How to become an electrician apprentice in South Dakota
How do I register as an electrician apprentice in South Dakota and reach the journeyman exam?
- Find work under a licensed electrical contractor
- Fill out the Apprentice License Application
- Submit it with the $20 fee by mail or fax
- Wait about 30 days for the license
- Log 8,000 licensed hours over four years
- Keep the renewal current in even-numbered years
- Sit the journeyman exam
- Then work 4,000 more hours for the contractor exam
The registration itself, step by step
An electrical apprentice in South Dakota registers with the State Electrical Commission, under SDCL 36-16-21. The application is one form, and the fee is $20.
The application form sets the process plainly. It costs $20, takes about 30 days to process, and licenses expire on June 30 of even-numbered years. You mail or fax the signed form to the commission in Pierre, or pay the $20 by credit card over the phone.
The form has expiry teeth. An incomplete application expires after 30 days, and you reapply with another fee. Answer every field before sending.
The commission caps the fee by statute. SDCL 36-16-21 lets the commission set a biennial registration fee of not more than $20, collected in even-numbered years.
$20 biennialAn electrical apprentice registers with the State Electrical Commission under SDCL 36-16-21, with a biennial registration fee the commission may set at not more than $20. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, SDCL 36-16-21, retrieved 2026-09-29
about 30 daysThe electrical apprentice application costs $20, takes about 30 days to process, and all licenses expire on June 30 of even-numbered years. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, Apprentice License Application, retrieved 2026-09-29
30 daysAn incomplete electrical apprentice application expires after 30 days, and the applicant must reapply and submit another application fee. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, Apprentice License Application, retrieved 2026-09-29
The job comes before the registration
The statute defines an apprentice by who teaches them. Under SDCL 36-16-2, an apprentice electrician is a person learning the trade under the supervision and employment of an electrical contractor, journeyman electrician, or Class B electrician.
So the realistic order is reversed from the paperwork. You find the employer first, because the employer is the supervisor the definition names, and the application form has an Employer field on it.
This is also what keeps an apprentice off general job boards as a free agent. Without a licensed employer above you, the hours have no supervisor, and the registration has no anchor.
SDCL 36-16-2 defines an apprentice electrician as a person learning the trade under the supervision and employment of an electrical contractor, journeyman electrician, or Class B electrician. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, SDCL 36-16-2, retrieved 2026-09-29
The supervision rule on every installation
The statute says it in one line: the apprentice may not be allowed to work on an installation without personal supervision.
The administrative rule splits that by job site. Under ARSD 20:44:16:05, on commercial sites or projects an apprentice electrician must be personally supervised on site by a licensed electrical contractor, journeyman electrician, or 501(d) electrician. On other than commercial projects, the apprentice must have daily personal supervision from a licensee in those classes, plus Class B.
Plan your first year around that rule. It is the difference between a commercial crew, where your supervisor is in the room, and residential work, where the supervisor must see you daily.
Under SDCL 36-16-21, an electrical apprentice may not be allowed to work on an installation without personal supervision. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, SDCL 36-16-21, retrieved 2026-09-29
Under ARSD 20:44:16:05, apprentices on commercial sites must be personally supervised on site by a licensee, and on other projects must have daily personal supervision. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, ARSD 20:44:16:05, retrieved 2026-09-29
While working on commercial sites or projects, apprentice electricians must be personally supervised on site by an electrician holding a license issued under one of the classes set forth under SDCL 36-16-2(3), (5), or (7) on 501(d) properties.
Four years and 8,000 hours to the journeyman exam
The commission publishes the climb in one paragraph. After four years as a licensed apprentice, for a total of 8,000 hours, working under the employment and supervision of an electrical contractor, you are ready to write the journeyman's exam.
The year is defined by rule, not by the calendar. ARSD 20:44:16:06 fixes one year of experience as 2,000 hours.
The hours must be licensed hours. The commission states that experience hours must be licensed in order for your working time to count toward the hours required to take the exams. Time spent wiring before the registration arrives does not count.
| Stage | Hours | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice registration | 0 | Work under personal supervision |
| Journeyman exam | 8,000 licensed hours | Licensed journeyman work |
| Contractor exam | 4,000 further hours | Running the contracting business |
8,000 hoursAn electrician apprentice becomes ready for the journeyman exam after four years as a licensed apprentice, a total of 8,000 hours, under the employment and supervision of an electrical contractor. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, retrieved 2026-09-29
2,000 hoursARSD 20:44:16:06 defines one year of electrical experience as 2,000 hours. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, ARSD 20:44:16:06, retrieved 2026-09-29
Electrical experience hours must be licensed for the working time to count toward the hours required to take the exams. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, retrieved 2026-09-29
Two more years after the journeyman license
The journeyman license is a middle rung. The commission requires another two years as a licensed journeyman, with 4,000 additional hours under a contractor, including at least 2,000 hours of commercial work, before the electrical contractor's exam.
That commercial minimum shapes your job choices as a journeyman. A residential-only stretch after licensing stalls the contractor clock at 2,000 of its 4,000 hours.
The trade's own rules also keep moving after licensing. Every licensee needs 16 hours of continuing education per renewal period, a minimum of 8 of them code hours, and ARSD 20:44:17:02 allows only 8 of those hours from pre-approved online courses.
2,000 commercial hoursThe electrical contractor's exam requires two more years as a licensed journeyman, with 4,000 additional hours including a minimum of 2,000 hours of commercial work. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, retrieved 2026-09-29
16 hoursElectrical licensees need 16 hours of continuing education with a minimum of 8 code hours, and ARSD 20:44:17:02 allows only 8 hours from pre-approved online courses. — South Dakota Electrical Commission, retrieved 2026-09-29
How this route differs from the trades beside it
The apprentice route exists in electrical work and plumbing, and exists nowhere in beauty trades here. Cosmetology hours must be school hours from a Commission-licensed provider, a rule the cosmetology page covers.
Plumbing counts years differently. Its plumber license wants four apprentice years too, but at 1,900 hours each rather than 2,000, and it offers a third-year apprentice license that electrical work has no analogue for. The plumbing route sets out the difference.
If your employer is weighing a formal program over the state registration alone, the registration guide covers the federal model that can sit on top of this one.
1,900 hours per yearA South Dakota plumber's license requires four years as an apprentice plumber with at least 1,900 hours per year. — South Dakota Plumbing Commission, retrieved 2026-09-29
Questions
Can I log electrical hours in South Dakota before my license arrives?
No. The commission states that experience hours must be licensed for the working time to count, so hours worked while unregistered are lost hours for exam purposes.
What if my application sits incomplete for a month?
It dies. An incomplete application expires after 30 days by the form's own instructions, and you reapply with a fresh $20 fee.
Do apprentice electricians renew like other licensees?
Yes, on the even-numbered-year cycle. All licenses expire June 30 of even-numbered years, and the statute collects the biennial registration fee in even years.
Is the 8,000-hour total the same as four full calendar years?
Not exactly. A year is defined as 2,000 hours by rule, so the total is four working years. A slow year at 1,500 hours stretches the calendar past four years.
Who can supervise my hours?
An electrical contractor, journeyman electrician, or Class B electrician under the statutory definition. The statute adds a fourth branch for apprentices learning under a 501(d) electrician, and 501(d) licensees are restricted to wiring on 501(d) properties. A fellow apprentice cannot supervise you.