Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from South Dakota's official board.
South Dakota is unusually well connected for a small state: its license reciprocates into North Dakota at MASTER level, which only Iowa and Minnesota otherwise achieve, and at journeyman level it sits inside the wider plains network alongside Nebraska's thirteen-state agreement. For an electrician working the Dakotas and the surrounding states, holding the South Dakota master is worth considerably more than the state's population would suggest. Note also that the supervision must come from an electrical CONTRACTOR, not merely from a licensed individual, that wording is in the qualifying rule and is checked.
| Requirements | JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN. FOUR YEARS as a LICENSED APPRENTICE ELECTRICIAN, a total of 8,000 HOURS, worked under the EMPLOYMENT AND SUPERVISION of an ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. Both parts matter: the apprentice must be licensed, and the supervision must come from a contractor rather than merely a licensed individual. After that time is served the applicant is eligible to sit the journeyman's examination. The governing law is SDCL chapter 36-16, Electricians and Electrical Contractors, which the commission publishes alongside its wiring bulletin. |
| Reciprocity | South Dakota publishes its own reciprocal agreements page, and the South Dakota license is named in North Dakota's agreements at BOTH journeyman and master level, one of only three states North Dakota recognises for master reciprocity. Check the commission's current list before applying. |
| Renewal | Licenses renew with the South Dakota Electrical Commission on its published cycle; the commission publishes its fee schedule and renewal forms separately, along with a 'Tool Box' of resources for electricians and its wiring bulletin covering SDCL chapter 36-16. |
| Notes | South Dakota is unusually well connected for a small state: its license reciprocates into North Dakota at MASTER level, which only Iowa and Minnesota otherwise achieve, and at journeyman level it sits inside the wider plains network alongside Nebraska's thirteen-state agreement. For an electrician working the Dakotas and the surrounding states, holding the South Dakota master is worth considerably more than the state's population would suggest. Note also that the supervision must come from an electrical CONTRACTOR, not merely from a licensed individual, that wording is in the qualifying rule and is checked. |
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Sources: dlr.sd.gov, dlr.sd.gov, dlr.sd.gov, dlr.sd.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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