Nevada to Alabama: master plumber license reciprocity

Alabama certifies Master Plumbers statewide through the Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board; a master plumber may register as the Principal Master for a plumbing business, and every company doing plumbing work in Alabama must register with the Board and name one. To sit the master exam an applicant must have been certified as a Journeyman Plumber for at least one year (the Board describes this as one year of current work experience). Effective January 1, 2026, master-level applicants must pass both the plumbing exam (2021 International Plumbing Code) and a separate business law exam, and after passing have 90 days to pay the certification fees. Certificates are annual, renewing October 1 - December 31 with continuing education due by November 1. The Board's only reciprocal agreement, effective January 1, 2026, is with the Mississippi Board of Contractors at the master level; a master from any other state may sit the Alabama master exam directly if the origin license was earned by exam at 70% or better, is active and in good standing, and is verified by the origin agency.

Nevada does not issue a master plumber license to individuals, and no county or city was found to issue a master-level plumbing card; Clark County recognizes a 'plumbing qualified individual', which is simply the person who qualifies a contractor's C-1 license with the State Board. The state-level credential is a classification C-1 Plumbing and Heating Contracting license from the Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB), issued to a sole proprietor, partnership, corporation or LLC and qualified by a named individual rather than held by the plumber personally. An out-of-state master plumber who only wants to work for an employer needs no Nevada license at all (apart from the local journeyman card in Clark County and Reno). To contract, the qualifying individual must show four years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor within the past 15 years (NRS 624.260), pass the PSI-administered Nevada Business and Law exam and the C-1 trade exam within six months of filing (three attempts each), and the business must pay the $300 application fee and $600 biennial license fee, submit a financial statement, fingerprints and background check, and post a bond of $1,000 to $500,000 set by the Board, plus the Residential Recovery Fund assessment ($200 to $1,000) if it does residential work. Under licensure by endorsement (NAC 624.600 and 624.615) the C-1 trade exam and the experience certification are waived for a qualified individual who has held an active license, as the same qualified individual, with no discipline or pending action for the past four years in Arizona (CR-77 Plumbing Including Solar), California (C-36 Plumbing together with C-4 Boiler, Hot Water Heating and Steam Fitting) or Tennessee (CMC Full Mechanical Contractor); a Florida CF Plumbing Contractor gets experience credit but must pass the Nevada C-1 trade exam; the Business and Law exam is never waived. The NSCB equivalency charts contain no Utah chart and no C-1 row for Connecticut, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Mexico, Hawaii, Alabama or West Virginia.