Nevada to South Dakota: journeyman plumber license reciprocity
Nevada does not issue a statewide journeyman plumber license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is South Dakota'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.
License by reciprocity for any state with substantially equivalent regulation (SDCL 36-25-21; ARSD 20:53:02:21)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
South Dakota has a single, all-states rule rather than a list of partners. Under SDCL 36-25-21 the Commission 'may register, without examination upon the payment of the required initial application fee, examination fee, and license fee, a nonresident applicant who is registered in another state' whose regulation of plumbers it 'determines ... is substantially equivalent'. ARSD 20:53:02:21 sets the test: the applicant 'shall have been licensed by examination in the state from which he comes, the state shall have licensure laws similar to South Dakota's', and the origin state's plumbing code 'shall be equal to or exceed the South Dakota state plumbing code' (the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code); the Commission investigates and may require affidavits, and 'the normal examination fee shall accompany the application'. The Plumbing License Application's 'License by reciprocity' box requires proof of license by exam, a license verification from the origin board and proof of four hours of continuing education. The Commission's page warns that anyone who 'received your license by testing on the IPC or another code' is instead approved to take South Dakota's plumber exam on verification of the current license and the experience behind it, and applicants from jurisdictions that did not require a license must submit work-experience verification and proof that licensure was not required (ARSD 20:53:03:03). On approval the applicant pays the $105 license fee (a $50 temporary license valid three months is available while an application is pending).
examTradeRequired is false only when the Commission finds the origin state substantially equivalent - in practice a state that licenses plumbers by examination on the Uniform Plumbing Code. Applicants tested on the International Plumbing Code (the majority of states) fall to the ExperienceCredit route in ARSD 20:53:03:03 and 20:53:02:21's IPC caveat: same $50 application and $100 exam fee, three-part Commission exam at 70%, with out-of-state hours counted toward the four-year/1,900-hours-per-year requirement via the Plumbing Experience Verification Form signed by the supervising contractor 'or equivalent if from another state'. The Commission publishes no list of states it deems equivalent and no processing time. A city-issued origin license is not a license 'by examination in the state', so it does not qualify for the no-exam route, although the underlying hours can be credited. ARSD 20:53:02:21 (as amended July 2, 2025) and SDCL 36-25-21 (as amended 2025) both require the exam fee to be paid even when the exam is waived; the Commission's web page still quotes the older statute wording. The application form says an application expires 30 days from receipt if incomplete; exam approvals lapse after six months (ARSD 20:53:02:18). Whether SD requires the four CE hours to have been completed in the prior calendar year is not specified on the form.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
What you must already have
- Your Nevada license must have been obtained by examination, not by reciprocity or grandfathering.
- Your Nevada license must be active and in good standing.
- You must have passed a licensing exam in Nevada that the destination considers comparable.ARSD 20:53:02:21; Commission reciprocity page: 'If you received your license by testing on the IPC or another code, you need to ... take South Dakota's examination for the same license type.'
- Origin state's plumber licensure laws must be similar to South Dakota's (substantially equivalent regulation, determined case by case by the Commission, which may require affidavits)
- Proof of completion of four hours of plumbing continuing education submitted with the reciprocity application
What you'll do to get licensed in South Dakota
- 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($50). Plumber license application fee, non-refundable (ARSD 20:53:12:01; Plumbing License Application Rev. 02/2026).
- 2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($100). Plumber examination fee; 'the normal examination fee shall accompany the application' even for license by reciprocity (ARSD 20:53:02:21, 20:53:12:02; SDCL 36-25-21).
- 3Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam (if applicable). Waived when the Commission finds the origin state substantially equivalent. Otherwise: Commission-administered three-part Plumber exam on the South Dakota plumbing code (2024 UPC) - Part 1 open-book code questions (2 hours), Part 2 closed-book code questions (2 hours), Part 3 stack/waste/vent sizing drawings without the code (1 hour); 70% to pass; by appointment in Pierre or at Sioux Falls/Rapid City sessions; retake once every three months.
- 4License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($105). Initial Plumber license fee (ARSD 20:53:12:03); expires December 31 and renews annually for $105 by January 31; reinstatement within one year waives the exam.
