It is one of the first practical questions a new apprentice asks, and one of the hardest to get a straight answer to: how much of this am I paying for? The answers you get on a jobsite range from “everything” to “nothing, they supply it all,” and both are wrong.

The confusion is understandable, because the answer comes from three different places — federal safety law, your training program’s tool list, and your employer’s contract or policy. Each covers a different category of equipment, and no single document covers all three. This guide sets out what falls where, quotes the actual rules, and shows you how to find the specific answer for the program and employer you are joining.

The three buckets, and why they get confused

Almost every argument about apprentice tools stems from two people talking about different buckets. Sorting equipment into these three makes the whole question tractable:

• Personal protective equipment. Hard hat, safety glasses, arc-rated clothing, gloves, hearing protection, fall protection. Your employer pays, and this is federal law rather than a favor — see the OSHA construction standard at 29 CFR 1926.95.
• Your personal hand tools. Pliers, screwdrivers, hammer, tape, levels, a tool bag. You buy these, and your apprenticeship program tells you exactly which ones.
• Everything else on the job. Drills, hole saws, benders, threading machines, ladders, scaffolds, lifts, specialty test equipment. Normally the employer’s, and in a union shop the contract says so explicitly.

The gap that causes trouble is that the document telling you what to buy — your program’s tool list — usually says nothing at all about the other two buckets. Read it on its own, and it can look like you are entirely responsible for equipping yourself. You are not.

Safety gear: your employer pays, and it is not optional

This is the part most new apprentices do not know, and it is worth more than any tool-buying tip. Under the construction standard at 29 CFR 1926.95(d)(1), protective equipment used to comply with the standard “shall be provided by the employer at no cost to employees.” The parallel general-industry rule sits at 29 CFR 1910.132(h) and is worded the same way; construction electricians fall under the 1926 standard.

The rule has a short list of exceptions, and they are narrow:

• Non-specialty safety-toe boots and non-specialty prescription safety glasses, where you are allowed to wear them away from the job site. This is why boots are the one piece of safety equipment most apprentices do buy.
• Shoes with built-in metatarsal protection, where the employer offers metatarsal guards and lets you choose the built-in alternative instead.
• Ordinary clothing and weather gear — long trousers, long-sleeve shirts, normal work boots, winter coats, rain gear, ordinary sunglasses, sunscreen.

Two further provisions are worth committing to memory. The employer must pay for replacement equipment, except where you lost it or deliberately damaged it. And while an employer may allow you to use adequate protective equipment you already own without reimbursing you, the employer cannot require you to supply your own. OSHA’s personal protective equipment overview is a readable summary for the wider context.

Hand tools: you buy them, and your local sets the list

There is no national apprentice tool list. Each joint apprenticeship and training committee publishes its own list, and they genuinely differ — which is why copying a list from a forum is a good way to buy the wrong things. Three real examples show both the pattern and the variation:

• IBEW Local 570, Tucson tiers the list by period and gives you a deadline. First- and second-period apprentices must supply a hacksaw frame, a small level, a 25-foot power-return tape, two screwdrivers, a claw hammer, a voltage tester, two pairs of tongue-and-groove pliers, a wire stripper, a Phillips screwdriver, and a tool pouch within 30 days. Third period adds a longer list including a plumb bob, crimping tool, hex keys and nut drivers.
• Kansas City JATC, Local 124, asks for items that the Tucson list does not include, including a padlock for lockout and tagout, a six-foot wooden folding rule, and a chalk line. Its journeyman list, which applies after 2,000 hours, adds a 100-foot tape and a current copy of the National Electrical Code.
• Boston JATC and IBEW Local 1105 publish theirs openly too, so you can read the exact requirement before you spend anything.

Two things are worth noticing. First, the tiering is in your favor: a first-year list is materially shorter than a journeyman’s, so you are not expected to arrive with a full kit. Second, and this is the crux of the whole question — these documents describe only what you must bring. They are silent on what the contractor supplies. That silence does not give an employer permission to push equipment costs onto you; the answer to that question simply lies in a different document. If you want the detail on the individual tools themselves, our complete apprentice tool checklist covers what each one is for and what to prioritize.

Everything else: what the contract says the employer furnishes

In a union shop, the answer is written down and unusually clear. Collective bargaining agreements between an IBEW local and its contractors typically include a tools article that serves two purposes: it sets the minimum tools an employee must own and states what the employer covers.

