Nevada to Washington: journeyman plumber license reciprocity
Nevada does not issue a statewide journeyman plumber license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Washington'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 license review, then the Washington journey level exam (all states except Idaho)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
A plumber licensed in any state other than Idaho emails L&I a copy of their active out-of-state plumbing license and government photo ID (or documentation of U.S. military plumbing experience) for review by the Plumber Certification Program. If L&I finds the license comparable to the Washington journey level certificate, the applicant is approved to apply for the Washington exam; the out-of-state license substitutes for the 8,000 trainee hours, but hours worked for out-of-state employers or in another state's apprenticeship program are never credited on their own. The applicant then files the exam application with the non-refundable $202.10 fee (online or form F627-008-000), schedules with PSI and pays PSI's scheduling fee, and passes the closed-book journey level exam (100 Uniform Plumbing Code questions plus waste-and-vent and water-pipe sizing exercises). After passing, the $242.70 certificate fee must be paid within 90 days. Once credentials are approved, a plumber with a current, unexpired out-of-state license may buy a one-time, nonrenewable 120-day temporary permit for $100.30 to work at their level while waiting to test.
experienceCreditsTransfer is true only in the sense that a comparable out-of-state license is accepted in place of Washington trainee hours; raw out-of-state hours are not credited (L&I exam page, trainee page). L&I does not publish the criteria it uses to judge a 'comparable license'. The Washington exam is a single closed-book trade exam that includes code questions; no separate law exam exists.
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.
- L&I must find the out-of-state license comparable to the Washington journey level plumber certificate (or accept documented equivalent U.S. military plumbing experience) before the applicant may apply for the examination
- Hours worked for out-of-state employers and hours from out-of-state trainee or apprenticeship programs are not eligible for Washington certification; a plumber who lacks a comparable license must start as a Washington plumber trainee ($60/year) and accumulate 8,000 supervised hours
What you'll do to get licensed in Washington
- 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($202.10). Journey level plumber examination application fee, non-refundable; approved application valid one year; a failed exam requires a new application and fee plus a 14-day wait.
- 2Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Washington Journey Level Plumber (PL01) examination administered by PSI after L&I approval: closed book, based on the Uniform Plumbing Code with Washington amendments, three parts (100 code questions, waste and vent sizing, water pipe sizing).
- 3Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. PSI examination scheduling fee, paid directly to PSI; amount set by contract and not published on L&I pages; non-refundable and valid one year from payment.
- 4Continuing education. Complete continuing education. 16 hours of L&I-approved classroom continuing education, including at least 4 hours of industry-related electrical training, before testing (WAC 296-400A-121(6)); confirm applicability with L&I for out-of-state applicants.
- 5License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($242.70). Journey level plumber certificate fee, invoiced after passing the exam and payable within 90 days; certificate valid 25-37 months then renews every three years for $242.70.
- 6Other. Optional one-time 120-day temporary permit for out-of-state plumbers whose credentials have been approved, allowing work at the journey level while waiting to take the Washington exam; not available to anyone who has held a Washington plumber or trainee certificate or a prior temporary permit ($100.30) (if applicable).
Published fees on this path total $444.80, 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.
- Trade exam
- Exam fee
Continuing education
Renewals usually need approved CE hours, often on the latest NEC. Reciprocal licensees are rarely exempt.
- Continuing education
How Washington licenses journeyman plumbers
Washington journeyman plumber · “Journey Level Plumber (PL01)”
Statewide license
Issued by Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Plumber Certification Program
Washington issues a statewide Journey Level Plumber (PL01) certificate of competency through the Department of Labor & Industries; anyone working in the plumbing trade must hold a journey level, specialty, residential service, trainee or temporary permit credential. A new applicant needs four years and at least 8,000 hours as a Washington plumber trainee (4,000 in commercial or industrial work), 16 hours of approved classroom education, and must pass the closed-book Washington journey level exam administered by PSI ($202.10 application fee plus PSI's scheduling fee, then a $242.70 certificate fee). Washington's only plumber reciprocity agreement is with Idaho for journey level plumbers: holders of an active Idaho journey level card receive the PL01 certificate without examination. Every other out-of-state plumber submits a copy of an active state license for L&I review; if L&I finds it comparable, the applicant is approved to sit the Washington exam and may buy a one-time 120-day temporary permit ($100.30) to work while waiting to test. Hours worked for out-of-state employers or in out-of-state apprenticeships are not credited. Certificates renew every three years on the holder's birthdate for $242.70 with 24 hours of continuing education (at least 12 hours of plumbing code and 4 hours of electrical).
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 Washington journeyman plumber exam if I'm licensed in Nevada?
- Yes. Washington requires the trade exam on this path.
- What does it cost to get a Washington journeyman plumber license from Nevada?
- Published fees on this path total $444.80, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Nevada work hours count in Washington?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Washington's eligibility requirements.
- Does it work the other way, from Washington to Nevada?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Washington to Nevada, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- L&I - Get or Renew Your Plumber Certification · Washington State Department of Labor & Industries · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- L&I - Plumber Certification (becoming a plumber, certification requirements) · Washington State Department of Labor & Industries · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- L&I - Plumber Examination (in-state and out-of-state applicants, temporary permit) · Washington State Department of Labor & Industries · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- L&I - Plumber Trainee · Washington State Department of Labor & Industries · Agency Page · verified September 16, 2026
- RCW 18.106.040 - Examinations - Eligibility requirements - Determination · RCW 18.106.040 · Washington State Legislature · Statute · verified September 16, 2026
- WAC 296-400A-030 through -033 - Temporary permits for out-of-state plumbers · WAC 296-400A-030, -031, -032, -033; RCW 18.106.090 · Washington State Legislature · Admin Rule · verified September 16, 2026
- WAC 296-400A-045 - Plumber certification and plumbing contractor fees · WAC 296-400A-045 · Washington State Legislature · Admin Rule · verified September 16, 2026
- WAC 296-400A-121 - Trainee experience and plumber examination requirements for the journey level and specialty plumber · WAC 296-400A-121 · Washington State Legislature · Admin Rule · verified September 16, 2026
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.