The Residential Appliance Installer (RAI) license is part of TDLR's electrical licensing program, covering the installation of residential appliances. TDLR issues both the individual license and a Residential Appliance Installation Contractor license for businesses.
What sets the RAI apart within the electrical program is its renewal requirement — or rather, the lack of one: neither the individual RAI license nor the RAI contractor license requires continuing education. That makes it one of the few TDLR electrical credentials you renew without coursework.
Compare that with the rest of the program: all 10 individual electrician license types — from Apprentice through Master, including Maintenance Electricians, Residential Wiremen, and the Sign Electrician licenses — must complete 4 hours of TDLR-approved CE every year (apprentices may instead satisfy the condition through enrollment in a TDLR-registered apprenticeship training program). The only CE-exempt credentials are the business licenses (Electrical Contractor and Electrical Sign Contractor) and the RAI licenses.
If you hold an RAI license alongside an individual electrician license, the electrician license still carries its own 4-hour annual CE requirement.
What it means for your renewal
No CE doesn't mean no renewal — your RAI license still has to be kept current with TDLR. And if you later move up to any individual electrician license, the 4-hour annual CE clock starts: one course, $22.95, no final exam.
Authority: Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1305