Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05

Broward County

Fort Lauderdale FL Electrician License: Broward Cards

Broward County runs its own certificates of competency for journeymen and contractors, with published experience rules and fees. This page covers those, the state license and the training around Fort Lauderdale.

Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed

The license a Fort Lauderdale electrician needs

The license Florida issues is a contractor license from the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board, certified for the whole state or registered for one jurisdiction. While you work for somebody who holds one, s. 489.503 covers you as an employee inside their scope.

Broward's Building Code Division processes certificates of competency for the Board of County Commissioners at 2307 W. Broward Boulevard, Suite 300, Fort Lauderdale, on 954-765-4400 extension 9876, and runs license seminars on the first Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m.

The Broward journeyman certificate

The journeyman packet lists nine classifications: electrical journeyman, electrical journeyman fire alarm systems, electrical journeyman limited energy systems, solar photovoltaic systems specialty journeyman, maintenance electrician, mechanical journeyman, plumbing journeyman, insulation journeyman and sheet metal journeyman.

Electrical and maintenance electrician applicants need at least four years of practical electrical maintenance experience. The specialty electrical categories need at least three years. Applicants file notarized affidavits from licensed employers along with W-2 forms matching the experience period, and approved applicants are sent to the testing agency, where a passing grade of 75 percent is required.

Check the fee before you write the check. The packet still prints $115, but the notice of fee increases in Broward's contractor packet raised the journeyman application to $225.00 and the renewal to $120.00, effective January 1, 2025. Nothing is refundable. Reciprocity applicants file a notarized affidavit as well, and some boards may ask for an appearance.

The county contractor certificate

Broward's contractor packet names electrical contractor as a mandatory Division II certification requiring four years of practical experience in the category, with exams in both trade and business and law. A passing grade of at least 70 percent is required, except for the plumbing, electrical, mechanical and engineering exams, which are 75 percent.

Testing agencies are Global Independent Testing Services and Prov. The new application fee is $450.00, effective January 1, 2025. Broward reciprocates with all Florida counties, with the exam score, testing agency name and county sent by sealed letter from the reciprocating county.

Broward also keeps its own administrative chapter of the Florida Building Code through the Board of Rules and Appeals, and the Florida Building Commission's amendment matrix records a Broward amendment on swimming pool lighting voltage, effective December 31, 2020.

Where to train around Fort Lauderdale

• Florida East Coast Electrical JATC, 4620 Summit Boulevard, West Palm Beach, (561) 968-4400. Its jurisdiction covers all or part of eight counties including Broward. Apprentices complete at least 720 hours of related electrical training plus at least 8,000 hours of paid work, attending one eight hour class day every other week year round for a minimum of 180 classroom hours a year. Applicants must be at least 18 at registration and supply official transcripts, proof of an algebra course, a valid driver license or photo ID and a Social Security card.
• Atlantic Technical College, Electricity. 1,200 hours over about 12 months full time, Monday to Friday from 7:05 a.m. to 1:50 p.m., starting in August, covering basic electrical principles, residential and commercial wiring, trouble diagnosis, blueprint reading, codes and safe work practices. In state cost is $4,420 in total, and the college says the program may substitute for the first year of an electrical apprenticeship with additional testing.
• IEC Florida East Coast Chapter. A four year program with 8,000 hours of on the job training and classroom one night a week, typically 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Entry asks for a high school diploma or GED, age 18 or over, transportation and work with a licensed independent electrical contractor. Tuition is carried by the contractor, and the chapter puts entry wages at about $14 to $16 an hour.
• ABC Institute serves Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami on 954-580-2950.

The state exam and where you sit it

The state exams run through Pearson VUE as computer based tests. DBPR says candidates can schedule within 72 hours after approval, by phone or through the Florida electrical program page.

Pearson VUE does not publish a static list of Florida centers for this program. Seats are found through the program test center locator, and the candidate information booklet points candidates the same way, so we're not printing an address we could not confirm.

What the work pays in Fort Lauderdale

O*NET, republishing Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, gives electricians in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area a median of $28.19 an hour, or $58,630 a year.

Fort Lauderdale has no wage area of its own in that data, so this is the metro figure, and it sits above the Florida median of $27.52 an hour.

Your next move

Start the affidavit paperwork early. Broward wants notarized statements from licensed employers with W-2 forms that match, and old employers get harder to reach every year.

If you already hold a card from another Florida county, ask Broward for the reciprocity route and have the issuing county send the sealed letter with your exam score.

Questions people ask

How do I get a journeyman electrician card in Broward County?

File the county journeyman application with at least four years of practical electrical maintenance experience, notarized affidavits from licensed employers and matching W-2 forms, then pass the exam at 75 percent. The journeyman application fee is $225.00 and the renewal $120.00, effective January 1, 2025, and neither is refundable.

What does Broward require for an electrical contractor certificate?

Four years of practical experience in the category, exams in trade plus business and law, and a passing grade of 75 percent for the electrical exam. The new application fee is $450.00, effective January 1, 2025.

Does Broward accept a journeyman card from another county?

Yes. The county says it reciprocates with all Florida counties, with the exam score, testing agency name and county sent by sealed letter from the issuing county. Section 489.5335 requires that recognition.

Where can I take electrician classes near Fort Lauderdale?

Atlantic Technical College runs a 1,200 hour Electricity program at $4,420 in state, the Florida East Coast Electrical JATC in West Palm Beach covers Broward with a 720 hour plus 8,000 hour apprenticeship, and the IEC Florida East Coast Chapter runs a four year program with class one night a week.

Which testing agencies does Broward use?

Global Independent Testing Services and Prov, per the county contractor packet. Journeyman applicants are sent to the testing agency after the county approves the application.

What do electricians earn in Fort Lauderdale?

O*NET, using Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, gives the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro a median of $28.19 an hour, or $58,630 a year. There's no separate Fort Lauderdale figure.

What this page cites

• Broward journeyman packet The nine journeyman classifications, the four year rule, the affidavits and W-2 forms, and the 75 percent pass mark. source
• Broward contractor packet Division II electrical contractor requirements, the testing agencies, the pass marks and the $450 fee. source
• Broward Building Code Division Where certificates of competency are processed and when the license seminars run. source
• Florida East Coast Electrical JATC apprenticeship The eight county jurisdiction, 720 hours of related training and 8,000 hours of paid work. source
• Atlantic Technical College, Electricity 1,200 hours, the schedule, the in state cost and the apprenticeship substitution. source
• O*NET local wages for Florida electricians The Miami area median, from Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data. source