Missouri to Georgia: master plumber license reciprocity

Georgia issues statewide Master Plumber licenses in two classes through the Construction Industry Licensing Board's Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers. Under the licensing statute as re-enacted by Senate Bill 553 (2026), effective July 1, 2026, Class I covers single-family dwellings, townhomes and multifamily buildings (including duplexes, hotels, motels and apartments) up to three stories and commercial buildings up to 20,000 square feet; Class II is unrestricted and is the master-level equivalent used here. Class II needs five years of full-time experience (2,000 documented hours each) under a licensed master plumber, at least four of them licensed as a Journeyman Plumber and at least two in unrestricted-scope work; Class I needs four years within the restricted scope, at least three of them licensed as a Georgia Journeyman Plumber. Anyone already licensed as a Georgia journeyman before March 1, 2025 needs only two licensed years for Class II and one for Class I. The applicant scores at least 70 on the appropriate master examination, files a signed affidavit from each supervising master, consents to a criminal background check and pays the Board's published fee; the Division's checklist still also asks for three licensed-plumber references (Class I: at least one master; Class II: at least two). O.C.G.A. § 43-14-23 lets the Division, in its discretion, license without examination someone who has practiced for at least two years under a license from a state with substantially equal requirements that gives Georgia licensees equivalent privileges; Rule 121-2-.03 still frames this as a formal written agreement, and the Division's FAQ states that Georgia has no reciprocity with any other state for master or journeyman plumbers. In practice everyone therefore applies by examination. The statute's Class II wording does not require the licensed journeyman years to be Georgia years, so out-of-state journeyman licensure is expected to count there, but Class I's licensed years must be under a Georgia Journeyman Plumber license.

Missouri issues no statewide master plumber or plumbing contractor license. RSMo chapter 341 leaves plumber licensing to cities over 15,000 and first-classification counties, whose boards examine master plumbers, set fees and license terms and (in counties) require master plumber and master drainlayer surety bonds; no state agency licenses the trade and the voluntary statewide contractor license that exists for electrical work has no plumbing counterpart. The master credential therefore exists only locally: Springfield's Master Plumber certification (4 years as a certified journeyman or 10 years' experience, ICC exam, $50), Kansas City's plumbing contractor license qualified by a supervisor holding a certificate of qualification (Prometric or ICC exam, $60 application, $181 four-year renewal; contractor license $55 application, $181 issuance), St. Louis County's Master Plumber license and certified contractor list, and the City of St. Louis Plumbers and Drainlayers Board of Examiners' master plumber and drainlayer licenses. An out-of-state master plumber license carries no state-level recognition; Springfield accepts an identical ICC, Prometric, Experior or Block exam score of 75% or better in place of retesting and Kansas City may accept a comparable exam it deems equivalent, while the St. Louis County and City of St. A master arriving from another state should expect to qualify in each jurisdiction separately and then obtain that jurisdiction's contractor license and bond to pull permits.