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| Subject - city licensing and licensing | |
| Coop | I am currently in a tech school for electrical, and i am wondering how do i get a city license while i am in school and also how do i get licensed when i graduate? I am from Il, the metro east area. if anyone has any answer i would greatly appreciate the info. |
| JimmyDee | You usually can't get a license while in school. You have to be working for a contractor and then you can be registered as an apprentice. Apprenticeships last 4 years. When that is done, you are now certified to take a state or city exam which will qualify you to be a licensed journeyman electrician. There are exceptions to this but most of the country operates this way. Schooling in a tech school by itself will not qualify you for any license or taking the exam for a license. Jim |
| luckyshadow | Not sure about Ill. But here in Maryland you need 7 years under a master electrician before you qualify to take the master electrician test. 4 years of apprenticeship school counts as 6 months. So if you go to apprenticeship school you can take the test in 6 years and 6 months from the day you start school. They verify this by having you submit a letter from your employer stating how long you worked there, who the master is . license # , all on company letterhead and signed by the master electrician. Must be an original no copies. |
| kbsparky | >>...Must be an original no copies...<< Got that right!! The State Board is a stickler on that point. Too many fake copies being generated, and passed around. However, we did accept certified copies from the local clerks of the circuit courts, I believe. Best thing is to obtain your letters of experience as soon as you can. We also had instances where the employer died, or the company went out of business, and getting that experience certified is a much more difficult thing after the fact. |
| sparkie2170 | In Chicago you have to have 2 years working for a licensed electrical contractor. The test in Chicago is a 3 hour open book, no markings, no tabs. A non-programmable calculator and 2 #2 pencils. They only give it twice a year, and there is a 20% pass rate. |
| kbsparky | quote: Only 2 years ??  I've heard that Chicago has some of the toughest requirements, such as everything in conduit, no romex allowed, etc. I would have figured them to require much more field experience than that 
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| Coop | i was not satisfied with the answers so i did some research of my own, and in this area: one city the inspector come out and watch u do a couple of jobs (electrical inspec.) and if u show that u can do the job up to code he will give u a city license, another city wants u to take a test over the code open book, and if u pass they will grant u a license for their city and put u on a list for the people in that city to call and in another city they require u or the home owner to come pay for a permit to do anywork to the home and then have an inspector come out and check it. I am still checking other cities and will let u know. |
| lctrc789 | All localities are different I know that, here in Indiana three counties require licensing, Marion county (the city of Indianapolis) you must have 5 years experience and take a Block and Associates test. Two other counties require you to take their test with little experience. In Marion county if you pass the test with a 75 % it is good Nation wide if they accept the Block and Associates testing. In Marion county they have self certification tags that can get power turned on and your own insepctions are done by the licensed electrical contractor. Of course you must be insured and bonded. I always tell evry one to check locally what they require. That means in 89 counties in Indiana you do not need a license unless maybe in a city local. This makes it tough to do proper work here with so many so called electricians.LOL |
| thegophoto | I think anyone can take a licensing exam in the state of Illinois, outside of the city of Chicago. I took my test in Woodstock Il. and I may have shown proof of my job but I really dont remember any other domumentation of length of employment. It costs a nominal fee( 25 to 100 dollars) and there is usually a years wait(to take another one) in that township if you dont pass the test. What I did was called around to the different townships, because every place has a different test. For example, Downers Grove has a residential license as well as a commercial industrial license. Woodstock has a single nec test good for industrial, comm, and resi. What I would do if I were you is call around to a few of the cities near you and just see what kind of testing they offer and if they honor any city of Illinois license. I did a job in Peoria a while back, and they honored the Woodstock license, but would not honor a Chicago City license, which I found hard to believe. The Chicago city test has to be one of the hardest nec tests in the country. Just study and learn the code in and out. Any more ques. feel free to ask |