Minnesota Electrician Experience Calculator: Months, Not Hours
Minnesota counts months, not hours, and each license names a category of work you have to spend a minimum number of them in. Put your months in and this gives you the first day the license you want is within reach.
How this was calculated
The method, and what each number rests on
Minnesota calls the card between apprentice and master a journeyworker rather than a journeyman, and the two words name the same credential. DLI issues it, DLI writes and runs the examination, and what this page computes is the day the experience is behind you.
Minnesota counts months, not hours. The Class A journeyworker asks for 48 months, the Class A master for 60, the maintenance electrician and the lineman for 48, the power limited technician for 36 and the Class B installer for 12. Those are the totals on the DLI experience matrix and they line up with the years in 326B.33.
Each license also names a category you have to spend a minimum number of months in. The journeyworker owes at least 24 months wiring for and installing, the maintenance electrician at least 24 maintaining and repairing, the lineman at least 24 of line work and the power limited technician at least 12 wiring for and installing technology circuits. The Class A master owes 12 months wiring for and installing plus at least 2 months each of planning, laying out and supervising, and this page counts the 12 rather than the three twos.
The matrix also caps how many months any one category can contribute. Line work is capped at 3 months toward an electrician license, elevator work at 6, technology circuits at 6 and process control circuits at 12, and maintaining and repairing at 24 on the journeyworker license. This page counts one total and one category, so check your own split against the matrix before you file.
A two year post high school electrical or technical course approved by the board is worth up to 12 months of credit on the journeyworker, maintenance electrician and power limited technician licenses. DLI publishes no schooling credit for the master, lineman or installer licenses, so the credit field above gives none on those three.
DLI says applicants must be at least 17 years old, and no minimum age appears in the text of 326B.33 itself. Class B master and Class B journeyworker have been closed to new applicants since 1 August 1985 and Class A installer since 1 December 2007, so none of the three is on this page.
The date arithmetic is plain. Months still to work, added to your start date on the calendar rather than converted to hours, because the state counts months. Nothing here says whether DLI will accept your experience, and DLI approves the application before an examination date exists.
What each one asks for
| What you are working toward | What it takes | The detail |
|---|---|---|
| Class A Journeyworker Electrician | 48 months in total, 24 of them wiring for and installing | 48 months in total, at least 24 of them wiring for and installing. This is the card the trade calls a journeyman. |
| Class A Master Electrician | 60 months in total, 12 of them wiring for and installing | 60 months in total, at least 12 wiring for and installing, and at least 2 each of planning, laying out and supervising. |
| Maintenance Electrician | 48 months in total, 24 of them maintaining and repairing | 48 months in total, at least 24 of them maintaining and repairing. |
| Power Limited Technician | 36 months in total, 12 of them wiring for and installing technology circuits | 36 months in total, at least 12 of them wiring for and installing technology circuits. |
| Lineman | 48 months in total, 24 of them line work | 48 months in total, at least 24 of them line work. This is the one exam taken on the National Electrical Safety Code. |
| Class B Installer | 12 months in total | 12 months in total, or a post high school course in electricity approved by the commissioner. A $1,000 bond is a condition of the license. |
Questions people ask
How many months does the Class A Journeyworker Electrician need?
It asks for 48 months, at least 24 of them wiring for and installing. The figure comes from Minnesota Statutes 326B.33 and the DLI experience matrix.
Does anything I enter here leave my browser?
No. The arithmetic runs in the page and the numbers are saved in your own browser if you press save. They only leave the device if you use the email button, and then they go to the address you type and nowhere else.
Will the board accept the hours this page counts?
That is not a question a calculator can answer. This page works the published rule with the numbers you give it. Whether your own experience is documented well enough is a decision the board makes on the paperwork.
Why does the date move when I change the months?
Because the date is arithmetic: the months you still owe, added to your start date on the calendar. There is no weekly hours field on this page, because Minnesota Statutes 326B.33 and the DLI experience matrix counts months rather than hours.
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.
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