Arizona trade license reciprocity

Arizona does not issue a journeyman electrician license. The Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) licenses electrical contractors under the R-11 (residential), C-11 (commercial) and CR-11 (dual) classifications, and individual electricians work as employees of a licensed contractor without any personal state license; the largest city, Phoenix, likewise states that it does not issue an electrical journeyman or apprentice license. An out-of-state journeyman license therefore has nothing to transfer to in Arizona and is neither required nor recognized for employment. An electrician who wants to contract independently must instead obtain an ROC contractor license: the qualifying party needs 4 years of practical or management trade experience (at least 2 within the last 10 years), a passing score of 70% on the Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE, $61) and on the trade exam ($66 through PSI, or the NASCLA electrical exam for $116), a background check, a license bond (from $2,500 for commercial specialty and $4,250 for residential specialty, depending on volume), and application and license fees ($720 for R-11, $580 for C-11, $850 for CR-11 including the residential recovery fund assessment). Arizona has no direct reciprocity with any state, but the ROC may waive the trade exam and experience requirement for a qualifying party who held a comparable contractor license in another state within the past 5 years that was obtained by a trade examination; the SRE is never waived for out-of-state applicants.

Arizona does not issue a master electrician license. The state-level credential for electrical work is a contractor license from the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) in the R-11 Electrical (residential), C-11 Electrical (commercial, under 600 volts) or CR-11 Electrical (dual) classification; the license is issued to a business (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC or corporation) and is qualified by a named qualifying party rather than to the electrician personally. A master electrician arriving from another state who only wants to work for an employer needs no Arizona license at all. To run their own electrical business they must apply for an ROC license: the qualifying party must show 4 years of practical or management trade experience (at least 2 within the last 10 years, with up to 2 years creditable from accredited technical training), pass the open-book Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE, $61 via Gmetrix) and the classification trade exam with at least 70% ($66 via PSI, or the NASCLA Electrical exam for $116, accepted for R-11, C-11 and CR-11), complete a background check, register the entity with the Arizona Corporation Commission if an LLC or corporation, post a continuous license bond sized by classification and annual volume (commercial specialty $2,500 to $50,000, residential specialty $4,250 to $7,500, dual licenses combine both), and pay application and license fees plus the residential recovery fund assessment ($720 total for R-11, $580 for C-11, $850 for CR-11, before exam fees). Arizona has no direct reciprocity agreement with any state; under A.A.C. R4-9-106(E) the Registrar may waive the trade exam and experience documentation when the qualifying party held a comparable contractor license in another state within the preceding 5 years and obtained it by trade examination (Out-of-State Waiver Request Form RC-L-200G submitted with the application), but the SRE cannot be waived.

Arizona has no state journeyman HVAC license; the Registrar of Contractors licenses only air conditioning and refrigeration contractors (C-39, R-39 and CR-39), and individual technicians work under a licensed contractor without a personal state license. The one large jurisdiction that does license individuals is Phoenix, whose building code requires permitted mechanical work to be done by a City of Phoenix Mechanical Journeyman or a registered apprentice: the journeyman card requires four years of documented experience and passing a $100 mechanical exam based on the 2024 International Mechanical Code, costs $50 for three years, and is not required of an ROC-licensed contractor's qualifying party. Other Arizona cities were not verified for this entry, and the Registrar's pages describe no journeyman credential. An out-of-state journeyman HVAC license has no state-level recognition; Phoenix publishes no reciprocity and requires its own exam, while outside Phoenix a journeyman simply works for a licensed contractor. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is required to handle refrigerants.

