Someone asked to use your master license as their electrical qualifier: what it pays and what it can cost you

Published November 3, 2026 · State rules read November 3, 2026

• Free to read. Nothing to download.
• Deepsel is our product: free estimate, invoice and scheduling software for contractors. One short section near the end says what it does and doesn't do here.
• The pay figures are what electricians posted on Reddit from 2024 to 2026, counted by us. They're self-reported and few. People who sell or broker qualifiers post in the same threads, and I left them out.
• Not legal advice. I read each state's statute, rules or board form myself and quote them, but rules change. Have a lawyer in your state read any agreement before you sign it.

A company that wants your master license on its paperwork usually offers $2,000 to $6,000 a month, going by what electricians posted between December 2024 and August 2026.^{1, 2, 3} What it can cost you is the license itself. The permits go out under your name, and the discipline, the fines and in a few states a criminal charge land on you if the work goes wrong, or if the job turns out to be your name on paper and nothing else.

Every one of the 11 states I checked either ties the qualifying license to a person who really works for or helps run the company, or bans lending a license outright. Arkansas does both. Five of them let you qualify only one company.

Arkansas master electrician? Your section is next, because Arkansas's own rule names the practice: no licensee "shall alter, transfer, lend, or rent" a license.¹³

It's a live question. In the electricians' threads we read for this series, threads about licenses, masters of record and qualifiers drew almost four comments for every upvote, the most argued-over subject we found, and six threads from license holders about these deals came up between April and August 2026 alone.⁴⁰ The answers split between "never, unless you're an owner" and a monthly number.

Arkansas: what your master license allows, and what the board says about lending it

If you hold an Arkansas master license and don't run a company yet, this part is for you.

What the license lets you do. Arkansas defines a master electrician as someone qualified to "plan, layout, and supervise the installation, maintenance, and extension of electrical conductors and equipment."¹² The board's rules call it "an unlimited license classification."¹³ A residential master has the same authority on one- to four-family dwellings.¹²

Why companies call you. Two rules create the demand. A journeyman "cannot contract with the general public to plan, lay out, or supervise" electrical work "without employing at least one (1) full-time master electrician."¹³ And commercial work of $50,000 or more (homes and residential buildings of up to four units are excluded) needs a license from the Contractors Licensing Board, whose electrical classification requires "at least one (1) full-time employee holding a master electrician license."¹⁴ So a journeyman going out alone, or a builder or HVAC company adding electrical, has to have a master on staff.

There is no Arkansas electrical contractor license. The electricians' board licenses individuals only: master, journeyman, residential master, residential journeyman, industrial maintenance and specialist sign.¹² The statute defines an electrical contractor as someone "engaged in the business," but no license goes with the term.¹² What a business doing electrical work needs instead comes in layers. Under the board's rules, a journeyman running the business must employ a full-time master, and the job-sign and clean-up rules below name a "responsible master" behind the work.¹³ For commercial jobs of $50,000 or more, the business also needs the Contractors Licensing Board's license, which takes a $10,000 contractor's bond, and the trade license that board requires for its electrical classification "is the Arkansas master electrician license."¹⁴ That board's qualifying party has to be an owner, a partner, an officer or LLC member "actively engaged in the day-to-day activities of the company," or "a full-time employee." If the qualifier leaves, the company has 15 days to tell the board and 30 days to qualify a replacement.¹⁴ Some cities add registration. Fort Smith says electrical work "must be performed by certified State Licensed and City Registered contractors" and asks for a $2,000 permit and license bond; Little Rock's code says "Electrical permits must be secured by the master Electrician or his authorized representative"; and Rogers: "we require a master electrician license for any company pulling electrical permits and the electrician must work for the company."¹⁵

What the board says about lending your name. Plainly: "No person, firm, or corporation licensed under the provisions of Arkansas Code § 17-28-101 et seq., shall alter, transfer, lend, or rent his, her, or its license."¹³ The statute adds that licenses aren't "assignable or transferable."¹² The penalty is up to $1,000 per violation, with each day of a continuing violation counted separately, and the board can fine you and suspend or revoke your license for the same offense.^{12, 13} A master whose license is suspended has 30 days to tell every client and employer in writing.¹³ The company is exposed too: presenting someone else's license to the Contractors Licensing Board is a Class A misdemeanor, each day a separate offense.¹⁴

