Tennessee to Washington: journeyman plumber license reciprocity

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).

Tennessee has no statewide journeyman plumber license. The Board for Licensing Contractors licenses plumbing at two other levels only: the Limited Licensed Plumber (LLP), a personal license for projects under $25,000 in municipalities that use the Division of Fire Prevention for permits and inspections (T.C.A. § 62-6-403; photo ID, SSN, Prov LLP trade exam, $75 initial fee; general maintenance under $500 is exempt), and the contractor license with the CMC-A (plumbing) or CMC (full mechanical) classification, a business license required for plumbing work of $25,000 or more. The Board's LLP page tells applicants to check first whether the local government accepts the LLP or runs its own licensing. Journeyman plumber cards therefore exist only where a city or county examines plumbers itself. Metro Nashville's Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical Examiners and Appeals Board issues journeyman plumber (and apprentice plumber) certificates; Knoxville registers State Contractors, homeowners, or Unlicensed/State Limited License (LLE or LLP) holders to pull permits and does not publish a separate city journeyman plumber card on that page. An out-of-state journeyman plumber license has no state-level recognition in Tennessee: the Board's trade-exam-waiver form cannot be used for the LLP, and none of the city pages reviewed here publish a reciprocity or exam-waiver path for inbound journeymen.