2021. Many jurisdictions have regulatory restrictions concerning electrical work for safety reasons due to the many
hazards of working with electricity. Such requirements may be testing, registration or licensing. Licensing requirements vary between jurisdictions.
Australia An electrician's license entitles the holder to carry out all types of electrical installation work in Australia without supervision. However, to contract, or offer to contract, to carry out electrical installation work, a licensed electrician must also be registered as an electrical contractor. Under Australian law, electrical work that involves fixed wiring is strictly regulated and must almost always be performed by a licensed electrician or electrical contractor. A local electrician can handle a range of work including air conditioning, light fittings and installation, safety switches, smoke alarm installation, inspection and certification and
testing and tagging of electrical appliances. To provide
data, structured cabling systems,
home automation &
theatre,
LAN,
WAN and
VPN data solutions or phone points, an installer must be licensed as a Telecommunications Cable Provider under a scheme controlled by
Australian Communications and Media Authority Electrical licensing in Australia is regulated by the individual states. In Western Australia, the Department of Commerce tracks licensee's and allows the public to search for individually named/licensed Electricians. Currently in Victoria the apprenticeship lasts for four years, during three of those years the apprentice attends trade school in either a block release of one week each month or one day each week. At the end of the apprenticeship the apprentice is required to pass three examinations, one of which is theory based with the other two practically based. Upon successful completion of these exams, providing all other components of the apprenticeship are satisfactory, the apprentice is granted an A Class licence on application to Energy Safe Victoria (ESV). An A Class electrician may perform work unsupervised but is unable to work for profit or gain without having the further qualifications necessary to become a Registered Electrical Contractor (REC) or being in the employment of a person holding REC status. However, some exemptions do exist. In most cases a certificate of electrical safety must be submitted to the relevant body after any electrical works are performed. Safety equipment used and worn by electricians in Australia (including insulated rubber gloves and mats) needs to be tested regularly to ensure it is still protecting the worker. Because of the high risk involved in this trade, this testing needs to be performed regularly and regulations vary according to state. Industry best practice is the Queensland Electrical Safety Act 2002, and requires six-monthly testing.
Canada Training of electricians follows an
apprenticeship model, taking four or five years to progress to fully qualified journeyperson level. Typical apprenticeship programs consists of 80-90% hands-on work under the supervision of journeymen and 10-20% classroom training. Training and licensing of electricians is regulated by each province, however professional licenses are valid throughout Canada under
Agreement on Internal Trade. An endorsement under the
Red Seal Program provides additional competency assurance to industry standards. In order for individuals to become a licensed electricians, they need to have 9000 hours of practical, on the job training. They also need to attend school for 4 terms and pass a provincial exam. This training enables them to become journeyperson electricians. Furthermore, in British Columbia, an individual can go a step beyond that and become a "FSR", or field safety representative. This credential gives the ability to become a licensed electrical contractor and to pull permits. Notwithstanding this, some Canadian provinces only grant "permit pulling privileges" to current Master Electricians, that is, a journeyperson who has been engaged in the industry for three years and has passed the Master's examination (i.e. Alberta). The various levels of field safety representatives are A, B and C. The only difference between each class is that they are able to do increasingly higher voltage and current work.
United Kingdom The two qualification awarding organisations are
City and Guilds and EAL. Electrical competence is required at Level 3 to practice as a 'qualified electrician' in the UK. Once qualified and demonstrating the required level of competence an Electrician can apply to register for a Joint Industry Board Electrotechnical Certification Scheme card in order to work on building sites or other controlled areas. Although partly covered during Level 3 training, more in depth knowledge and qualifications can be obtained covering subjects such as Design and Verification or Testing and Inspection among others. These additional qualifications can be listed on the reverse of the JIB card. Beyond this level is additional training and qualifications such as
EV charger installations or training and working in specialist areas such as street furniture or within industry. The Electricity at Work Regulations are a statutory document that covers the use and proper maintenance of electrical equipment and installations within businesses and other organisations such as charities. Parts of the
Building Regulations cover the legal requirements of the installation of electrical technical equipment with Part P outlining most of the regulations covering dwellings Information regarding design, selection, installation and testing of electrical structures is provided in the non-statutory publication
'Requirements for Electrical Installations, IET Wiring Regulations, Eighteenth Edition, BS 7671:2018' otherwise known as the Wiring Regulations or 'Regs'. Usual amendments are published on an ad hoc bases when minor changes occur. The first major update of the 18th Edition were published during February 2020 mainly covering the section covering Electric vehicles charger installations although an addendum was published during December 2019 correcting some minor mistakes and adding some small changes. The
IET also publish a series of 'Guidance Notes' in book form that provide further in-depth knowledge. With the exception of the work covered by Part P of the Building Regulations, such as installing consumer units, new circuits or work in bathrooms, there are no laws that prevent anyone from carrying out some basic electrical work in the UK.
United States offices in the United States The United States does not offer nationwide licensing and electrical licenses are issued by individual states. There are variations in licensing requirements, however, all states recognize three basic skill categories: level electricians. Journeyperson electricians can work unsupervised provided that they work according to a master's direction. Generally, states do not offer journeyperson permits, and journeyperson electricians and other apprentices can only work under permits issued to a master electrician. Apprentices may not work without direct supervision. Before electricians can work unsupervised, they are usually required to serve an
apprenticeship lasting three to five years under the general supervision of a
master electrician and usually the direct supervision of a
journeyperson electrician.
Reciprocity An electrician's license is valid for work in the state where the license was issued. In addition, many states recognize licenses from other states, sometimes called interstate reciprocity participation, although there can be conditions imposed. For example, California reciprocates with Arizona, Nevada, and Utah on the condition that licenses are in good standing and have been held at the other state for five years. Nevada reciprocates with Arizona, California, and Utah. Maine reciprocates with New Hampshire and Vermont at the master level, and the state reciprocates with New Hampshire, North Dakota, Idaho, Oregon, Vermont, and Wyoming at the journeyperson level. Colorado maintains a journeyperson alliance with Alaska, Arkansas, the Dakotas, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. == Tools ==