Search for an apprentice tool list, and you will find dozens, all slightly different, none of them telling you which applies to you. That is not sloppiness on anyone’s part. Tool requirements are set locally, by the joint apprenticeship and training committee that runs your program and by the contract your employer works under, so “the” first-year list does not exist.

What you can do is read several real published lists, find where they agree, and buy that first. This guide does exactly that with four lists from three locals, shows what each adds at the next stage, and flags a trap worth knowing about before you spend money.

There is no national list, and locals do not agree on the unit

The first thing to understand is that programs do not even measure your progress the same way. Compare three published requirements, and you get three different units:

• By period. IBEW Local 570 in Tucson splits its requirement into “1st and 2nd Period” and “3rd Period and Journeymen,” and gives new apprentices 30 days to acquire the first set.
• By year. IBEW Local 1105 publishes its list under two plain headings, “First Year of Apprenticeship” and “Second Year of Apprenticeship.”
• By hours. The Kansas City JATC lists an apprentice set and then a journeyman set that applies after 2,000 hours.

So “what do I need in year one?” may not even be the question your program answers. Before you buy, find out whether your requirement is expressed in periods, years, or hours, and where you currently stand. If you have not been placed with a program yet, the electrical training ALLIANCE training center locator will find the committee that covers your area, and registered programs can be looked up through the U.S. Department of Labor’s apprenticeship finder.

What four real starting lists actually require

These are the published requirements, not a generic recommendation:

• Local 570, 1st and 2nd period: hacksaw frame, small level, 25-foot power-return tape, two screwdrivers, claw hammer, voltage tester, two pairs of tongue-and-groove pliers, wire stripper, a number 2 Phillips screwdriver, and a tool pouch.
• Local 1105, first year: knife, pencil, six-foot rule, side cutters, channel-lock type pliers, screwdrivers, hammer, pocket level, crescent wrench, toolbox, flashlight, and hacksaw frame.
• Kansas City JATC, apprentice set: a longer list that adds items the others do not ask for at all, including a padlock for lockout and tagout, a six-foot wooden folding rule, a chalk line, and a nine-inch magnetic torpedo level.
• Boston JATC publishes its own list as a downloadable document, worth reading if you are in that jurisdiction.

Notice how much they differ at the edges. Tucson wants a voltage tester and a tape measure on day one; Nashport wants a flashlight and a six-foot rule and does not mention a tester until year two; Kansas City wants a lockout padlock neither of the others lists. Buying from the wrong one leaves you short on your own job site.

The overlap: what every list agrees on

Set the four lists side by side and a stable core appears. These items show up on every starting list, which makes them the safest things to own before anyone tells you what to buy:

• Pliers. Side cutters and at least one pair of tongue-and-groove or channel-lock type pliers. Local 570 asks for two pairs of the latter.
• Screwdrivers. Every list wants them; only some specify sizes. Where a list does specify, follow it exactly rather than buying a multi-bit driver and hoping.
• A hammer, a knife, and a pencil. Unglamorous and universal.
• A level. Described variously as a pocket level, a small level, or a nine-inch magnetic torpedo level.
• A hacksaw frame, and something to measure with — a six-foot rule, a 25-foot tape, or both.
• Something to carry it in, called a tool pouch, toolbox, or tool bag depending on who is writing.

If you want details on what each of these tools actually does and which are worth spending more on, our apprentice tool checklist goes through each tool.

The printable first-year checklist

Everything below is drawn from the four published lists already cited, sorted by how confident you can be about it. Print this page, or check it against the document your own committee gives you — the training center locator will tell you which committee that is.

What gets added at the next stage

The second tier is remarkably consistent across locals, even though the trigger for reaching it differs. Broadly, the tools that arrive later are the ones for layout, termination, and testing:

• Local 1105, second year: hand crimping tool, diagonal cutters, long-nose pliers, wire strippers, plumb bob, combination square, voltage tester, and center punch.
• Local 570, third period and journeymen: center punch, knife, pencil, plumb bob, tri-square, side cutter, long-nose pliers, diagonals, crescent wrench, compass saw, crimping tool, hex keys, triple tap, nut drivers, and a flashlight.
• Kansas City, after 2,000 hours: wire strippers, side cutters, chisels, plumb bob, center punch, keyhole saw, voltage tester, tap wrench, a 100-foot tape, a lock, and a current copy of the National Electrical Code.

The pattern is worth internalizing: the plumb bob, the crimping tool, the combination or tri-square, and the wire strippers are second-stage tools nearly everywhere. If money is tight in your first year, those are the safest things to postpone.

The trap: one local can publish two different lists

This is the part worth reading twice. Local 1105’s training page and the tools article of the same local’s inside agreement both describe a first-year minimum, and they do not match.

• The inside agreement requires a 25-foot tape measure. The training page does not mention one.
• The training page requires a flashlight. The agreement’s first-year minimum does not.
• The agreement specifies quantities and sizes — two Phillips screwdrivers and three standard screwdrivers in named lengths — whereas the training page simply says “screwdrivers.”

Neither document is wrong; they serve different purposes, and the contract is the one your employer is bound by. But if you build your shopping list from whichever page you found first, you can arrive fully equipped by one standard and short by the other. Ask your training coordinator which document governs, and buy to that one.

At a glance: who tiers by what

Program	Tiers by	Starting requirement	Next stage triggered at
IBEW 570, Tucson	Period	1st and 2nd period set, due within 30 days	3rd period
IBEW 1105, Nashport	Year	First-year set, 12 items	Second year
Kansas City JATC 124	Hours	Apprentice set	2,000 hours
IBEW 1105 inside agreement	Year, by contract	First-year minimum, incl. a 25-foot tape	Full employee minimum

How to build your own first-year list

Six steps, in order, and you will have a list that is right for your program rather than for somebody else’s:

1. Get your program’s current list in writing from the training coordinator, and ask whether it is tiered by period, year, or hours. If you have not been placed yet, find your committee through the training center locator.
2. Ask whether a second document exists — a collective bargaining agreement with its own tools article, as at Local 1105. If it does, ask which one governs.
3. Check the deadline. Some locals allow 30 days from your start date, so you may not need everything before day one.
4. Buy the overlap first — pliers, screwdrivers, hammer, knife, pencil, level, hacksaw frame, a measure, and a bag. These are on every list and cannot be wasted money.
5. Confirm what the employer issues before duplicating it. Testers and lockout devices sometimes come from the shop, and safety equipment is generally the employer’s responsibility rather than yours — our guide to who pays for apprentice tools covers where that line falls.
6. Postpone the second-stage tools. The plumb bob, crimper, square, and strippers arrive with the next tier at most locals. Non-union programs run by IEC or ABC chapters set their own requirements, so ask there too.

Frequently Asked Questions

The bottom line

Buy the overlap, get your own local’s document in writing, check whether a second document exists, and let the rest arrive with the next tier. The lists published by Local 570, Local 1105, and the Kansas City JATC are all readable in a few minutes, and reading the right one beats reading five of the wrong ones.

The kit is supposed to grow with the work. Nobody expects a first-year apprentice to own a journeyman’s bag, and turning up with one does not make the first year go faster. Godspeed!

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. Tool requirements are set locally and change over time. Confirm the current requirement with your own apprenticeship program and employer before making purchases.