The Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD) does a pretty good job of making licensing information available on their website. The main headache stems from the fact that they issue so many different types of electrical licenses throughout the state. Yes, info might be readily available, but you have to wade through a lot of detail to figure out what, exactly, is required for your specific license type.
In an effort to help, we made this quick and easy guide to renewing every type of electrical license with the Oregon BCD. Using bulleted lists, we made the info skimmable so you can easily pull out what pertains to you.
Your expiration date
Electrical licenses expire every three years. Your expiration date is printed on your license, but here’s a quick refresh of the upcoming deadlines:
- General journeyman electricians (J): October 1, 2024; 2027; 2030; etc.
- Limited residential electricians (LR): October 1, 2024; 2027; 2030; etc.
- General supervising electricians (S): October 1, 2022; 2025; 2028; etc.
- Limited supervisor manufacturing plant electricians (PS): October 1, 2022; 2025; 2028; etc.
- Limited building maintenance electrician (BME): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Class A limited energy technician (LEA): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Class B limited energy technician (LEB): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Limited journeyman sign electrician (SIG): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Limited journeyman stage electrician (ST): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Limited renewable energy technician (LRT): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Limited journeyman manufacturing plant electrician (PJ): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Limited maintenance electrician (LME): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Limited maintenance manufactured structures electrician (LMM): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
- Limited elevator journeyman electrician (E): October 1, 2023; 2028; 2031; etc.
You’ll be able to complete your online renewal once you’re within 45 days of your expiration date. The state should mail you a renewal reminder 30 days before your expiration, too, so make sure you keep your address updated with the BCD.
The renewal process
Renewing an Oregon electrical license is a three-step process:
- Get the required continuing education (CE).
- Complete the renewal application.
- Pay the fee.
Let’s look at each component individually, starting with the most complicated: the CE.
CE requirements for Oregon electricians
The number of hours you need — and what they need to cover — depends on your license.
All licensees need a set number of hours on code change (CC) and code-related (CR) content. Some licensees also need hours on Oregon rule and law (ORL). Let’s look at the specific CE needed for each type of license renewal:
- General journeyman electricians (J): 4 ORL hours, 8 CC hours, 12 CR hours (24 total)
- Limited residential electricians (LR): 4 ORL hours, 8 CC hours, 4 CR hours (16 total)
- General supervising electricians (S): 4 ORL hours, 12 CC hours, 8 CR hours (24 total)
- Limited supervisor manufacturing plant electricians (PS): 4 ORL hours, 12 CC hours, 8 CR hours (24 total)
- Limited building maintenance electrician (BME): Exempt from CE requirements
- Class A limited energy technician (LEA): 8 CC hours (8 total)
- Class B limited energy technician (LEB): 2 CC hours, 6 CR hours (8 total)
- Limited journeyman sign electrician (SIG): 2 CC hours, 2 CR hours (4 total)
- Limited journeyman stage electrician (ST): Exempt from CE requirements
- Limited renewable energy technician (LRT): 2 CC hours, 2 CR hours (4 total)
- Limited journeyman manufacturing plant electrician (PJ): 4 ORL hours, 8 CC hours, 4 CR hours (16 total)
- Limited maintenance electrician (LME): 2 CC hours, 6 CR hours (8 total)
- Limited maintenance manufactured structures electrician (LMM): Exempt from CE requirements
- Limited elevator journeyman electrician (E): Exempt from CE requirements
Here’s the upside. Getting your hours — and making sure they focus on the required topics — can actually be pretty easy. When you choose an online CE course designed for your license type like the trainings you'll find here, you can take your hours when you have time and get peace of mind knowing you’re ticking the required boxes.
Sending in your renewal application
The state uses an online license management tool for renewals. If you’ve never made an account there before, you can do so here.
Once you’re logged in, follow the steps to submit your renewal. As part of that process, you’ll need to pay your renewal fee.
Oregon electrical license renewal fees
Like just about everything else in this process, your renewal fee depends on your license type:
- General journeyman electricians (J): $100
- Limited residential electricians (LR): $100
- General supervising electricians (S): $100
- Limited supervisor manufacturing plant electricians (PS): $100
- Limited building maintenance electrician (BME): $50
- Class A limited energy technician (LEA): $50
- Class B limited energy technician (LEB): $50
- Limited journeyman sign electrician (SIG): $50
- Limited journeyman stage electrician (ST): $50
- Limited renewable energy technician (LRT): $50
- Limited journeyman manufacturing plant electrician (PJ): $100
- Limited maintenance electrician (LME): $100
- Limited maintenance manufactured structures electrician (LMM): $100
- Limited elevator journeyman electrician (E): $50
Now you know. With all the details handy, you shouldn’t have any trouble renewing your Oregon electrical license.