Tennessee to Illinois: master plumber license reciprocity

Illinois' only full plumbing credential is the Plumber licence issued by the Department of Public Health; it is the state's equivalent of a master licence because a licensed plumber may plan, design, install and inspect all plumbing, sponsor up to two apprentices, and serve as the licence-holding member or officer of a registered Plumbing Contractor. The standard route is four years (48 to 72 months) as an Illinois licensed apprentice plumber or completion of an approved college/trade-school plumbing course, two years of high school or equivalent, an application filed at least 30 days before an exam date, and passing the IDPH-administered examination (held at least quarterly), which covers planning and design, manual skills, and the Illinois Plumbing Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890). Licences expire every April 30 and renew annually with four hours of continuing education. The City of Chicago runs a parallel plumber licence under Section 16 of the Act, and by statute a plumber licensed by either IDPH or Chicago may work anywhere in Illinois, so the two licences are alternatives rather than stacked requirements. Out-of-state plumbers are handled under Section 17: without examination only where the origin state's requirements were substantially equal at the time of licensure and that state reciprocates with Illinois (no state partner is named by IDPH), otherwise by passing the Illinois plumber's examination.

Tennessee does not issue a master plumber license. The state-level plumbing credentials are (1) the Limited Licensed Plumber (LLP), a personal license for work under $25,000 where the Division of Fire Prevention inspects, which the Board does not treat as a master equivalent and for which it has no exam-waiver agreements, and (2) a contractor license with the CMC-A (plumbing) or CMC (full mechanical: plumbing and HVAC) classification, issued to a business that names a qualifying agent and required for plumbing projects of $25,000 or more. CMC-A and CMC candidates need Board pre-approval ($50) before the plumbing or full-mechanical trade exam; every contractor also takes the Tennessee Business and Law exam (Prov from 2026-07-01; scores typically valid two years). Initial contractor application fee $250. The Board's trade-exam-waiver form lets a contractor whose origin board verifies a comparable plumbing or mechanical exam skip the Tennessee trade exam but not Business and Law, and it cannot be used for the LLP: Ohio plumbing maps to CMC-A, South Carolina plumbing to CMC-A, and Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia mechanical licenses to CMC. That waiver is contractor-to-contractor only (Ohio's OCILB listing of Tennessee as a plumbing-contractor partner is the same relationship from Ohio's side). Master plumber licenses proper exist only locally; Nashville's MPE Board issues a master plumber certificate. An out-of-state master plumber has no statewide personal recognition: to contract for $25,000 or more they need the CMC-A or CMC contractor license; to pull small-job permits they need the LLP where it is accepted, or the local master card where it is not.