North Dakota access control installers and the power limited license

You rarely see the words low voltage in North Dakota's licensing law. Instead it calls them power limited systems, which means the circuits fall into Class II or Class III as the National Electrical Code describes them. These are the small circuits with limited current that power readers, keypads, door strikes and intercoms.

Without a board license, section 43-09-09 of the Century Code bars anyone from putting in or fixing wiring for a power limited system. 4 license types appear in that chapter: master, journeyman and class B, plus the power limited electrician.

The law exempts a handful of situations. You don't need a board license for a power limited system inside a home. You also don't need a license for a system that connects through a factory cord or connector to an outlet that's already there.

A "nonelectrical system" is also exempted by the chapter, and the definition uses that same Class II and Class III language. That exemption leaves out circuits for heat, light or power control, as well as circuits in special occupancies the electrical code names. The board decides where a given door system falls, so ask before you rely on an exemption.

To qualify, you need 6,000 hours registered as a power limited apprentice, and those hours must cover at least 2.5 years. Education in power limited work, or a tradesman certification the board approves, may also count. After that, its power limited license page divides holders into 3 groups.

A licensee working as a contractor must file proof showing at least $500,000 in public liability insurance. A license is good for 1 year; you can renew it without sitting for a new exam.

• Can take on work and has filed liability insurance proof: that's a contracting power limited electrician.
• The power limited electrician of record only does jobs on property the employer owns or leases.
• Noncontracting power limited electrician: performs work while supervised by a contracting license holder.

The Secretary of State issues another license. Anyone handling a job priced above $4,000 must carry a North Dakota contractor license. The job's size determines the class, and the application must include a liability insurance certificate.

A door contractor might need both because the office does not combine its license with the electrical board's.

• For electrical licenses, search the board's electrician lookup by last name or a license number of 4 or 5 digits.
• Check a contractor license's good standing through the Secretary of State's FirstStop search.

A locked door must meet the exit rules found in the state building code. In North Dakota it only governs places where a city, county or township decides to adopt and enforce the code. A new State Building Code, built on the 2024 IBC, went into effect on January 1, 2026, according to the Department of Commerce.

The electrical board's own standards govern the wiring. Its 2026 rules book follows the 2026 National Electrical Code. After the board is told a job is finished, state inspectors examine power limited installations valued at $500 or more.