I currently live in Kansas City, MO and own a company on the side of my main job. I work as a cable technician at a very large corperation along with 3 of my employees (that work with my side company).

We have over 20 years cabling experience between us including but not limited to wallfishing cable, telephone, data cable, video, etc.

We are wanting to move my side company into the field of prewiring cable, phone, data, video, and sorround sound cabling in houses that are being built around our area.


My question is this, iv been looking into the permits/licences needed to do this and have found some information (planning on calling the county tomorrow). What i want to know is, do we need a electricians licence to do this? I know its LV, which is why i ask... does it vary county to county? None of us are certified electricians, I am a trained but not certified fire inspector, and am very familiar with building construction and building codes.

Yet, i dont have the time to apprentice 4000 hours, goto school for 500 something.

Do I HAVE to have that certification??

I read under"Low Voltage Licence?" below, and it seems that a full out electricians licence isnt nesissary (PLEASE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG). Just LV permits depending on your area.


If this is the case, can someone please point me in the direction of a good online class/test/book, etc. Something that I can use to train my tech's in building codes? I am a trained but not certified fire inspector, so i have a pretty good knowledge base on building code, fire code, cabling, etc. Could use a brush up, im sure i dont know it all, but this is mostly for them.

Also, a test they can take that could certify them in some way would be the best for me, is there such a thing?

First, to the Board.

No, you do not have to be a licensed electrician in KCMO to do LV. BUT Missouri is a closed shop state....CWA will take care of that.
As far as the nine county Metro area, each has it's own requirements as do each community. Check with all jurisdictions before you start work. There are different insurance and business licensing requirements as you cross the street from one state to the other and one city to the next.

Certification can be gained from manufacturers, Bicsi, or the IBEW union hall IF you want to sign the letter and furnish the bond. Local 124 has a good LV training program.

Good Luck.

Awesome, thanks. Good to know, iv done alot of planning into setting all this up, got to the point where im rough-drafting invoices, contracts, and data sheets figuring what you just told me was correct. (Before looking as far as i recently have into it). Saw some site somewhere that made me think I had to be a certified elec. Got paranoid and spent the past 3 days investigating it... lol.

I suppose the next step is to scout out all expected working areas, and figure out what the requirements for each is.

Thanks for the welcome, ALOT for the info. Running a business is comparativly simple just selling specialized tools. Get into contract service type work and its a whole new game.