Register as an apprentice with the state
8,000, over at least four years
$62,230 a year, about $29.92 an hour
Colorado keeps building: Front Range housing, data centers along I-25, hospital and school expansions, oil and gas on the Western Slope, and a lot of solar in between. The day-to-day looks like this:
Keep an eye on solar. Under a 2025 law, companies doing photovoltaic installation need to register with the State Electrical Board by December 31, 2026, and each needs at least one NABCEP-certified employee. That is a credential the state never asked for before, and it points to where the hiring is going.
Most states let you work as a helper and sort the paperwork out later. Colorado doesn’t. An electrical apprentice has to be registered with the State Electrical Board, and your employer files it within 30 days of your first day.
Here is how it works in practice:
Already hold a residential wireman license? The moment you step onto a commercial site, or a residential building over four units, you register as an apprentice and work supervised, same as anyone else.
Details and the online system are on the State Electrical Board apprentice page. Forms and the apprentice guide are published in Spanish as well as English.
Above that sits the Electrical Contractor registration, which goes to a business rather than a person. Any company contracting electrical work in Colorado employs a master electrician as its responsible individual, and that master can cover only one company at a time.
Not all 8,000 hours can come from the same work. Some have to be commercial or industrial, and the state says two different amounts.
Call the Board at 303-894-7800 and get your figure confirmed before you commit. Most sites covering Colorado licensing pick one number and state it flatly, including one run by a state-approved continuing education provider. They are copying different sources.
Licenses last three years and expire September 30. Renewals open four to five weeks before. Get licensed within 120 days of a deadline, and the state rolls you to the next cycle instead of making you renew right away.
Renewal takes 24 hours of continuing education per period, and courses only count if the provider has attested to the Board. Got your license by exam during the current period? You skip continuing education until after your first renewal.
About 17,010 electricians work in Colorado, and the median is $62,230 a year, or $29.92 an hour. That lands just under the national median of $63,190, though Colorado employs about 22 percent more electricians per worker than the country overall.
Colorado belongs to the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance. If you hold a journeyman license from a member state, you can get a Colorado certificate without sitting the exam again.
Reciprocity here covers journeymen. Master electricians coming from elsewhere go the endorsement route instead.
Because registration runs through your employer, finding a program and finding a job are the same task here. The training pays, which helps.
We keep short, low-cost programs in one place so you don’t have to call around. Our Colorado training catalog only lists programs we have checked for cost, length, and whether they lead to work.
SkillUp is so much more than a job board. Our free tools support you through each step:
Yes. State law requires it, and your employer has to file the registration within 30 days of your first day. You get a registration number that stays with you through every job change, and you have to carry the card while working.
You need a license to work unsupervised. Residential wireman, journeyman, and master are all licensed by the State Electrical Board. Apprentices are registered rather than licensed, and work under direct supervision.
At least four years. The state asks for 8,000 hours earned over no less than four years, plus 288 classroom hours. The four-year minimum holds even if you bank the hours faster.
The state is not consistent on this. The Board’s licensing page says 2,000 hours, while Colorado law asks for two years or 4,000 hours. Plan for the higher figure and confirm with the Board before you commit to a schedule.
Yes, for journeymen from the 14 National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance states: Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. You need to have held it a year and earned it by exam. Master electricians use the endorsement route instead.
Every three years, on September 30. Renewal requires 24 hours of continuing education from a Board-attested provider. If you were licensed by exam during the current period, you skip continuing education until after your first renewal.
Not on experience alone. Colorado does not let you go from apprentice or residential wireman straight to master that way. A degree can open other routes in, but the ladder generally runs through journeyman.
A 2025 state law requires photovoltaic installation companies to register with the State Electrical Board by December 31, 2026, and to employ at least one NABCEP-certified person. That registration sits with the company rather than with you as an individual.
