How to Verify a Contractor's License in Wyoming
Which authority licenses contractors in Wyoming, what the credential is called, and where to check it before work starts.
Checking a licence takes a minute and is the cheapest protection available. What differs by state is WHO issues the credential and what it is called — in Wyoming, the details below.
Licensing in Wyoming
Wyoming has no statewide building code, but electrical work is the exception and is licensed statewide by the State Fire Marshal's Office — so the electrical credential is the one you can reliably verify at state level. An electrical contractor must employ a Wyoming licensed master electrician full-time as the master of record, and a master of record may serve only one company, which is a specific thing to ask about. Licences run to 1 July following issue, so check the expiry rather than assuming a licence seen earlier in the year is still current.
The licence classes are set by statute, not by rule, and there are two tiers. W.S. 35-9-125 licenses three kinds of firm — electrical contractor, LOW VOLTAGE electrical contractor and LIMITED electrical contractor — and each must be, or employ in a full-time capacity, a licensed individual of record: a master electrician, a low voltage technician or a limited technician respectively. The statute then ties that person down, and the wording is worth quoting because it is broader than it first looks: they must not be the individual of record for, "or employed by, any other" contractor of the same kind. So the person vouching for a Wyoming firm's work cannot also be on a competitor's payroll — ask who the individual of record is, and where else they work.
W.S. 35-9-126 licenses the individuals: master electrician, journeyman electrician, low voltage technician and limited technician. So "licensed" in Wyoming means two things at once — ask which firm licence the company holds and which individual is its licensee of record.
The two narrow tiers have defined scopes rather than being junior versions of the full licence. Low voltage is capped at 90 volts across seven categories (alarm, communication, sound, television, control and lawn sprinkler systems); limited covers HVAC, elevators, signs, water well and irrigation systems, and routine light-fixture repair, and only on the load side of the equipment disconnect.
Why It Matters
An unlicensed contractor can cost you more than the job. Inspectors can red-tag the work, insurers may decline a claim arising from it, and the recovery funds that exist in some states are open only to people who hired a licensed contractor. Checking the credential before work starts is the cheapest step in the whole project.
Where to check, and where this comes from
Wyoming State Fire Marshal — Electrical licensing · Wyoming State Fire Marshal — Electrical safety · W.S. 35-9-125 and 35-9-126 (Title 35, Wyoming Statutes)
See the national overview for verifying a contractor's licence →