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How Do I Renew My Oklahoma Electrical License?

Written by Kacie Goff

Whether you’re a journeyman or a contractor, you’re probably aware that you need to take periodic steps to maintain your Oklahoma electrical license. But what do those steps entail? How often do you need to take them? 

In order to keep your electrical license active in the state of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board, or OK CIB for short, requires that you do a few things every few years. Let’s take a look at what the specifics of these OK CIB mandates so can renew your Oklahoma electrical license. 

Requirement #1: Oklahoma continuing education for electricians

Every electrical contractor in the state of Oklahoma — both contractors and journeymen — is required to complete a certain amount of continuing education hours every code cycle. That code cycle is three years long, which essentially means you have three years to complete your Oklahoma electrical continuing education. 

Fortunately, meeting this requirement is pretty easy. You just need to complete six hours every three years.

The trick is to make sure that you’re taking your courses from an OK CIB-approved institution. You can check using this list. Or you can go directly to an approved provider of Oklahoma continuing education for electricians. Scroll down to see the confirmation of approval from the OK CIB at the bottom of the page.

The approved course is a six-hour review of the National Electrical Code (NEC). You’ll learn about equipment, wiring materials and methods, considerations for special occupancies, and more. Once you finish your Oklahoma electrical continuing education, your course provider will issue you a certificate showing that you’ve taken the required hours to renew your electrical license. 

Requirement #2: Submit your renewal application

Next, you need to send in your application to renew your license. Again, this is a fairly straightforward process. The form to renew is just one page long. To fill it out, you simply need:

  • Your current license number
  • Some personal information, including your social security number
  • Some basic information about your employer

Mail in your application along with the required fee to renew. If you’re a contractor, it’s $200. If you're a journeyman, that fee is $75. Send everything to:

Construction Industries Board

2401 NW 23rd, Suite 2F

Oklahoma City, OK 73107

If you’re a journeyman, this is all you need to do to renew your Oklahoma electrical license. But if you’re a contractor, you have a few more steps. 

Additional steps for contractors

The OK CIB requires three more things of contractors at the time of renewal. They are:

  • Proof of Bond & Insurance: Oklahoma requires you to carry a $5,000 corporate surety bond and $50,000 of commercial general liability insurance. Send your original bond and your certificate of general liability insurance in with your renewal application. 
  • Apprentice Requirements: The applications of any apprentices on your team need to be signed with an original signature by an active contractor on your team. If you get a written request from your apprentice, the state can get involved if you fail to sign their documentation so don’t delay. Also, ensure that you never have more than two apprentices per contractor on your staff. 
  • Display of Licensure: Make sure you're properly displaying your license number in all relevant places. Your vehicles need both your company's name and your license number (with OK before it) printed on both sides in characters at least two inches tall in a visible color. Also, make sure you include your license number on every contract, bid, and advertisement you create. 

Make sure you’re covered in these areas and, when you send in your application to renew your electrical license, everything should go smoothly. 

Your Oklahoma electrical license renewal checklist

Renewing your electrical license is fairly easy — but it’s also something you definitely want to get right. Don’t worry. We made a quick checklist you can use to make sure you’re taking the necessary steps to renew your license. Remember, you need to do these things every three years to keep your license active. 

If you’re a journeyman, every 36 months you need to:

If you’re a contractor, every 36 months you need to:

You also need to:

  • Make sure you or another active contractor is signing any relevant apprentice applications
  • Make sure you never have more than two apprentices to every one active contractor you have on staff
  • Make sure you’re displaying your license number on your vehicle, in ads, and on contracts and bids

Follow these steps and you’ll have no trouble renewing your Oklahoma electrical license. 

What if I want to change my license type?

Just because you’ve always been a contractor doesn’t mean you have to be one in perpetuity. If you want to change your license type to journeyman, you need to fill out a separate application that notifies the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board. Fortunately, you only have to pay the $75 journeyman fee instead of the $200 contractor renewal fee. 

If you’re a journeyman and you want to become a contractor, you need to be able to verify that you’re an owner, partner, or officer in the electrical company for which you work. You also need to pass the contractor exam and meet several other requirements. 

In short, you can change your license type but you need to do your homework to make sure you take the necessary steps. 

 

Keeping your Oklahoma electrical license current is a pretty straightforward process, thanks in part to the fact that you can complete the required continuing education hours in a single day if you’re pressed for time. Get that education and send in your renewal every three years and you should have no issues keeping your license active.