Do Texas Electrical Contractors Need Continuing Education?

The contractor license is exempt. The people holding individual licenses are not.

What TDLR Actually Says

TDLR's electrician continuing education page lists who must complete 4 hours before each renewal, then adds one line: "Contractors and Residential Appliance Installers are not required to complete continuing education." The rule behind it, 16 TAC §73.25, lists every license that does need CE, and the contractor license isn't on it.

The Catch: Your Master Electrician Still Needs CE

An electrical contractor license belongs to the business. To get one, the business designates a master electrician. That master electrician holds a separate, individual license, and that license needs 4 hours of CE every year like any other master license. Being the contractor's qualifying master doesn't exempt them.

If you own the company and you are its master electrician, the contractor license renews without CE, but your master license does not.

Who on Your Crew Needs the 4 Hours

Under 16 TAC §73.25, each of these license holders needs 4 hours per annual renewal:

• Master and journeyman electricians
• Residential wiremen
• Maintenance electricians
• Journeyman linemen and journeyman industrial electricians
• Master and journeyman sign electricians
• Apprentice electricians and electrical sign apprentices (or enrollment in a TDLR-registered apprenticeship program instead, see apprentice renewal)

The 4 hours have to cover the National Electrical Code, Texas electrician law and rules, and NFPA 70E electrical safety, and they must be completed within the term of the license being renewed.

Keeping a Crew Compliant

Each license has its own expiration date, so a crew of ten has ten different deadlines. Two habits help:

• Track by expiration date, not by calendar year. Our Renewal Window Lookup shows each person's window and can email them 60 days ahead.
• Don't send anyone back through a course they already took. TDLR gives no credit for attending the same course more than once. See Can you take the same CE course twice?

Enrolling a whole crew? Email us with the headcount and we'll help you set it up.

Sources: TDLR, Electrician Continuing Education; 16 TAC §73.25. Checked October 9, 2026.