What the rules put on the responsible master. On a job without a city permit, the job sign carries "license number of the responsible master." The responsible master is ultimately answerable for every apprentice's work. And if unlicensed people working for the contractor do work that has to come out, "the responsibility and costs for removal shall be that of the licensee or the responsible master electrician employed by the contractor."¹³

So, in Arkansas: a company can pay you to be its master if you really are its full-time employee and really supervise its electrical work. A deal where your number goes on the paperwork while you work somewhere else is renting your license, and the board's rule bans it by name. Our research found no Arkansas price for the legal version. For scale, the median Arkansas electrician earned $23.59 an hour, $49,070 a year, in May 2025 (the US median was $30.38).¹¹ The $2,000 a month at the bottom of the range below is $24,000 a year, about half that median, on top of whatever wage the job pays.

What a company pays to use a master license

Nobody publishes this. What exists is electricians telling each other what they were offered or what they charge. These are all the figures I could date, December 2024 to August 2026. Several come from Florida and Texas, which aren't in the table further down, and none is verified.

The middle of that is $2,000 to $6,000 a month, or $24,000 to $72,000 a year. Two things stand out.

First, the deals that fit the state rules below are jobs. "I get my hourly plus $2k a month" is a wage for real hours plus a premium for carrying the license. The $120,000 Boulder salary is a full-time job. So price it as two parts: a wage for the hours you'll actually work, and a monthly amount for the risk.

Second, plenty of masters think the premium is still too low for what it covers. A Florida reply to the $40,000 figure: "That is laughable compared to the liability."⁵ Another, to the Minnesota master: "if you aren't getting a minimum of 50% of all profits from the business for the use of your license in a full partnership than you're getting ripped off."³ And deals end. The master who charged $3,000 a month said he "likely won't be doing that anymore because they just could not keep a job in ratio," meaning the company kept running more apprentices per licensed electrician than the state allows.²

Renting out a master electrician license: what you're on the hook for

"Once you become a master of record for a company, you become 100% liable and you need to understand the circumstances that come along with it," one master wrote in April.² The state rules say much the same thing in longer words.

The permits and the work. In several states your signature goes on every permit. New Jersey's qualifying licensee must "sign and seal all applications for electrical permits and inspection" and takes "full responsibility" for inspecting and supervising all of the company's electrical work.^{16, 17} New York City's master "shall personally sign and seal all applications" and must "be fully responsible for the work performed by the master electrician business."³⁸ Colorado: "The master license holder is responsible for all electrical work performed by the electrical contracting company."²⁶ In Minnesota, if you aren't an owner or officer, every request for inspection carries your signature.³⁰

Your license. Every board in the table can suspend or revoke the license you earn your own living with. Denver can suspend or revoke for up to three years, and after a revocation you can't reapply for up to five.²⁸

Fines. Per violation: up to $1,000 a day in Arkansas, $2,500 in Virginia, $3,000 under Idaho's statute, $10,000 in Minnesota, $10,000 and then $20,000 in New Jersey, and $25,000 per finding in New York City.^{12, 24, 33, 31, 18, 37} Colorado's fine schedule lists "loaning a license" by name: $1,000 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second, up to $2,000 a day after that.²⁷

Criminal charges. Since July 18, 2026, knowingly and willfully failing to comply with Nebraska's electrical act is a Class IV felony, and the same act says no licensee "may lend his or her license to any person."³² Minnesota and Idaho make violations a misdemeanor.^{31, 33} On the company side, presenting or using someone else's license is a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia, a Class A misdemeanor in Arkansas and a fraudulent practice in Iowa.^{24, 14, 29} In July's thread on fees, one master put it bluntly: "You could end up behind bars because of someone else's mistake made under work done in your name."¹

Lawsuits, and the jobs left behind. When the company goes away, the customer and the inspector come to the name on the permit. A Colorado master asking about a roofing and solar company was warned it would "disappear and you will be the only point of contact," and that a friend who'd done it was "now he's getting sued."⁶ A New Mexico electrician whose "contractors license was tied to the GC" wrote in July: "I still have 2 active projects going at the moment, still under my license that I am liable for completing."¹⁰

Insurance. The required policies mostly sit on the company. New Jersey's business permit needs $300,000 of general liability insurance or a bank letter of credit, and Idaho needs proof of $300,000 before it issues a contractor license.^{19, 33} Nebraska puts it on you: the board can revoke a master's license for failing to "keep in force a public liability insurance policy as required by the board."³² Before you sign, get the company's certificate of insurance, then ask your own agent whether that policy covers you personally when a claim names you, and what a policy of your own would cost if it doesn't.

