Electrician License from South Dakota to Colorado: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Colorado accept a South Dakota electrician license?
Yes — Colorado has a reciprocity arrangement covering South Dakota license holders. Apply to the Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA Division of Professions and Occupations) under its reciprocity/endorsement track; it typically waives the journeyman exam and complete Colorado's remaining requirements.
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Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Reciprocity agreement
South Dakota is on Colorado's journeyman reciprocity list, which puts this move on the fast track: Colorado waives its journeyman exam for electricians who earned a qualifying South Dakota license by examination, held it at least a year, and meet the experience hours. Two conditions decide whether you actually qualify — your South Dakota license must have come from an exam, not a grandfather clause, and it must be current. The list is also revocable; the verification date on this page is when we last confirmed South Dakota on it, and the Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA Division of Professions and Occupations) is the live source.
What's different between South Dakota and Colorado
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Colorado. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
South Dakota to Colorado (this page): Reciprocity agreement.
Colorado to South Dakota (the reverse move): Reciprocity agreement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from South Dakota matter?
Coming from South Dakota matters here: only 14 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into Colorado.
The others get: licensure by endorsement (23) and no state license to transfer (13).
- Reciprocity agreements
Colorado's reciprocity agreement list names 14 states, including South Dakota.
South Dakota's reciprocity agreement list names 14 states, including Colorado.
- Application fee
South Dakota lists $80 for the reverse move; Colorado has no verified fee figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.
- Experience hours
Colorado's first-time-applicant standard is 8,000 hours of documented experience for the journeyman license; South Dakota's is 8,000.
The two standards are the same.
- Exam rules on record
Colorado and South Dakota carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Colorado (this move): No Colorado written exam is required for a journeyman who holds a current license from one of the named NERA reciprocal states, earned by a state-administered exam and held at least 1 year; applicants from non-reciprocal states must qualify and pass the Colorado journeyman exam
- South Dakota (the reverse move): No South Dakota examination is required under an existing reciprocal agreement if you hold a license earned by examination in a reciprocal state and have held it in active status for at least one year; applicants from states with no agreement must qualify and sit the South Dakota journeyman exam
What changes, South Dakota → Colorado
| South Dakota (current) | Colorado (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Experience hours | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| Application fee | $80 (SDCL 36-16-17 sets the biennial journeyman electrician license fee at eighty dollars; the electrical contractor (master-equivalent) biennial fee is $200. Reciprocal applicants pay 'the required fee' (SDCL 36-16-23). The Commission's online portal has been offline since Oct 21, 2025; no separate reciprocal application/processing fee is published on accessible pages.) | DORA does not publish the reciprocal journeyman fee on a standalone page; fees are set administratively and shown inside the online application. Aggregator figures (e.g. a $100 processing fee) could not be confirmed on an official page, so left null |
| Processing time | The Electrical Commission does not publish a processing time; no written exam is required under an existing reciprocal agreement | The board does not publish a processing time; a reciprocal certificate is issued without a written exam once requirements are met and fees paid |
| Licensing authority | South Dakota Electrical Commission (Dept. of Labor & Regulation) | Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA Division of Professions and Occupations) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Colorado sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Colorado's current requirements on the Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA Division of Professions and Occupations) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the reciprocity application to the Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA Division of Professions and Occupations) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold a current, active journeyman or master electrician certificate in good standing, held for at least 1 year in the licensing state.
- Original certificate must have been earned by passing a state-administered examination — grandfathered (non-exam) licenses are not eligible for reciprocity.
- NERA reciprocity applies to the journeyman license only; master electricians must instead apply by License by Endorsement.
- Document journeyman experience (Colorado uses 8,000 hours / 4 years as its journeyman standard; 10,000 hours for master).
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What could disqualify me even though South Dakota is on Colorado's list?
A South Dakota license you were grandfathered into rather than earning by exam, a license held less than a year, or falling short of the experience-hour minimum. Colorado's reciprocity is conditional, not automatic.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- Colorado DPO — Electrical Applications and Forms (reciprocity requirements and reciprocal-state list) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Colorado DPO — Electrical Board homepage ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- SD Electrical Commission — Reciprocal Agreements for Licensing ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- SD Electrical Commission — Licensing (4 yrs / 8,000 hrs) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- SDCL 36-16-23 — Reciprocal licenses to electricians from other states ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- SDCL 36-16-17 — Biennial license fees ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · Corrections log · spot an error? hello@licensereciprocity.com