- 5Other. Optional temporary license while the application is pending; expires three months from issuance or on passing the exam (ARSD 20:53:12:03) ($50) (if applicable).
- 6Continuing education. Complete continuing education. Minimum four hours (50-minute hours) of Commission-approved continuing education each calendar year for renewal (ARSD 20:53:11:03, 20:53:11:05); licensees keep their own records and present them with the renewal.
Published fees on this path total $255, 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 · $100
- Trade exam · if applicable
Continuing education
Renewals usually need approved CE hours, often on the latest NEC. Reciprocal licensees are rarely exempt.
- Continuing education
How South Dakota licenses journeyman plumbers
South Dakota journeyman plumber · “Plumber”
Statewide license
Issued by South Dakota State Plumbing Commission (Department of Labor and Regulation)
South Dakota issues a statewide Plumber license through the State Plumbing Commission under SDCL chapter 36-25 and ARSD article 20:53; it has no 'journeyman' title, but the Plumber license is the journeyman-level credential (a person working under the direction of a plumbing contractor, SDCL 36-25-1(3)). A new applicant needs four years as an apprentice plumber at not less than 1,900 hours per year (7,600 hours), or three years and 5,700 hours with an accredited 9-month/1,020-hour trade-school program or 3-year association apprenticeship; military plumbing earns one year of credit per two years served (max five). The Commission itself administers a three-part exam on the South Dakota plumbing code (2024 Uniform Plumbing Code with state amendments) - open-book code questions, closed-book code questions and stack/waste/vent sizing drawings - passed at 70%, offered by appointment in Pierre and periodically in Sioux Falls and Rapid City; a retake is allowed once every three months. Fees are a $50 application fee, a $100 exam fee and a $105 license fee; licenses expire December 31 and renew annually for $105 with four hours of continuing education each calendar year. Out-of-state plumbers licensed by examination in a state with similar laws and a plumbing code equal to or exceeding South Dakota's may be licensed without examination under SDCL 36-25-21; those tested on the IPC or another code, or from non-licensing jurisdictions, are approved for the South Dakota exam on proof of equivalent experience.
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 South Dakota journeyman plumber exam if I'm licensed in Nevada?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
- What does it cost to get a South Dakota journeyman plumber license from Nevada?
- Published fees on this path total $255, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Nevada work hours count in South Dakota?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward South Dakota's eligibility requirements.
- Does it work the other way, from South Dakota to Nevada?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from South Dakota to Nevada, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- ARSD Article 20:53 - Plumbing Commission (licensing rules) · ARSD 20:53:02:18, 20:53:02:20, 20:53:02:21, 20:53:03:02, 20:53:03:03, 20:53:03:04, 20:53:03:07, 20:53:11:03, 20:53:11:05, 20:53:12:01, 20:53:12:02, 20:53:12:03 · South Dakota Legislative Research Council (State Plumbing Commission rules) · Admin Rule · verified September 16, 2026
- South Dakota Plumbing Commission - Plumbing License Application (Rev. 02/2026) · South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, State Plumbing Commission · Form · verified September 16, 2026
- South Dakota Plumbing Commission - Licensing Examinations · ARSD 20:53:12:02 · South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, State Plumbing Commission · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- South Dakota Plumbing Commission - Applications & Forms · South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, State Plumbing Commission · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- South Dakota Plumbing Commission - Licensing Requirements · ARSD 20:53:03:02 · South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, State Plumbing Commission · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- South Dakota Plumbing Commission - Reciprocity · SDCL 36-25-21; ARSD 20:53:02:21 · South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, State Plumbing Commission · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- SDCL 36-25-1 - Definition of terms (State Plumbing Commission) · SDCL 36-25-1(3), (4), (6) · South Dakota Legislative Research Council · Statute · verified September 16, 2026
- SDCL 36-25-21 - Reciprocity--Determination by commission · SDCL 36-25-21 (SL 1970, ch 222, § 11; SL 2025, ch 163, § 3) · South Dakota Legislative Research Council · Statute · verified September 16, 2026
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.