Checked against primary sources 2026-09-04

The counts, and how they are proved

Michigan Electrician Hours: 8,000 Journeyman, 12,000 Master

Michigan never asks for hours on their own. Every hour figure in the Occupational Code arrives paired with a years figure, and the later of the two is your date. This page sets out both counts, who has to supervise them and what proof LARA asks for.

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The counts, in one place

For the journeyman electrician license, MCL 339.5715 asks for at least 8,000 hours of experience obtained over a period of at least 4 years. LARA writes the same thing as 8,000 hours and 4 years as an electrical apprentice.

For the master electrician license, MCL 339.5713 asks for at least 12,000 hours of experience obtained over a period of 6 years or more, plus having held an electrical journeyman's license for at least 2 years. LARA adds 4,000 hours worked as an electrical journeyman inside that total.

For the sign specialist license, LARA asks for 4,000 hours and at least 2 years under a sign specialist, and form BCC-341 words it as at least 4,000 hours over not less than 2 years.

The fire alarm specialty technician license is the exception. LARA asks for a NICET level II or higher certification, or an ESA Certified Fire Alarm Technician certification at level II or higher, rather than an hour count.

Why both conditions always bind

The word joining the hours and the years is and, in every one of these sections. Meeting one does not release you from the other.

Work 60 hour weeks and 8,000 hours arrives in about two and a half years. The four year condition does not move, so your eligibility date is still four years out.

Work part time and the four years arrive first while the hour count trails. Now the hours decide the date instead.

At a straight 40 hour week, 8,000 hours is close to four years and 12,000 is close to six, which is why the statute picked those pairs. The pairing only comes apart when your week is not 40 hours.

The master count is three clocks, not two

MCL 339.5713 runs 12,000 hours and 6 years together, and then adds two years of holding the journeyman license. That third clock starts on the date the journeyman license was issued.

So delay matters twice. Somebody who became eligible for the journeyman license and waited a year to apply has pushed the master date back a year as well, because the two years measure holding rather than deserving.

LARA's 4,000 journeyman hours sit inside the 12,000 rather than beside them. Eight thousand as an apprentice plus 4,000 as a journeyman is 12,000, which is the arithmetic the two pages agree on.

The supervision wording differs too. The master hours are described as performed under a master electrician's supervision, where the journeyman hours are described as under the direct supervision of a licensed electrician.

Who has to be supervising

LARA's licensing page names it for the journeyman route: the work must relate to electrical construction or maintenance and be supervised by a Michigan licensed journeyman or master electrician.

MCL 339.5717 caps how far that supervision stretches. One journeyman or master to no more than three registered apprentices, applied by the department or the enforcing agency on a jobsite basis.

Jobsite basis is the operative phrase. A company with plenty of licensed staff can still exceed the ratio on one crew, and the count is taken where the work is.

What kind of work counts

MCL 339.5715 describes the journeyman hours as experience in electrical construction or maintenance. MCL 339.5713 describes the master hours as electrical construction, building maintenance or electrical wiring.

LARA's page frames it the same way: the work must relate to electrical construction or maintenance. That is broader than new construction alone.

What the sections do not do is break the hours into categories with minimums for each, the way some states do. Michigan asks for a total and a period, and leaves the mix to the work you actually did.

Credit for a recognized training program

LARA's licensing page says credit toward the requirement is possible for recognized training programs. It does not publish how much credit any program carries.

Because the amount is unpublished, a number quoted by a school is the school's claim rather than LARA's rule. Ask the Licensing Section to confirm it against your file before you count on it.

Plan on the statutory figures and treat any credit as an improvement. That way a refused credit costs you nothing but a surprise.

Proving the hours, which is the hard part

Form BCC-341 asks for employer documentation confirming the dates, the hours and the type of work, and says it has to be notarized. LARA also lists form BCC-3923, the experience statement required under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act.

Notarized documentation depends on employers you may no longer work for. A company that closed, a supervisor who retired, or a foreman who has moved on all become your problem four years later rather than theirs.

