Electrical Licensing

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tom baker

First Chief Moderator
Staff member
I am writing an article on the history of electrical licensing in Washington. Electrical licensing started in 1919, and electricians were required to be certified in 1974. Any information on when other states started electrical licensing would be most appreciated.
 

packersparky

Senior Member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
Inspector
Wisconsin started licensing electricians around 1987, although some cities did have their own licensing before that. An electrical license was not required to do electrical work until 4/1/2014.
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
Georgia required licensing starting in 1980 (rule 122-2-01), and it was an absolute free-for-all as far as grandfathering people in. Pay the money, get a license.

We are now finally starting to see the very last of these guys go. Some of them were well-qualified, most were not. When I got my license 13 years ago, there were over 10,000 Class II license holders in the state, more than half of which were grandfathered in. The next highest was HVAC at 5,000, and then plumbing with less than 2500. I have no idea what the numbers are now as I haven’t looked in years. I do remember at the time my county with a population of 100k had at least 150 licensed electrical contractors.




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rlundsrud

Senior Member
Location
chicago, il, USA
Illinois doesn't have a state license either. You have to get a separate license in each municipality that you work/permit in. The closest thing is to have a Chicago license, it transfers anywhere in the state that I am aware of.
 

al hildenbrand

Senior Member
Location
Minnesota
Occupation
Electrical Contractor, Electrical Consultant, Electrical Engineer
Back in the early '70s I held a Fremont, Nebr., masters license and remember my delight to be "grandfathered" when Nebraska established State wide electrical licensing in 1975 or '76. Kwired may recall more exactly the date.

Minnesota established a Minnesota State Electrical Act in 1899 that established (but did not fund) the inspection of all new wiring done, State wide.

Minnesota individual and business licensing came after, but I can't find the history at the moment.
 

qcroanoke

Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
Location
Roanoke, VA.
Occupation
Sorta retired........
"I did not know that!" ~ Johnny Carson

I've been licensed much longer than that. What was in place before?

Me too!
But it was a test administered by localities for the state. Took mine in Roanoke county. Journeyman's and Master's.
 

Frank DuVal

Senior Member
Location
Fredericksburg, VA 21 Hours from Winged Horses wi
Occupation
Electrical Contractor, Electrical Engineer
I too passed the Virginia test about 1980. Took classes at Richmond Technical Center. Master license was issued by the City of Richmond. I forgot when I started getting the blue on white card to replace the black on white city issued card, could have been about 1995. City issued card was accepted in the other localities I worked in (all close to Richmond).
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
Hey I’d be interested in reading the article when it’s completed.


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oldsparky52

Senior Member
VA was 1995.

I'm guessing this is when the state took complete control. Prior to that, the state had exams that must be recognized across the state but each locality had their own regulations. Prior to this, it was either the state license or a local license, unless you were in an area that did not require a license. Most locations required a license, some out in the country locations there were not requirements for license.
 

tom baker

First Chief Moderator
Staff member
Thank you for your replies. Washington required electrical licensing in March, 1919, and electrical worker certification in 1974. It appears Washington was one of the early adopters of Licensing.
What is interesting is this is right after the end of the World War, where the concern was with reconstruction, and the middle of a world wide flu panedemic. The Olympia (State Capital) City Council closed all theaters and dance halls...I will post a link to the state electrical newsletter when its available (probably next week).
 

tom baker

First Chief Moderator
Staff member
I attended the January Washington Electrical Board meeting, as I have retired my training business, I thanked them for their service. And I gently reminded them of the pending 100th anniversary of Washington Electrical Licensing, seems few if any were aware of it.
I researched and submitted information for our monthly state electrical newsletter. I was very interesing researching the history...the big takeaway is the licensing law was passed during the world wire spanish flu pandemic. My article is attached.
I had the lead article in the March Currents, find it here; https://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Electrical/files/currents/Elc1903.pdf

Later I would like to research electrial licensing and when it started in each state.
 

Attachments

  • WA State 1919 Electrical Licensing Article.pdf
    74.1 KB · Views: 2

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
Great read; thanks for sharing that.

It’s interesting that the fees and bond requirements from that time are pretty close to what I see today. In my hometown, the bond requirement is $5k, and we pay $200 every two years for licensing in Georgia.

So the inspectors added in that later revision of the bill, were those state-employed? I want to think $1/hr was a decent wage for that time?


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