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Register as an apprentice with the state.
8,000 hours over four years, plus 144 classroom hours a year
$74,090 a year, about $35.62 an hour
Rhode Island has hospitals and universities around Providence, defense and shipbuilding work in the bay, offshore wind coming ashore, and housing stock old enough that rewiring is constant work. Day to day:
Rhode Island counts experience only while you hold a certificate of registration as an apprentice from the Department of Labor and Training. The statute is explicit: you have to have held that certificate for at least four years before you file for the journeyperson exam.
So registration is the first thing to do, not something to settle later. If you are still in school, vocational programs let you begin at 16.
You also need to be in a registered apprenticeship program the department has approved, working under a licensed journeyperson. Both halves matter, and the completion certificate from the apprenticeship office is what the exam application requires.
Find an employer running a registered program, then register with the department. The order matters because registration is tied to the program.
SkillUp houses short, low-cost programs in one place so you’re not calling around. Our training catalog only lists programs we have checked for cost, length, and whether they lead to work.
Rhode Island employs about 2,420 electricians, and the median is $74,090 a year, or $35.62 an hour.
State law sets out three apprentice tracks with differing requirements:
Limited journeyperson licenses in burner and related work also require 4,000 hours over two years as a registered limited apprentice, with a notarized letter from your employer.
A Class M journeyperson can qualify for the full Certificate B exam by registering as a fourth-year apprentice under a journeyperson B, working for a licensed contractor that runs a registered apprenticeship. So three years can become four rather than starting over.
Classroom hours can come from school rather than from your program, within limits the statute sets.
That caps out at half the 576 hours the full license requires, so schooling shortens the classroom side without replacing it. Check that a program carries both approvals before you pay for it, because only approved coursework counts.
Bring a valid copy of your out-of-state trade license and an official license verification from that state. The department is specific that computer printouts of license verifications are not accepted, so request the official version early.
You also need four years of verified experience in the trade and 576 hours of related instruction the department approves, the same as anyone applying from inside Rhode Island.
SkillUp is so much more than a job board. Our free tools support you through each step:
Yes. State law counts your experience only while you hold a certificate of registration as an apprentice from the Department of Labor and Training, and you have to have held it for at least four years before applying for the journeyperson exam.
Four years for the full Certificate B journeyperson license: 8,000 hours of work plus 144 classroom hours a year. The maintenance electrician track is three years and 6,000 hours, and lightning protection is two years and 4,000 hours.
No. A Class M maintenance journeyperson can qualify for the full Certificate B exam by registering as a fourth-year apprentice under a journeyperson B, working for a licensed contractor that runs a registered apprenticeship.
Some. 144 hours from a vocational school authorized by the board of education, or up to 288 hours over two academic years from an accredited trade school approved by both the Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner and the apprenticeship office.
16, if you are in a vocational high school program. Otherwise the standard entry age applies.
Six years of experience in the trade and a journeyperson license held for at least two years before you apply for the contractor examination.
Every second year, on your birthday, with fifteen hours of coursework approved by the Board of Examiners of Electricians. A license will not renew while a fine is outstanding.
If you held the license before enlisting, it renews without another exam as long as you apply within four years and four months of your enlistment date and pay the fee.
