How to staff an electrical job in a state with no crew

Staffing an out of state electrical job goes in this order: license the company in that state, get every hand a card that state accepts, register with the city or county, then recruit travelers and locals and set per diem. Most licensing states want an out-of-state card held at least a year before they'll honor it, so start the paperwork the week you win the job.

Rules below are as of 2026 and come from each state board's own pages. Boards change their lists, so confirm with the board in the state where the work is before you make an offer.

01The order of operations

Paperwork comes before people, because a hand you can't legally put on the job is a hand you pay to sit in a hotel.

1. Company license in the job state. Some states won't let a single journeyman work for you until the company holds their license.
2. A card for every hand. Reciprocity, endorsement, a temporary or provisional card, or that state's exam.
3. Local registration and permits. Cities and counties can add their own step, even in licensing states.
4. Recruit. Travelers first for the core crew, locals to fill around them.
5. Per diem, housing and travel pay. Set it before you post the job, not after the first hand asks.
6. Timeline. Back it up from the day you need hands on site.

02Step 1: License the company first

In many licensing states the company license is the gate, and the journeymen's cards don't count until it's in place.

Wyoming is the clearest example. The Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety says any journeyman working in the state "shall be employed at all times by an Electrical Contractor who carries a current Wyoming Electrical Contractor's license," and that contractor needs a Wyoming master of record who can serve only one company. Michigan's Bureau of Construction Codes says that if you live outside Michigan and hire a master for your contractor license, the master needs to live in Michigan.

Maryland's State Board of Electricians requires its own license "regardless of whether the contractor holds a license issued by another state," plus a Maryland resident agent if you have no office there. State-by-state detail on the business side, including Utah's contractor endorsement and the Southeast exam waivers, is in our guide to contractor licenses in other states.

03Step 2: Get every hand a card the job state accepts

A journeyman's home card works in another licensing state only through that state's reciprocity list, an endorsement, a temporary card, or a new exam.

Here's how the four routes differ:

The full rules, with each board's list, are in our reciprocity guide for out-of-state journeymen. A few facts that change a staffing plan:

• The one-year rule is nearly universal. Utah DOPL, the North Dakota State Electrical Board, the South Dakota Electrical Commission, Minnesota DLI, the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board and Wyoming all want the home license held at least a year. A hand who topped out last spring can't move his card yet.
• Exam-earned cards only. Oklahoma says a reciprocal license "can NOT be a 'grandfathered license'." Minnesota won't take a card that came through a city.
• Some states take nobody. California, Connecticut and Michigan have no reciprocity. Every hand tests there.
• Some states take almost anybody. Since August 8, 2025, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development accepts journeyman applications from other states "without a mutual agreement between states."

04What NERA is, and what it isn't

NERA, the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance, is a group of state electrical boards that work toward accepting each other's journeyman licenses, and it's why the plains and mountain states are the easiest places to move a crew.

NERA says it started as the Multi-State Reciprocal Electrical Licensing Group, and that it exists so member states can respond to "emergencies, natural disasters, and construction booms" when the labor can't be found locally. It does not issue a card. Each board keeps its own list, and the lists don't match: Wisconsin's DSPS names only Iowa and New Hampshire, while North Dakota names 13 states.

The common terms across the boards we read: the license was earned by passing a state exam, it's been held at least a year, it's active, and the home board sends the verification. North Dakota adds that you can't reciprocate into a state where you failed its exam.

05Step 3: Know which states have no journeyman card

In about a dozen states there's no statewide journeyman license, so there's no card to transfer and no card to check.

The South Dakota Electrical Commission's reciprocity page lists Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee as "no state licenses," and notes Florida varies by county. North Carolina licenses the contracting company through a qualified person, not the journeyman. In those places the company license and the city decide who can work.

That cuts both ways. Hands start faster, but nobody has screened them for you. What to ask for instead of a state card is covered in hiring electricians where there's no journeyman license, and the lookup steps for licensing states are in how to verify an electrician's license.

06Step 4: Register locally and check the code edition

Even with a state license in hand, the city or county can add its own registration, permits and inspections.

Maryland's board says local jurisdictions "may also require a registration" before you work. Florida journeyman cards are issued by counties and cities under Florida Statutes 489.5335, and every Florida county must honor a card from any other Florida county, but not one from out of state. Call the building department where the job sits and ask three things: what the company registers, what each hand carries, and which NEC edition the inspector enforces.

07Step 5: Recruit travelers and locals

Travelers make the core crew, and locals fill in once you know who's in the area.

One national electrical contractor told us they tried hiring out of the neighboring states whose cards carry over, alongside a paid travel job board and local Facebook groups. The neighboring-state route worked on paper. The hands just weren't there, because data centers were pulling everyone. The lesson: map which states' cards your job state accepts before you recruit, then go after hands in those states first, and price the job to compete with whatever is pulling them.

Where to post and what each board costs is in our comparison of traveling electrician job boards. What the offer must say, and how to keep travelers to the last day, is in how to recruit and keep a traveling crew. Union shops request travelers through the local hall when the local's own list runs short. That's a separate track with its own rules, so ask the business office.

08Step 6: Set per diem, housing and travel pay before you post

A traveler compares the whole check, so per diem, hotel and travel days go in the first ad, with a unit on every number.

The federal yardstick is the GSA per diem rate. For fiscal 2027 (October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027), the standard rate in most of the lower 48 is $113 a night for lodging and $68 a day for meals and incidentals, $181 a day in total, per GSA's per diem API. High-cost cities run higher. At the standard rate, 7 days is $1,267 a week.

Two federal rules shape the number:

• The one-year rule. IRS Publication 463 says a job in one place "realistically expected to last" more than a year is indefinite, and living-expense payments become taxable income. A 3 to 9 month job is fine. A 14-month job changes the math.
• Travel time. The Department of Labor's Fact Sheet 22 says overnight travel that "cuts across the employee's workday" is work time, including the same hours on nonworking days. Time as a passenger outside regular hours isn't counted.

Talk to your accountant about how your per diem plan is set up. The amounts to offer, daily vs weekly and 7-day vs workdays, are in what per diem to offer traveling electricians.

09A realistic timeline

Back the plan up from the day you need hands on site, and put the licensing steps first because you control them least.

Here's an example plan for a 6-hand job in a licensing state where your company holds no license yet. It's a planning example, not a board's processing promise. Call the board and ask how long each step takes right now.

If the job is in a state with no journeyman card, weeks 3 to 6 shrink to a skills check and a background check. If it's California, Connecticut or Michigan, add exam dates for every hand. The headcount side of this plan, how many hands by which week, is in manpower planning for a job you just won.

If you won the work and can't man it, apply here and we'll see if we can put 5 licensed electricians in front of you in 14 days. If we don't book you 5 in 14 days, you don't pay.

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