Electrical license qualifier rules in 11 states

These are the states our readers are licensed in, with Denver and New York City where the license is local. I read each state's statute, board rules or board form on November 3, 2026. "Not stated" means the source I read is silent on it, which isn't the same as anything goes. Your city or county can add its own rules. Outside New York City I didn't check New York's rules.

Two naming notes. New Jersey's top license is the electrical contractor license, and the person whose license backs a company is its "qualifying licensee." In Louisiana the state licenses the company, and the person who passes the electrical trade exam for it is its "qualifying party."^{17, 20}

Read across the rows and the pattern is plain. Where a state says how you qualify a company, it says you work there or help run it, and where it says how many, the answer is one (three in Utah). Several set a floor on hours: 12 a week in Utah, 30 for a Virginia employee, 32 for a Louisiana employee, full-time in Arkansas and Colorado. None of them has a version of "your name on the license, someone else doing the work."

Questions to ask before you say yes

1. Is this a job? Ask what hours they expect from you, where, and doing what. If the answer is "none, we just need your number," that's the arrangement the table rules out.
2. Who does the electrical work? Get names and license numbers, and the number of apprentices per licensed electrician. The ratio becomes your problem.
3. What kind of work? Service calls, new houses, solar, commercial. Some of the worst stories in the threads start with a roofing or solar company adding electrical.
4. Will I see every permit application before it's filed, and can I refuse one?
5. Can I stop a job or order work redone, and who pays for it? "You have final say on what gets installed" was the condition attached to the $6,000 figure.³
6. What insurance does the company carry? Ask for the certificate, and ask your own agent whether it covers you.
7. Is anything open right now? Look the company up with the state board and the city for open permits, failed inspections and complaints before your number goes on its file.
8. How do I get out, and what happens to open permits when I do?
9. Am I being asked to cover a second company or another state? Treat each one as a separate deal and a separate license at risk. Five of the states above allow one company only.
10. Does my current job allow it? Minnesota's managing employee can't work as an electrician for anyone else, and Utah's qualifier can't have "any other employment or activity which conflicts."^{30, 35} Your employer may also have a say.

Terms to get in writing

Put these in a signed agreement, and pay a lawyer in your state to read it before you sign.

• Your role and title. Employee or officer, matching what your state requires in the table.
• Hours and place. At least the state minimum (Utah 12 a week, Virginia 30, Louisiana 32), and where you'll be.
• Pay. The wage for those hours, through payroll where the state requires you to be an employee, plus the monthly amount for carrying the license, and the date each is paid.
• Authority. Final say on how electrical work is installed, the right to stop a job, approval of every permit application, and approval of who does electrical work.
• Records. Copies of every permit, inspection result and correction notice, and access to the company's job list.
• Insurance. The company keeps general liability and workers' comp in force, sends you a certificate at every renewal, and tells you right away if a policy lapses.
• Fines, corrections and legal costs. The company pays those that come from its work or its people, unless you caused the problem. A promise like this is only worth what the company is worth, so it doesn't replace the authority above.
• Limits. Your license and number are used for this company only, in this state only, and only for electrical work you supervise.
• Exit. Either side can end it with written notice. On the last day the company stops using your name and number on permits, trucks, ads and its website. The agreement says who finishes or transfers open permits, and you file the notice your board requires (Colorado: within 15 days; New Jersey: immediately).^{26, 17}

If you're the company looking for a master

The same rules apply from your side. You need someone who works for you or helps run the company, at the hours your state sets, and in five of these states that person can't qualify anyone else. Using the license of someone who isn't really there is your problem too. Virginia makes "presenting or attempting to use the license or certificate of another" a Class 1 misdemeanor, and Louisiana can revoke your license for it.^{24, 20} In New York City, a company whose vice president held a master license and pulled the permits under his own separate company won a $300,851.32 judgment at trial and lost it on appeal in April 2024. The company itself wasn't licensed, so it "may not recover" under the contract or for the value of the work.³⁹ Budget for a real hire. Going by the posts above, the license premium alone runs $2,000 to $6,000 a month.

