About the South Dakota Journeyman Electrician license
South Dakota licenses electricians through the South Dakota Electrical Commission. The Journeyman Electrician license authorizes you to perform electrical work, but not to contract directly with the public — that requires the separate Electrical Contractor license, so most journeymen work under the employment of a licensed Electrical Contractor or Class B Electrician. You earn the journeyman license by completing four years (8,000 hours) as a licensed apprentice electrician under the employment and supervision of a licensed contractor, then passing the trade exam. South Dakota does not have a separate "master electrician" tier — the progression is apprentice → journeyman → electrical contractor, with a parallel Class B Electrician license for residential/farmstead-scope work.
The exam is National Electrical Code (NEC) based, because South Dakota adopts the NEC as its electrical code. It is normally open book: you may bring a clean, bound copy of the adopted NEC edition. The August 19, 2025 bulletin is open book and names two references: the 2023 NEC and Ugly's Electrical References, any edition. Plan to tab your code book before test day, because the exam is as much a test of how fast you can locate a section as it is of what you have memorized.
Know these scope facts cold, because the exam asks them in plain-language form: the license is held by the individual, not the company; most installations require a permit and inspection before concealment (rough-in) and again at final; you must work within the classification you hold; and performing electrical work without the required license, or beyond your scope, is a violation that can cost you the license and carry civil penalties.
How South Dakota licensing works
- Experience: four years (8,000 hours) as a licensed apprentice electrician under the employment and supervision of a licensed electrical contractor qualifies you to sit for the Journeyman exam.
- License tiers: South Dakota's progression is apprentice → journeyman → electrical contractor (the contractor tier needs an additional two years/4,000 hours as a licensed journeyman, including at least 2,000 hours of commercial work), with a separate Class B Electrician license for residential/farmstead-scope work. There is no "master electrician" license in South Dakota.
- Application: submit the application, fees, and proof of experience (often signed off by your supervising contractor or employer) to the Electrical Commission before you are approved to sit — you may not take the exam without prior written approval.
- Exam vendor: the exam is administered by the International Code Council (ICC) and delivered at Pearson VUE test centers — not PSI . ARSD 20:44:16:03 sets the passing score at 70 percent. Examination 531 is 80 questions and 4 hours.
- Renewal: licenses renew on a biennial cycle (due by June 30 of the renewal year, or at time of renewal if sooner) and require 16 hours of continuing education per cycle, at least 8 of which must be code hours.
The bulletin names the 2023 NEC. Ampacities, GFCI and AFCI scope, working clearances, and receptacle rules are the 2023 text. A number remembered from 2017 or 2020 is not this exam.
This is the opening of the full study guide. The complete guide continues into code navigation, worked calculations and solved exam questions.
