Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05

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Georgia Electrician License: Requirements and Classes

Georgia doesn't license electricians. It licenses electrical contractors, in two classes, and everyone else works for one of them. This page walks the whole path, from your first day on a crew to the license in your name, with the board's own words behind each step.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

Who licenses what in Georgia

The license comes from the Georgia Secretary of State, through the State Construction Industry Licensing Board and its Division of Electrical Contractors. The board's stated purpose is to protect the public against faulty construction installations through the licensing of contractors, and the mailing address is 214 State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia 30334.

Its own FAQ answers the question people ask most: "Does the Board license electricians?" The answer printed there is no, the board licenses electrical contractors, not electricians.

So there's no state journeyman card and no state master card to chase. There's one credential, the electrical contractor license, and it comes in two classes.

Class I and Class II

Board Rule 121-3-.01 sets them out. A Class I license is restricted to electrical contracting involving single phase installations that don't exceed 200 amperes at the service drop or the service lateral. A Class II license is unrestricted.

The same two licenses are printed under different names depending on which document you're holding. The board's landing page calls them Restricted and Non-Restricted. Application form 44 calls them Class 1 Restricted and Class 2 Non-Restricted. The rules call them Class I and Class II. They're the same pair.

One number is not settled. The current rules compilation says 200 amperes in both the Class I limit and the Class II experience test. The board's own application form, revised 06-22, says a Class 2 applicant has to show experience above single phase 400 ampere systems, and Augusta's local sheet repeats 400. We name both rather than pick one. Ask the board before you plan a job around the line.

The low voltage license is a different license

Low voltage work sits under a separate statewide license from a different division of the same board. The electrical application form says so plainly: a separate statewide low voltage contractor license is required for that work.

Rule 121-3-.06 sets four classes:

• LV-A, restricted to alarm and general system low voltage contracting.
• LV-T, restricted to telecommunication and general system low voltage contracting.
• LV-G, restricted to general system low voltage contracting.
• LV-U, unrestricted.

Each applicant needs at least one year of experience in low voltage wiring in the category applied for. Electronics courses through a school of engineering technology or a technical trade school count as experience equal to the actual instructional time, up to six months. The board's low voltage landing page is here.

What the board asks for

Rule 121-3-.01 and the application form set the bar, and they disagree on one line. Rule 121-3-.01(2) says you need to be at least 21 years old, while the affidavit on Form 44, the electrical exam application, has the applicant verify being 18 or older. Plan on 21 and ask the board if your dates sit between the two. You need a minimum of four years of Primary Experience, which the rule defines as working experience gained through the direct installation of electrical systems, and the form converts that at 2,000 hours to the year.

The experience has to come from work under an active licensed electrical contractor. The form is blunt about it: time with an unlicensed contractor does not count.

The rest of the package, as the board's how-to guide lists it:

• A completed, signed and notarized application.
• Three notarized original reference forms, at least one from a licensed electrical contractor.
• A background check from local law enforcement.
• Work experience documentation.
• Secure and verifiable identification, an affidavit of citizenship and immigration documents where they apply.
• Disciplinary history disclosure with court documents where there's anything to disclose.

The guide says applications are generally processed within 20 business days of receipt, excluding weekends and holidays. It's a general figure rather than a cap: the guide also says a deficiency letter restarts the 20 day count when the board receives your correct and complete documentation, and that an application with deficiencies left unresolved for 60 days may be withdrawn.

Where the application goes

Online, through the GOALS portal. The board page says it no longer accepts paper applications, so the forms you download are there to show you what will be asked, not to mail in.

The board's Licensing Division sits in Macon and takes calls at 404-424-9966, per the division page. The same portal handles renewals and holds the fee schedule.

The exam you sit after the board approves you

PSI runs it, and board approval comes first. There are two exams, one for Class I and one for Class II, described in PSI bulletin 4783.

Class I is 155 items, being 140 scored questions and 15 pretest questions. Class II is 162 items, being 140 scored and 22 pretest. Both run in two parts with eight hours allotted overall, four hours per part with a break between. The passing scaled score is 70, which Rule 121-3-.01 repeats.

References are allowed, but only the ones on the bulletin's list, and the questions reference the 2023 National Electrical Code. Fail twice and the bulletin and Rule 121-3-.03(1) both require a board approved review course before a third attempt.

