Illinois electrical license requirements and insurance

Who it applies to

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

Electrical Contractor license (Chicago): any business that installs, alters or maintains wiring or electrical equipment in Chicago, whether or not the job needs a permit. Public utilities and state-licensed private alarm contractors are let off

License	Who needs it	What it covers
No state electrical license	Nobody at state level. There is no state exam, no state fee and no state license number for electrical work in Illinois	Whatever your city or village allows. Most towns of any size license electrical contractors or ask for a license from a neighboring town, and all of them require a permit and an inspection for wiring work
Supervising Electrician license (Chicago)	The licensed person behind every electrical contractor in Chicago. All electrical work is done by this person or under their direction. One person can be the primary supervising electrician for only one contractor	Two kinds, general and low voltage. Which one you hold follows the exam you passed
Electrical Contractor license (Chicago)	Any business that installs, alters or maintains wiring or electrical equipment in Chicago, whether or not the job needs a permit. Public utilities and state-licensed private alarm contractors are let off	A general license covers any electrical work. A low voltage license covers only remote-control, signaling, power-limited and communications circuits. Which one the business gets follows the exam its supervising electrician passed

License

Who needs it

What it covers

No state electrical license

Nobody at state level. There is no state exam, no state fee and no state license number for electrical work in Illinois

Whatever your city or village allows. Most towns of any size license electrical contractors or ask for a license from a neighboring town, and all of them require a permit and an inspection for wiring work

Supervising Electrician license (Chicago)

The licensed person behind every electrical contractor in Chicago. All electrical work is done by this person or under their direction. One person can be the primary supervising electrician for only one contractor

Two kinds, general and low voltage. Which one you hold follows the exam you passed

Electrical Contractor license (Chicago)

Any business that installs, alters or maintains wiring or electrical equipment in Chicago, whether or not the job needs a permit. Public utilities and state-licensed private alarm contractors are let off

A general license covers any electrical work. A low voltage license covers only remote-control, signaling, power-limited and communications circuits. Which one the business gets follows the exam its supervising electrician passed

Who runs it

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

No state agency. Illinois does not license electricians or electrical contractors. Your city or village decides whether you need a license issues electrical licenses in Illinois.

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

Name	No state agency. Illinois does not license electricians or electrical contractors. Your city or village decides whether you need a license
Website	idfpr.illinois.gov
Does the state license this trade?	None. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's list of licensed professions has no electrician or electrical contractor on it. No other state department licenses general electrical work. The state does license alarm and security contractors separately, so low voltage alarm work is a different matter
City rules	Chicago licenses the person, as a Supervising Electrician, and the business, as an Electrical Contractor, through its Department of Buildings. Both are below. Many suburbs run their own electrical license or accept a neighboring town's. Ask the building department in every town you work in before you quote a job

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Getting licensed

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

Illinois has 3 licenses that matter to an electrician: No state electrical license, Supervising Electrician license (Chicago), Electrical Contractor license (Chicago). Each is below, with what you need before you apply.

License	Experience required	Exam
No state electrical license	—	—
Supervising Electrician license (Chicago)	At least 21 years old, with two years of electrical work under a supervising electrician or someone of equal standing. Your supervisors confirm it by letter	Yes, a written exam run by Continental Testing Services for the city. If you fail, you wait six months before you apply again
Electrical Contractor license (Chicago)	—	No exam for the business. Its supervising electrician takes the exam

License

Experience required

Exam

No state electrical license

—

Supervising Electrician license (Chicago)

At least 21 years old, with two years of electrical work under a supervising electrician or someone of equal standing. Your supervisors confirm it by letter

Yes, a written exam run by Continental Testing Services for the city. If you fail, you wait six months before you apply again

Electrical Contractor license (Chicago)

—

No exam for the business. Its supervising electrician takes the exam

What it costs

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

The government fees on this page add up to about 0 in Illinois. Add insurance, tools, and a vehicle to get the real number.