More for new electrical contractors

• How much to charge per hour: service call, first hour and hourly rate, with a free rate sheet.
• Flat rate, per opening or hourly: how electricians price each kind of job, with a free price sheet.
• 200 amp service upgrade checklist: scope, permit, utility, inspection and price.
• Your license and first 30 days, by state: Arkansas, Colorado and Denver, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York City, Utah, Virginia.

Where Deepsel fits

Deepsel doesn't handle qualifier agreements and has no permit tracking. Where it can help is the "final say" part. If you take the deal, the company can add you as a user in its Deepsel account, and on Pro, with unlimited users, that costs it nothing extra. A technician-level login can read every job, visit and quote in the account: the notes and photos from each visit, the files on each job, and the checklists filled in on each quote, with every answer stamped with who gave it and when. That lets you see the work going out under your license without waiting for someone to tell you. If you'd rather start your own shop, the Free plan covers 30 estimates and 30 invoices a month; Pro is $29 a month for unlimited estimates and invoices. Details are on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

What is an electrical qualifier?

The licensed person whose license lets a company do electrical contracting. States name the role differently: qualifying licensee in New Jersey, qualifying party in Louisiana and on Arkansas's contractor board, qualified individual in Virginia, responsible master electrician in Minnesota and Colorado, supervising electrician in Idaho, qualifier in Utah, responsible representative in New York City. Electricians often say “master of record.” In each case the qualifier answers to the state for the company's electrical work.

How much should a company pay to use a master electrician license?

Electricians who posted figures between December 2024 and August 2026 mostly named $2,000 to $6,000 a month, which is $24,000 to $72,000 a year, with outliers from $1,500 a year to a $120,000 salary. Nobody publishes a measured rate. In most states the legal version is a job, so price it as one: a wage for the hours you actually work, plus a monthly amount for the risk of carrying the license. Count each company and each state as a separate deal.

Is it legal to rent out a master electrician license?

Not as a name-only deal in any of the 11 states I checked. Arkansas's board rule says a licensee “shall not alter, transfer, lend, or rent” a license, Nebraska's statute says no licensee “may lend his or her license,” and New York City bars permitting “the use of his or her license” by anyone else. Minnesota, Virginia, Louisiana and Denver list letting others use a license as grounds for discipline, and Colorado's fine schedule names “loaning a license.” What the rules do allow is a real job: you work for or help run the company, at the hours your state sets, and you supervise its electrical work.

Can a master electrician qualify more than one company?

Only one in Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York City. Utah allows up to three, more with written approval. Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska and Virginia don't state a number in the sources I read, though Louisiana lets a qualifying party also qualify a subsidiary of the licensee, and full-time rules in Arkansas, Louisiana and Virginia make a second company hard in practice.

Can a master electrician pull permits for another company?

As a rule, only for the company they qualify or work for. Colorado lets a master apply for a permit if the master is a registered contractor or “directly employed by a registered electrical contractor.” Iowa requires people doing licensed electrical work to be “employed by the authority or company obtaining a permit.” Rogers, Arkansas requires the master to work for the company pulling the permit. Check your city too: permits are local.

Can I use someone else's electrical license to start a company?

Only if that person really works for your company or helps run it, as your state requires. A license from someone who isn't there is a problem for the company as well as the license holder: presenting someone else's license is a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia and a Class A misdemeanor before Arkansas's contractor board, Louisiana can revoke a company license for it, and a New York City company that worked under its vice president's other company's permits lost a $300,851.32 judgment on appeal because it wasn't licensed itself.

What happens to me if the company does bad work under my license?

The board comes to you. Depending on the state that means suspension or revocation of your license, fines from $1,000 to $25,000 a violation, the cost of tearing out unlicensed work in Arkansas, and in Nebraska a possible felony charge for knowingly breaking the electrical act. Customers and inspectors also come to the name on the permit when the company disappears.

What does an Arkansas master electrician license allow?

