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OCCUPATIONS

01Construction Manager02Architectural Designer / Architect03Electrical Work, Electrical Safety & Fire Equipment Inspection04Plant Maintenance Technician05Automotive Mechanic

ELECTRICIAN / FIRE SAFETY

03Electrical Work, Electrical Safety & Fire Equipment Inspection

Work you can’t touch without a license. That’s why the license is your edge.

This covers electrical work on buildings and equipment, safety supervision of power receiving and transforming equipment, and installing and inspecting fire protection equipment. All three have licensed-only work: electrical work cannot be done without an Electrician, and certain fire protection equipment cannot be installed or serviced without a Fire Protection Equipment Technician.

SPEC SHEETNo.03
Job openings ratioElectrical construction workers / FY2025
3.373.1× all jobs
Est. annual payElectrical construction workers / avg. age 41.6
¥6.28M
Key licenses
Class 2 Electrician（第二種電気工事士）Class 1 Electrician（第一種電気工事士）3rd-class Chief Electrical Engineer（電験三種）Fire Protection Equipment Technician（消防設備士）

Sources: 一般職業紹介状況・雇用関係指標（年度）2025年度 — Employment Referrals for General Workers, FY2025 (MHLW) / 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査 — 2025 Basic Survey on Wage Structure (MHLW, Mar 2026). Full-time only: 3.78.

01 WORK

What the job involves

A

Electrical work

Wiring, lighting and outlets, power receiving and transforming equipment, solar power and more in offices, factories and homes.

B

Electrical safety

Monthly and annual inspections and safety supervision of private electrical facilities such as cubicle-type substations.

C

Fire equipment inspection

Inspecting and servicing fire extinguishers, automatic fire alarms, sprinklers and more, and writing the reports.

D

Facility management

Some people work on-site at a building, doing daily checks of electrical, HVAC and fire systems.

Where you’d work

Electrical contractors (subcontractors)

Electrical work for offices, factories and homes.

Electrical safety corporations & safety associations

Patrol inspections of private electrical facilities and outsourced safety supervision.

Fire equipment inspection & installation companies

Inspection, servicing and installation, plus reports to the fire department.

Building maintenance companies

On-site facility management. May be where a 電験三種 holder is appointed (no official statistics).

02 LICENSE

Steps to getting licensed

The Class 2 Electrician exam has no eligibility restrictions. It has two stages, written and practical; FY2025 pass rates were 56.6% (written) and 71.8% (practical). You can start with assistant work such as carrying materials without a license (check the boundary at each site).

  1. STEP01
    NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED

    Start with assistant work

    Tasks such as carrying materials need no license. The scope of “minor work” is set by ministerial ordinance; confirm it on site.

  2. STEP02

    Class 2 Electrician（第二種電気工事士）

    No eligibility restrictions. Written (CBT or paper) + practical

    FY2025 written 56.6% / practical 71.8%

  3. STEP03

    Fire Protection Equipment Technician（消防設備士）Class B → Class A（乙種 → 甲種）

    Class B allows servicing and inspection; Class A allows installation and servicing. Each category covers different equipment

    Apr–Jul 2026: Class A 37.3% / Class B 41.8%

  4. STEP04

    Class 1 Electrician（第一種電気工事士）

    Pass the exam + 3+ years of practical experience for the license (experience before passing counts)

    FY2025 written 57.4% / practical 58.1%

  5. STEP05
    GOAL

    3rd-class Chief Electrical Engineer（電験三種）

    4 subjects. Subject-by-subject passing (all 4 within 3 years). Held twice a year

    FY2025 pass rate 13.0% (people who passed all 4 subjects)

Exam results for electrical licenses (passers ÷ examinees)

LicenseFYExamineesPass rate
Class 2 Electrician, written2025139,08756.6%
Class 2 Electrician, practical202599,61071.8%
Class 1 Electrician, written202536,15457.4%
Class 1 Electrician, practical202528,40358.1%
3rd-class Chief Electrical Engineer202548,94213.0%

Source: 第一種・第二種電気工事士試験の試験結果と推移 — Class 1 and Class 2 Electrician exam results and trends (Electrical Engineer Examination Center, FY2025). Some pass rates are calculated from the numbers of examinees and passers.

See the license roadmap for all five trades →

03 PAY & DEMAND

Pay and job openings ratio

FIG. Estimated annual pay of electrical construction workers by age (¥ million)
4.36
20–24
5.32
25–29
6.10
30–34
7.28
35–39
7.06
40–44
7.23
45–49
6.99
50–54
7.44
55–59
6.05
60–64

Source: 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査（一般労働者・企業規模10人以上） — 2025 Basic Survey on Wage Structure (regular employees, enterprises with 10+ employees) (MHLW, published Mar 2026). Estimated annual pay = scheduled monthly cash earnings × 12 + annual bonus; an estimate made by the source material (not an officially published figure). Regular employees at enterprises with 10+ employees.

