Short answer: Changing electrical employers does not automatically reset your Texas on-the-job training hours. However, TDLR must be able to verify and accept the qualifying experience from each supervising Master when you apply for a higher license. The real risk is losing the people and records needed to prove those hours later. Before you leave, record your supervising Master’s name, license number and phone, your exact dates and total hours, and ask for a signed ELC017 for that period.
Before you change electrical contractors, save the records you may need to prove your hours later. You can track your hours in a free spreadsheet or paper log. When you are ready for the exam, the Texas Journeyman Practice Pack gives you timed practice for US$39.
Tsai Electro is an independent learning site. Not affiliated with TDLR or PSI. Rules below come from TDLR’s public pages and forms as we checked them in October 2026. The record-keeping tips are our own suggestions, not TDLR requirements.
Why hours get lost when you change jobs
The rule itself does not punish job changes. TDLR’s Journeyman page asks for hours under the supervision of a Texas Master and says you must contact and get verification from each Master who supervised you. Each supervisor should complete a new Experience Verification Form (TDLR Journeyman application page).
The trouble starts years later, when you apply:
- The Master who supervised you has moved companies, retired or changed phone numbers.
- The contractor’s Master of record has changed. TDLR’s FAQ says a contractor must name a new Master within thirty business days after one leaves (TDLR electrician FAQ), so the person who signs for your old hours may not be the person there now.
- You remember “about two years” but not the dates or the total, and the form asks for both.
TDLR does give a fallback: if you cannot reach a supervisor, contact the electrical contractor the Master worked under, or use the TDLR license search to find contact information. A fallback is slower than a form you already have.
What to collect before your last day
| Item | Why you need it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Supervising Master’s full name, license number and phone | The ELC017 asks for all three, plus license dates | The Master, or the TDLR license search |
| Company name | The form names the company, and TDLR says the contractor can help you reach the Master | Your offer letter or pay stubs |
| Exact start and end dates | The form asks for the period supervised | Your first and last pay stubs |
| Total hours in that period | The form asks for the hours worked in that period | Your weekly log and pay stubs |
| Type of work and setting | The form has boxes for install, maintain, extend or service entrance work, in residential, commercial, industrial or other settings | Your weekly log |
| A completed, signed ELC017 and the required supporting verification of the supervising electrician’s license | Easier to collect before leaving | The supervising Master |
Field list from TDLR form ELC017, summarized in our words. We found no TDLR statement on how old a signed form can be when you finally apply. If yours is several years old, ask TDLR whether it will be accepted.
More than one Master at the same company? If the Master over your work changed while you stayed, each Master signs for their own period. Write down the date the change happened.
Keep a weekly hour log
A log is not a TDLR filing. It is what lets you and each Master agree on a number quickly. Record one line per week:
- Week ending date
- Company and job site
- Supervising Master, and your lead if different
- Hours worked
- Type of work: install, maintain, extend, service entrance
- Setting: residential, commercial, industrial
Worked example: a mid-year switch
An apprentice leaves Contractor A at the end of May and starts at Contractor B in June:
- Contractor A: 21 work weeks at 40 hours = 840 hours. Two unpaid days off at 8 hours each = 16 hours. Period total: 840 − 16 = 824 hours.
- Gap between jobs: one week, 0 hours. Nothing to verify.
- Contractor B: 16 work weeks at 40 regular hours each = 640 regular hours, plus 24 additional overtime hours not included in those 640 hours. Period total: 640 + 24 = 664 hours.
- Year so far: 824 + 664 = 1,488 hours, on two forms signed by two different Masters.
Check: 824 is less than 21 × 40, and 664 is 24 more than 16 × 40, so both totals match the calendar. Numbers like these are easy for a Master to sign because your pay stubs back them up.
Keep your apprentice license current between jobs
- Texas apprentice licenses last one year and renew online for $20. To renew you need 4 hours of continuing education, or enrollment in a department-registered electrical apprenticeship training course (TDLR apprentice renewal page).
- Late renewal costs $30 within 90 days of expiration and $40 after that, up to 36 months. Between 18 months and 3 years late, you renew by mail with TDLR’s Request to Executive Director form. After 3 years you apply as a new applicant.
- The ELC017 asks your supervisor whether you held a valid license during the dates listed. A lapse leaves a gap you will have to explain.
- TDLR generally requires people performing regulated electrical work to hold the appropriate license before beginning work, unless a statutory exemption applies. Do not assume an expired license or a pending application authorizes you to continue regulated electrical work.
Before you sign with the new employer
- Ask who the supervising Master will be, and look up their license.
- Start a new section in your log on day one.
- If you are in a registered apprenticeship program, check that program’s own rules on transfers. Program rules are separate from TDLR’s hour rules.
Looking for your next contractor? Add yourself to our free apprentice contractor-contact list.
FAQ
Do my hours reset if I change electrical contractors in Texas?
No. The Journeyman application counts on-the-job hours under each Texas Master who supervised you, and each one completes their own verification form. Changing contractors only adds another form.
Can my old employer refuse to verify my hours?
The form is signed by the supervising Master, who certifies only the hours worked under their license and supervision. If you cannot reach that Master, TDLR suggests asking the contractor they worked under to have the Master contact you.
Should I get the verification form signed before I leave?
Getting the form signed before you leave can make future verification easier. Keep supporting time records as well. We could not confirm whether TDLR has an age limit for previously signed ELC017 forms, so ask TDLR before relying on an older form.
Does a tracker or app count as TDLR verification?
No. Your own log helps you agree on numbers, but TDLR needs the Experience Verification Form, or a letter on company letterhead, signed by the supervising Master.
Sources checked October 2026
- TDLR Journeyman application page: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/electricians/apply/individuals/journeyman-electrician.htm
- TDLR Experience Verification Form ELC017: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/electricians/forms/ELC017%20Electrician%20Experience%20Verification%20Form.pdf
- TDLR electrician FAQ: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/electricians/elecfaq.htm
- TDLR apprentice renewal page: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/electricians/renew/individuals/apprentice-electrician.htm
- TDLR license search: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/LicenseSearch/
