Checked against primary sources 2026-08-24
Texas has no apprentice ratio, and no term called direct supervision
Two of the most confidently repeated facts about Texas supervision are things the rules do not say.
On this page
The two terms that exist
General supervision, 16 TAC 73.10(7): oversight by a master electrician on behalf of an electrical contractor, or electrical sign contractor, or by a master sign electrician on behalf of an electrical sign contractor, of performance by all classes of electrical licensees, bearing responsibility for the work’s compliance with applicable codes.
On-site supervision, 16 TAC 73.10(8): supervision of electrical work by a licensed individual other than an electrical apprentice.
The two definitions answer different questions, which is why quoting one at the other produces nonsense. General supervision names who does the overseeing, a master electrician or a master sign electrician, and says it runs to performance by all classes of electrical licensees. On-site supervision names who is eligible to do it, which is any licensed individual who is not an electrical apprentice.
Neither one sets a headcount, and neither says anything about distance or line of sight.
The middle clause of that first definition is the one summaries drop, and dropping it narrows the rule. It lets a master electrician hold general supervision on behalf of an electrical sign contractor, which the shortened version hides (16 TAC 73.10(7)).
A numbering note, because it will trip anybody checking the citation against a printed copy. The amendment effective 1 July 2026 inserted a new paragraph at (12) and moved everything below it down one place, so old (12) through (30) are now (13) through (31). Paragraphs (1) through (11) stayed where they were. General supervision is still (7) and on-site supervision is still (8).
The sentence people get backwards
Continuous supervision of an electrical apprentice is not required, though the on-site supervising licensee is responsible for review and inspection of the electrical apprentice’s work to ensure compliance with any applicable codes or standards.
16 TAC 73.10(8)
On-site does not mean within arm’s reach at every moment. The duty defined here is review and inspection, and the responsibility for the outcome sits with the supervising licensee either way.
The term that does not exist
Direct supervision is not a defined term in 16 TAC 73.10. It appears in other states and in a great deal of writing about Texas, and it is not in the Texas definitions.
If a source uses it as though it were a Texas term of art, that source is describing somewhere else.
The ratio that does not exist either
There is no numeric apprentice-to-electrician ratio in Chapter 73, and none in the license requirement sections of Chapter 1305.
This is stated as a negative finding rather than an absolute, so here is the reading behind it. On 24 August 2026 we read 16 TAC 73.10, 73.20, 73.21, 73.22, 73.25, 73.26, 73.30, 73.40, 73.51, 73.53, 73.60, 73.70 and 73.80 in full, along with the license requirement sections of Chapter 1305. Not one of them attaches a number of apprentices to a licensee.
What can impose one is a city. 16 TAC 73.53 requires all persons to perform electrical work in compliance with applicable codes and ordinances, and a local ordinance is free to set a ratio the state does not.
The supervision that earns hours is a different test
On-site supervision decides who may be over you on the job. What your logged hours are worth is decided somewhere else, and the two tests can point at different people.
The rule definition of on-the-job training turns on supervision by an appropriate licensee, and the word appropriate is doing all the work. Each license section in the Occupations Code fills it in separately. Journeyman electrician hours run under a master electrician (Tex. Occ. Code 1305.155). Journeyman sign electrician hours run under a master sign electrician (Tex. Occ. Code 1305.156). Residential wireman hours run under a master electrician or a residential wireman (Tex. Occ. Code 1305.157). Maintenance electrician hours run under a master electrician or a maintenance electrician (Tex. Occ. Code 1305.158).
So a journeyman electrician can lawfully be your on-site supervision under 16 TAC 73.10(8) and still not be the licensee your journeyman hours are credited under. Those are two separate questions and only one of them is about who is standing near you.
The statute adds a layer for apprentices that the definitions do not mention. Tex. Occ. Code 1305.161(a) describes an electrical apprentice as a person at least sixteen years old who is learning and assisting in the installation of electrical work under the supervision of a licensed master electrician. Subsection (b) puts the electrical sign apprentice at eighteen, under a master sign electrician.
Where the responsibility actually lands
16 TAC 73.51(g) places responsibility for supervision of licensees and for regulatory compliance on the contractor and the master electrician together.
And 16 TAC 73.51(b)(4) states that all of an electrical contractor’s electrical work shall be performed by licensed individuals.
What this page cites
- 16 TAC 73.10 Definitions of general supervision at paragraph (7) and on-site supervision at paragraph (8). source
- 16 TAC 73.51 Contractor and master responsibilities for supervision.
- 16 TAC 73.53 Responsibilities of all persons performing electrical work. Non-exempt work is performed in compliance with applicable codes and ordinances.
- 16 TAC 73.60 Standards of conduct for engaging in electrical work. Read in full on 24 August 2026 and it carries no apprentice ratio.
- Tex. Occ. Code 1305.155 Journeyman electrician hours run under the supervision of a master electrician, which is a narrower test than on-site supervision.
- Tex. Occ. Code 1305.161 Apprentice ages, and the master-level supervision the statute describes an apprentice as working under.