LicensebyState

Where a Pennsylvania master plumber license transfers

Pennsylvania does not issue a statewide master license, so other states have nothing to reciprocate with. Each row below is that state's standard out-of-state path, which you would meet in full.

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Pennsylvania master plumber · “Master Plumber (city-issued; no state licence)”

Licensed by cities and counties

Verified September 16, 2026· 7 sources

Issued by No statewide plumbing board (Pennsylvania Department of State BPOA); municipal plumbing boards and code offices

Pennsylvania issues no statewide master plumber or plumbing-contractor licence; none of the Department of State's 29 boards covers the trade, so the master-level credential exists only in cities that have chosen to license it. Allentown posts a 2026 Master Plumber Exam Application and requires a separate business licence to contract. Harrisburg posts a plumbing licence application whose master-versus-journeyman split was not verified. Pittsburgh's plumbing trade-licence page 404'd. There is no state-level recognition of an out-of-state master plumber licence and no municipal programme verified here that waives the plumbing trade exam. An arriving master should expect to apply city by city, document local experience thresholds, and sit each city's exam (ICC or city-written) unless that city later publishes an exam-waiver rule.

How local licensing works in Pennsylvania

How local licensing works. With no state plumbing board, each Pennsylvania city that licenses master plumbers does so under its own ordinance. The journeyman card, where it exists, does not authorise pulling permits or running a shop; the master (or master-contractor) licence does. A master licence is valid only in the issuing city. The journeyman page states that a journeyman works 'under a licensed master plumber' and may not operate a business, which implies the master licence is the contracting credential. Other PLI trade licences are issued to individuals, expire 365 days from issue, and (for electrical and mechanical) accept ICC master exams for any code year plus a stated experience total; whether plumbing follows that pattern is unverified. 2025 plumbing licence fee unknown.

Allentown. 2026 Master Plumber Exam Application is posted under Professional Trades Licensing. Contracting requires the trades licence and a city business licence. Reciprocity not mentioned on the landing page. Electrical Option B on that same form (eight years in lieu of exam) must not be assumed to apply to plumbing.

Inbound master. No Pennsylvania state licence and no verified exam-waiver reciprocity. Plan on a new application in each city where permits will be pulled. Philadelphia is the most fully documented shop: obtain the Master Plumber's License after (typically) holding or qualifying beyond the journeyman ICC path; confirm current master fees and exam on the master service page before applying. Allentown requires its master plumber exam application plus a business licence. Scranton uses the 2021 master contractor packet. Statewide reciprocity: none.

Every destination

No credit 39Not applicable 11
Every state's rule for a Pennsylvania license
StateMechanismNoteVerified
AlabamaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
AlaskaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
ArizonaNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
ArkansasNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
CaliforniaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
ColoradoNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
ConnecticutNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
DelawareNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
District of ColumbiaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
FloridaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
GeorgiaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
HawaiiNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
IdahoNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
IllinoisNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
IndianaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
IowaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
KansasNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
KentuckyNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
LouisianaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MaineNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MarylandNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MassachusettsNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MichiganNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MinnesotaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
MississippiNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
MissouriNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
MontanaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
NebraskaNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
NevadaNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
New HampshireNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
New JerseyNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
New MexicoNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
New YorkNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
North CarolinaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
North DakotaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
OhioNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
OklahomaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
OregonNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
Rhode IslandNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
South CarolinaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
South DakotaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
TennesseeNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
TexasNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
UtahNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
VermontNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
VirginiaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
WashingtonNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16
West VirginiaNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
WisconsinNo creditno state license to transfer2026-09-16
WyomingNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-16

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