc.az.gov
Look up a license	azroc.my.site.com
The law	Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) Title 32, Chapter 10
The rulebook	Arizona Administrative Code (A.A.C.) Title 4, Chapter 9
Does the state license this trade?	Arizona licenses contracting businesses, not individual electricians. There is no state journeyman or master card. Cities may run their own worker licenses

Taken from the linked page, not separately checked

·3 official pages

Getting licensed

3How to become an electrician in Arizona What is this?

Arizona has 3 licenses that matter to an electrician: R-11 Electrical (residential), C-11 Electrical (commercial), CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial). Each is below, with what you need before you apply.

License	Experience required	Training required	Exam
R-11 Electrical (residential)	Four years of hands-on or management experience in the trade, at least two of them within the last ten years. Up to two years of technical training at an accredited college can count toward the four	None required before applying, apart from the training that counts as experience	Yes, a trade exam run by PSI plus the Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE), each taken within two years before you apply
C-11 Electrical (commercial)	Same as the R-11. Four years, two within the last ten, up to two years of schooling can count	—	Yes, a trade exam run by PSI plus the Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE)
CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial)	Same four-year rule	—	Yes, same exams

License

Experience required

Training required

Exam

R-11 Electrical (residential)

Four years of hands-on or management experience in the trade, at least two of them within the last ten years. Up to two years of technical training at an accredited college can count toward the four

None required before applying, apart from the training that counts as experience

Yes, a trade exam run by PSI plus the Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE), each taken within two years before you apply

C-11 Electrical (commercial)

Same as the R-11. Four years, two within the last ten, up to two years of schooling can count

—

Yes, a trade exam run by PSI plus the Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE)

CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial)

Same four-year rule

—

Yes, same exams

What it costs

4How much does an electrical license cost in Arizona? What is this?

The government fees on this page add up to about $720 in Arizona. Add insurance, tools, and a vehicle to get the real number.

License	Application	First license	Renewal	Law and rules exam	Trade exam (paid to PSI)	Late renewal penalty	Recovery fund fee	Recovery fund fee, first license	Recovery fund fee, renewal
R-11 Electrical (residential)	$80	$270	$270	$61	$66	$50	—	$370	$270
C-11 Electrical (commercial)	$100	$480	$480	—	—	—	$0	—	—
CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial)	$100	$380	$380	—	—	—	Same as residential, because a dual license covers residential work	—	—

Added up

Government fees, added up	$720
Plus the two exam fees	$127

Does not include the bond premium, insurance premiums, EPA lead-safe certification, fingerprinting, tools, a vehicle, or city permits and business licenses

Our estimate

Insurance

5How much electrical contractor insurance do you need in Arizona? What is this?

Arizona sets no minimum liability insurance for this license. Customers and general contractors usually ask for $1,000,000 anyway. Workers' comp is required as soon as you regularly employ one worker.

Minimum liability insurance	None required by the state
Type of policy	None required by the state to hold the license
Who this applies to	Nobody has to carry liability insurance to hold the license. A.R.S. 32-1122 asks for experience, an exam where required, and a bond. It also asks you to confirm you follow Arizona's workers' comp laws, and to give the policy number or proof of self-insurance if you must carry workers' comp. Customers, builders, and cities will still ask to see a liability policy
Who must be named on the certificate	Not applicable
Workers' comp required?	Yes, as soon as you regularly employ one worker
Who can opt out	A sole proprietor with no employees does not need a policy for themselves and can sign a waiver form with the insurer that says they are not an employee. Once you hire anyone, coverage is required for that person

Checked by a person against the official page

·4 official pages

Money checks

6Does Arizona check your credit for an electrician license? What is this?

Arizona does not check your credit for this license.

Credit score you need	None. Arizona does not set a minimum credit score
If your score is lower	Not needed. Arizona does not ask for a credit score or a credit report. You post a license bond. Residential and dual licenses also pay into the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund, or post an extra $200,000 bond or cash deposit instead

Checked by a person against the official page

·2 official pages

Bonds

7Does an electrician need a bond in Arizona? What is this?

Arizona requires a bond. A bond is a promise, backed by an insurance company, that customers can be paid if you do not finish the job.

Does the state require a bond?

