Home > Lake Electric Co. Inc. Blog, Hickory, NC > What is a Master Electrician?

Master Electrician

If you operate a business, you’ve probably been told that you should only consider a master electrician for doing complex electrical installations, maintenance, and repairs. Because they are at the top of their field, it makes sense that you’d want their experience and knowledge on something as important as the efficiency and safety of your company’s electrical system. You might, however, wonder what exactly a master electrician is and what that means for your business.

To become a master electrician, one must work their way through the different steps of apprentice and journeyman. Each step has a required number of hours of training, including both tech training and on-the-job experience. An apprentice will complete a minimum of 144 hours of tech training and 2,000 hours of on-the-job training before they can apply to be a journeyman electrician. The number of years as a journeyman before qualifying to get licensure as a master electrician varies from state to state with four years being the most common. The actual licensure and exam requirements to be a master electrician also vary by state.

So, what can a master electrician do? To excel and reach this level, critical thinking and diagnostic skills are imperative. If you call a master electrician to solve a problem at your business, they’ll usually be able to do so much quicker and with more accuracy. They are also trained to read blueprints and schematics, which is often necessary when dealing with complex commercial systems, as well as high-voltage power systems.

At Lake Electric Co. Inc., we dispatch the proper level of experience for the job at hand, including sending a master electrician when that is the best choice for the project. We are also advocates for our industry by conducting an apprentice program and are proud to have one of the largest, diverse equipment fleets in the Carolinas. Contact us today!