Arkansas defines a master as someone qualified to “plan, layout, and supervise the installation, maintenance, and extension of electrical conductors and equipment,” an unlimited classification under the board's rules. A residential master can do the same on one- to four-family dwellings. Arkansas has no electrical contractor license: the electricians' board licenses individuals only. For commercial jobs of $50,000 or more (residential buildings of up to four units excluded) a company needs the Contractors Licensing Board's license, and its electrical classification requires a full-time employee holding a master license.

Sources

Reddit quotes are as posted, from posts checked against the live site or our archive in November 2026; accounts that sell or broker qualifiers, and accounts we've identified as promotional, are left out. Statutes and rules were read on the state's own site where it serves the text, otherwise on Justia's or Cornell LII's copy, as marked.

1. r/electricians, "Master electrician fees" (July 11, 2026). Original post: "I get my hourly plus $2k a month. My employer came to me last week and asked if I would sign for him in another state" [partial]; replies: "at $2,000 a month you are getting taken advantage of. In Texas it's around $4k now and that is per state" and "You could end up behind bars because of someone else's mistake made under work done in your name". reddit.com, read November 3, 2026.
2. r/electricians thread 1sodmnl (April 17, 2026): "Most I know charge $3k-$5k/mo. I was charging $3k/mo to carry the license for the electrical division of my company. I likely won't be doing that anymore because they just could not keep a job in ratio." [partial] (reddit.com); "Once you become a master of record for a company, you become 100% liable and you need to understand the circumstances that come along with it" (reddit.com). Read November 3, 2026.
3. r/electricians thread 1vsnzhi (August 19, 2026), a Minnesota master asked by a 15-person LLC to use his license: "$6,000 per month, you have final say on what gets installed." (reddit.com); "if you aren't getting a minimum of 50% of all profits from the business for the use of your license in a full partnership than you're getting ripped off." (reddit.com). Read November 3, 2026.
4. Reddit thread 1h58tgo (December 3, 2024), Florida: "He gets $2k cash a month. Been going on for close to 10 years now." reddit.com, read November 3, 2026.
5. Reddit thread 1jgfp63 (March 21, 2025), Florida: "The going rate is 40K/YR plus profit share, (for jist providing the QP) or 150-180K to act as a PM or Sup."; reply: "That is laughable compared to the liability." reddit.com, read November 3, 2026.
6. r/electricians thread 1mnr9g9 (August 11, 2025), a Colorado master asked to qualify a roofing and solar company: "I worked for a hvac company In Boulder that was paying $120,000 a year to a master electrician to pull permits!!!" [partial] (reddit.com); "... and then disappear and you will be the only point of contact. Lots of that is happening in Arizona right now. A buddy of mine did it and now he's getting sued…" [partial] (reddit.com). Read November 3, 2026.
7. r/electricians post 1raf64d (February 18, 2026; since removed, read in our archive of the subreddit): "They've been paying him $1500 a year for the use of his license, but we feel this is too low. They do about 4-5mil in revenue per year and have about 15 guys in the field right now." reddit.com.
8. r/electricians, "What should a business pay to use your master license ?" (April 12, 2026, 192 comments): "The last time I was offered such an arrangement, the company wanted to pay me $90 an hour and my job would basically be to sit in meetings all day." reddit.com, read November 3, 2026.
9. r/electricians thread 1gixn4q (November 3, 2024), a Colorado owner: his last employer "used my master license for permitting" while paying him "$55.50/hr". reddit.com, read November 3, 2026.
10. r/electricians post 1v8ic8b (July 28, 2026; read in our archive), New Mexico: "my contractors license was tied to the GC and has been used to operate since then." and "I still have 2 active projects going at the moment, still under my license that I am liable for completing." reddit.com.
11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Electricians (47-2111), median wage: United States $30.38 an hour ($63,190 a year); Arkansas $23.59 an hour ($49,070 a year). Read from the BLS public data API (series OEUN000000000000047211108 and the matching annual and Arkansas series); tables at bls.gov, read November 3, 2026.
