Moving to Massachusetts as a journeyman plumber: every state's rule

Apply online through the Division of Occupational Licensure's eLIPSE portal with an Education Verification Form signed by your school, a Statement of Experience signed by each employing master plumber, a 2x2 passport-style photo and a notarized CORI form; incomplete applications are held for 180 days, and Board approval to test is valid for one year. The written part has 80 questions and the practical part (isometric analysis, trade calculations, gas piping and venting) has 40 questions, with 160 minutes for each. Questions are based on the 2023 Massachusetts Uniform State Plumbing Code (248 CMR 10.00), the Board's other regulations, M.G.L. c. 142, NFPA 54 (2012) and NFPA 58 (2011), and no references are allowed in the exam room. A failed part must be passed within 12 months, a candidate who has not passed after six attempts must petition the Board, and veterans receive a 5% credit on each part. Apprentices must begin the education within nine months of receiving the apprentice license, and each 165-hour year of schooling must be matched by 1,700 hours of work. A Board-approved vocational high school program can credit up to 330 education hours and 1,700 work hours, and Massachusetts gas fitter licensees may petition for partial credit. Heating, steam and hydronic piping work does not count toward the hours. A journeyman plumber may also do gas fitting statewide; a separate journeyman gas fitter license is available by exam without further education.