The IBEW Local 1105 inside agreement is a good worked example. Section 3.16 lists the tools employees must provide, with a separate, shorter minimum for first-year apprentices, and notes that tools are checked at the time of hire. Section 3.17 then covers the rest in a single sentence: the employer “shall furnish all other tools and/or equipment necessary to the safe and efficient performance of the job,” specifically naming ladders, scaffolds, ropes and rigging, and all equipment including safety equipment. Section 3.18 adds that the employer replaces tools destroyed by fire or theft, with the obligation capped at the tools on the list.

That is one local’s contract, not a national rule, and the wording varies. But the structure — a defined personal list, the employer covering everything beyond it, and some provision for loss — is common across inside agreements, and it is the model to have in mind when you read your own. Most locals publish theirs; ask the training center or the hall if you cannot find it.

Union or open shop: what actually changes

This is where expectations diverge, though less than people assume.

In a union apprenticeship — run jointly by an IBEW local and NECA contractors, with curriculum from the electrical training ALLIANCE — both halves are documented. The tool list comes from the training center and the employer’s obligation comes from the agreement, so the same rules apply no matter which signatory contractor you are dispatched to. You can find your nearest training center through the ALLIANCE’s training center locator.

In an open-shop apprenticeship — such as those run by Independent Electrical Contractors chapters or Associated Builders and Contractors — there is no collective bargaining agreement, so tool policy is set on an employer-by-employer basis. Some supply more than a union shop; some less. The important point is that the OSHA obligation does not change: protective equipment is federal law, not a union benefit, and it applies to every employer covered by the standard.

Whichever route you take, if the program is a registered apprenticeship, you can look it up through the U.S. Department of Labor’s apprenticeship finder, which is also a reasonable way to confirm a program is what it claims to be before you commit money to a tool list.

At a glance: who pays for what

Equipment	Who normally pays	Where the rule comes from
Hard hat, safety glasses, arc-rated clothing, gloves, hearing and fall protection	Employer	29 CFR 1926.95(d) — federal law
Safety-toe boots, prescription safety glasses	Usually you	Named exception in 1926.95(d)(2)
Ordinary work clothing and weather gear	You	Named exception in 1926.95(d)(4)
Pliers, screwdrivers, hammer, tape, levels, tool bag	You	Your JATC or program tool list
Replacement of PPE that wears out	Employer	1926.95(d)(5), unless lost or wilfully damaged
Drills, hole saws, benders, threaders	Employer	Contract or employer policy
Ladders, scaffolds, rigging, lifts	Employer	Contract or employer policy
Tools lost to fire or theft on site	Often the employer, up to the list	Contract, where one exists

How to find out exactly what you owe

Do these in order and you will have a definitive answer for your own situation rather than a general one:

1. Get your program’s tool list in writing. Ask the training center or apprenticeship coordinator for the current version, and check whether it is tiered by period. Many locals, such as Local 570, publish it openly.
2. Check the deadline. Lists often come with a window — 30 days from start is common — so you may not need everything on day one.
3. Ask which items the employer issues. Meters, testers, and lockout devices sometimes come from the shop even when they appear on a list. Ask before buying a duplicate.
4. Read the tools article of the collective bargaining agreement if you are in a union shop. Look for the section that says what the employer furnishes, and the provision on loss or theft.
5. Confirm the safety gear arrangement in writing. Ask what protective equipment the company issues and how replacements are handled. If you are told to buy your own hard hat or arc-rated clothing, that is worth questioning against 1926.95(d).
6. Buy the required list first, then stop. Add tools as the work demands them. The list expands on its own as you move toward journeyman, and there is no advantage in getting there early.

Frequently Asked Questions

The bottom line

You are buying a defined list of hand tools and probably your boots. You are not buying your safety equipment, and you are not buying the power tools and access equipment the job runs on. If someone tells you otherwise, the documents that settle it are your program’s tool list, your employer’s contract or policy, and 29 CFR 1926.95 — in that order.

Get the list, check the deadline, ask what the shop issues, and buy what is required rather than what looks impressive. The kit grows with the work, and it is meant to. Godspeed!

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. Tool requirements, collective bargaining terms, and employer policies vary by program, employer, and jurisdiction, and change over time. Confirm the current requirements with your apprenticeship program, your employer, and the applicable regulations before making decisions.