Checked against primary sources 2026-09-07
Code RJE
Residential Journeyman Electrician Wisconsin: RJE Rules
The residential journeyman grade is the shortest route to a licensed electrician card in Wisconsin, three years rather than four, and it comes with a scope written around dwellings. Only 256 people in the state hold it as an active license.
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The scope, in the state's words
Form 3111 describes the work as "limited to wiring associated with dwellings, dwelling units and detached accessory buildings and structures serving the dwellings or the dwelling units, such as garages, carports, gazebos, and swimming pools."
That list is broader than a house. A detached garage, a carport, a gazebo and a pool serving a dwelling are all inside it, and a commercial building is not.
The two routes in
SPS 305.447 sets the experience route at "at least 1,000 hours per year of experience for at least 3 years in residential electrical wiring work," with the education equivalency where "each semester spent full-time... shall be considered equivalent to 500 hours."
The alternative is "evidence of completing a residential electrical wiring apprenticeship program" recognized by the state and federal labor departments. Form 3111, Rev. 01/08/2024, words it as a program recognized under Wis. Stat. ch. 106 or the federal Department of Labor.
School credit is capped at 500 hours per semester up to 2,000 hours and two years, the same ceiling as the general journeyman grade.
The exam and the fees
The residential journeyman examination is open book with a passing score of 70 percent, and Pearson VUE gives it four hours of seat time at $95.00. Table 305.02 sets $35 to apply, $30 for the state examination fee and $100 for the license fee.
The reference items are the same as the general journeyman exam. One binder with SPS 305, SPS 316 and printed notes, a code book or handbook, and up to two printed bound reference books.
Renewal and continuing education
The license runs four years and expires June 30, at a renewal fee of $100.00.
Continuing education is lower here than on the general journeyman grade. SPS 305.447 asks for "at least 18 hours of acceptable continuing education prior to the expiration date of the license," against 24 hours for a journeyman.
No sentence in the rule requires any of those 18 hours to be a code update course. If a seller tells you Wisconsin mandates one, ask them for the rule number.
No reciprocity route exists
Form 3111 contains no reciprocity category. Its two routes are experience plus examination, and completion of a residential electrical wiring apprenticeship.
So a residential electrician licensed in another state applies here the same way as somebody starting from scratch, on hours or on an apprenticeship. The named reciprocity routes in Wisconsin sit on the journeyman and master forms only.
How rare it is
The DSPS count file, as of 06/01/2026, gives 256 in state active residential journeymen and 334 in state in total, against 6,791 in state active general journeymen.
The residential master grade is slightly larger at 352 in state active. Between them the two residential grades are a small corner of a state where nearly everybody holds the general license.
That is worth knowing before you choose. A residential journeyman card is faster to reach and narrower to work with, and the general grade is the one nearly everybody in the state holds.
Questions people ask
What can a residential journeyman electrician do in Wisconsin?
Wiring associated with dwellings, dwelling units and detached accessory buildings and structures serving them, such as garages, carports, gazebos and swimming pools. Commercial work is outside the scope.
How many hours for a Wisconsin residential journeyman license?
At least 1,000 hours per year for at least three years in residential electrical wiring work, under SPS 305.447. A recognized residential electrical wiring apprenticeship is the alternative route.
Is there an exam for the residential journeyman license?
Yes. It is open book with a passing score of 70 percent and four hours of seat time on the Pearson VUE fee schedule. DSPS does not publish a question count.
How much continuing education does a residential journeyman owe?
At least 18 hours before the expiration date of the license, under SPS 305.447, across a four year term. The general journeyman grade owes 24 hours over the same term.
Can I upgrade from residential journeyman to journeyman?
There is no exchange route on form 3111. You would qualify on the journeyman rule in SPS 305.44 and sit that examination, which is a different paper with a wider scope.
Does Wisconsin reciprocate a residential license from another state?
No. Form 3111 has no reciprocity category. Wisconsin names reciprocity conditions only on the journeyman form, for Iowa and New Hampshire, and on the master form, for Iowa.
Thirty free questions, timed, with the working shown
Every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the code section named, so you learn the trap and not just the answer. No account.
All questions here are original. They are not actual exam questions, and no question bank can promise you a pass.
What this page cites
- Form 3111, Residential Journeyman Electrician The scope sentence, the two routes and the absence of a reciprocity category. source
- SPS 305.447, Residential journeyman electricians Three years at 1,000 hours a year, the school equivalency and the 18 hours of continuing education. source
- DSPS Residential Journeyman exam page Open book, 70 percent, and the reference items allowed in the room. source
- Table 305.02 The $35 application, $30 examination and $100 license fees for the grade. source
- DSPS license counts, as of 06/01/2026 The 256 in state active and 334 in state total residential journeyman records. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.