After you pass
You passed the NASCLA electrical exam. Here is what happens next.
Updated September 2026 - ten steps, in order
A passing score is not a license yet. Between the testing center and your first job there are ten things to do, and the order matters - you need to know whether you are applying for a personal license or a contractor license before anything else, the company has to exist before a contractor application, the EIN before the bank account. This page is the whole sequence with the official route and the real cost on every step.
Some buttons on this page are partner links - if you buy through one we may earn a referral fee at no extra cost to you. The official or free route is always shown beside it, and we never hide a cheaper government option.
Keep the score report. It is your only paper proof.
Cost: $0
NASCLA never mails a certificate. The score report PSI hands you at the testing center is the official printed proof that you passed - a board may ask to see it years from now.
- Photograph it today and save the photo somewhere you will not lose it.
- Put the paper in the folder you will use for the license application.
Create your NASCLA NED account and send the $45 transcript.
Cost: $45 per board
Your score sits in NASCLA's National Examination Database (NED). A board only sees it when you buy an electronic transcript for that board - you cannot email them the score report.
- Register at ned.nascla.org under the exact name you tested with. PSI uploads results within about 72 hours and NASCLA links them 48-72 business hours later - about 5-6 business days total.
- Buy one transcript per board. Boards can view it for two years from purchase; the passing result itself never expires.
Know which license you are actually applying for.
Cost: $0 - but it decides everything below
A journeyman or master license is yours personally. An electrical contractor license - the one that lets a company pull permits, bid work and sign contracts - is issued to a business, with a master (or the state's equivalent) named on it as the qualifier. Some boards combine the two; most do not.
- If you will work for someone else: apply for the personal license and skip the company steps.
- If you will run your own shop: you need the personal credential AND the contractor license, so the company has to exist before that application.
Going out on your own? Form the company first.
Cost: $50-$500 state filing fee
The contractor license, the bond, the insurance and the bank account are all written to the business's exact legal name. Most one-truck electrical shops pick an LLC.
- File the LLC (or corporation) with your state's Secretary of State - yourself on the state site, or through a formation service that also acts as your registered agent.
- Copy the legal name from the state filing onto everything that follows. Name mismatches get applications kicked back.
Get the EIN. It is free and takes ten minutes.
Cost: $0 - never pay for this
The EIN is the business's tax ID. The bank, the bond company, the insurer and the board all ask for it.
- Apply on irs.gov, online, during their business hours. The number is issued on the spot.
- Anyone charging you for an EIN is reselling a free government form.
Open a business bank account under the company name.
Cost: $0-$15 a month
Boards that want a financial statement build it from this account, and bond underwriters want business money separated from personal money.
- Bring the LLC papers and the EIN letter. Online business banks open accounts the same day.
- Run every business dollar through it from day one.
Pass the state's business and law exam, where required.
Cost: About $60-$150 exam fee, varies by state
The NASCLA covers the trade portion. Several boards still test business and law - lien law, payroll, licensing statutes, safety - or require a business course before the contractor license issues.
- From the board pages we verified: Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia run a business-and-law exam; Arizona runs its Statutes and Rules Exam; Louisiana requires a business law course; Utah has a Law and Rule exam.
- Our state guides say exactly what each board still requires - check yours before you schedule anything.
Line up the bond or financial statement the board wants.
Cost: Bond: usually 1-3% of the bond amount per year
Contractor licenses come with proof you can finish what you start - a license bond, a financial statement, or one standing in for the other. Personal journeyman and master licenses usually need neither.
- Arizona's Commercial Specialty bond runs $2,500 to $50,000 by yearly volume (verified on roc.az.gov). Tennessee wants a CPA-reviewed financial statement for the contractor license. Vanderburgh County requires proof of a surety bond with the application.
- Get the exact bond form and amount from the board before you get quotes - the surety needs the state's form.
Get general liability insurance - and workers' comp if you hire.
Cost: GL often $60-$150 a month for a new one-truck shop
Most boards want proof of general liability before the contractor license issues, and every GC and property manager will ask for a certificate of insurance before you touch a panel.
- Quote a $1,000,000 per occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate policy - the number commercial customers ask for regardless of the state minimum.
- Workers' compensation becomes mandatory at a headcount the state sets (any employee in some states, three or four in others).
File the application, then set up to run jobs.
Cost: Application fees vary by board
With the transcript, the company, the money proof and the insurance in hand, the application is a checklist. Then the real work: estimates, invoices, books, permits, and the local business license most cities require.
- Open your board's page on our state guides for the official link and the experience documentation it asks for - hours affidavits are the step that slows electrical applications down most.
- Pick estimating and invoicing software before the first job, and keep the books in something a CPA can read.
The steps people search for most
How to Send Your NASCLA Electrical Score to a Licensing Board
Passed a NASCLA electrical exam? How the $45 transcript works: the NED account, the 5-6 business day wait, the 2-year viewing window, and why you never get a copy.
Master License or Electrical Contractor License? The Qualifier Rule
The difference between a personal journeyman or master license and the electrical contractor license a business holds, the qualifier rule, and the order to set up an LLC, EIN and bank account.
The Business and Law Exam You May Still Have to Take
The NASCLA electrical exams cover the trade only. From the board pages we verified: which boards still require a business and law exam or course, and what those tests look like.
The Bond and Insurance an Electrical Contractor Needs
License bond amounts we could verify (Arizona $2,500-$50,000 by volume), what a bond costs per year, the general liability limits commercial customers demand, and when workers' comp becomes mandatory.
Running the Electrical Business Once the License Arrives
The setup a newly licensed electrical contractor needs before the first job: permit accounts, estimating and invoicing software, bookkeeping a CPA can read, local licenses, and keeping the license alive.
Every board still has its own checklist
Nineteen agencies take part in the NASCLA electrical program and each asks for something different afterward - a business and law exam, experience affidavits, insurance, a bond. Our state guides spell it out board by board, with the official link.
WiremanPrep is an exam-prep company, not a law firm, insurance agency or licensing service. Fees, bond amounts and insurance minimums change - every figure here was checked in September 2026 against the source named, and your board's current page is the final word.