How to Renew a North Carolina Electrical License

In a lot of other states, licensed electricians only need to renew their license certifications every other year or every three years. In North Carolina, though, you’re going to have to handle your renewal on an annual basis.

The good news? The NC State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors does a pretty good job of making all of the information you need to renew readily available. We’ve taken things a step further, though, consolidating all of your to-dos into this quick and easy guide.

The expiration date

All North Carolina electrical licenses expire every year. Your expiration date/renewal deadline is unique to your license, so check your license certificate to find out when you need to get your renewal in.

The Board tries to help you out here. If they have an email address on file for you, they’ll send you a reminder email about 30 days before your expiration date. If they don’t have your email, they’ll mail you a paper renewal form. If you don’t get either, you can call them at (919) 733-9042. You might also want to log in to your profile and update your contact information.

Getting the continuing education

Before your license will be eligible for renewal, you need to complete some continuing education (CE). The number of hours you need depends on your license type.

You need eight hours if you have any of the following license classifications:

Unlimited (U)
Intermediate (I)
Limited (L)
Residential dwelling (SP-SFD)

If you have any of the following special restricted electrical license classifications, you need four hours per year:

Fire alarm/low-voltage (SP-FA/LV)
Plumbing, heating, and air conditioning (SP-PH)
Swimming pool (SP-SP)
Groundwater pump (SP-WP)
Electric sign (SP-ES)
Elevator license (SP-EL)

You need to get half of your hours in a classroom, but you can take the other half online (you can see relevant courses here). That can make it a little easier to complete this yearly to-do.

If you’re not sure how many CE hours you’ve knocked out during this renewal cycle, the Board maintains a CE Credits Search tool that you can use to find out.

Completing the renewal application

If you didn’t get a renewal form in the mail, you can ask the Board to send you one if you prefer to do your renewal that way.

Alternatively, you can log into the Board’s web portal. Your login info will be on your emailed or mailed renewal notification. If you didn’t get that notification and you forgot your user ID or password, you can use the links right below the “Log in” button to reset your info.

Once you’re logged in, click the blue “View” link by your license number, then click the blue “Renew Now” link and follow the steps.

As part of that process, you’ll need to pay the renewal fee. It’s:

$95 for limited licenses and licenses with special restricted classifications
$140 for intermediate licenses
$190 for unlimited licenses

If you renew online, you’ll have the option to print your new license after you submit payment. If you’re not near a printer at that time, you can print it off later by logging back into your account and clicking the “Print Certificate” link in your license profile.