A journeyman electrician has completed a formal apprenticeship, typically about 8000 hours of on-the-job training over four to five years plus classroom hours, and passed a licensing exam built around the electrical code. A journeyman can install wiring and supervise apprentices but usually cannot pull permits or run a contracting business, which takes a master or contractor license. Union programs end with a journeyman wireman card, and apprentice pay is set as a percentage of the journeyman rate.
State wants a journeyman on site for every two apprentices, so pull Mike off the garage and put him with the new guys.
Also heard as
- journeyman electrician
- journeyman wireman
- JW
- jman
Related terms
Jman
Clipped jobsite form of journeyman, as in ask your jman before you touch that panel.
Apprentice
Electrician in training who works under a journeyman while logging set hours of job experience and school.
Sparky
Friendly nickname for an electrician, used on jobsites by other trades, customers and electricians themselves.
Boomer
Traveling electrician or lineman who follows big projects from city to city wherever the work is.