How to Renew a Michigan Electrical License

In Michigan, renewing an electrical license can be a little complicated. Rather than lining up your code update course requirement with your renewal cycle, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) Bureau of Construction Codes (BCC) requires renewals on one timeline and continuing education (CE) on another. The trick is to know what you need to do when.

We can help. Let’s look at the three things Michigan electrical licensees need to do to renew, and when each step is required.

Send in your renewal application (by March 1 every year)

All Michigan electrical licensees need to renew by March 1 of each year. Technically, your license expires on December 31, but you have until March 1 to renew. Don’t put it off and miss the 60-day extension, though, because if you do, your license becomes void. You’ll have to reapply for a new license at that point.

The annual renewal to-do has been a little complicated in recent years because LARA was shifting to a new online system. Fortunately, they finished that in October 2021. From now on, you’ll be able to renew with the MiPLUS portal.

If you haven’t set up your account there before, click the small “Register for an account” link below the orange login button.

Send in your renewal fee (by March 1 every year)

As part of the renewal application process, you need to pay the annual renewal fee. Per the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, it’s:

$50 for master electricians
$40 for journeyman electricians
$50 for fire alarm specialty technicians
$40 for sign specialists

Again, your license expires at the end of each year, but you can use the 60-day extension. Just make sure your renewal fee is paid by March 1.

Complete an approved code update course (varies)

Other states align their CE requirements with their renewal cycles. Michigan doesn’t, and that can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it means you need to keep track of a separate requirement on a separate timeline. On the other hand, it means you don’t necessarily need to take CE every year.

Instead, you just need to take a code update course within 12 months anytime LARA adopts a new version of the NEC. For example, they adopted the 2017 NEC on January 4, 2019. Electrical licensees then had until January 4, 2020, to complete the update course.

To keep an eye on when a new code gets adopted, bookmark this webpage. If you scroll down to the NEC section, you’ll be able to see the last date on which the state adopted a new code version.

After a new code is adopted, the length of the code update course you need depends on your license type:

Master and journeyman electricians need 15 hours that you can get from the training here
Fire alarm specialty technicians need 15 hours that you can get from this course here
Sign specialists need eight hours that you can get from the course here

Here’s the good news: you can knock out those hours at your own pace online. Just make sure you take your code update course from an education provider who has state approval.

When you finish your course, you’ll get a certificate of completion. Hang onto it because you’ll need to show proof to LARA.

Overall, maintaining an electrical license with LARA isn’t the easiest thing in the world. But when you know the steps, it gets much simpler.