Transfer Your Electrician License to New Hampshire: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)
Last verified: 2026-07-21 · source: New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) ↗
New Hampshire grants journeyman reciprocity to electricians licensed by examination in 31 named partner states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming). Come from one of them and the New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) waives its journeyman exam once you show a license held at least a year and can document 8000 hours of experience; come from anywhere else and you apply and sit the exam. No New Hampshire exam is required to license a journeyman by endorsement if you hold a current license in a listed qualifying jurisdiction and have at least 1 year of professional experience in the journeyman category (Plc 313.24); applicants from non-listed jurisdictions must license by examination (verify 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and pass the NH journeyman exam). Fee: OPLC application/license fees are published only on the board's fee page (the application states 'SEE WEBSITE FOR FEES'); the official fee schedule was access-restricted and could not be retrieved as of 2026-07-21 - see https://www.oplc.nh.gov/find-board/electricians-board/electricians-license-fees.
Moving to New Hampshire from a specific state?
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Verdict
Reciprocity with 31 states
New Hampshire's reciprocity is a bilateral list, and the list governs — not your years on the tools. If your license comes from a state New Hampshire names below and you earned it by exam, the journeyman exam is waived; if it does not, no amount of experience substitutes for sitting the test. Two cautions specific to electrical reciprocity: the list is directional (it names who New Hampshire accepts, which says nothing about the reverse), and a license you were grandfathered into rather than examined for is generally not eligible.
New Hampshire licenses journeyman AND master electricians (RSA 319-C). Two overlapping endorsement pathways both waive the NH exam: (1) the HB 594 (2023) universal endorsement under Plc 313.24, which recognizes 31 journeyman 'qualifying jurisdictions' (used here) and a narrower master list, requiring 1 year of experience in the category; and (2) longstanding reciprocity on the application form - Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont (journeyman AND master) plus NERA journeyman-only reciprocity with Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Iowa. reciprocity_partners uses the broader current Plc 313.24 journeyman list. The master-endorsement qualifying-jurisdiction list differs from the journeyman list. Fees are set on the OPLC fee page, which was access-restricted at verification.
New Hampshire requirements at a glance
| Exam | No New Hampshire exam is required to license a journeyman by endorsement if you hold a current license in a listed qualifying jurisdiction and have at least 1 year of professional experience in the journeyman category (Plc 313.24); applicants from non-listed jurisdictions must license by examination (verify 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and pass the NH journeyman exam) |
|---|---|
| Training hours | 8,000 hours |
| Additional requirements |
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| Fees | OPLC application/license fees are published only on the board's fee page (the application states 'SEE WEBSITE FOR FEES'); the official fee schedule was access-restricted and could not be retrieved as of 2026-07-21 - see https://www.oplc.nh.gov/find-board/electricians-board/electricians-license-fees |
| Processing time | OPLC does not publish a processing time for endorsement/reciprocal applications |
Step by step
- Confirm New Hampshire's current requirements on the New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) website — rules change.
- Submit the reciprocity/endorsement application to the New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) (application linked on this page).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current electrician license in a listed qualifying jurisdiction with at least 1 year of professional experience in the journeyman category (Plc 313.24).
- Applicants by examination must verify a minimum of 8,000 hours of on-the-job training (master applicants: 2,000 hours as a licensed journeyman).
- Provide 3 professional references and a recent color photograph (Elec 302.04).
- Disclose any felony convictions and any license discipline in any jurisdiction.
- Pay the fees (OPLC application/license fees are published only on the board's fee page (the application states 'SEE WEBSITE FOR FEES'); the official fee schedule was access-restricted and could not be retrieved as of 2026-07-21 - see https://www.oplc.nh.gov/find-board/electricians-board/electricians-license-fees) and allow OPLC does not publish a processing time for endorsement/reciprocal applications.
Official links
Coming from a specific state?
Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into New Hampshire:
All 39 origin states
Frequently asked questions
Does my electrician license transfer to New Hampshire?
New Hampshire grants journeyman reciprocity to electricians licensed by examination in 31 named partner states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming). Come from one of them and the New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) waives its journeyman exam once you show a license held at least a year and can document 8000 hours of experience; come from anywhere else and you apply and sit the exam. No New Hampshire exam is required to license a journeyman by endorsement if you hold a current license in a listed qualifying jurisdiction and have at least 1 year of professional experience in the journeyman category (Plc 313.24); applicants from non-listed jurisdictions must license by examination (verify 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and pass the NH journeyman exam). Fee: OPLC application/license fees are published only on the board's fee page (the application states 'SEE WEBSITE FOR FEES'); the official fee schedule was access-restricted and could not be retrieved as of 2026-07-21 - see https://www.oplc.nh.gov/find-board/electricians-board/electricians-license-fees.
Will I have to retake the journeyman exam in New Hampshire?
No New Hampshire exam is required to license a journeyman by endorsement if you hold a current license in a listed qualifying jurisdiction and have at least 1 year of professional experience in the journeyman category (Plc 313.24); applicants from non-listed jurisdictions must license by examination (verify 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and pass the NH journeyman exam).
What does licensing in New Hampshire cost an out-of-state electrician?
OPLC application/license fees are published only on the board's fee page (the application states 'SEE WEBSITE FOR FEES'); the official fee schedule was access-restricted and could not be retrieved as of 2026-07-21 - see https://www.oplc.nh.gov/find-board/electricians-board/electricians-license-fees (OPLC application/license fees are published only on the board's fee page (the application states 'SEE WEBSITE FOR FEES'); the official fee schedule was access-restricted and could not be retrieved as of 2026-07-21 - see https://www.oplc.nh.gov/find-board/electricians-board/electricians-license-fees).
How long does New Hampshire take to process the application?
OPLC does not publish a processing time for endorsement/reciprocal applications — OPLC does not publish a processing time for endorsement/reciprocal applications.
Which states does New Hampshire have electrician reciprocity with?
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming (31 states, verified 2026-07-21 against the New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification)). The list is bilateral, so a state New Hampshire recognizes does not necessarily recognize New Hampshire in return.
How many experience hours does New Hampshire require?
8000 hours of documented on-the-job experience for the journeyman license; out-of-state hours generally count toward this minimum.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]