Washington to West Virginia: master plumber license reciprocity

West Virginia issues a statewide Master plumber license through the Division of Labor under W. Va. Code 21-14. The statute defines a master plumber as a person who has passed a written master examination with a score of at least 70 percent and who is competent to design plumbing systems and to instruct and supervise journeyman plumbers and plumbers in training; the master written examination may not be taken until one year after passage of the journeyman plumber examination. This is a personal license, distinct from a Plumbing contractor license issued by the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board under W. Va. Code 30-42 (the Licensing Section administers that board as well). Since January 1, 2009 plumbing work for others requires a Commissioner of Labor plumber license. Out-of-state master plumbers are expected to use the Commissioner's unread reciprocity rule (21-14-4(3)) and, where they qualify, RECAP (W. Va. Code 21-17-3), which requires issuance of the occupational license when a comparable origin license has been held at least one year. The Division publishes no named plumber partners. Ohio's Construction Industry Licensing Board lists a West Virginia Master Plumber (exam-issued) among credentials that can reciprocate into an Ohio plumbing contractor license; that is Ohio's inbound contractor rule, not a West Virginia master-plumber agreement.

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.