Frequently asked questions

IEC is the Independent Electrical Contractors, the national trade association for merit-shop electrical and systems contractors. Chapters run apprenticeship schools on a shared four-year curriculum registered with the U.S. Department of Labor.

The practical difference is who pays and who employs you. In this model you are hired first by an electrical contractor, you earn a full-time paycheck from day one, and your employer pays the instruction fee. You are not a student taking on debt in the hope of a job at the end.

For the four-year apprenticeship, yes. Every apprentice is sponsored by a contractor who employs them full time. That’s the model. The on-the-job hours are half the program.

If you don’t have a contractor yet, you have two options: start with Career Prep, which takes you with no experience and helps place you afterward, or come to an info session and meet the member companies that are hiring.

The sponsoring contractor pays the annual instruction fee: [$ per apprentice per year, TBD]. It is billed to the employer, not to you.

Apprentices are typically responsible for books, hand tools and any state exam fees. [Book/tool cost estimate TBD]

Financial aid and student loans don’t apply here, because there’s no tuition bill in your name to apply them to.

Four years. Across that time you accumulate roughly [8,000] hours of on-the-job training with your employer and about [576] hours of related classroom instruction.

You finish with a completion certificate from a nationally recognized program and the documented hours a licensing board wants behind a journeyman application. The license itself is issued by the state or county, not by IEC. [verify current Florida requirements before publishing]

• At least 18 years old
• High school diploma or equivalent
• Valid driver’s license or state ID
• Reliable transportation to work and to class
• Able to read, write and speak English (classes are taught in English)
• Able to perform high-school-level math
• Physically able to perform the work of the trade
• Proof of legal residency if not a U.S. citizen

This apprenticeship program does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, genetic information or disability. [Final EEO language pending counsel review]

The first class is targeted for [Fall 2027], pending chartering. Open enrollment for new first-year apprentices would run [enrollment window TBD], with class one evening a week from roughly [Sept–May].

The classroom location is not confirmed. The chapter is in conversation with [potential facility partners, e.g. a technical college or member shop] about lab and classroom space in the [area] area.

Four things: hire them as a full-time employee at your own wage scale, register them with the chapter for the school year, pay the annual instruction fee, and give them the range of work the curriculum assumes they’re getting.

You also report their on-the-job hours annually, and the chapter reports their grades and attendance back to you. Progression is re-enrolled year by year. You are not locked into four years up front.

Full detail is on the apprenticeship page.

Fair question. IEC Florida First Coast is chartering, which means the dues schedule, the training calendar, the class location and the first slate of officers are all still open decisions.

Founding members make those decisions. Everyone who joins afterward inherits them. If you have an opinion about what this chapter should be (when class meets, what it costs, which counties it covers), the window to have it counted is now.

Charter window closes [DATE TBD].