12. Arkansas Code, Board of Electrical Examiners statutes: 17-28-101(4) electrical contractor, (8) master electrician "plan, layout, and supervise", (11) residential master; 17-28-303 licenses not "assignable or transferable"; 17-28-309(b) civil penalty "shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day", "Each day of a continuing violation is a separate violation". Board compilation, labor.arkansas.gov, read November 3, 2026.
13. Rules of the Board of Electrical Examiners, 17 CAR Part 210 (official Code of Arkansas Rules): 210-101(a)(2)(B) journeyman "cannot contract with the general public ... without employing at least one (1) full-time master electrician", (a)(3) master "an unlimited license classification"; 210-702(b) job sign with "license number of the responsible master"; 210-705 "shall alter, transfer, lend, or rent"; 210-708 "The responsible master electrician is responsible for all the electrical work performed by an apprentice"; 210-801 suspension and revocation; 210-808 notify "all of his or her clients or employer in writing"; 210-901 civil penalties, fine and suspension "for the same offense"; 210-1001(g)(2)(B) removal costs on "the licensee or the responsible master electrician employed by the contractor". codeofarrules.arkansas.gov (210-705; the other sections are in the same Part 210), read November 3, 2026. The board's own PDF has the same text under older section numbers (502, 505, 507, 601, 608, 701, 801).
14. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, commercial law and rules: 17-25-103(a)(1)(A) license for work of $50,000 or more, (B) "Presents or files the license or registration certificate of another", (a)(2) "Class A misdemeanor"; 17 CAR 255-101(6) "Single-family residences" means a project of "one (1) but not more than four (4) units constructed for residential occupancy"; 255-101(4) qualifying party (owner, partner, officer or member "actively engaged in the day-to-day activities of the company", or "A full-time employee"); 255-201(b)(3) notice within 15 days, replacement within 30; 255-307(b) "Trade license required to obtain this classification is the Arkansas master electrician license." Board compilation, labor.arkansas.gov. 255-208(d) electrical classification needs "At least one (1) full-time employee holding a master electrician license", official Code of Arkansas Rules, codeofarrules.arkansas.gov. Commercial new application (October 2026): "Fully executed $10,000.00 Contractor's Bond", labor.arkansas.gov. All read November 3, 2026.
15. Arkansas city rules. Fort Smith, "Contractors": "Electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work must be performed by certified State Licensed and City Registered contractors"; "Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical contractors are required to have a minimum $2,000 permit and license bond" (fortsmithar.gov). Little Rock code 8-146(b), city-posted copy: "Electrical permits must be secured by the master Electrician or his authorized representative prior to the commencement of such work" (littlerock.gov). Rogers, "Contractor Licensing Requirements": "we require a master electrician license for any company pulling electrical permits and the electrician must work for the company" (rogersar.gov). Read November 3, 2026.
16. N.J.S.A. 45:5A-9(a): "such person or an officer, partner or employee who is or will be actively engaged in the business"; "such licensee shall assume full responsibility for inspection and supervision of all electrical work"; "A licensed electrical contractor shall not be entitled to qualify more than one person for a business permit." Justia copy, law.justia.com, read November 3, 2026.
17. N.J.A.C. 13:31-1.2 ("Qualifying licensee"), 13:31-1.8(c) (notify the Board "immediately" on leaving), 13:31-3.3(a) "sign and seal all applications for electrical permits and inspection", (b) discipline for allowing an unauthorized person to use the seal, 13:31-3.4(a) "full responsibility", (b)4 "Be present, on a regular and continuous basis", (e) "occupational misconduct". Justia copy, linked from the Board's regulations page, regulations.justia.com, read November 3, 2026.
18. N.J.S.A. 45:1-25(a): civil penalty "not more than $10,000 for the first violation and not more than $20,000 for the second and each subsequent violation". Justia copy, law.justia.com, read November 3, 2026.
19. New Jersey Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, Application for an Initial Business Permit: "general liability insurance in the minimum amount of $300,000 or bank letter of credit in the minimum amount of $300,000"; Affidavit B signed by the licensed electrical contractor. njconsumeraffairs.gov, read November 3, 2026.
20. Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, Contractors Licensing Law and Rules (compilation dated August 1, 2026): R.S. 37:2150.1(22) "Principal", (23) "Qualifying party" ("to represent the contractor for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this Chapter"); 37:2156.1(E)(2) "Any principal or full-time employee ... may be the qualifying party", (E)(3) subsidiaries; 37:2158(A)(8)(a) "Permitting a license to be used for any purpose by any person other than the person to whom the license is issued"; 37:2164(A) fine "up to ten percent of the total contract" or "not more than ten thousand dollars"; LAC 46:XXIX.109(B)(2) full-time employee "working at least 32 hours per week". lslbc.gov, read November 3, 2026.
21. LSLBC, Application for Qualifying Party (revised 09/17/2025): eligibility as owner, officer, partner, member or manager, or "full-time employee, as defined by the IRS"; statement 8 sworn "under penalty of perjury" and signed by the employer. lslbc.gov, read November 3, 2026.
22. Virginia Board for Contractors Regulations: 18VAC50-22-10 "'Full-time employee' means an employee who spends a minimum of 30 hours a week carrying out the work of the licensed contracting business and who receives an IRS Form W-2 annually"; 18VAC50-22-40(B)(3) qualified individual "Is a full-time employee of the firm or is a member of the responsible management of the firm"; 18VAC50-22-61 electrical qualified individual holds a "Master electrician tradesman license"; 18VAC50-22-260(B)(19) "Allowing a firm's license to be used by another", (20) "ostensible licensee for undisclosed persons". law.lis.virginia.gov, read November 3, 2026.
23. 18VAC50-30-190(8), Virginia tradesman regulations: prohibited acts include "allowing one's license or certification to be used by an unlicensed or uncertified individual". law.lis.virginia.gov, read November 3, 2026.
24. Code of Virginia 54.1-202(A), monetary penalty "shall not exceed $2,500 for each violation" (law.lis.virginia.gov); 54.1-1115(A)(3), "Presenting or attempting to use the license or certificate of another" is a Class 1 misdemeanor (law.lis.virginia.gov). Read November 3, 2026.
25. Virginia DPOR, Board for Contractors application instructions (A501-27INTRO, September 1, 2025): the Qualified Individual "must be either a full-time employee or a member of Responsible Management of the business applying for the license"; "Electrical (ELE) Valid Master ELE Tradesman License". dpor.virginia.gov, read November 3, 2026.
26. Colorado Revised Statutes 12-115-110(5)(c) "it shall employ at least one licensed master electrician, who shall be in charge of the supervision of all electrical work performed by the contractor", (d) "No holder of a master's license shall be named as the master electrician ... for more than one contractor, and a master name shall be actively engaged in a full-time capacity with that contracting company", notify "within fifteen days", "The master license holder is responsible for all electrical work performed by the electrical contracting company"; 12-115-120(11) permit "qualified applicant", including a master "directly employed by a registered electrical contractor"; 12-115-122(1)(i), (j) and (3) grounds and fines. Justia copy of the 2025 statutes, law.justia.com, read November 3, 2026.
27. Colorado State Electrical Board Rules, 3 CCR 710-1 (version effective September 22, 2026), Rule 1.10 fine schedule: "Deception, misrepresentation or fraud in obtaining or attempting to obtain a license (includes loaning a license)": $1,000, $2,000, "Up to $2,000 per day". sos.state.co.us, read November 3, 2026.
28. 2025 Denver Building Code, administration: 121.1 "A contractor must have a certified supervisor or registrant as an employee or principal", "Registrant means a master plumber or master electrician licensed in the State of Colorado and registered with the Agency"; 127.1(6) "Allowing one's license or certificate to be used by another person"; 127.4 suspension or revocation "for up to three (3) years", no reapplication "for a period of up to five (5) years". denvergov.org, read November 3, 2026.
29. Iowa Code 2026, chapter 103: 103.1(4) master "plan, lay out, and supervise"; 103.9(1) "shall either be or employ a licensed class A or class B master electrician"; 103.20(1) licensed workers "shall be employed by the authority or company obtaining a permit"; 103.35 suspension "not exceeding two years", revocation or reprimand for "unethical conduct" and "Willful or repeated violations"; 103.38 presenting "as the person's own the certificate of licensure of another" is "a fraudulent practice". legis.iowa.gov, read November 3, 2026.
30. Minnesota Statutes 326B.31 subd. 28 (responsible licensed individual) and 326B.33 subd. 17: "responsible for the performance of all electrical work"; inspection requests "shall be signed by the responsible master electrician" when not an owner or officer; a managing employee "must be actively engaged in performing electrical work on behalf of the contractor, and cannot be employed in any capacity as an electrician, installer, or technician by any other contractor or employer"; "An individual may be the responsible licensed individual for only one contractor or employer." revisor.mn.gov, read November 3, 2026.