What it costs and when it renews

The board's fee schedule prints a $30.00 initial application fee for exam and reciprocity applications in both classes, the $10 processing fee added in March 2022 to all application fees, a $75.00 license fee and $100.00 for late renewal within 30 days of the expiration date. It prints no plain renewal row for electrical contractors, and the $45.00 and $70.00 rows on that page belong to Journeyman Plumber and Utility Foreman.

Two other official pages print totals rather than parts. The forms show $40 for an exam application, which is the $30.00 application fee plus $10 processing, and $160 for reinstatement, which is the schedule's $150.00 lapse figure plus the same $10. The how-to guide shows $110 for an initial restricted or non-restricted application and $310 for a non restricted reinstatement under three years. We list all three sets on the fees page and tell you to check the live schedule in GOALS before you pay.

The license runs on a two year cycle and expires June 30 of even numbered years. Continuing education is four hours each year, eight over the renewal period.

What your city can and cannot add

Georgia Attorney General Opinion 99-2, from February 1999, concludes that a local government may not make a state licensed electrical contractor get a local license or pass a local exam, except as O.C.G.A. 43-14-12 allows. That same section lets local governments adopt local building codes and suspend licenses.

What cities and counties do charge for is an occupation tax or business license. Augusta-Richmond County goes furthest of the places we checked: it requires its own electrical contractor business license on top of the state one, with insurance and a surety bond. No Georgia city or county we found issues its own electrician card.

The path, in order

1. Get hired by a licensed electrical contractor, through an apprenticeship or straight onto a crew.
2. Work the installation side and keep a record of it. Four years, counted at 2,000 hours to the year, under an active licensed contractor.
3. Cover the experience areas the rule lists, since the application asks you to document them one by one.
4. Line up three notarized references, one of them from a licensed electrical contractor.
5. Apply in GOALS, wait for the board's review, then schedule the PSI exam.
6. Pass at 70, pay the license fee, and renew every two years with your continuing education done first.

If you want the dates rather than the list, the experience calculator takes your hours and shows where you stand.

Questions people ask

Do you need a license to be an electrician in Georgia?

Not as an individual electrician. The state board licenses electrical contractors and says so in its FAQ. You work as an employee of a licensed electrical contractor, and that license is what covers the work.

What's the difference between a Class I and Class II Georgia electrical license?

Class I is restricted to single phase installations that don't exceed 200 amperes at the service drop or lateral, under Rule 121-3-.01. Class II is unrestricted. The board's application form uses 400 amperes instead of 200, which is a conflict we have not been able to resolve.

How long does it take to get a Georgia electrical contractor license?

Four years of documented experience is the floor, counted at 2,000 hours per year, gained under an active licensed electrical contractor. Board review takes up to 20 business days after a complete application, then you schedule the PSI exam.

How old do you have to be?

At least 21 under Rule 121-3-.01(2), which applies to both classes. The affidavit on Form 44, the electrical exam application, has the applicant verify being 18 or older instead, so the two board documents disagree. Plan on 21 and ask the board if your dates sit between the two.

Is the Georgia electrical exam open book?

You can bring references, but only the titles listed in PSI bulletin 4783. Highlighting, underlining and permanent tabs are allowed; anything else in the book gets removed and confiscated at check-in.

Does Georgia have a journeyman electrician license?

No. There's no state journeyman tier and no state master tier. The word journeyman still gets used on Georgia job sites and in apprenticeship programs, and our journeyman page explains what it means there.

Where do I apply?

In the GOALS portal at goals.sos.ga.gov. The board page says paper applications are no longer accepted, so the PDF forms are useful for reading what will be asked, not for mailing.

What this page cites

• Board FAQ, Secretary of State States that the board licenses electrical contractors and not electricians, and gives the renewal window and continuing education hours. source
• Board Rule 121-3-.01 Sets the age of 21, four years of Primary Experience, the Class I 200 ampere restriction, the unrestricted Class II license and the passing score of 70. source
• Form 44, Application - Electrical EXAM Prints the class names, the 2,000 hours to a year conversion, the three notarized references and the 400 ampere figure that conflicts with the rule. source
• How-to guide, electrical contractors Lists every application item, the 20 business day review and one of the three published fee sets. source
• PSI bulletin 4783 Gives the two exams, their question counts, the eight hours in two parts, the 70 passing score, the allowed references and the review course after two failures. source
• Attorney General Opinion 99-2 Concludes that a local government cannot add licensing requirements on top of the state electrical contractor license. source