License	Exam	First license	Renewal
Supervising Electrician license (Chicago)	$150	$150	$150
Electrical Contractor license (Chicago)	—	$150	$150

Added up

Government fees, added up	0

No state license fee, because there is no state license. In Chicago the exam, the supervising electrician license and the contractor license come to $450 in the first year. Other towns charge their own fees. Does not include insurance, a bond, tools or a vehicle

Our estimate

Insurance

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

The least liability insurance Illinois lets an electrician work with is $100,000 for injury and $50,000 for property damage. Most customers ask for more. Workers' comp is required from the first employee.

Minimum liability insurance	$100,000
Type of policy	Public liability and property damage insurance. $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for injury, plus $50,000 per occurrence for property damage. Since 2001 you also need $10,000 per occurrence of cover for work that turns out not to meet the building code
Minimum liability insurance (injury)	$300,000
Minimum liability insurance (property damage)	$50,000
Who this applies to	Anyone in the business of home repair or remodeling, which the law says includes electrical wiring on any home. A home here means one of six units or fewer. Building a new home is outside the law altogether, and so are repairs to a building with more than six units. Maintenance, servicing and repairs under $500 are outside it too, but an improvement or an addition is covered whatever it costs. A business with a net worth of at least $1,000,000 shown in financial statements less than 13 months old can self-insure instead
Who must be named on the certificate	Nobody. No state office collects the certificate, because there is no state license. The law just requires you to hold the cover. Your city may ask to see it before it issues a permit or a local license
Workers' comp required?	Yes
Workers' comp: what to know	Illinois names electrical work, and the erecting, maintaining, remodeling or altering of any structure, on the list of work that is covered automatically. The day you hire anyone you must carry workers' compensation insurance or be approved to self-insure.
Who can opt out	A sole owner, a partner or an LLC member can choose not to cover themselves. Employees can never be left out.
Workers' comp: if you skip it	Knowingly going without cover costs up to $500 a day, with a minimum of $10,000. A repeat costs up to $1,000 a day with a $20,000 minimum. The state can also order all work to stop, and the owner or officer can be charged with a Class 4 felony.

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Money checks

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

Illinois does not check your credit for this license.

Credit score you need	None. There is no state license, so there is no state credit check, net worth test or financial statement
If your score is lower	Not needed. The only net worth figure in state law is the $1,000,000 that lets a home repair business skip buying insurance

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Bonds

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

Illinois does not require a state bond for this license. Some cities ask for one before they issue permits.

Does the state require a bond?	No
Amount	Not listed yet

The state does not ask for a bond (a promise, backed by an insurance company, that customers can be paid if you do not finish the job) because it does not license the trade. Chicago and other towns often ask for one with a local electrical license or before a permit, so check with each city.

Checked by a person against the official page·idfpr.illinois.gov

Showing your number

8Where must an Illinois electrician show the license number? What is this?

In Illinois: there is no state license number to display. If Chicago or your town issues you a license, ask them whether the number must go on your trucks, ads and invoices.

The rule	There is no state license number to display. If Chicago or your town issues you a license, ask them whether the number must go on your trucks, ads and invoices
What your contract must say	On any home job over $1,000 the state home repair law makes you give the customer a written contract to sign before work starts. It must show the total price with parts and materials itemized, any charge for the estimate, and your business name and address
Written notice you must give the customer	Every home repair customer gets the state pamphlet Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights, whatever the job is worth. Over $1,000 you hand it over before the contract is signed, and the customer signs a slip saying they received it. At $1,000 or under no signed slip is needed
If you forget	Breaking the home repair law is treated as consumer fraud. The customer can sue for actual damages under the state's consumer fraud law

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Tax

9Does an electrician charge sales tax on labor in Illinois? What is this?

In Illinois, no sales tax on your labor when it is part of a construction contract. The rest of the rules are below.