31. Minnesota Statutes 326B.082 subd. 11(b)(4) license action where the person "allowed the alteration or use of the person's own permit, license, registration, or certificate by another person"; subd. 12(b) "up to $10,000 for each violation"; subd. 16 "guilty of a misdemeanor". revisor.mn.gov, read November 3, 2026.
32. Nebraska State Electrical Act: 81-2104(6) revocation, including when a master "fails or refuses to provide and keep in force a public liability insurance policy as required by the board"; 81-2106 planning and supervising for another; 81-2108(2) journeymen employed by a licensed contractor or Class A master, (3) "No person licensed under the State Electrical Act may lend his or her license to any person or knowingly permit the use of such license by another."; 81-2143(1)(e) Class IV felony, effective July 18, 2026 (LB889). nebraskalegislature.gov, read November 3, 2026.
33. Idaho Code 54-1003A(1) contractor liability insurance of $300,000; 54-1010(2) an individual owner "shall employ a full-time journeyman electrician ... or a master electrician" or act as his own; 54-1017 misdemeanor, civil penalties "not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) per violation". legislature.idaho.gov, read November 3, 2026.
34. IDAPA 24.39.10, Rules of the Idaho Electrical Board: 100.05 "Each contractor shall designate one supervising electrician who shall be responsible for the activities of the license. Any such supervising electrician shall not represent any other applicant for a contractor's license."; 200.03.a supervising electrician "must be available during working hours"; 300 civil penalty "not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each separate count or offense". adminrules.idaho.gov, read November 3, 2026.
35. Utah Code 58-55-302 ("for licensure as an electrical contractor, be a licensed master electrician"; residential electrical contractor: master or master residential), le.utah.gov; 58-55-304(4) qualifier "is an owner, officer, or manager within that business entity who exercises material authority", "making substantive technical and administrative decisions", no "other employment or activity which conflicts", (5)(a) "unprofessional conduct by the licensee, the qualifier, or both" (version in force through December 31, 2026), le.utah.gov. Read November 3, 2026.
36. Utah Administrative Code R156-55a-304: remuneration "for not less than 12 hours of work per week"; owners "minimum ownership of 20 percent"; officers and managers "W-2 wages"; "A qualifier may not act as the qualifier for more than three licensees at any one time" without written approval. Cornell LII copy, law.cornell.edu, read November 3, 2026.
37. New York City Administrative Code 28-401.16 "No holder of a license issued under this chapter shall authorize, consent to or permit the use of his or her license by or on behalf of any other person" (codelibrary.amlegal.com); 28-401.19 suspension, revocation, "a fine not to exceed $25,000 for each finding of violation" (codelibrary.amlegal.com). Read November 3, 2026.
38. New York City Administrative Code (Local Law 128 of 2024, in effect December 21, 2025): 28-429.2 "shall personally sign and seal all applications"; 28-429.7(4) approval valid while the responsible representative "actively participates in the actual operation of the business and remains an officer ... a partner ... or the proprietor"; 28-429.7.1 responsible representative is a partner or officer, "Under no circumstances shall any 1 licensee represent more than 1 business at any 1 time", "file for, supervise, direct, and be fully responsible for the work". codelibrary.amlegal.com, read November 3, 2026.
39. Electrical Contr. Solutions Corp. v Trump Vil. Section 4, Inc., 2024 NY Slip Op 01907 (App. Div. 2d Dept., decided April 10, 2024): the company's vice president held a master license and obtained the permits under his own company; the unlicensed company "may not recover against the defendant under a breach of contract or quantum meruit theory", reversing a judgment of $300,851.32. courtlistener.com, read November 3, 2026.
40. Deepsel research, r/electricians and related subreddits, August 2024 to November 2026: threads on licenses, masters of record, qualifiers and permits averaged 3.8 comments per upvote over the last 12 months (14 threads), the highest of any subject; six threads from license holders about lending or carrying a license fell between April 12 and August 19, 2026. Counted November 2, 2026.