Washington to Vermont: master plumber license reciprocity

Vermont issues a statewide Master Plumber license (ledger code PM) through the Plumber's Examining Board in the Division of Fire Safety. A master, as a business, installs plumbing systems, hires people to do plumbing work, or supervises journey and apprentice plumbers. A new applicant must document having held a valid Vermont journeyman plumber's license for at least 12 months, or equivalent training and experience in or outside Vermont acceptable to the Board, then pass the master examination; the two-year license fee is $120 (26 V.S.A. ss. 2191, 2193(c)). Out-of-state masters use the same no-exam statutes as journeymen: uniform endorsement after three years licensed in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction (s. 2194(a)(2)), or reciprocity without examination if the origin state or municipality had equivalent standards and grants Vermont licensees a like exemption (s. 2194(a)(1)). DFS plumbing pages name no partner states. Masters and journeymen are exempt from specialist license fees. Licenses last two years with eight hours of Board-approved CE per cycle plus the Energy Goals module. Work on installations subject to Board rules also requires a validated work notice and inspection fees, which are separate from the license.

Washington has no master plumber license. WAC 296-400A-010 lists every certificate the state issues (journey level PL01, residential PL02, residential service PL04, pump and irrigation PL03, domestic well PL03A, backflow PL30, and trainee), and the Journey Level Plumber certificate is the highest credential an individual can hold; the only add-on is the Medical Gas Piping Installer endorsement (MG01), which is a specialty, not a supervisory tier. Since July 1, 2021 a business that advertises, bids or performs plumbing work must hold a Plumbing Contractor license under RCW 18.106.400, but that is a business registration rather than a person-held trade license: the firm registers with the Department of Revenue, files a $6,000 surety bond, carries $250,000 combined (or $200,000/$50,000) liability insurance, pays a $148.10 license fee plus $53.20 to designate a Washington-certified plumber who works for the firm full time, and renews every two years; no exam is taken by the owner. An out-of-state master plumber therefore has nothing to transfer to at this level. To work as a plumber they obtain the journey level (PL01) certificate through the journeyman path (Idaho reciprocity or license review plus the Washington exam), and to contract they form a business and license it as a plumbing contractor with themselves or an employee as the designated certified plumber.