Developing a professional trade is an option that many people take when pursuing their career paths or secondary education. There are several options for professional and vocational trades and licenses in the state of Hawaii — among them general contracting and plumbing — but today we’re going to focus on how you can become an electrical contractor in Hawaii.
Hawaii Electrical License Reciprocity
Hawaii does not reciprocate electrical contractor licenses with any jurisdiction.
Hawaii Electrical Licensing Requirements
If you are hoping to become a licensed supervising or journeyman electrician (called “journey worker” by the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of Hawaii), there are a few steps you will need to take, depending on your specialty or area of interest.
Supervising License
To obtain a supervising license, you will already need to be a licensed journey worker. However, depending on your specialty, the experience requirements may differ.
Supervising Electrician
- Experience requirement: 4 years operating as a licensed journey worker.
Supervising Industrial Electrician
- Experience requirement: 3 years operating as a licensed industrial journey worker
Supervising Specialty Electrician
- Experience requirement: 2 years of experience operating as a licensed specialty journey worker.
Journey Worker License Requirements
A journey worker is an entry-level term used by the state of Hawaii for electrical contractors. To become a journey worker, you will need to complete a certain amount of academic coursework and field experience dependent on your area of study:
Journey Worker Electrician
- Academic hours: satisfactory completion and recognition of completion from a University of Hawaii Community College of 240 hours of electrical academic coursework.
- Experience hours: an electrical journey worker must complete five years — or an equivalent of 10,000 hours — of residential or commercial wiring experience.
Journey Worker Industrial Electrician
- Academic hours: satisfactory completion, and recognition from the University of Hawaii Community College of 200 hours of electrical academic coursework.
- Experience hours: 4 years or no less than 8,000 qualifying hours of industrial electrical experience.
Journey Worker Specialty Electrician
- Academic hours: satisfactory completion and recognition from the University of Hawaii Community College of 120 hours of electrical academic coursework.
- Experience hours: 3 years or no less than 6,000 qualifying hours of specialty electrical experience.
Maintenance Electrician
- Academic hours: satisfactory completion and recognition from a University of Hawaii community college of 80 hours of electrical academic coursework.
- Experience hours: 1 year of electrical maintenance wiring.
Electrical Journey Worker’s Exam
Once you have completed and verified your academic hours, you will need to pass the electrical journey worker’s exam with a 70% or higher. The exam costs $95, and you will need an approved exam application to verify your exam eligibility beforehand.
Hawaii Electrical Insurance Requirements
The state of Hawaii requires licensed electricians to be insured before performing any professional electrical work. Business must provide workers’ compensation and liability insurance to their electricians, and self-employed electricians must obtain liability insurance.
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Electrician Apprenticeship Requirements
All Hawaii apprenticeship programs, conducted at public or private institutions, require apprentices to complete all program-specific work as well as the 240 hours of electrical coursework (if said 240 hours is not already included in the program) to qualify them for the journey worker’s exam.
Electrical Trade Schools in Hawaii
- Honolulu Community College
874 Dillingham Blvd,
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 845-9211
- Hawaii Community College
1175 Manono Street,
Hilo, Hawaii 96720-5096
(808) 934-2500
- Kaui Community College
3-1901 Kaumualii Hwy
Lihue, HI 96766
(808) 245-8311
- Hawaii Electricians Training Fund
1935 Hau Street, Room 301
Honolulu, HI, 96819
(808) 847-0629
Hawaii Professional License Search
You can perform an electrical contractor license search to check your status on the state government’s search portal.
For More License and Career Guides
To find out how to become an Electrical Contractor in another state, start here.
For information on other trades in Hawaii, click on a link below to learn more about the licensing requirements:
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