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Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07

The two year card

Colorado Residential Wireman License: Scope and Hours

Residential wireman asks for 4,000 hours over two years, which is half of what the journeyman license asks for. It is a real license with a real exam, and it is also a ceiling, because the moment you step onto a commercial job you are an apprentice again.

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On this page
  1. What it allows
  2. The commercial job site rule
  3. The hours
  4. Schooling
  5. The exam
  6. Coming in from another state
  7. Renewal and continuing education
  8. Questions people ask
  9. What this page cites

What it allows

C.R.S. 12-115-103 defines a residential wireman as a person having the necessary qualifications, training, experience, and technical knowledge to wire for, and install, electrical apparatus and equipment for wiring one-, two-, three-, and four-family dwellings.

That is the whole scope. One, two, three and four family dwellings, wiring and installing. The journeyman definition beside it adds repair and drops the dwelling limit.

C.R.S. 12-115-109(2) puts a fence around it in one sentence: a residential wireman shall not perform electrical work of a type that is beyond the authorization of the license held.

The commercial job site rule

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.

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

This is not a technicality. It is how a residential wireman earns the 2,000 commercial hours the journeyman license asks for, and it means your employer has an apprentice registration to file for you all over again.

The hours

The Board's applications page prints 4,000 hours of residential only experience earned in no less than 2 years.

C.R.S. 12-115-110(3) allows an alternative: at least two years of accredited training, or four thousand hours over a period of at least two years of practical experience in wiring one-, two-, three-, and four-family dwellings. Board rule 3 CCR 710-1.7 prints 4,000 hours earned in no less than two years.

C.R.S. 12-115-110(6)(a)(I) now lets two thousand hours worked as a NABCEP PV installation professional count toward that 4,000, which came in with Senate Bill 25-165. Two further routes in (6)(a) credit at one hour for every two worked, and the hours page prints all three.

Schooling

No fixed classroom hour figure is published for the residential wireman. The 288 hour requirement the Board prints is written into the journeyman requirements, not this one.

The Board's residential wireman application preview describes an education route instead: education directly related to electrical theory and practical applications involving wiring for installation and repairing electrical apparatus and equipment for light, heat and power from an accredited community college or trade school.

So there is no published number to hit here. If a school tells you its course is the required 288 hours for a residential wireman license, ask them to show you where the Board says that.

The exam

The Board's preview asks for a passing score on the Colorado Residential Wireman examination administered by PSI Testing.

The paper is the same size as the other three. PSI's bulletin lists Residential Wireman as 90 scored items, 240 minutes, 70 percent or 63 items correct to pass, with up to 7 unscored items and 30 extra minutes. The other three papers carry up to 10 unscored items in the same 30 minutes.

The fee is $78 and a retest is $73. PSI provides the code book and the formula page, and bars writing, highlighting, underlining and indexing on them. Since August 1, 2026 the questions follow the 2026 National Electrical Code. The exam page covers the room.

Coming in from another state

Residential wireman is not covered by Colorado's reciprocity agreement, which runs to journeyman and master certificates only. The route in is endorsement.

The Board's residential wireman application preview asks whether you hold or have held an active, state-issued license as a residential wireman or equivalent electrician in another state issued by examination on the National Electric Code in use in Colorado at the time of application, and then asks a sharper question: have you passed a state licensing examination based on the 2023 NEC? It adds that licenses not issued by testing, or by testing on a different version of the NEC, are not eligible for endorsement.

That 2023 answer sits against the state's own rule filing, which put Colorado on the 2026 NEC from July 15, 2026. Both are live state documents. The reciprocity page prints both sides, and the honest advice is to call the Board before you file.

Renewal and continuing education

All electrician licenses expire on September 30 every three years. The current cycle expires 9/30/2026 and can be renewed through 11/30/2026.

Residential wiremen carry the same continuing education load as the other two grades: 24 hours per three year period, at least four hours in the National Electrical Code changes competency, no more than four hours in safety. The first renewal after a licensing examination is exempt.

2,032 residential wireman licenses were active in the September 2026 data pull, against 4,438 expired. That gap is worth reading as a warning about the renewal window.

Questions people ask

What can a residential wireman do in Colorado?

Wire for and install electrical apparatus and equipment for one, two, three and four family dwellings. C.R.S. 12-115-109(2) bars work beyond the authorization of the license held.

How many hours for a Colorado residential wireman license?

4,000 hours of residential only experience earned in no less than 2 years, on the Board's applications page. The statute also allows at least two years of accredited training as the alternative.

Can a residential wireman work commercial in Colorado?

Only as a registered apprentice supervised by a journeyman or master electrician. The Board's apprentice page and rule 3 CCR 710-1.6.A.2 both say so.

Is the residential wireman exam easier than the journeyman exam?

It is the same size. PSI lists Residential Wireman as 90 scored items in 240 minutes with 63 correct needed to pass, exactly like the journeyman and master papers. The scope of the questions is what differs.

Does a residential wireman need the 288 classroom hours?

The Board writes the 288 hour requirement into the journeyman requirements. No fixed classroom hour figure is published for the residential wireman, and the application preview describes an education route in general terms instead.

Can I bring a residential license from another state?

Not through reciprocity, which covers journeyman and master certificates only. Endorsement is the route, and the Board's residential preview asks whether your exam was based on the 2023 NEC, which conflicts with the state's own 2026 adoption. Ask the Board first.

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What this page cites

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NEC and National Electrical Code are registered trademarks of the National Fire Protection Association.

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The Colorado examinations are open book only in the sense that PSI puts a book on the desk. PSI provides the National Electrical Code and a formula page at the test center, bars writing, highlighting, underlining and indexing on them, and allows no other materials. The questions have followed the 2026 edition since 1 August 2026, and the 2023 book is provided on request until 1 November 2026.

All practice questions are original. They are not actual exam questions.

Built and maintained by Jeff Clerisier, Trojan Digital Marketing.

Every rule here is cited to the section it comes from, and corrections are logged in public with the date. This is study material rather than electrical advice, and it does not replace your own code book or your inspector.

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