Checked against primary sources 2026-09-05
Pinellas County
St. Petersburg FL Electrician License: PCCLB and Classes
Pinellas is the county with the firmest local rule of the eight cities here: the county board says a journeyman has to be certified by it to work in the county. This page covers that certification, the classes and the pay.
Test yourself: thirty free questions, timed
On this page
The license a St. Petersburg 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.
On the local side, the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board certifies journeymen and states that a person has to be certified by the board to work in the county. The office is at 440 Court Street, first floor, Clearwater, on (727) 582-3100.
The PCCLB journeyman certificate
The journeyman application covers five classifications: air conditioning, sheet metal, electrical, plumbing and pipe fitting. Electricians need four years.
Experience counts three ways: a four year apprenticeship equals four years, four years of full time employment at 2,000 hours a year equals four years, or part time and full time work can be combined to 8,000 hours.
The examination is open book and prepared for the board by an independent testing agency, with multiple choice, fill in and true or false questions. Candidates bring their own references and no study aids, sittings usually run about six hours with a lunch break of about an hour, and a passing grade is 70 percent. The application fee is $75.00 and is not refundable.
Pinellas also asks its contractors for 14 hours of continuing education in every odd numbered year, with a September 30 renewal deadline, which is a different cycle from the state one.
One local code rule to know
Pinellas holds a local technical amendment to the Florida Building Code covering the bonding of metal enclosures and raceways, and it requires that all raceways contain an equipment grounding conductor.
It's recorded on the Florida Building Commission's electrical local amendment matrix, which is where the state tracks amendments counties adopt under s. 553.73.
Where to train in St. Petersburg
- Pinellas Technical College, St. Petersburg, Electricity, program I460312, 901 34th Street S. 1,200 total hours across three sequential courses: Electrician Helper 300 hours, Residential Electrician 450 hours and Commercial Electrician 450 hours. Students keep at least 70 percent satisfactory academic progress and 90 percent attendance, and the industry certifications offered include OSHA 10 hour safety and NCCER Electrical 1 through 4. Class start dates run from August 2026 through June 2027.
- IEC Florida West Coast Chapter runs apprenticeship classes at Pinellas Technical College Clearwater, along with Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry and Plant City, Marchman Technical College and a distance learning option. The program asks for 8,000 hours of on the job training and 180 classroom hours a year.
- IBEW Local 915 and the Tampa Area Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Committee at 5625 Harney Road, Tampa, serve the Tampa Bay area from across the bay.
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 St. Petersburg
O*NET, republishing Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, gives electricians in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area a median of $27.62 an hour, or $57,450 a year.
St. Petersburg does not have a wage area of its own in that data, so the figure is the metro one, and it sits just above the Florida median of $27.52 an hour.
Your next move
If you are working in Pinellas already, read the county application first, because the certification is the thing the county asks about on a job site.
Line up the 8,000 hours or the four years, budget the $75, and study to the county exam as an open book test with your own references, since that is how the board describes it.
Questions people ask
Do I need a PCCLB certificate to work as an electrician in Pinellas County?
The board states that a person has to be certified by the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board to work in the county. Its journeyman classifications include electrical, and the application asks for four years of experience.
How many hours does Pinellas count for a journeyman?
Four years, counted as a four year apprenticeship, four years of full time employment at 2,000 hours a year, or a combination of part time and full time work adding to 8,000 hours.
What is the passing score on the PCCLB journeyman exam?
70 percent. The exam is open book, prepared for the board by an independent testing agency, with multiple choice, fill in and true or false questions, and sittings usually run about six hours with a lunch break.
What does the PCCLB journeyman application cost?
$75.00, and it's not refundable. Pinellas contractors also file proof of 14 hours of continuing education in every odd numbered year, with a September 30 renewal deadline.
Where can I take electrician classes in St. Petersburg?
Pinellas Technical College in St. Petersburg runs a 1,200 hour Electricity program across three courses with OSHA 10 and NCCER Electrical certifications, and the IEC Florida West Coast Chapter runs apprenticeship classes at the Clearwater campus.
What do electricians earn in St. Petersburg?
O*NET, using Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, gives the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro a median of $27.62 an hour, or $57,450 a year. There's no separate St. Petersburg figure in that data.
Thirty free questions, timed, with the working shown
Every miss comes back with the arithmetic worked out and the code section named, so you learn the trap and not just the answer. No account.
All questions here are original. They are not actual exam questions, and no question bank can promise you a pass.
What this page cites
- PCCLB journeyman application The classifications, the four year rule, the open book exam, the 70 percent pass mark and the $75 fee. source
- Pinellas County journeyman examination page The county's statement that a journeyman must be certified by the board to work there. source
- PCCLB requirements The 14 hour continuing education requirement in odd numbered years and the September 30 deadline. source
- Pinellas Technical College, Electricity 1,200 hours across three courses with the certifications offered. source
- Florida Building Commission local amendment matrix Records the Pinellas amendment on bonding of metal enclosures and raceways. source
- O*NET local wages for Florida electricians The Tampa area median, from Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data. source
The 2023 to 2026 section crosswalk maps every section that moved, both directions, $29 once.