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Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

The registration you do not file

Colorado Electrical Apprentice Registration: The Rules

Colorado's apprentice registration is unusual in one way that catches people out. You do not file it. Your employer does, within 30 days of putting you on the payroll, and the Board can suspend the registration later if the hours never get reported.

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On this page
  1. Who files it, and when
  2. Direct supervision, and the three to one limit
  3. The records your employer has to keep
  4. The six year rule that forces an exam
  5. Licensed and still an apprentice
  6. Deployment
  7. What the state does not publish
  8. Questions people ask
  9. What this page cites

Who files it, and when

The Board's apprentice page is direct about this. Once an apprentice begins working for an electrical contractor, the employer must complete an application to register the apprentice with the Board within 30 days.

The same page says an employer must also notify the Board within 30 days when an apprentice terminates his or her employment with the company, and that there is no fee for notifying the Board that an apprentice has been terminated.

Your part is smaller. The Board's apprentice application preview asks only for contact information, name history, and screening and inquiry disclosures, and it explains that once you are employed the employer uses your APE number to complete the registration.

Direct supervision, and the three to one limit

C.R.S. 12-115-103 defines direct supervision as the supervising licensed master electrician, journeyman electrician, residential wireman, or photovoltaic installer being physically present at the same physical address where the apprentice is working.

Physically present at the same address is a stricter test than available by phone. It is worth knowing which licensed person on your job carries you, because the Board can discipline them for your work under C.R.S. 12-115-115(2).

The ratio is in C.R.S. 12-115-115(1): a licensed electrician shall not directly supervise more than three apprentices at a job site. The Board's fine schedule attacks the same limit from the other end, listing failure of an electrical contractor to maintain a supervisory ratio of one licensed electrician to three apprentices as a violation at $375 for a first offense.

The records your employer has to keep

Board rule 3 CCR 710-1.6.B requires electrical contractors to keep employment records showing exact dates of employment, the number of hours and months of residential electrical experience, and the number of hours and months of commercial, industrial, or substantially similar electrical experience.

Rule 1.6.C then requires the contractor to hand those records over on termination, on resignation, or on request by the apprentice. That last one matters. You can ask for your record while you still work there, and you should, because the license application later asks for a breakdown by work type with supervisor signatures.

C.R.S. 12-115-115(3)(c) adds an annual duty on employers and apprenticeship programs to report apprentice names, contact information, practical training hours and classroom hours to the Board by January 1 each year. The Board publishes a reporting form for it.

The six year rule that forces an exam

This is the part almost nobody outside Colorado has heard of. C.R.S. 12-115-115(4)(a)(I) says an apprentice who has been registered for at least six years, has completed eight thousand hours of practical training, and meets all other journeyman electrician license requirements shall take the journeyman electrician license examination at least every three years in alignment with the license renewal cycle until the apprentice receives a passing score.

PSI runs a separate paper for it, listed in the bulletin as CO Journeyman Wireman (6 plus Year Apprentice Exam). It is the same 90 items in 240 minutes at 70 percent as the standard journeyman paper.

C.R.S. 12-115-115(5) lets the Board suspend an apprentice registration for failing to report hours or failing to take the required examination, and provides for learning disability accommodations. The six year exam page goes through it.

Licensed and still an apprentice

A residential wireman who wants commercial hours has to register as an apprentice to get them. The Board says a licensed residential wireman must be registered as an electrical apprentice and be supervised by a licensed journeyman or master electrician when performing commercial or industrial work.

Rule 3 CCR 710-1.6.A.2 says the same thing: an individual that holds an active residential electrician's license and is working on a commercial job site must be registered as an apprentice.

That is how the 2,000 commercial hours inside the journeyman requirement usually get earned by someone who started residential.

Deployment

Rule 3 CCR 710-1.6.D provides an exemption for apprentices deployed on military orders. The request has to be supported by military documentation submitted at least 15 days before deployment, and the exemption applies for the duration of the deployment only.

Fifteen days before is the part to note, because it is a deadline you can miss while packing.

What the state does not publish

No apprentice registration fee appears on any reachable state page, although C.R.S. 12-115-117(1)(l) authorizes one. No renewal cycle and no continuing education requirement is published for the registration either, because the CE rule attaches to active master, journeyman and residential wireman licenses.

There is also no published entry requirement. No age, no diploma, no schooling appears on the application preview. The schooling requirement in Colorado sits on the journeyman application instead, as 288 classroom hours.

Questions people ask

How do I register as an electrical apprentice in Colorado?

Get hired by a registered electrical contractor. The Board's page puts the duty on the employer to complete the registration application within 30 days of you starting, using the APE number from your own application.

How many apprentices can one electrician supervise in Colorado?

Three. C.R.S. 12-115-115(1) says a licensed electrician shall not directly supervise more than three apprentices at a job site, and the Board's fine schedule sets $375 for a first supervisory ratio violation.

What counts as direct supervision?

The statute defines it as the supervising licensed master electrician, journeyman electrician, residential wireman or photovoltaic installer being physically present at the same physical address where the apprentice is working.

Do I have to take an exam as an apprentice?

Not to register. But if you have been registered at least six years with 8,000 hours and you meet the other journeyman requirements, C.R.S. 12-115-115(4)(a)(I) makes you sit the journeyman exam at least every three years until you pass.

What does apprentice registration cost in Colorado?

No figure is published. C.R.S. 12-115-117(1)(l) authorizes a fee for apprentice registration and sets no amount, and no reachable state page prints one. The Board does say there is no fee for reporting a termination.

Can my employer refuse to give me my hours record?

Board rule 3 CCR 710-1.6.C requires electrical contractors to provide the employment records on termination, on resignation, or on request by the apprentice. Ask in writing and keep the copy.

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What this page cites

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