Rhode Island Journeyman Electrician License

Rhode Island calls its journeyman credential "Certificate B," and the path to earning it runs through the Department of Labor and Training — not the Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board that handles business registrations. Getting the two agencies confused is one of the most common early mistakes.

What Certificate B Authorizes

A Certificate B holder can install, maintain, and repair electrical wiring, conduits, devices, and apparatus across residential, commercial, and industrial settings. What it does not authorize: contracting directly for work, bidding on projects, soliciting clients, or pulling municipal permits. All Certificate B work must happen under the direct employment and supervision of a licensed Class A Electrical Contractor.

Operating as an independent 1099 subcontractor on a journeyman card alone violates Rhode Island's worker classification rules. The DLT enforces the electrical licensing boundary; CRLB requirements apply separately when the business activity requires CRLB registration.

Requirements to Sit for the Certificate B Exam

The Certificate B exam requires two completed milestones:

• 8,000 hours of supervised on-the-job learning (OJL) completed while registered as an apprentice with the DLT Apprenticeship Office
• 576 hours of related technical instruction (RTI) from a state-approved program, typically 144 hours per year across four years

Hours worked before you register as an apprentice are legally void — they cannot be applied toward the 8,000-hour threshold, regardless of the work performed. Your sponsor employer must be actively registered with the DLT as an apprenticeship sponsor.

Once both hour requirements are met, your sponsor submits an Apprentice Completion form. The DLT verifies the logs and issues a Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship, which unlocks your exam application.

Application and Fees

Submit these to the DLT Professional Regulation Unit in Cranston at least 15 working days before the monthly exam date:

• Completed exam application (in ink — digital forms filled on iPhones often corrupt with overlapping text)
• Copy of government-issued photo ID
• Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship
• Signed company ratio sheet
• $75 non-refundable application fee

The DLT invoices the $72 license fee after you pass. Your license arrives after payment.

The Closed-Book Exam

Rhode Island's journeyman exam is 80 multiple-choice questions with a four-hour time limit. It is state-administered in Cranston — not through PSI or any third-party vendor. The exam is strictly closed-book: no NEC codebooks, no reference materials, no personal notes.

The state provides a scientific calculator and an Ohm's Law formula wheel. Everything else comes from memory. Minimum passing score is 70%. Candidates scoring 60–69% can request a formal exam review session with the Board of Examiners; scores below 60% are ineligible for review.

Heavy testing areas include NEC Article 250 (grounding and bonding), Article 310 (conductor sizing), Articles 210 and 220 (branch circuits and load calculations), and Article 430 (motors).

After You Pass

Your Certificate B license expires biennially on your birthday. Each renewal cycle requires 15 hours of mandatory continuing education covering current NEC changes, plus a $72 renewal fee. Late renewals carry a $12 surcharge per month or fraction of a month.

Certificate B is also the gateway to Certificate A. After holding an active Certificate B for at least two consecutive years — and documenting 12,000 total hours of trade experience — you become eligible for the contractor-level exam.

The Rhode Island Electrician License Guide walks through the full Certificate B application packet, including employer verification letter templates and ratio sheet documentation, so nothing gets returned for a fixable paperwork error.

See more Rhode Island guides →