So the record you keep is the one that saves you. Dates worked, hours, the licensee supervising, and the kind of work, written down at the time and kept somewhere that survives a phone upgrade.

Collect signatures as you leave each employer rather than at the end. It is the same paperwork either way and it is easier while you are still in the building.

The military affidavit

MCL 339.5715 lets somebody discharged from military service within the past year who served as an interior electrician document the hours differently.

The affidavit is signed by a commanding officer, supervisor or military superior, and documents 8,000 hours of entry level experience along with knowledge across ten named electrical areas, among them grounding systems, circuit classifications, ampacity, motors, load calculations, protective devices, raceways, special circuits and lighting fixtures.

The number does not change. What changes is who attests to it, and the one year window after discharge in which the route is open.

Hours worked outside Michigan

Michigan holds no reciprocity with any other state or country, and an out of state applicant submits the original license along with documentation of that jurisdiction's detailed requirements for review.

Nothing on the LARA pages cited here sets out how out of state hours are credited toward the 8,000 or the 12,000. Because we could not confirm it, this page does not claim an answer.

Send the file, ask the Licensing Section directly at 517-241-9316, and get the reply in writing before you make plans around it.

Questions people ask

How many hours do you need for a journeyman electrician license in Michigan?

At least 8,000, obtained over at least four years. MCL 339.5715 sets both figures and LARA repeats them as 8,000 hours and 4 years as an electrical apprentice. Working faster does not shorten the four years, because the two conditions are joined by and.

How many hours for a Michigan master electrician license?

At least 12,000, over a period of 6 years or more, with at least two of those years spent holding an electrical journeyman's license. MCL 339.5713 sets those figures and LARA adds that 4,000 of the hours are worked as an electrical journeyman. The 4,000 sit inside the 12,000 rather than on top.

Can I finish the 8,000 hours in less than four years?

You can finish the hours sooner and you cannot finish the requirement sooner. MCL 339.5715 asks for at least 8,000 hours obtained over a period of at least 4 years, so both have to be satisfied and the later one sets your date. Overtime moves the hour count and leaves the calendar alone.

Who has to supervise my hours in Michigan?

LARA's licensing page says the work must relate to electrical construction or maintenance and be supervised by a Michigan licensed journeyman or master electrician. MCL 339.5715 words it as the direct supervision of a licensed electrician. MCL 339.5717 also caps the ratio at one journeyman or master to no more than three registered apprentices on a jobsite.

How do I prove my hours to LARA?

Form BCC-341 asks for employer documentation confirming dates, hours and the type of work, notarized, and LARA lists form BCC-3923 as the experience statement required under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act. The practical advice is to collect signatures as you leave each employer rather than four years later, when the supervisor may have moved on.

Do school hours count toward the Michigan hour requirement?

LARA's licensing page says credit is possible for recognized training programs, without publishing how much any program carries. Treat a figure quoted by a school as the school's claim until the Licensing Section confirms it against your file. Plan on the statutory 8,000 and 12,000 and take credit as an improvement.

Do hours from another state count in Michigan?

Nothing on the LARA pages cited here says how out of state hours are credited, so this page does not state an answer. What LARA does publish is that Michigan holds no reciprocity with any state or country, and that an out of state applicant submits the original license and documentation of that jurisdiction's requirements for review. Ask the Licensing Section and get the reply in writing.

What this page cites

• MCL 339.5715 At least 8,000 hours of experience obtained over a period of at least 4 years for the journeyman license, plus the military affidavit route. source
• MCL 339.5713 At least 12,000 hours over 6 years or more for the master license, with at least 2 years holding a journeyman license. source
• MCL 339.5717 The one journeyman or master to three registered apprentices ratio, applied on a jobsite basis. source
• LARA, electrical examination and licensing information Names the supervision as a Michigan licensed journeyman or master, adds the 4,000 journeyman hours to the master count, and mentions possible credit for recognized training programs. source
• Form BCC-341 The hour and year statements for each license and the requirement for notarized employer documentation of dates, hours and type of work. source
• LARA, licensing forms Names form BCC-3923 as the experience statement required under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act. source