JOB OPENINGS RATIO

3.37

Electrical construction workers (FY2025)

Full-time only: 3.78. That works out to about 3.4 job openings per job seeker.

Source: 一般職業紹介状況（職業安定業務統計）・雇用関係指標（年度）2025年度 — Employment Referrals for General Workers, FY2025 (MHLW, published 2026). Through Hello Work, regular employment incl. part-time.

04 WORK STYLE

Working conditions & rule changes

Overtime cap (from April 1, 2024)

Electrical work falls under construction, so the overtime cap applies (in principle 45 hours a month and 360 hours a year; 720 hours a year under a special clause, among other limits).

Inspection demand is set by law

In specified fire-prevention properties（特定防火対象物）of 1,000 ㎡ or more in total floor area (restaurants, hospitals, hotels, welfare facilities, etc.), inspections must be done by a Fire Protection Equipment Technician or a Fire Protection Equipment Inspector（消防設備点検資格者）. Reports are due once a year for specified fire-prevention properties and once every 3 years for others.

Night & holiday work

We could not find official data on how often work and inspections happen outside tenants’ business hours. Ask each company.

Site work that temp staffing can’t do

Temporary staffing (worker dispatch) is prohibited for construction work, including on-site electrical work.

05 FIELD CHECK

Ask this on your visit.

On a visit or trial day, ask the people on site about the things a job ad doesn’t show.

  1. Q1

    Is your work mainly general-use installations, or does it include high-voltage receiving equipment (cubicles)?

    WHYIt determines whether you can build the 3 years of experience needed for the Class 1 license.

  2. Q2

    Does the company pay exam fees, course fees and practical-exam materials? Is there an allowance after you pass?

    WHYYou can plan the order and cost of your licenses.

  3. Q3

    (Electrical safety) Is it an on-site appointed role or patrol inspections? How many sites per person?

    WHYAlso ask about the emergency call-out setup (outages, accidents).

  4. Q4

    (Fire equipment inspection) How many jobs per day, what area, and are reports on paper or in a system?

    WHYYou’ll see how much travel and paperwork there is.

  5. Q5

    How much night and holiday work has there been?

    WHYTo check how the overtime cap works in practice.

Visit a workplace in this trade before you choose.

With Cura, you can apply for a visit or a paid trial day without a résumé or interview. It’s free for job seekers.

The Cura app is in Japanese.（クーラのアプリ／サイトは日本語です）

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NOTE / READING THE NUMBERS

  • Official statistics have no separate wage or openings ratio for “electrical safety” or “fire equipment inspection.” The figures are for “electrical construction workers.”
  • The 電験三種 pass rate is the share of people who passed all 4 subjects. Many people pass by accumulating subject passes.
  • Even on a trial workday, a person without the license cannot do work that requires one. It will be limited to observing, accompanying and assisting.

SOURCES

  1. 一般職業紹介状況（職業安定業務統計）・雇用関係指標（年度）2025年度 — Employment Referrals for General Workers (Public Employment Security Statistics), employment indicators by fiscal year, FY2025 (MHLW, published 2026)
  2. 令和7年賃金構造基本統計調査（一般労働者・企業規模10人以上） — 2025 Basic Survey on Wage Structure (regular employees, enterprises with 10+ employees) (MHLW, published Mar 2026)
  3. 第一種・第二種電気工事士試験の試験結果と推移 — Class 1 and Class 2 Electrician exam results and trends (Electrical Engineer Examination Center, FY2025)
  4. 第三種電気主任技術者試験の試験結果と推移 — 3rd-class Chief Electrical Engineer exam results and trends (Electrical Engineer Examination Center, FY2025)
  5. 消防設備士 試験実施状況（令和8年4月〜7月） — Fire Protection Equipment Technician exam statistics (Apr–Jul 2026) (Fire Defense Examination and Research Center, 2026)
  6. 消防法施行令 第36条・消防法施行規則 第31条の6（e-Gov法令検索） — Fire Service Act Enforcement Order Art. 36 and Enforcement Regulations Art. 31-6 (e-Gov law search) (Digital Agency (e-Gov), current version)
  7. 電気工事士法 第3条（e-Gov法令検索） — Electricians Act Art. 3 (e-Gov law search) (Digital Agency (e-Gov), current version)
  8. 建設業・ドライバー・医師等の時間外労働の上限規制 — Overtime caps for construction, drivers, doctors and others (MHLW, in force Apr 2024)
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