Nevada to Louisiana: journeyman plumber license reciprocity
Nevada does not issue a statewide journeyman plumber license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Louisiana's standard path for out-of-state applicants.
Your origin state does not issue a statewide license at this level, so there is no license to transfer. The destination's standard out-of-state path is shown; expect to meet it in full.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Out-of-state plumbing license accepted as exam eligibility (all states other than Texas and Arkansas)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
A plumber who holds a valid, unexpired plumbing license from any other state may use it to qualify for the Louisiana Journeyman Plumber exam in place of Louisiana apprentice registration and the 7,000/8,000-hour payroll documentation. The applicant attaches a copy of the out-of-state license to the standard journeyman application for Board approval; the journeyman application states that 'Only States that require at least 8,000 hours on-the-job training will be accepted', so a license from a state with a lower hour threshold will be refused. Nothing else is waived: the applicant files the notarized application at least 30 days before a quarterly exam with $135, passes the 80-question written exam on the 2021 International Plumbing Code and International Residential Code and the 1-hour practical (floor plan, screw pipe and copper projects) with 70% in each category, then pays $50 for the initial license. There is no separate law or business exam at the journeyman level. Once licensed, the journeyman must be employed by a licensed Louisiana master company to work and renews annually before December 31 with continuing education.
R.S. Act 908 of 2026 moves plumbing licensing to the LSLBC; requirements may change after the transfer.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Required
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
What you must already have
- Your Nevada license must be active and in good standing.
- The origin state must require at least 8,000 hours of on-the-job training for the license held; licenses obtained with fewer hours are not approvedJourneyman application, eligibility paragraph c, and the licenses page out-of-state note.
- You must document at least 8,000 hours of qualifying work experience.The out-of-state license stands in for the 8,000 hours (unindentured) or 7,000 hours (indentured) of Louisiana apprentice payroll documentation that in-state applicants must submit.
What you'll do to get licensed in Louisiana
- 1Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($125). Journeyman Plumber Exam Fee payable to SPBLA by check or money order with the notarized application (filed at least 30 days before the quarterly exam date; forfeited for no-show or cancellation under 30 days, 50% retained for earlier withdrawal).
- 2Application fee. Pay the application fee ($10). Processing Charge added to the exam fee ($135 total).
- 3Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Board-administered Journeyman Plumber exam in Baton Rouge or Shreveport: 80-question, 3-hour written exam on the 2021 International Plumbing Code and 2021 International Residential Code plus a 1-hour practical (floor plan, screw pipe and copper projects); minimum 70% in each category; a passed part is kept for one year.
- 4License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($50). Initial Journeyman License fee paid with the Initial Journeyman License form after passing; license expires December 31 each year (renewal fee not published on the pages reviewed).
- 5Other. Copy of the valid out-of-state plumbing license attached to the notarized application; applicants convicted of a plumbing-related felony must contact the Board.
- 6Other. Temporary Work Permit ($75, one per lifetime) allowing an approved candidate to work as a journeyman until the scheduled exam date (if applicable).
- 7Continuing education. Complete continuing education. Continuing education every year through an SPBLA-approved provider before the December 31 renewal (hour count for journeymen not stated on the pages reviewed).
Published fees on this path total $185, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
What you'll need to buy or arrange
Exam preparation
Most boards contract PSI, Prov, or ICC for exams. Check which code edition the exam is written to before buying a prep course.
- Exam fee · $125
- Trade exam
Continuing education
Renewals usually need approved CE hours, often on the latest NEC. Reciprocal licensees are rarely exempt.
- Continuing education
How Louisiana licenses journeyman plumbers
Louisiana journeyman plumber · “Journeyman Plumber”
Statewide license
Issued by State Plumbing Board of Louisiana (SPBLA)
Louisiana licenses Journeyman Plumbers statewide through the State Plumbing Board of Louisiana (SPBLA), which also registers apprentices and licenses Residential Plumbers, Master Plumbers, natural gas fitters and medical gas and WSPS endorsements. A new in-state applicant must be a registered apprentice with 7,000 hours (indentured, in a Louisiana Workforce Commission-approved program) or 8,000 hours (unindentured) of supervised plumbing work documented by payroll records or W-2s, file a notarized application with $135 ($125 exam + $10 processing), and pass a Board-administered 80-question, 3-hour written exam on the 2021 IPC/IRC plus a 1-hour practical, scoring at least 70% in each category. The first license costs $50; licenses expire December 31 each year and renewal requires annual continuing education (hours for journeymen are not stated on the pages reviewed). A journeyman works under a licensed Louisiana Master Plumber and must be employed by a licensed master company for the license to be 'workable'. The Board has signed journeyman reciprocity agreements only with Texas and Arkansas; a plumbing license from any other state qualifies the holder to sit the Louisiana journeyman exam without Louisiana apprentice registration, provided the origin state required at least 8,000 on-the-job hours. Act 908 of the 2026 session transfers plumbing licensing to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors; the transition was under public discussion in late 2026 and no changed requirements had been published.
