Tennessee CE Electrical Contractor Exam Prep

About the Tennessee CE Electrical Contractor license

Tennessee licenses electrical contracting through the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors (BLC). CE (Electrical Contracting) is a contractor license, not an individual journeyman/master credential: it is issued to the business entity that supplies the financial statement, and it authorizes that company to bid on and perform electrical work of $25,000 or more across residential, commercial, and industrial projects (covering all electrical categories, including transmission lines and substations, per T.C.A. § 62-6-112). A designated Qualifying Agent — an owner, officer, or full-time employee of the company — sits the trade exam on the entity's behalf; the QA does not need to already hold a separate journeyman or master electrician license to qualify. Tennessee separately issues a statewide Limited Licensed Electrician (LLE) permit for electrical work under $25,000, and individual journeyman/master electrician licenses are issued locally by certain cities and counties that run their own codes offices (Nashville/Davidson, Memphis/Shelby, Knoxville/Knox, Chattanooga/Hamilton, and others) — the CE contractor license neither requires nor substitutes for those local individual credentials.

The trade exam is National Electrical Code (NEC) based , because Tennessee adopts the NEC as its electrical code. It is normally open book : you may bring a clean, bound copy of the adopted NEC edition. Plan to tab and index 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 company, not an individual — the Qualifying Agent's exam and experience qualify the entity's license, and the license classification and monetary limit must appear on the outside of the bid envelope for both prime and subcontractors (T.C.A. § 62-6-119); most installations require a permit and inspection from local government before concealment (rough-in) and again at final; the company must work within the classification and monetary limit it holds; and performing electrical work above the licensing threshold without a CE license, or beyond the licensed limit, is a violation that can cost the license and carry civil penalties.

How Tennessee licensing works

• Experience: the Qualifying Agent must document trade experience in the classification — commonly cited as around three years — via a reference letter from a past client, employer, or code official.
• Monetary limit: the license's dollar ceiling is set from the company's financial statement rather than a flat cap — generally about 10 times the lesser of working capital or net worth, up to "unlimited" status at $300,000 or more in both. A surety bond or line of credit can supplement the financial statement.
• Application: submit the application and fee through the Board's online portal (core.tn.gov), a reviewed or audited financial statement, proof of General Liability and Workers' Compensation insurance, a reference letter, and a notarized Contractor's Affidavit.
• Exams: every new applicant must pass the Business and Law exam (open book, based on the NASCLA Tennessee "Contractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management") plus the CE trade exam — open book, 100 questions, passing score 73 percent .
• Exam vendor: Tennessee moved trade and Business and Law exam administration from PSI to ProV effective July 1, 2026 (candidates already scheduled with PSI kept those appointments through the transition).
• Renewal: the license renews on a two-year cycle.

Ampacities, GFCI/AFCI scope, working-clearance distances, and receptacle-spacing rules all change between editions, and the exam is written to the edition Tennessee has adopted — not necessarily the newest one published.