Yes

Bond, residential R-11

Your license type and the work you expect in a year	Bond you must post
Specialty license, under $375,000	$4,250
Specialty license, $375,000 or more	$7,500
General license, under $750,000	$9,000
General license, $750,000 or more	$15,000

Pick the row that matches your license and the work you expect. R-11 is a specialty license, so the first two rows apply. The amount is fixed

Bond, commercial C-11

Work you expect in a year	Bond you must post
Up to $150,000	$2,500
$150,001 to $500,000	$7,000
$500,001 to $1,000,000	$17,500
$1,000,001 to $5,000,000	$25,000
$5,000,001 to $10,000,000	$37,500
Over $10,000,000	$50,000

Pick the row that matches the work you expect in a year. C-11 is a specialty license, so these rows apply. The amount is fixed; the registrar does not adjust it

Bond, dual CR-11

One bond that adds the residential amount and the commercial amount together

Instead of a bond

Instead of a bond you can put cash with the state treasurer. You get it back two years after the license ends

Recovery fund fee

Residential and dual licensees also pay into the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund.
The payment is capped at $600 per two-year period.
A homeowner can get up to $30,000 per claim from the fund if a licensed residential contractor does bad work and does not fix it.
Only owner-occupants, their LLCs, living trusts, HOAs and tenants can claim

A bond is a promise, backed by an insurance company, that customers can be paid if you do not finish the job or do it badly. Cities may ask for a separate bond before you pull permits

Checked by a person against the official page

·8 official pages

Federal rules

8Federal rules that also apply What is this?

Rules from the US government that apply to an electrician in Arizona on top of the state's own.

Federal license	None. There is no federal license or card for electrical work. The state contractor license is the one you need
Lead-safe certification	Work that disturbs paint in a home or childcare building put up before 1978 is covered by the federal lead rule. Electrical work is named in it. Your firm must be EPA lead-safe certified and use a trained renovator. Jobs that disturb six square feet or less of paint in a room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside, are left out
Who runs it	The EPA runs the renovation program in Arizona. Arizona is not on the EPA's list of states authorized to run their own

Taken from the linked page, not separately checked

·2 official pages

Showing your number

9Where must an Arizona electrician show the license number? What is this?

In Arizona: write your number as ROC followed by the digits. It must appear on every written bid and estimate, on all published ads, and on your letterhead and any paper you send customers. It must also appear on broadcast, internet, and billboard ads, and in a visible spot at every job site. An online ad can instead link to a page that shows your name and license number.

The rule	Write your number as ROC followed by the digits. It must appear on every written bid and estimate, on all published ads, and on your letterhead and any paper you send customers. It must also appear on broadcast, internet, and billboard ads, and in a visible spot at every job site. An online ad can instead link to a page that shows your name and license number
If you forget	The registrar can discipline you. A customer cannot use a missing number to cancel a contract or refuse to award one
On your vehicles	The statute does not mention vehicles

Checked by a person against the official page·azleg.gov

Tax

10Does an electrician charge sales tax on labor in Arizona? What is this?

Whether Arizona taxes your labor, your materials, or neither.

See how this compares in every state: Can you charge sales tax on labor? The rule in 25 states

What this tax is	Arizona calls its sales tax transaction privilege tax (TPT). It is a tax on the seller, so the rules say who pays, not just how much
Repairs and replacements on existing buildings	No tax on your invoice. Fixing a fault, replacing a switch or an outlet, swapping a panel, and rewiring a room in a building that already stands all count as maintenance, repair, replacement or alteration (MRRA). You pay tax when you buy the materials and charge the customer no tax on labor or materials
Alteration limit, homes	A job that changes an existing home still counts as MRRA if the contract price is 25 percent or less of the home's full cash value on the county assessor's notice. Above that it is taxed as new construction
Alteration limit, businesses	A commercial alteration counts as MRRA if the contract is $750,000 or less, touches 40 percent or less of the floor area, and adds no more than 10 percent to it
New buildings and large alterations	Taxed as prime contracting. You charge tax on the whole job, but the tax is figured on 65 percent of the price, because 35 percent is treated as labor. You buy materials tax-free with a Form 5000 exemption certificate
Jobs that are part repair, part new work	If a repair job includes construction work worth more than 15 percent of the contract, the whole contract is taxed
Transaction privilege tax license	If all your work is MRRA for property owners, you do not need a TPT license. If you do any new construction you must register and file
If you hold a TPT license	Suppose you hold a TPT license, buy materials tax-free with Form 5000, and then use them on a repair job. You then owe an amount equal to the retail tax on those materials, reported for the job's location
When you are the subcontractor	If a taxable prime contractor hires you for new construction, get a copy of its registered Form 5009L so you can buy materials tax-free for that job
Tax rate	5.6 percent state, plus county and city rates. The state example uses 7.8 percent for Gilbert in Maricopa County

