Ohio electrical license requirements and insurance

Who it applies to

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

Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license): anyone who contracts for electrical work on a commercial construction project in Ohio. The license is issued to you but must be assigned to a contracting company, and the company's name goes on it

License	Who needs it	What it covers
Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)	Anyone who contracts for electrical work on a commercial construction project in Ohio. The license is issued to you but must be assigned to a contracting company, and the company's name goes on it	Electrical work on commercial construction projects anywhere in Ohio. Cities and counties handle residential work
Journeyman and apprentice electrician	The state does not license journeyman or apprentice electricians. A journeyman card from a city, county or union program is one way to prove experience for the state contractor license	Set by the city or county that issues the card
Residential electrical work	Anyone wiring houses. The state license does not cover it and does not replace a local one	Set by your city or county

License

Who needs it

What it covers

Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)

Anyone who contracts for electrical work on a commercial construction project in Ohio. The license is issued to you but must be assigned to a contracting company, and the company's name goes on it

Electrical work on commercial construction projects anywhere in Ohio. Cities and counties handle residential work

Journeyman and apprentice electrician

The state does not license journeyman or apprentice electricians. A journeyman card from a city, county or union program is one way to prove experience for the state contractor license

Set by the city or county that issues the card

Residential electrical work

Anyone wiring houses. The state license does not cover it and does not replace a local one

Set by your city or county

Who runs it

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

Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB), part of the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Industrial Compliance issues electrical licenses in Ohio.

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

Name	Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB), part of the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Industrial Compliance
Website	com.ohio.gov
Look up a license	elicense4.com.ohio.gov
The law	Ohio Revised Code chapter 4740
The rulebook	Ohio Administrative Code chapter 4101:16
Home jobs	The state law leaves out residential buildings, so the state license covers commercial work. Residential electrical work is licensed or registered by cities and counties, so ask your local building department what it wants.

Checked by a person against the official page

·3 official pages

Getting licensed

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

Ohio has 3 licenses that matter to an electrician: Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license), Journeyman and apprentice electrician, Residential electrical work. Each is below, with what you need before you apply.

License	Experience required	Training required	Exam
Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)	Five years as an electrical tradesperson right before you apply. You prove it with five years of tax documents (W-2s or Schedule C) plus one of these. A permit for each of the last five years pulled by the licensed contractor you worked for. A current journeyman card. A certificate from an apprenticeship approved by Ohio or the US Department of Labor. Or 40 hours of live or virtual code classes from an OCILB-approved training agency. Two other routes exist: a registered professional engineer in Ohio with three years of business experience in the trade, or five years as an Ohio government inspector in the trade. Military service can count toward the five years.	None required if you qualify by experience. The 40-hour code class option is one way to prove the experience	Yes, a computer-based exam run by PSI, in two parts: trade and business and law. You need 70 percent on each part. A pass on the business and law part stays good for three years. Board approval to test lasts one year
Journeyman and apprentice electrician	Set locally	—	Set locally
Residential electrical work	—	—	—

License

Experience required

Training required

Exam

Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)

Five years as an electrical tradesperson right before you apply. You prove it with five years of tax documents (W-2s or Schedule C) plus one of these. A permit for each of the last five years pulled by the licensed contractor you worked for. A current journeyman card. A certificate from an apprenticeship approved by Ohio or the US Department of Labor. Or 40 hours of live or virtual code classes from an OCILB-approved training agency. Two other routes exist: a registered professional engineer in Ohio with three years of business experience in the trade, or five years as an Ohio government inspector in the trade. Military service can count toward the five years.

None required if you qualify by experience. The 40-hour code class option is one way to prove the experience

Yes, a computer-based exam run by PSI, in two parts: trade and business and law. You need 70 percent on each part. A pass on the business and law part stays good for three years. Board approval to test lasts one year

Journeyman and apprentice electrician

Set locally

—

Set locally

Residential electrical work

—

What it costs

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

The government fees on this page add up to about 50 in Ohio. Add insurance, tools, and a vehicle to get the real number.

License	Application	Exam	First license	Renewal, yearly	Background check	Late renewal, most you can be charged	Renewal, every three years	Bounced check fee
Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)	$25	null	$25	$60	null	$120	$180	$30

License

Application

Exam

First license

Renewal, yearly

Background check

Late renewal, most you can be charged

Renewal, every three years

Bounced check fee

Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)

$25

null

$25

$60

null

$120

$180

$30

Added up

Government fees, added up	50

Government fees only. Does not include the PSI exam, the background check, insurance premiums, tools, a vehicle, or local registration.

Our estimate

Insurance

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

The least liability insurance Ohio lets an electrician work with is $500,000. Most customers ask for more. Workers' comp is required.

