Duties and responsibilities of the Electrical Contractor License holder

In April, two weeks after Keisha passed both exams and her license was assigned to Stillwater, Dale took her to lunch at a diner near the shop. He had held the company's license for thirty-five years, and he wanted to explain what it really meant. "When the board looks at a job we did, they don't look at the company first," he said. "They look at the person whose license is on it. From now on, that's you. Every permit, every crew, every change order. If something goes wrong, the first question is whether you were supervising." Keisha had read section 4740.07 the night before, and she knew he was describing the law almost word for word.

This lesson covers what Ohio law expects from the individual whose electrical contractor license is assigned to a company: supervision, active engagement and availability, the one-company rule, the effect of leaving or dying, reporting duties, and the conduct that can lead to discipline. It is based on Chapter 4740 and the board's rules as of late 2026; read the statute and rules for the exact wording.

Licenses are issued to individuals

Section 4740.07 says the board issues licenses in the name of the individual who qualifies, and the individual requests, at the time of application, that the license be assigned to the individual's employer. The company that receives the assignment is the contracting company that may contract for electrical work under the license. The license certificate identifies both the individual and the company. A company cannot hold an electrical contractor license in its own right; it can only use a license assigned to it by a licensed individual.

That arrangement puts real responsibility on the individual. The statute provides that work done under an assigned license is deemed to be done under the personal supervision of the individual named on the license, and it requires that individual to be actively engaged in the business and readily available for consultation with the contracting company. The law does not allow a license holder to lend a name to a company and stay away from the work.

Personal supervision in practice

Personal supervision does not mean the license holder must stand beside every electrician on every job. A company with nineteen electricians on five sites at once could not work that way. It means the license holder controls how the company performs electrical work: who is assigned to each job, how work is planned and checked, how code questions are answered, how inspections are prepared for and how corrections are made. The license holder should be able to show that systems exist for each of these things and that the license holder actually runs them.

Keisha set up three habits in her first month. Every Monday she reviewed the week's permits, inspections and crew assignments with the foremen. Every job had a written pre-inspection checklist that the foreman signed before calling for an inspection. And any code question that a foreman could not answer from the approved plans came to her by phone, with the answer written into the job file. None of these habits is required by name in the statute, but together they are good evidence of personal supervision if the board ever asks.

Active engagement and availability

The requirement that the license holder be actively engaged in the business and readily available for consultation means the license holder must actually work for the company in a role that allows supervision. A license holder who has moved out of state, works full time for another employer, or cannot be reached during working hours may not meet this requirement. Questions about availability often arise when an owner retires: if Dale had moved to Florida and stayed on as the license holder, the company would have had a problem long before the board noticed.

One company at a time

Section 4740.07 allows a license to be assigned to only one contracting company at a time, and the individual may not assign the same type of license to another company until the first assignment is no longer valid. A license holder who wants to work for a different company must end the first assignment before starting the second. This rule prevents one license from being used by several companies, which would make real supervision impossible.

Leaving the company or dying

The statute gives a company time to adjust when its license holder leaves. An assignment becomes invalid ninety days after the license holder's death, or ninety days after a change-of-company form is completed, or earlier if the parties agree. During that period the company may finish work and arrange for another licensed individual to assign a license to it. A license that is not assigned to any company is placed in inactive status, and the individual can reactivate it by assigning it to a new company and meeting the insurance and renewal requirements.

For a family business, the ninety days can be a lifeline, but it is also a deadline. Dale's plan was to let Keisha's license replace his, then keep his own license active but unassigned in case he ever wanted to consult. Stillwater's attorney recommended putting the plan in writing, with dates, so that no permit would ever be pulled under a license that was no longer assigned to the company.

# Ninety-day assignment window after a change (study aid)
from datetime import date, timedelta
events = [
    ("change-of-company form filed", date(2027, 6, 1)),
    ("license holder's death", date(2027, 9, 15)),
]
for event, d in events:
    ends = d + timedelta(days=90)
    print(f"{event} on {d.isoformat()} -> assignment invalid after {ends.isoformat()}")

change-of-company form filed on 2027-06-01 -> assignment invalid after 2027-08-30
license holder's death on 2027-09-15 -> assignment invalid after 2027-12-14

Keeping the license in good standing

The license holder is responsible for keeping the license current. That includes renewing every year with the fee and continuing education described in Lesson 11, maintaining at least 500,000 dollars of contractor liability insurance under the assigned company, and keeping the board informed of changes such as a new company, a new address or a change in the company's legal form. A license that lapses because renewal was missed means the company cannot legally contract for licensed electrical work until it is reinstated, and building departments may refuse permits in the meantime.

Conduct that can lead to discipline

Chapter 4740 authorizes the board's sections to discipline license holders. Possible actions include reprimands, fines, required education, probation, and suspension or revocation of the license. The grounds include violating the chapter or the board's rules; obtaining or renewing a license by fraud, misrepresentation or deception; using fraud or deception in conducting business; failing to maintain the required insurance; and allowing the license to be used by a company the holder does not supervise. Building departments and customers can file complaints, and the division investigates them. A license holder facing a complaint has the right to notice and a hearing under the Ohio administrative procedure law.

Most discipline cases begin with something ordinary: a job started without a permit, a customer who was not paid back after a deposit, a lapse in insurance, or a license that was used by a company after its holder left. The best protection is the set of habits Keisha built in her first month and a calendar that never lets renewal or insurance slip.

Supervision across several job sites

Stillwater runs five or six jobs at a time, and Keisha cannot be at all of them. Her supervision system has four parts. Each job has a foreman she has trained and trusts, with a written list of decisions the foreman may make and decisions that must come to her. Each job has a weekly plan reviewed at the Monday meeting. Each inspection is preceded by the signed checklist from Lesson 6. And each code question that is not answered by the approved plans comes to her, with the answer recorded in the job file. She also visits every active job at least once a week, more often at critical stages such as service installation and energizing.

This system is not required by name in the statute, but it gives meaning to the statutory phrase personal supervision. If a complaint ever reached the board, Keisha could show the meeting notes, the checklists, the job files and her visit log. That record is the difference between a license holder who supervises and one who only signs.

Advertising and representations

A license holder should also make sure the company describes its license accurately. Advertising, bids, contracts and vehicle signs should not claim licenses the company does not hold, and they should not suggest that someone other than the license holder holds the license. Many contractors show the license number on contracts and bids so customers and building departments can verify it. When a license holder leaves, the company should update its materials promptly so they do not suggest a license that is no longer assigned to it.

Customers sometimes ask whether Stillwater is licensed for residential work. Keisha's answer is accurate: the state license covers commercial work, and the company holds the local registrations required for residential work in the jurisdictions where it works. Being precise about what a license covers is part of conducting business honestly, which the statute requires.

When the license holder is away

Vacations, illness and training days are normal, and the duty to be readily available does not mean a license holder can never leave. It does mean planning. Before a planned absence, Keisha tells the foremen which decisions can wait, which can go to Ray, and how to reach her for anything that cannot wait. She avoids scheduling service changes, energizing or major inspections during her absences. A license holder who is away for long stretches with no plan for supervision risks the question the statute asks: was the work actually under that person's supervision?