Pennsylvania to Alabama: journeyman plumber license reciprocity

Alabama certifies Journeyman Plumbers statewide through the Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board in Homewood; under Ala. Code § 34-37-6(a) a Board certificate is required to engage in plumbing anywhere in the state, and the Board's pages describe no county or city plumber licensing. A new applicant must complete at least two years as a registered Apprentice Plumber (or a Board-approved apprentice training program plus registered apprentice time equal to two years, or two years of documented equivalent experience approved at a Board meeting), then pass the Board's journeyman plumber exam, which since January 1, 2023 tests the 2021 International Plumbing Code. After passing, the applicant has 90 days to pay the certification fees or must re-test. Certificates are issued for the calendar year and renew each October 1 - December 31, with continuing education due by November 1 to avoid a deficiency plan and fee. The Board has no journeyman reciprocity agreement with any state; an out-of-state journeyman may sit the Alabama exam directly if the origin license was earned by an exam passed at 70% or better, is active and in good standing, and is verified by the origin agency.

Pennsylvania has no statewide plumber licence at the journeyman level: none of the Department of State's 29 professional licensing boards covers plumbers or plumbing contractors (the only construction-related board is Crane Operators), and there is no Commonwealth journeyman or master plumber credential. Individual licensing exists only where a city ordinance creates it. Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections, advised by the Plumbing Advisory Board, issues a Journeyman Plumber License (Philadelphia Code Title 9-1003) that authorises plumbing work under a licensed master plumber but not running a business: four years as a Philadelphia-registered apprentice (or a similar authorisation from another state or local jurisdiction with equal or greater requirements, subject to L&I approval), the ICC Journeyman Plumber Examination referencing the current Philadelphia Code or applied within 12 months of passing, and a $126 annual fee ($25 of that is the non-refundable application fee). Allentown posts 2026 journeyman and master plumber exam applications and licenses the plumbing trade separately from a business licence. Scranton's published form is a master electrical/mechanical/plumbing/general contractor application with no journeyman plumber form on that page. There is no state-level reciprocity; Philadelphia's other-jurisdiction clause substitutes for local apprentice registration only and does not waive the ICC exam.