LicensebyState

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

Oregon has reciprocity agreements with 2 states. Everyone else follows its standard out-of-state path: experience credit.

Oregon journeyman plumber · “Journeyman Plumber (JP)

Statewide license

Verified September 16, 2026· 7 sources

Issued by Oregon Building Codes Division (Department of Consumer and Business Services) / State Plumbing Board

Oregon issues a statewide Journeyman Plumber (JP) license through the Building Codes Division on behalf of the State Plumbing Board; under ORS 693.030 nobody may work in the trade of journeyman plumber without it, and commercial or industrial plumbing must be installed by a licensed journeyman or a registered apprentice working under one. A new applicant qualifies for the exam by completing a four-year Oregon plumbing apprenticeship, or by documenting 576 hours of classroom training plus 7,700 hours of on-the-job experience split 3,850 residential and 3,850 commercial across set work categories, or by documenting twice those hours (7,700 residential and 7,700 commercial) earned while holding a license with a journeyman-plumber scope. The application and license fee is $100 (non-refundable), and the applicant must pass the division's four-hour, 64-question open-book journeyman exam at an Oregon testing location with a score of 75 percent or better; there is no separate law exam and no national exam vendor. Oregon has signed journeyman plumber reciprocity agreements with Idaho and Montana only; qualifying holders of those licenses are licensed without examination for the same $100 fee. Every other out-of-state plumber applies on the standard form, receives credit for lawful out-of-state apprenticeship, classroom and on-the-job hours, and must pass the Oregon exam. Licenses run on a three-year cycle (all JP licenses next expire April 1, 2029) and renewal requires 24 hours of continuing education including 4 hours of code change and a 4-hour Oregon rule and law course.

States Oregon reciprocates with

Every origin state

Reciprocity 2Experience credit 30No credit 18
Every state's path into Oregon
StateMechanismNoteVerified
AlabamaExperience credit2026-09-16
AlaskaExperience credit2026-09-16
ArizonaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
ArkansasExperience credit2026-09-16
CaliforniaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
ColoradoExperience credit2026-09-16
ConnecticutExperience credit2026-09-16
DelawareNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
District of ColumbiaExperience credit2026-09-16
FloridaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
GeorgiaExperience credit2026-09-16
HawaiiExperience credit2026-09-16
IdahoReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-16
IllinoisNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
IndianaExperience credit2026-09-16
IowaExperience credit2026-09-16
KansasNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
KentuckyExperience credit2026-09-16
LouisianaExperience credit2026-09-16
MaineExperience credit2026-09-16
MarylandExperience credit2026-09-16
MassachusettsExperience credit2026-09-16
MichiganExperience credit2026-09-16
MinnesotaExperience credit2026-09-16
MississippiNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MissouriNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MontanaReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-16
NebraskaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
NevadaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
New HampshireExperience credit2026-09-16
New JerseyNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
New MexicoExperience credit2026-09-16
New YorkNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
North CarolinaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
North DakotaExperience credit2026-09-16
OhioNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
OklahomaExperience credit2026-09-16
PennsylvaniaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
Rhode IslandExperience credit2026-09-16
South CarolinaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
South DakotaExperience credit2026-09-16
TennesseeNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
TexasExperience credit2026-09-16
UtahExperience credit2026-09-16
VermontExperience credit2026-09-16
VirginiaExperience credit2026-09-16
WashingtonExperience credit2026-09-16
West VirginiaExperience credit2026-09-16
WisconsinExperience credit2026-09-16
WyomingNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16

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