Kansas to Illinois: master plumber license reciprocity

Chicago. Section 16 of the Plumbing License Law lets a municipality of 500,000 or more (only Chicago qualifies) adopt an ordinance 'substantially the same' as the Act with equivalent education or experience requirements and run its own board of plumbing examiners; within Chicago the state Act then does not apply except as the Act provides. The City of Chicago Department of Buildings issues that plumber licence. Section 16(2) provides that 'any person licensed as a plumber pursuant to such ordinance, or licensed by the Department under this Act, may engage in plumbing anywhere in this State', so an IDPH licence is valid in Chicago and a Chicago licence is valid in the rest of Illinois; Section 13.1(9) also accepts a Chicago plumber licence for state Plumbing Contractor registration. IDPH separately publishes a 'Plumber's License: Application for Reciprocity for the City of Chicago Licensees' for Chicago plumbers who want the state card as well. Local governments may adopt a plumbing code at least as stringent as the State code, require permits, and employ licensed plumbers as inspectors (Sections 18, 36, 37), but they cannot require a separate individual plumber licence.

How local licensing works. There is no state plumbing board. K.S.A. 12-1508 designates the ICC, IAPMO and Prometric standard exams for 'plumbing contractors and master and journeyman plumbers', and K.S.A. 12-1509 lets a county or city issue a master certificate of competency only after verifying that the applicant has held a valid journeyman certificate for at least two years or has at least four years of field experience, and has scored 75% on the standard master exam. That certificate 'shall be valid proof of competency for licensure, without additional examination, in any county or city of the state which requires licensure of plumbers'; each jurisdiction issues its own certificate for a uniform fee and requires 12 hours of continuing education biennially or six annually, half in code. Contracting (pulling permits and running a plumbing business) is licensed separately by each jurisdiction and generally requires a master-level qualifying individual plus insurance. The act is silent on out-of-state licenses; AG Op. 1999-42 says cities may not add licensure requirements beyond the act.

Sedgwick County and Wichita (MABCD). Plumbing master certificate ($35, Form 19A): must hold a plumbing journeyman certificate plus two years of field experience as a journeyman, or have four years of field experience, and score 75% or better on ICC K9F Master Plumber with Gas, ICC 557 Master Plumber with Gas or the IAPMO master exam, documented by an official passing letter. Certificates are good for two years and renew for $35 with three trade-specific and three general CEUs each year. MABCD 'does not reciprocate with state testing'; approved testing bodies are Block, Experior, Prometric, ICC and IAPMO, and MABCD no longer sponsors its own exams. Plumbing contractors are licensed separately by MABCD Contractor Licensing. Out-of-state treatment: an out-of-state master license is not accepted in lieu of the exam; a qualifying ICC 557-series or IAPMO master score plus documented experience is.

Johnson County. Does not license individuals. The master-level credential is the qualifying individual (QI) of a Class DP Plumbing Contractor license, who must present a verifiable passing score on ICC Master Plumbing with Gas (557/KGF); the county 'may be able to recognize ICC National exams if it can be verified to have a 75% or higher score.' The company pays a $100 application fee plus $225 per license type ($325 for one DP license), renews annually for $225 ($75 late fee from Feb. 1), and files general liability insurance, workers' compensation or a notarized waiver, and a Kansas Certificate of Good Standing if applicable; new applications are filed in person or by mail. A trade contractor's designated master must complete six hours of continuing education a year (three in the trade); licenses renew by December 14, fees are not prorated, and applications include the ICC passing certification or approved alternative education plus insurance and workers' compensation certificates (or a notarized exemption affidavit). V art. The applicant should obtain an official ICC (557/K9F/KGF series) or IAPMO master plumber passing letter (retesting through Pearson VUE or IAPMO if the origin exam was a state-specific test), document two years as a journeyman or four years of field experience, and apply to the first Kansas jurisdiction where they will work; under K.S.A. 12-1509(b) that certificate then supports licensure in every other Kansas county or city without another exam. A contractor license, insurance and, in Johnson County, a company-level Class DP license are separate requirements.