An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment.

[1] Electricians may also specialize in wiring ships, airplanes, and other mobile platforms, as well as data and cable lines.

Electricians were originally people who demonstrated or studied the principles of electricity, often electrostatic generators of one form or another.

Other sub-specialties such as control wiring and fire-alarm may be performed by specialists trained in the devices being installed, or by inside wiremen.

They generally take several hundred hours of classroom instruction and are contracted to follow apprenticeship standards for a period of between three and six years, during which time they are paid as a percentage of the Journeyperson's pay.

Journeymen are electricians who have completed their Apprenticeship and who have been found by the local, State, or National licensing body to be competent in the electrical trade.

Master Electricians have performed well in the trade for a period of time, often seven to ten years, and have passed an exam to demonstrate superior knowledge of the National Electrical Code, or NEC.

An electrician's license entitles the holder to carry out all types of electrical installation work in Australia without supervision.

To provide data, structured cabling systems, home automation & theatre, LAN, WAN and VPN data solutions or phone points, an installer must be licensed as a Telecommunications Cable Provider under a scheme controlled by Australian Communications and Media Authority[4] Electrical licensing in Australia is regulated by the individual states.

Upon successful completion of these exams, providing all other components of the apprenticeship are satisfactory, the apprentice is granted an A Class licence on application to Energy Safe Victoria (ESV).

Safety equipment used and worn by electricians in Australia (including insulated rubber gloves and mats) needs to be tested regularly to ensure it is still protecting the worker.

Because of the high risk involved in this trade, this testing needs to be performed regularly and regulations vary according to state.

Training of electricians follows an apprenticeship model, taking four or five years to progress to fully qualified journeyperson level.

The various levels of field safety representatives are A, B and C. The only difference between each class is that they are able to do increasingly higher voltage and current work.

Once qualified and demonstrating the required level of competence an Electrician can apply to register for a Joint Industry Board Electrotechnical Certification Scheme card in order to work on building sites or other controlled areas.

For example, California reciprocates with Arizona, Nevada, and Utah on the condition that licenses are in good standing and have been held at the other state for five years.

[15] Colorado maintains a journeyperson alliance with Alaska, Arkansas, the Dakotas, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.

Some of the more common tools are: In addition to the workplace hazards generally faced by industrial workers, electricians are also particularly exposed to injury by electricity.

Limits of approach to energized equipment protect against arc flash exposure; specially designed flash-resistant clothing provides additional protection; grounding (earthing) clamps and chains are used on line conductors to provide a visible assurance that a conductor is de-energized.

Generally an electrician's work is physically demanding such as climbing ladders and lifting tools and supplies.

Occasionally an electrician must work in a cramped space or on scaffolding, and may frequently be bending, squatting or kneeling, to make connections in awkward locations.

Power systems electricians may be called to work in all kinds of adverse weather to make emergency repairs.