Michigan Electrician License vs. Contractor License: What's the Difference?
Michigan separates individual trade credentials from business licenses in a way that confuses a lot of electricians. A journeyman or master license lets you perform electrical work. A contractor license lets a business solicit, bid, and pull permits for that work. You can hold one without the other, and the requirements for each are completely different.
Here is what each license actually covers and how they work together.
Individual Licenses: Journeyman and Master
These are personal credentials issued by LARA to individuals based on their documented experience, training, and exam performance.
Journeyman Electrician License authorizes you to install, alter, and maintain electrical systems under the employment of a licensed contractor. Requirements: 8,000 supervised hours over at least four years, 576 hours of Related Technical Instruction, and a passing score (75%) on the PSI journeyman exam.
Master Electrician License authorizes you to plan, design, and supervise electrical installations. Requirements: 12,000 total hours over at least six years (including 4,000 post-journeyman hours under master supervision), active journeyman license held for at least two years, and a passing score (75%) on the PSI master exam.
Neither license, on its own, allows you to operate a business, enter into contracts, or pull electrical permits.
The Electrical Contractor License
This is a business license. It authorizes a company — not an individual — to solicit electrical work, enter contracts, and pull permits. The contractor license is issued to the business entity (LLC, corporation, or sole proprietorship), not to a person.
The key requirement: every electrical contractor must designate a Master of Record — a full-time employee who holds an active Michigan Master Electrician license and resides in the state. The Master of Record is the person who takes professional responsibility for the contractor's electrical work.
A single master license cannot qualify more than one contractor license simultaneously. If the Master of Record leaves the company, both parties must notify LARA immediately, and the contractor license is suspended until a replacement is designated.
What Changed in 2025
LARA eliminated the separate Electrical Contractor exam as part of the "Cutting Red Tape" initiative. Since all physical electrical work is already supervised by licensed journeymen or masters, the state dropped the redundant business-level trade test. Now the contractor license is purely administrative: submit the application, provide proof of your qualifying master, pay the $300 triennial fee, and maintain the required insurance.
This change simplified the process significantly, but the underlying requirement — a qualifying Master of Record — did not change.
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Who Needs What
| Situation | What You Need |
|---|---|
| Working as an employee doing electrical installations | Journeyman or Master license |
| Running a one-person electrical business | Master license + Contractor license |
| Starting a company and hiring electricians | Contractor license (qualified by a Master of Record) |
| Pulling permits for a project | Contractor license (journeymen and masters alone cannot pull permits) |
Common Confusion Points
"I have my master license — can I just start pulling permits?" No. You need the contractor license as well. Your master credential qualifies you to be the Master of Record, but the permit-pulling authority belongs to the contractor license.
"Can a business partner who is not an electrician own the company?" Yes. The business owner does not need to be a licensed electrician. The company does need a Master of Record who is a full-time employee and Michigan resident.
"What insurance do I need for the contractor license?" General liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage are required. The specific coverage amounts vary — contractors working in Detroit face additional insurance documentation requirements through BSEED.
The Michigan Electrician License Guide walks through the full transition from individual licensure to business setup, including the insurance, entity registration, and municipal registration steps.
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