Where a California journeyman plumber license transfers
California does not issue a statewide journeyman license, so other states have nothing to reciprocate with. Each row below is that state's standard out-of-state path, which you would meet in full.
California journeyman plumber · “Journeyman plumber / certificate of competency (city-issued)”
Licensed by cities and counties
Issued by City and county building departments (no statewide journeyman plumber license)
California does not issue a statewide journeyman plumber or master plumber license. The only state plumbing credential is the C-36 Plumbing Contractor classification from the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), which is a contractor license qualified by a named individual, not a personal tradesperson card. Business and Professions Code §7053 takes wage employees outside the Contractors State License Law, so a plumber who works for a C-36 contractor needs no CSLB license; California's personal electrician certification (Labor Code §108) has no plumbing counterpart. Some cities and counties still examine and card journeyman plumbers (certificate of competency / journey-level plumber) for work in that jurisdiction. Those cards are not statewide, are not issued by CSLB, and an out-of-state journeyman plumber license is not recognized by any state board. An arriving journeyman should ask the building department where the job is whether a local plumber card is required and sit that city's exam; contracting independently requires a C-36 license, described at the master level.
How local licensing works in California
No state journeyman. CSLB's C-36 page and fee/reciprocity materials describe only contractor licensing. B&P §7053 leaves employed plumbers unlicensed at the state level. There is no DIR-style plumber certification.
How local cards work. Cities that still license individual plumbers typically issue a certificate of competency or journey-level plumber card after documented experience and a local exam. The card does not authorize contracting (that is C-36). Cards are not portable statewide; a Los Angeles card does not satisfy San Francisco, and vice versa. San Francisco DBI 'certificate-competency' redirected to the SF.gov Department of Building Inspection hub without the certificate list. City of San Diego /development-services/permits/contractor-licenses returned HTTP 404. Other cities and some counties may also card plumbers.
- Los Angeles (Department of Building and Safety - licensing / plumber exams)
- San Francisco (Department of Building Inspection - certificate of competency)
- San Diego (Development Services)
- San Jose (Planning, Building and Code Enforcement)
- Sacramento (Community Development / Building)
- Oakland (Building permits / trade licensing)
Every destination
| State | Mechanism | Note | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Alaska | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Arizona | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Arkansas | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Colorado | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Connecticut | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Delaware | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| District of Columbia | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Florida | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Georgia | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Hawaii | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Idaho | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Illinois | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Indiana | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Iowa | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Kansas | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Kentucky | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Louisiana | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Maine | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Maryland | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Massachusetts | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Michigan | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Minnesota | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Mississippi | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Missouri | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Montana | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Nebraska | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Nevada | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| New Hampshire | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| New Jersey | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| New Mexico | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| New York | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| North Carolina | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| North Dakota | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Ohio | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Oklahoma | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Oregon | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Pennsylvania | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Rhode Island | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| South Carolina | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| South Dakota | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Tennessee | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |
| Texas | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Utah | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Vermont | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Virginia | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Washington | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| West Virginia | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Wisconsin | No credit | no state license to transfer | 2026-09-16 |
| Wyoming | Not applicable | no state license at this level | 2026-09-16 |