Tennessee electrician licenses: state and city
What licenses does an electrician need to work in Tennessee?
- Ask the local building office who handles permits and inspections
- If the Division of Fire Prevention handles them, sit the LLE trade exam through Prov
- Apply for the initial LLE license at core.tn.gov with the $50 fee
- Register with the city's permit office if it keeps its own rules
- Obtain the county and city business licenses like any other business
- Keep the LLE current at $50 per renewal, before the late penalty starts
The state license that depends on the city
Tennessee licenses electricians through a Limited Licensed Electrician, or LLE, license whose reach depends on the municipality. It is only required by electricians performing work where the city uses the state's Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections.
Where a city keeps its own permit office, the state LLE may not be the license that matters. The Board tells applicants plainly: always first check with your local government to see if they accept the LLE license or if they have a local licensing requirement for permits and inspections. That sentence is the working rule for this trade in this state.
The license also carries a size limit. It covers work less than $25,000 per project, which is written into the Board's own description of the license. A bigger job needs a different conversation, and the full contractor route sits behind it.
$25,000 per projectThe Board states the LLE license is required only in municipalities using the Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections, and covers work under $25,000 per project. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29
The Board advises applicants to always first check with their local government on whether it accepts the LLE license or has its own local licensing requirement. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29
Who issues the LLE, and under what law
The Board for Licensing Contractors issues the LLE. It is one of four licenses the Board runs, alongside general contractors, home improvement contractors, and limited licensed plumbers.
The Board was established in 1931 to regulate contractors in Tennessee. The current requirements sit in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 62, Chapter 6, and the LLE requirements specifically are defined in T.C.A. § 62-6-102(d) and § 68-102-150. Citing those sections is the fastest way to answer a municipal office that asks which license you hold.
The license goes to individuals, not companies. It is issued to persons passing the LLE trade exam, so a shop that employs electricians needs each qualified person to hold one.
T.C.A. § 62-6-102(d)The Board states contractor requirements sit in T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 6, and the LLE requirements in T.C.A. § 62-6-102(d) and § 68-102-150. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29
The Board for Licensing Contractors states that the LLE license is issued to individuals passing the LLE trade exam. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29
What the LLE costs at each step
The application fee is $50 for the initial LLE. The Board publishes the rest of the fee schedule on one page, and the numbers below are that page's own.
Renewal is $50, the same as the initial fee. Reinstatement after a lapse runs $80. A late renewal penalty accrues at $10 per month, up to three months, and a duplicate license costs $5. None of it is expensive; all of it compounds if you let the renewal slide.
Apply through the state's core.tn.gov portal. The Board names the Initial Limited Licensed Electrician application specifically, and the $50 fee is paid with it.
| Transaction | Fee | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Initial application | $50 | First LLE license |
| Renewal | $50 | Each renewal cycle |
| Reinstatement | $80 | After a license lapses |
| Late renewal penalty | $10 per month | Up to 3 months late |
| Duplicate license | $5 | Replacing the card |
$50 initialThe Board for Licensing Contractors publishes the LLE fee schedule: $50 initial, $50 renewal, $80 reinstatement, $10 per month late penalty, and $5 for a duplicate license. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29
$50The Board states that the initial Limited Licensed Electrician application is completed online at core.tn.gov and the fee for an initial application is $50. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29
The trade exam, and the provider change in 2026
The LLE requires a trade exam. PSI administered it until the change; from July 1, 2026, Prov serves as the Board's new trade exam provider.
Candidates schedule through Prov for exams administered on or after July 1, 2026. Candidates already scheduled with PSI for a date after July 1 may keep the PSI appointment or move to Prov, and PSI continues administering already-scheduled exams through September. If you booked before the switch, check your appointment rather than assuming it vanished.
The change is one of several dated rules worth tracking, and the same handover is recorded in what changed in Tennessee business licensing.
July 1, 2026The Board states that beginning July 1, 2026, Prov serves as its trade exam provider, with PSI administering already-scheduled exams through September. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29
The city's own registration on top
The LLE answers the state's question. Each city still answers its own, and the answer differs from one permit office to the next.
Knoxville publishes the pattern plainly. The city requires anyone who applies for a permit to be associated with a registration based on their qualifications, with different types of work requiring particular registration types, occasionally in conjunction with a State of Tennessee license. One of Knoxville's registration types is for the unlicensed or state-limited license holder, the LLE or LLP. The city also stopped requiring a bond for subcontractor licenses as of 2022, and tells state license holders to follow the state's bond guidelines when reciprocating.
Memphis runs a different structure again. Businesses in Memphis and Shelby County must obtain a Certificate of Occupancy before opening a building, issued by Construction Enforcement through the Develop 901 portal, with an application and inspection. An electrician wiring a new tenant space meets that office as well as the clerk's. The general shape of the county and city license layer is in how to get a Tennessee business license.
The City of Knoxville states permit applicants must hold a registration based on qualifications, sometimes with a State of Tennessee license, and no subcontractor bond is required as of 2022. — City of Knoxville, Plans Review and Inspections, retrieved 2026-09-29
The City of Memphis states businesses within Memphis and Shelby County must obtain a Certificate of Occupancy issued by Construction Enforcement through the Develop 901 portal. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29
The business license under all of it
The LLE and the city registration are trade credentials. The business behind the electrician still owes the ordinary stack: the business tax registration with the Department of Revenue, the $15 county license, and the city license inside municipal limits.
Nothing in the Board's fee schedule covers that layer, and nothing in the county clerk's office cares which trade you practice. The two layers meet at the same counter for every trade in the state, which is why the fee totals are worth comparing on one page in what Tennessee business licenses cost.
The practical order: settle the entity, register the tax account, obtain the local licenses, then add the trade credentials the job actually needs. The one-page version of that order is the Tennessee business license checklist.
$15The Department of Revenue states a separate $15 business license registration fee must be paid to the county and/or municipal clerk for each new business. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29
Questions
Can I do electrical work in Tennessee with no license at all?
It depends on the municipality. The state LLE is required where the city uses the Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections; where the city keeps its own permit office, its registration rules govern. The Board's own advice is to check with the local government first.
What is the biggest job an LLE can take?
The LLE covers work less than $25,000 per project, as the Board's description of the license states. Larger electrical work falls outside the LLE and points toward the Board's contractor licenses.
Does the LLE cover my plumbing work too?
No. Limited licensed plumbers hold a separate LLP license from the same Board, with its own exam and its own fee schedule. Some cities, Knoxville included, run a registration type that accepts either.
Who administers the LLE trade exam now?
Since July 1, 2026, Prov administers the Board's trade exams. PSI continues to administer exams already scheduled through September 2026, and candidates may keep an existing PSI appointment or reschedule through Prov.
Does my LLC need its own electrician license?
The LLE is issued to individuals who pass the trade exam. A company holds the business licenses, but the person doing the qualified work holds the LLE.