Kansas to Maryland: journeyman plumber license reciprocity

The Board's home page states that State plumber and natural-gas-fitter licenses are required throughout Maryland except (1) Baltimore County and (2) areas served by WSSC in Prince George's and Montgomery Counties; those two jurisdictions issue their own licenses and have their own plumbing code. Propane-gas-fitter certificates from the State Board are valid statewide, including those counties. Inbound plumbers who will work only in Montgomery or Prince George's County should apply to WSSC, not (or not only) to the State Board; work only in Baltimore County goes through Baltimore County. Work in the remaining counties and Baltimore City uses the State Board license. The reciprocal-license page states the Board may issue a State journey or master plumber license to a person already licensed by WSSC or Baltimore County if that person holds both plumbing and gas licenses obtained by examination.

How local licensing works. Kansas has no state plumbing license, board or application. Under K.S.A. 12-1508 to 12-1509 a county or city that licenses plumbers must accept only the ICC, IAPMO or Prometric standard plumbing exams (and may ask no other questions), require a 75% passing score, verify two years of field experience under a licensed journeyman or master (one year of which may be a trade-school program of at least 930 hours), set one uniform exam and license fee for all applicants, and require 12 hours of continuing education biennially or six annually with half in code education. A journeyman certificate of competency issued on a standard exam 'shall be valid proof of competency for licensure, without additional examination, in any county or city of the state', and the receiving jurisdiction must issue its own certificate for its uniform fee (K.S.A. 12-1509(b)-(c)). The Attorney General has opined that a city may not use home-rule power to add licensing requirements beyond the act (AG Op. 1999-42). Medical gas piping additionally requires ASSE Series 6000 certification (K.S.A. 12-1509(g)). Nothing in the act addresses licenses from other states.

Sedgwick County and Wichita (MABCD). Requires every journeyman plumber working in Wichita or unincorporated Sedgwick County to hold an MABCD trade certificate. Plumbing journeyman: one year of field experience plus one year of plumbing trade school, or two years of field experience (documented on company letterhead with a description of the work), and a 75% or better score on ICC K9R Plumbing with Gas, ICC 560 Journeyman Plumber with Gas or the IAPMO journeyman exam; submit Form 19A with the official passing letter, transcripts and experience proof and pay $35. Certificates run two years and renew for $35 with three trade-specific and three general CEUs per year (12 per cycle), with penalty hours if expired. MABCD no longer sponsors exams; candidates test through Pearson VUE (ICC) or IAPMO. Out-of-state treatment: 'MABCD does not reciprocate with state testing, only those exams listed below are approved for Sedgwick County.' An out-of-state journeyman license is not accepted as a substitute; the applicant needs a passing ICC K9R/560 or IAPMO score (many states' ICC national journeyman plumber exams are the same 560 series, but MABCD requires the official letter naming the exam) and documented hours.

Johnson County (Olathe, Overland Park, Lenexa, Shawnee and the other cities in the county program). Johnson County Contractor Licensing issues contractor licenses only; there is no journeyman plumber license. Plumbing work is done by a company holding a Class DP Plumbing Contractor license ($100 application plus $225 per license type, $225 annual renewal, $75 late fee from Feb. 1) whose qualifying individual has passed the ICC Master Plumbing with Gas exam (557/KGF). A journeyman arriving from another state works as an employee of a licensed DP contractor without any personal county license. Applications include the ICC passing certification or approved alternative education, liability and workers' compensation certificates, and can take up to 10 days. V art. 17 'Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing Trade Licensing'; the Unified Government's Building Inspection trade licensing and Prometric testing program). What ports is (1) a passing score on an ICC, IAPMO or Prometric standard journeyman plumber exam, documented by an official letter, and (2) verifiable field experience of at least two years. With those, the applicant obtains a certificate from the first Kansas jurisdiction they work in and can then be licensed in any other Kansas county or city without retesting under K.S.A. 12-1509(b), paying each jurisdiction's fee and meeting its CE.