Checked by a person against the official page

·3 official pages

Getting paid

11Getting paid: lien and notice deadlines for an Arizona electrician What is this?

If you are not paid in Arizona, a lien on the property is your backstop, but only if your notice goes out on time: within 20 days of your first day supplying labor or materials to the job (start on March 1 means notice by March 21). Send it late and your lien only covers work done in the 20 days before the notice and after it.

The order things have to happen in, counted in days

Day 0
Your first day on the job
The clock starts here.
Day 20
Send your notice
Within 20 days of your first day supplying labor or materials to the job (start on March 1 means notice by March 21). Send it late and your lien only covers work done in the 20 days before the notice and after it
Day 120
File your lien
Record the lien within 120 days after the whole project is complete (project finished June 1 means record by September 29). If the owner records a notice of completion, you have only 60 days from that recording

Each day count is counted from the day the rule beside it names, which is not always the same day. Read the sentence under each one.

Who has to send a notice	Everyone who supplies labor or materials and wants lien rights, including a contractor hired directly by the owner. It goes to the owner, the general contractor and the construction lender if there is one. It is called a preliminary twenty-day notice
Send your notice by	Within 20 days of your first day supplying labor or materials to the job (start on March 1 means notice by March 21). Send it late and your lien only covers work done in the 20 days before the notice and after it
File your lien by	Record the lien within 120 days after the whole project is complete (project finished June 1 means record by September 29). If the owner records a notice of completion, you have only 60 days from that recording
Homes the owner lives in	No lien is allowed on a home the owner lived in before the work started unless you have a written contract directly with that owner-occupant. A subcontractor on an occupied house has no lien. The owner cannot sign this protection away

Checked by a person against the official page

·3 official pages

Keeping it

12How do you renew an electrical license in Arizona? What is this?

The R-11 Electrical (residential) renews every two years. You can choose to renew each year instead at half the two-year fee. No training hours are required.

License	Renewal	Training hours each year
R-11 Electrical (residential)	Every two years. You can choose to renew each year instead at half the two-year fee	—
C-11 Electrical (commercial)	Every two years, or each year at half the fee	—
CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial)	Every two years, or each year at half the fee	—

License

Renewal

Training hours each year

R-11 Electrical (residential)

Every two years. You can choose to renew each year instead at half the two-year fee

—

C-11 Electrical (commercial)

Every two years, or each year at half the fee

—

CR-11 Electrical (dual, residential and commercial)

Every two years, or each year at half the fee

—

Renewal fees are in what the license costs. The official page for each license is linked under how you get it.

Watch out

13What catches people out in Arizona What is this?

The things people get wrong or do not expect about Arizona, in a few sentences.

The whole rule for the residential R-11 is one sentence. It lets you install and repair residential electrical systems, and nothing else is written down. The commercial C-11 runs to a paragraph and stops at 600 volts.
A dual CR-11, good for houses and commercial buildings, costs less than the commercial C-11 on its own. The fee rule has a row called Class CR, the specialty dual, at $380 for two years. The commercial specialty row is $480.
Arizona issues no journeyman or master electrician card. The state licenses the business, and a worker paid only wages does not need a license of their own.
Rewiring a room, changing a panel, or adding a circuit in a building that already stands is not taxed on your invoice. You pay the tax at the supply house instead.
The bond is a fixed amount, not a share of your turnover. A residential electrical contractor expecting under $375,000 of work in a year posts $4,250.
Houses built before 1978 bring in a federal rule. Cutting into painted walls to run cable can mean your firm needs EPA lead-safe certification.

Checked by a person against the official page

·7 official pages

14Where these numbers come from

The labels under each table are explained on how to read a page.