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

What this tax is	Illinois treats an electrical contractor as the final user of the wire, conduit, panels, breakers and fixtures that become part of a building. The tax is paid once, when you buy, and never appears on your invoice
Who pays tax on materials	You. You owe use tax on the cost of every material that becomes part of the building. Your supplier normally collects it at the counter. You do not charge the customer tax on materials or on labor
Labor	No sales tax on your labor when it is part of a construction contract
Homes versus businesses	No difference. The same rule applies to a house and to an office
New buildings versus repairs	No difference. A new circuit, a panel swap and a repair all follow the same rule
Things that are not part of the building	Some things stay a separate item after installation, such as a plug-in appliance or a portable generator. For those you are a retailer and must charge the customer sales tax on the sale
Resale certificate	Only if you do not know at the time of purchase whether an item will go into a building or be sold as is. If you then use it in a building you must report and pay the tax yourself
Use tax	Materials bought from another state are still taxed. If the seller did not collect Illinois tax, you pay use tax to the Department of Revenue yourself
Tax rate	6.25 percent state, plus local rates that vary by town and county. Look up the rate for a job address with the Tax Rate Finder in MyTax Illinois

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Getting paid

10Getting paid: lien and notice deadlines for an Illinois electrician What is this?

If you are not paid in Illinois, a lien on the property is your backstop, but only if your notice goes out on time: on every job, a subcontractor must send the owner a written notice of the amount due within 90 days after finishing (last day of work June 1 means notice by August 30). Send it to the owner, and to the lender if you know one, by certified mail, a tracked courier or in person.

The order things have to happen in, counted in days

Day 0
Your first day on the job
The clock starts here.
Day 90
Send your notice
On every job, a subcontractor must send the owner a written notice of the amount due within 90 days after finishing (last day of work June 1 means notice by August 30). Send it to the owner, and to the lender if you know one, by certified mail, a tracked courier or in person

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	Subcontractors and suppliers, meaning anyone the owner did not hire directly. A contractor hired by the owner sends no notice but must give the owner a sworn list of everyone working under them before any payment
Homes the owner lives in	On a house the owner lives in, a subcontractor must hand or send the occupant a written notice within 60 days of the first day of work or delivery (first day on site March 1 means notice by April 30). Send it by certified mail with a return receipt or deliver it in person. Late notice keeps the lien only for money the owner has not already paid out
Send your notice by	On every job, a subcontractor must send the owner a written notice of the amount due within 90 days after finishing (last day of work June 1 means notice by August 30). Send it to the owner, and to the lender if you know one, by certified mail, a tracked courier or in person
File your lien by	Record your claim for lien with the county recorder within four months after your last day of work (last day of work June 1 means you record by October 1). Against the owner alone you have two years, but four months is what protects you against a sale or a new mortgage
File a lawsuit by	You must start your lawsuit within two years of finishing the work (last day of work June 1 means you sue by June 1 two years later)
Written notice you must give the customer	A contractor hired by the owner of a house they live in must give them a written notice in bold type of at least 10 point. It says the law requires a sworn statement of everyone furnishing labor and materials before any payment is due

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Keeping it

11How do you renew an electrical license in Illinois? What is this?

The Electrical Contractor license (Chicago) renews every year.

License	Renewal
Supervising Electrician license (Chicago)	Every year
Electrical Contractor license (Chicago)	Every year

License

Renewal

Supervising Electrician license (Chicago)

Every year

Electrical Contractor license (Chicago)

Every year

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

Watch out

12What catches people out in Illinois What is this?

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

No Illinois agency licenses electricians for general wiring. Electrical work is licensed town by town, and Chicago's Supervising Electrician license is the best known of them. Alarm and security work is the exception, and the state does license that.
Electrical work is named in the workers' compensation law as extra hazardous, so cover is automatic the day you hire someone. Knowingly going without it costs up to $500 a day with a $10,000 floor.
You cannot buy wire and panels tax-free for resale. Illinois treats you as the final user of anything that becomes part of the building, so tax is paid when you buy, and your invoice carries none.
A written contract with your business name and address is required by state law on any home job over $1,000, whether or not your town licenses you.
Every subcontractor has 90 days after finishing to send the owner a written notice, and four months after finishing to record the lien.

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13Where these numbers come from

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