C-10 Electrical

The Contractors State License Board lists C-10 Electrical among the numbered classifications under its “(C) Specialty Contractor” label (CSLB, Licensing Classifications). This page describes what the Board publishes for that one classification and what the Board requires of any applicant for a license in it. It sits under the trade classifications overview, and the wider picture is on the California contractor licensing page.

What C-10 covers is the Board’s to define

The Board states the scope of C-10 on its own detail page (CSLB, C-10 detail page). The Board’s wording is quoted, with the surrounding context, on the specialty classifications page, and this page does not restate it. A classification is defined by what it covers, and the Board’s text is the thing to read against.

“Electrician” is a trade name, and C-10 is one classification in the Board’s list. The Board’s list is a set of classifications, and each one has its own detail page carrying its own scope text (CSLB, Licensing Classifications).

What this page does not cover

This page does not cover C-7 Low Voltage Systems, which the Board lists as a separate entry from C-10 (CSLB, Licensing Classifications). The Board publishes a scope text for each classification as a regulation, under Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations. C-7’s covers “all types of communication and low voltage systems which are energy limited and do not exceed 91 volts”, and its last sentence reads: “Low voltage fire alarm systems are specifically not included in this section.” Reading one scope against the other is how the difference becomes visible, and it is not something the Board states: neither entry mentions the other. The two texts are at the C-7 detail page and the C-10 detail page. The Board’s list names further numbered classifications, and none of their scopes is stated here.

The other classifications covered in detail here are separate entries on the same Board list: C-33 Painting and Decorating, C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning and C-27 Landscaping.

Experience in the classification

The Board’s experience page (CSLB, experience requirements) states the requirement in its own words:

You must have at least four (4) years of experience, in the class you are applying for, to qualify to take the examination. Credit for experience is given only for experience at a journey level or as a foreman, supervising employee, contractor, or owner-builder.

For an applicant in C-10, “the class” is C-10.

The person who qualifies the license

Under § 7068(b), the person who qualifies an applicant must be “qualified for the same license classification as the classification being applied for”. For a C-10 license, that is a person qualified in C-10. Who that person may be depends on whether the applicant is an individual, a partnership, a corporation or an LLC, and the qualifying individual page sets the roles out.

Examinations

The Board’s applicant page states that “an applicant must take and pass two examinations: Law and business / Trade”, with one named exception for the C-61 Limited Specialty classification, and allows a waiver of the examination(s) under certain conditions (CSLB, Applicants). The Board’s own sentence names only C-61 as an exception, and C-10 is not named in it. The same page says the final determination of whether an applicant meets the examination requirements or the waiver criteria “is made during the application review process” (CSLB, Applicants). The two examinations page covers both.

The bond

Section 7071.6 makes a contractor’s bond a condition precedent to the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, renewal or continued maintenance of a license. The bond’s sum and the rest of its terms are on the bond and financial requirements.

Where the license threshold and the fees are

When a license is required at all, and the statutory exemption beside it, are set out on the unlicensed contracting page. The general requirements page covers what the Board requires of an applicant, and what the Board charges is on what it costs.