LicensebyState

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

Rhode Island has reciprocity agreements with 0 states. Everyone else follows its standard out-of-state path: experience credit.

Rhode Island journeyman plumber · “Journeyperson Plumber

Statewide license

Verified September 16, 2026· 6 sources

Issued by Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Division of Workforce Regulation and Safety, Professional Regulation (Board of Examiners of Plumbers)

Rhode Island issues a statewide Journeyperson Plumber license through the Department of Labor and Training (DLT) Board of Examiners of Plumbers (R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 5-20). Duties transferred to DLT under § 5-20-39; the Department of Business Regulation does not license plumbers. A Rhode Island-trained applicant is admitted to the DLT-administered journeyperson examination after holding a DLT apprentice-plumber registration for at least four years with 8,000 hours of on-the-job training in a five-year period and 576 hours of related instruction, or after specified college/associate-degree plus in-state apprenticeship paths, and paying a $75 nonrefundable application fee (§ 5-20-17). The same section admits an applicant who holds a journeyperson plumber certificate issued under the laws of another state if that state’s requirements are the same as Rhode Island’s — that is an exam-admission rule, not a waiver of the Rhode Island exam. Chapter 20 has no reciprocity or endorsement title, and DLT publishes no partner-state list. Cities issue plumbing permits under § 5-20-26 but do not replace the state license. Irrigator and water-filtration licenses under the same board are separate credentials.

Every origin state

Experience credit 32No credit 18
Every state's path into Rhode Island
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
IdahoExperience credit2026-09-16
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
MontanaExperience credit2026-09-16
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
OregonExperience credit2026-09-16
PennsylvaniaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
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

Related