Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Minnesota's official board.
Minnesota licenses boiler engineers statewide through the Department of Labor and Industry, with ten commercial classes graded by boiler horsepower plus a historical steam traction engine license, and Minnesota Rules 5225.0400 bars anyone from having charge of or operating a boiler or boiler plant without a license of the class required for that plant.
| Requirements | Every class requires passing a written exam with a minimum score of 70 percent; the time limit for all boiler exams is 2.5 hours and the exam fee is $50. Operating experience is documented on a notarized affidavit signed by persons specified in Minnesota Rule 5225.0550. Per the department's license classification chart: Special requires no prior experience (and a Special license is what a candidate uses to accumulate operating experience); 2-C requires 1 year (12 months) of low pressure boiler experience; 2-B requires 1 year (2,000 hours) of high and low pressure experience; 2-A requires 1 year boiler (2,000 hours) plus 1 year turbine (2,000 hours); 1-C requires 3 years (36 months) low pressure; 1-B requires 3 years (6,000 hours) high and low; 1-A requires 3 years boiler (6,000 hours) plus 2 years turbine (4,000 hours); the Chief grades (Ch-C, Ch-B, Ch-A) require 5 years (60 months, or 10,000 hours for Ch-B and Ch-A, plus 2 years or 4,000 hours of turbine time for Ch-A) and the applicant must have held a Minnesota first class license for at least one year. The Historical steam traction engine license requires a minimum 50 hours affidavit. A failed exam carries a 30 day waiting period. A provisional engineer license is available to a holder of a valid second class engineer grade A or B license working at a plant with a properly licensed chief engineer; it costs $40, expires 36 months after issuance, cannot be renewed, and no more than two may be issued to a person in a four year period. |
| Reciprocity | None for the standard boiler engineer grades. The Department of Labor and Industry's licensing pages and the boiler licence classification table publish no reciprocity provision for the Special, Second Class C/B/A, First Class C/B/A or Chief C/B/A grades, and the governing statutes contain none. The one exception is narrow and does not reach those grades: Minn. Stat. § 326B.956 provides reciprocity only for the Historical boiler class, steam traction and hobby boilers, recognising an out-of-state or Canadian provincial historical licence where the chief inspector finds that jurisdiction's requirements equal or greater. That provision is operating recognition for the historical class rather than a grant of a standard Minnesota engineer licence, and it does not state that the Minnesota examination is waived. |
| Renewal | Boiler licenses expire every two years at the end of the month in which the license was originally issued. Two-year license fees on the department's classification chart run from $20 (Special) to $80 (Chief grades, Boat Master and Historical). Licenses expired more than two years require retesting. No continuing education requirement is stated on the department's boiler licensing pages. |
| Notes | Minnesota licenses boiler engineers statewide through the Department of Labor and Industry, with ten commercial classes graded by boiler horsepower plus a historical steam traction engine license, and Minnesota Rules 5225.0400 bars anyone from having charge of or operating a boiler or boiler plant without a license of the class required for that plant. |
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Sources: www.dli.mn.gov, www.dli.mn.gov, www.dli.mn.gov, www.dli.mn.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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