Minimum liability insurance	$500,000
Type of policy	Contractor liability insurance
Who this applies to	Every state-licensed contractor. The policy and the license must both be in the name of the contracting company, as defined in Ohio Revised Code 4740.01
Who must be named on the certificate	You send a Certificate of Liability Insurance with your license application and confirm the cover again at every renewal. The state's page does not say the board must be named as certificate holder
Workers' comp required?	Yes, as soon as you have one employee, and Ohio sells the cover itself through the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC)
Workers' comp: application fee	$120
Who can opt out	A sole proprietor, a partner, or an LLC taxed as a sole proprietor or partnership can leave themselves out. Cover for the owner is optional and you add it on the same form. Policies renew every July 1 until you cancel in writing

Checked by a person against the official page

·3 official pages

Money checks

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

Ohio does not check your credit for this license.

Credit score you need	None found in the board's rules

The licensing rules ask for insurance, not for a credit check, a bond or a net worth test

Checked by software against the official page·law.cornell.edu

Bonds

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

Ohio 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 to hold the contractor license. Cities that register residential contractors often do, so check locally

Checked by software against the official page·dam.assets.ohio.gov

Federal rules

8Federal rules that also apply What is this?

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

Federal license	None. There is no federal license or card for electrical work
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 Ohio. Ohio is not on the EPA's list of states authorized to run their own, so the federal rules apply

Checked by a person against the official page

·2 official pages

Showing your number

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

In Ohio: the law lets the licensing board regulate how a contractor uses and displays the license, but we found no rule naming where the number must appear in the rule pages we could read. Cities that register contractors often set their own, so ask your building department before you letter a van.

The rule	The law lets the licensing board regulate how a contractor uses and displays the license, but we found no rule naming where the number must appear in the rule pages we could read. Cities that register contractors often set their own, so ask your building department before you letter a van

Checked by a person against the official page·com.ohio.gov

Tax

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

In Ohio, no sales tax on installing something that becomes part of the building. 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	Ohio treats you as the final buyer of the materials you install into real property. You pay tax when you buy, and you do not charge the customer tax on the job
Who pays tax on materials	You pay sales tax at the supply house on wire, panels, fixtures and fittings that become part of the building. If you buy out of state with no tax charged, you owe use tax
Labor on buildings	No sales tax on installing something that becomes part of the building
Repairs to things that are not part of the building	If you repair or install something that stays movable rather than becoming part of the building, that is a taxable service and you charge the customer tax
Tax rate	5.75 percent state, plus a county and transit rate on top

Checked by software against the official page·codes.findlaw.com

Getting paid

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

If you are not paid in Ohio, a lien on the property is your backstop, but only if your notice goes out on time: send the Notice of Furnishing within 21 days of your first day of work or first delivery (first work on March 1 means notice by March 22). A late notice only protects the 21 days before you sent it.

The order things have to happen in, counted in days

Day 0
Your first day on the job
The clock starts here.
Day 21
Send your notice
Send the Notice of Furnishing within 21 days of your first day of work or first delivery (first work on March 1 means notice by March 22). A late notice only protects the 21 days before you sent it
Day 60
File your lien
File the lien affidavit with the county recorder within 60 days of your last day of work on a one- or two-family house or a residential condominium unit (last work on March 1 means filing by April 30). On any other job you have 75 days (last work on March 1 means filing by May 15)

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 material suppliers who were hired by the contractor, not by the owner, and only when the owner has recorded a Notice of Commencement (a public record that the project has started). If no Notice of Commencement was recorded, no notice is needed. Laborers paid by the hour never need one
Send your notice by	Send the Notice of Furnishing within 21 days of your first day of work or first delivery (first work on March 1 means notice by March 22). A late notice only protects the 21 days before you sent it
About home construction	The Notice of Furnishing rules do not apply to a home construction contract (a contract with the owner to build or improve a one- or two-family house they live in). Different rules protect the owner on those jobs, set out in Ohio Revised Code 1311.011
File your lien by	File the lien affidavit with the county recorder within 60 days of your last day of work on a one- or two-family house or a residential condominium unit (last work on March 1 means filing by April 30). On any other job you have 75 days (last work on March 1 means filing by May 15)

Checked by a person against the official page

·2 official pages

Keeping it

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

The Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license) renews every year. You need 10 hours of training each year.

License	Renewal	Training hours each year
Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)	Annual, or every three years if you choose the three-year option	—

License

Renewal

Training hours each year

Electrical Contractor (state license, also called a master license)

Annual, or every three years if you choose the three-year option

—

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 Ohio What is this?

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

The state license is for commercial work only. The law's definition of a construction project leaves out residential buildings, so houses are licensed by your city or county, not by the state.
The license is issued to you but has to be assigned to a contracting company, and that company's name goes on it. Your insurance policy must be in the same company name.
One board licenses five trades the same way, with the same fees and the same rules. Electrical, HVAC, plumbing, hydronics and refrigeration. Only the trade exam changes.
You need $500,000 of contractor liability insurance before the license is issued, and you confirm it again at every renewal.
There is a cheaper path for good behavior. One clean year with on-time renewals and no discipline puts you in the compliant contractor program, which drops continuing education from 10 hours a year to 8.
You can pay yearly or buy three years at once. Three years costs $180 against $60 a year, so there is no discount, only fewer renewals to forget.

Checked by a person against the official page

·5 official pages

14Where these numbers come from

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