Why Nevada has nothing to transfer
Nevada journeyman plumber · “Journeyman Plumber (county/city card)”
Licensed by cities and counties
Nevada has no statewide journeyman plumber license. The Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) licenses plumbing and heating contractors under classification C-1 (NRS/NAC 624), issues licenses only to businesses with a qualifying individual, and its FAQ says it does not license individual journeymen, so an out-of-state journeyman plumber license has nothing to transfer to at the state level and is not needed to work for a licensed C-1 contractor in most of the state. A personal credential exists only under local building codes: Clark County Code Chapter 22.02 requires a plumbing qualified individual or a journeyman plumber on site for permitted plumbing work and issues a renewable county journeyman plumber certificate to people who pass the journeyman exam accepted by the Building Official (plumbing is the one trade for which the county code publishes an experience prerequisite for the exam), and the City of Reno requires anyone installing, altering or adding to a plumbing system to hold a valid journeyman certificate under Reno Municipal Code Title 14. Neither jurisdiction publishes a waiver of its exam for an out-of-state license: Clark County's only equivalency is for a certificate from its accepted testing agency or another Nevada political subdivision within the county, while Reno lets contractors with a reciprocal license from another city, county, state or country work inside the city for 12 months before they must obtain the Reno certification. The City of Las Vegas, Henderson and the rural counties were not surveyed for plumbing cards.
How local licensing works in Nevada
How local licensing works. NRS Chapter 624 licenses only contractors. A C-1 Plumbing and Heating license is issued to a business and qualified by an individual with four years of journeyman-or-higher experience within the past 15 years (NRS 624.260); the NSCB FAQ states that Nevada does not license individual journeymen. Whether a working plumber needs a personal card is decided by each county's or city's building administrative code, and only Clark County and Reno were confirmed to require one for plumbing.
Clark County (unincorporated Las Vegas valley, Laughlin and other unincorporated areas). Clark County Code §22.02.245 issues plumbing permits only to contractors holding an active Nevada C-1 license. §22.02.250(B) requires the permit-holding contractor to employ at least one plumbing qualified individual and to have a qualified individual or a journeyman plumber present in a supervisory capacity while permitted plumbing work is under way. §22.02.255 defines a journeyman as someone who has passed the appropriate journeyman examination accepted by the Building Official and makes the county photo certificate renewable; the plumbing category is the only one in §§22.02.255-.260 for which the code publishes an experience prerequisite before the applicant may sit the exam (the exact number of years could not be re-extracted from the county PDF on 2026-09-16 and should be confirmed with the Department of Building and Fire Prevention). The only equivalency in the code (§22.02.255) is for a current certificate from an accepted independent testing agency or from a political subdivision of Nevada within Clark County, on obtaining the county photo certificate at the holder's expense; there is no provision for other states' journeyman licenses, so an arriving plumber must sit the county-accepted exam. The county's current exam vendor and card administrator for plumbing were not confirmed from an official page.
City of Reno. Reno's Development Services page states that no person may perform installations, alterations or additions to a plumbing system in the city unless done by a holder of a valid journeyman certificate, that apprentice plumbers must carry a card from an approved apprenticeship program, and that the requirement does not apply to homeowners, to contractors who keep an on-site written agreement naming the certified supervisors of their subordinate employees, or to 'contractors with reciprocal licenses from another city/county/state/country' for their first 12 months of work inside the city limits, after which the Reno plumbing certification must be obtained. Out-of-state experience is useful only as evidence toward Clark County's experience prerequisite and, for those who want to contract, toward the NSCB's four-year qualifying-individual requirement.
- Clark County (Department of Building and Fire Prevention)
- City of Reno (Development Services)
- City of Las Vegas (Department of Building and Safety; plumbing card requirement not verified)
- City of Henderson (plumbing card requirement not verified)
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Louisiana journeyman plumber exam if I'm licensed in Nevada?
- Yes. Louisiana requires the trade exam on this path.
- What does it cost to get a Louisiana journeyman plumber license from Nevada?
- Published fees on this path total $185, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Nevada work hours count in Louisiana?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Louisiana's eligibility requirements.
- Does it work the other way, from Louisiana to Nevada?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Louisiana to Nevada, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- SPBLA home page - 'Open Discussion: Plumbing Licensing Transition' (Act 908 of the 2026 Legislative Session) · State Plumbing Board of Louisiana · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- SPBLA - Journeyman Plumber Exam Application and Candidate Bulletin · State Plumbing Board of Louisiana · Form · verified September 16, 2026
- State Plumbing Board of Louisiana - Licenses (Apprentice, Residential Plumber, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber, WSPS, Medical Gas, Natural Gas) · State Plumbing Board of Louisiana · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.