• Please note that the Florida Business exam as well as the Residential Electrical exam is required to be passed to obtain your contractor’s license. The Business (CBT) exam required by Electrical contractors is NOT the same Business exam required by the other contractor trades.
• Pre-approval from the Electrical Contractors Licensing Board is required to sit for this exam.
• Certification of Insurance coverage limits for Electrical are $300,000 per occurrence (including completed operations and products), $500,000 property damage (including completed operations and products), $100,000 per person, or $800,000 combined single limit. Worker’s Compensation Insurance is required also.
• All contractors must be at least 18 years of age and be of good moral character.
• Beginning November 1, 2007, all applicants for initial licensure or changed of status will be required to have a criminal background check performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigation. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT YOUR FINGERPRINTS HAVE BEEN SCANNED BY THE DEPARTMENT’S VENDOR, PROMISSOR/PEARSON VUE, PRIOR TO SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION.
• Applicants must submit a personal financial statement, signed in the presence of a notary unless prepared by a CPA, prepared within 12 months of filing the application and must show a total net worth. All applicants must also submit a credit report, from a recognized credit bureau, dated within 12 months of filing the application and must include the following statement: “PUBLIC RECORDS HAVE BEEN SEARCHED AT THE COUNTY, STATE, AND FEDERAL LEVELS”.
• Companies applying for a license must show a line of credit or obtain a bond in the amount of $10,000.

  Experience Required:

• Must be licensed as an electrical professional engineer for 3 years within the last 12 years OR
   
• Must be licensed as a professional engineer for 3 years within the last 12 years OR
   
• Must have 3 years of management experience in the trade within the last 6 years immediately preceding the filing of the application OR
   
• Must have 4 years of experience as a foreman, supervisor, or contractor in the trade within the last 8 years immediately preceding the filing of the application OR
   
• Must have 6 years of comprehensive training, technical education, or broad experience associated with an electrical installation or servicing endeavor within the last 12 years immediately preceding the filing of the application OR
   
• Must have at least 6 years of technical experience in electrical work with the Armed Forces or a governmental entity within the last 12 years immediately preceding the filing of the application OR
   
• Must have a combination of these qualifications totaling 6 years of experience

The Residential Electrical contractor can install, repair, alter, add to, replace, or design, in compliance with law, electrical wiring, fixtures, appliances, apparatus, raceways, conduit or any part thereof, in a 1, 2, 3, or 4 family residence not exceeding 2 stories in height, and accessory use structures in connection with the residence. The electrical service installed or worked on is limited to single phase, 400 ampere single service.

To apply, contact State of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation 1-850-487-1395.

The application fee is $150. and the license fee is $255.

You must pay a fee of $56.25 to Promissor/Pearson VUE for the processing of your electronic fingerprints.

Exam applications must be submitted at least 90 days before the next exam date in order to test on that date. Licenses renew on August 31 of every even numbered year.

Florida has a reciprocal agreement for the Residential Electrical with Georgia Class 1.

Effective November 15, 2008 examination fees are being restructured . When applying to schedule for the examination with Professional Testing Inc. (PTI) , the following fee structure will apply:

All parts of the examination:
Pay $135.00 examination development fee payable to PTI, $80.00 examination administration fee payable to DBPR, but mailed to PTI. An $80.00 examination administration fee payable to Pearson Vue (formerly Promissor), the CBT (Computer Based Testing) contracted vendor, is due at the time of scheduling.

• A score of at least 75% is required to pass each of the exams.
• The exams are open book and timed. There are 100 questions with a 5 hour time limit for the Residential Electrical exam. There are 50 questions with a 2.5 hour time limit for the Business exam.
• Exams are held 3 times per year in March, July, and November.
• Effective November 3, 2006 the Board revised rule 61G4-16.009 Florida Administrative Code. The revised rule provides that a candidate who has failed to achieve a passing score on 1 or more of the required exams has up to 2 years from the date of the 1st attempt to achieve a passing score on all required parts. If a passing score is not achieved within the 2 year period, all past test scores shall be considered invalid and the candidate will be required to retake all portions of the exam. Each candidate will only be allowed 6 attempts to pass each part of the exam during the 2 year period.
• Applicants must be submitted to the DBPR to be eligible to take the exam. The application deadline is 90 days prior to the exam date. After passing the exam, the application will be processed, at that time candidates will gain final approval to be licensed.

  Topics covered on the trade exam are general theory and electrical principles, plan and specification reading and interpretation, wiring and protection, OSHA, safety, procedures for testing and use of tools and equipment, residential life safety and ADA, motors, box fill, demand loads, conduit fill, grounding conductors, neutral loads, appliance loads, service, and voltage drop .

• Applicants have 3 chances to pass the Residential Electrical exam during a 1 year period. If the applicant fails either or both sections of the exam he/she must reapply to the board before sitting for the exam again. If the applicant fails either or both sections of the exam 3 times in a row he/she must complete 7 hours of continuing education in that subject matter and submit a new application before testing again. There is a 21 day waiting period between retakes for the Business (CBT) exam.

  Topics covered on the business exam are maintaining cash flow, estimating and bidding a job, interpretation of contracts and agreements, purchasing control, contract scheduling, obtaining insurance and bonding, complying with contracting laws and rules, personnel management, complying with payroll and salary tax laws, interpretation of financial statements and reports, and management accounting.

• To schedule your Residential Electrical exam you must contact the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation at 1-850-488-5952. To schedule the Florida Electrical Business exam (CBT) you must contact Promissor/Pearson Vue at 1-888-204-6230.
• Approximately 8 weeks after your Residential Electrical examination you will receive your official grade notice. Grade results can not be given out over the phone.
• Official photo-bearing score reports on the Business (CBT) exam are available on-site from the vendor immediately following the exam.

The references listed in the Right-Hand column are permitted to be taken into the examination. These references may be tabbed (with permanent index tabs) and highlighted. They are available for purchase from our online contractor’s bookstore or by calling our office at 1-800-992-1910.

We do not offer a preparation course for the Florida Residential Electrical contractor license exam. Please contact us for additional information, 1-800-992-1910.