Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Minnesota's official board.
Minnesota has no statewide sign electrician or sign contractor license: the Department of Labor and Industry's electrical licenses are the general electrical contractor license and the master, journeyworker and registered unlicensed individual credentials, and sign contractors as such are licensed by cities. The state's role is the optional $8,000 sign contractor compliance bond filed with the commissioner under Minnesota Statutes 326B.865, which stands in place of any bond a city would otherwise require, so local sign licenses and permits are what actually apply.
Minnesota issues no sign electrician license, so there are no state license levels. What applies instead is set out below.
| Requirements | There is no sign-specific electrical credential to apply for. The department's own list of electrical license types covers the electrical contractor license and the personal licenses of master electrician, journeyworker electrician and registered unlicensed individual, with no sign category. Electrical work on a sign therefore falls under the general electrical licensing rules of Minnesota Statutes 326B.33: no individual may perform or supervise electrical work unless licensed as a master electrician working for a licensed contractor or on the employer's own property, and no individual may perform and supervise electrical work other than planning or laying out unless licensed as a journeyworker electrician working for a licensed contractor or under a master electrician employed by the same employer. A Class A journeyworker applicant must have at least four years of experience acceptable to the commissioner in wiring for, installing and repairing electrical wiring, apparatus or equipment, with one year of credit allowed for a commissioner-approved two-year post-high-school electrical course. The exemptions in 326B.33 subdivision 21 cover maintenance electricians, technology circuit work by supervised employees, certain class 2 and class 3 remote control wiring for plug-connected appliances, and HVAC and refrigeration contractors; none of them is a sign exemption. Separately, a sign contractor may post a compliance bond of $8,000 with the commissioner under Minnesota Statutes 326B.865, conditioned on faithfully performing duties and complying with laws, ordinances, rules and contracts entered into for the installation of signs. That bond may be drawn upon only by a local unit of government that requires sign contractors to post a compliance bond, and it is in lieu of any compliance bond required by a local unit of government. The department's page states that cities that license sign contractors require a bond to issue a license, and that if the bond is filed with the department the cities cannot require a separate bond. |
| Reciprocity | Not applicable, Minnesota issues no statewide sign electrician or sign contractor licence, so there is no state credential to reciprocate, and sign licensing is municipal. Minnesota's electrical reciprocity confirms the limit: the Department of Labor and Industry's Individual Electrical License Reciprocity Application (form CC0502) offers only two licence classes, Class A Master and Class A Journeyman, and names the reciprocating states as Alaska (journeyman only), Arkansas (journeyman only), Colorado (journeyman only), Iowa (master and journeyman), Montana (journeyman only), Nebraska (master and journeyman), North Dakota (master and journeyman), South Dakota (master and journeyman) and Wyoming (journeyman only), on conditions of holding the equivalent-class licence from that state for at least one year, having passed that state's examination, and a $50 fee. No sign or limited licence class appears on the form or on the department's reciprocity page. Minn. Stat. § 326B.33 likewise lists no sign electrician class among Minnesota's personal electrical licences. |
| Renewal | There is no sign license to renew. The sign contractor compliance bond under Minnesota Statutes 326B.865 must be renewed biennially and maintained for so long as the commissioner determines, and each person giving bond must pay a biennial bond filing fee of $100 to the commissioner of labor and industry. |
| Notes | Minnesota has no statewide sign electrician or sign contractor license: the Department of Labor and Industry's electrical licenses are the general electrical contractor license and the master, journeyworker and registered unlicensed individual credentials, and sign contractors as such are licensed by cities. The state's role is the optional $8,000 sign contractor compliance bond filed with the commissioner under Minnesota Statutes 326B.865, which stands in place of any bond a city would otherwise require, so local sign licenses and permits are what actually apply. |
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Sources: www.dli.mn.gov, www.revisor.mn.gov, www.revisor.mn.gov, www.dli.mn.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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