How to Renew a Wisconsin Electrical License
All told, if you’re an electrical professional in the state of Wisconsin, you have it pretty good. Most electrical licensees don’t have to worry about renewal very frequently (sorry, registered electricians), the fees are pretty reasonable, and the State of Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) makes plenty of information about the renewal process available on its website.
That said, you might not want to have to sift through the many web pages required to get the info you need. To help, we made this guide for Wisconsin journeyman, master, registered, and inspector electrical licensees.
First, figure out your deadline
Most electrical licensees have to renew every four years. Registered electricians, on the other hand, have to renew annually. Let’s look at your deadline for completing the renewal process based on your Wisconsin electrical license type:
- Journeyman electricians: Renew every four years on June 30
- Industrial journeyman electricians: Renew every four years on June 30
- Residential journeyman electricians: Renew every four years on June 30
- Master electricians: Renew every four years on June 30
- Residential master electricians: Renew every four years on June 30
- Registered electricians: Renew every year by the date your license was initially issued
- UDC electrical inspectors: Renew every four years on June 30
- Commercial electrical inspectors: Renew every four years on June 30
Seeing a pattern? Unless you’re a registered electrician, you only need to renew every four years, and you have until the end of June to get things done.
(Note that registered master electricians don’t need to renew.)
Then, take your continuing education
Before most electrical professionals in Wisconsin can submit their renewals, they need to have a specific number of DSPS-approved, electrical-focused continuing education (CE) hours. Your hour requirement depends on your license type:
- Journeyman electricians: 24 hours
- Industrial journeyman electricians: 18 hours
- Residential journeyman electricians: 18 hours
- Master electricians: 24 hours
- Residential master electricians: 18 hours
- Registered electricians: 24 hours
- UDC electrical inspectors: 24 hours
- Commercial electrical inspectors: 24 hours
If you’re on a four-year renewal cycle, you can take a handful of hours each year or you can wait until your deadline approaches and take all of the hours you need in one batch.
The bad news is that you can’t take your hours just anywhere. They need to come from a CE provider that has DSPS approval.
The good news is the state has issued that approval for certain online CE providers, which means you can take your Wisconsin electrical CE at your own pace from any location that’s convenient for you. When you finish a course, your CE provider will report it to the DSPS on your behalf.
If you’re not sure how many hours you’ve knocked out so far during this renewal cycle, head to the eSLA Public Lookup page. There, enter your license number and click on your name.
Finally, submit your renewal and the fee
Once you’ve completed your CE, you’re ready to renew. You can mail the renewal reminder/application you got from the state back to:
Department of Safety and Professional Services
Trades Credentialing Unit
PO Box 78780
Milwaukee, WI 53293-0780
If you choose that route, it’ll take about three weeks to hear back. To make things faster and easier, you can alternatively renew online.
Either way, be ready to pay the renewal fee. Assuming you get everything in on time, it’s:
- $100 for journeyman electricians
- $100 for industrial journeyman electricians
- $100 for residential journeyman electricians
- $200 for master electricians
- $200 for residential master electricians
- $20 for registered electricians
- $40 for UDC electrical inspectors
- $40 for commercial electrical inspectors
If you get hung up at all during the process, you can reach out to DSPSCredTrades@wisconsin.gov.