Arizona does not issue a master HVAC license. A master HVAC licensee arriving from another state who only wants to work for an employer needs no Arizona license (except a Phoenix journeyman card for permitted work there). To run an HVAC business the qualifying party must pass the open-book Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE, $61 through Gmetrix) and the classification trade exam ($66 through PSI), document four years of trade experience, complete a background check, register the entity if an LLC or corporation, post a license bond sized by classification and volume (residential specialty $4,250 to $7,500; commercial specialty from $2,500), and pay the application and license fees plus the residential recovery fund assessment ($580 for C-39, $720 for R-39, $850 for CR-39). Arizona has no direct reciprocity with any state, but the Registrar may waive the trade exam and experience documentation when the qualifying party held a comparable license in another state within the past five years that was obtained by trade examination (Out of State Waiver Request Form filed with the application); the SRE cannot be waived. EPA Section 608 certification applies to anyone handling refrigerants.

Arizona has no state journeyman plumber license. The Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) licenses only plumbing contractors (C-37 commercial, R-37 residential including solar, CR-37 dual), and an individual plumber works as an employee of a licensed contractor without any personal state credential. The one large jurisdiction verified here that licenses individuals is Phoenix, whose Building Construction Code requires all permitted plumbing and mechanical work to be performed by a City of Phoenix Journeyman (Plumber and Gas Fitter) or a registered Apprentice: the journeyman card requires passing a $100 exam based on the 2024 UPC or IPC plus the 2024 IFGC at an approved testing site, documenting at least four years of trade experience, and paying a $50 fee for a three-year license. An out-of-state journeyman plumber license has no state-level recognition and Phoenix publishes no reciprocity, so an arriving journeyman takes the Phoenix exam to pull permits there and otherwise simply works under an ROC-licensed contractor. Other Arizona cities (Tucson, Mesa and others) were not verified for this entry.

Arizona does not issue a master plumber license. A master plumber arriving from another state who only wants to work for an employer needs no Arizona license (except a Phoenix journeyman card for permitted work in that city). To run a plumbing business the qualifying party must show four years of practical or management trade experience (at least two within the last ten years; up to two years creditable from accredited technical training), pass the open-book Arizona Statutes and Rules Exam (SRE, $61 through Gmetrix) and the plumbing trade exam ($66 through PSI) with at least 70% within two years of applying, complete a background check for every person named on the application, register the entity if an LLC, corporation or partnership, post a license bond or recovery-fund assessment, and pay application and license fees ($580 for C-37, $720 for R-37, $850 for CR-37 including the $370 Residential Recovery Fund assessment, before exam fees). The ROC pages verified for this entry describe no state-to-state reciprocity agreement; under A.A.C. R4-9-106(E) the Registrar may waive the trade exam when the qualifying party 'is currently or has previously been a qualifying party for a licensee in this state or another state in the same classification, or a comparable classification as determined by the Registrar, within the preceding five years' (Application to Waive a Trade Examination filed with the license application, not pre-approved), and out-of-state experience counts toward the four-year requirement, but the SRE is never waived for out-of-state applicants. Individual master plumber licenses from other states are not, by themselves, a waiver basis: the waiver turns on having qualified a contractor license in a comparable classification.

Arizona licenses residential contractors statewide through the Registrar of Contractors (AZ ROC), and there is no city or county residential builder license layered on top of it. The homes-only credential is the B General Residential Contractor classification, which allows the licensee to construct and repair all or any part of a residential structure or appurtenance; electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, boiler, swimming pool, spa and water well work must be subcontracted to an appropriately licensed contractor. B-3 General Remodeling and Repair Contractor is the narrower version for remodeling and repairing an existing residential structure. The Registrar uses classification prefixes to separate markets: plain B codes are residential general building, B-1 and B-2 are commercial general building, C- and R- are commercial and residential specialty trades, CR- is specialty dual, and K codes are general dual. A contractor who wants both residential and commercial building work takes a dual classification instead of two licenses: KB-1 Dual Building Contractor covers the B-1 and B scopes together, and KB-2 Dual Residential and Small Commercial covers the B-2 and B scopes together. The license is held by a business, not by a person: it may be issued to a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company or corporation, and the Registrar states that "the license belongs to the business and not to the qualifying party." The reader of this page is the qualifying party, the regularly employed person who supplies the experience and passes the exams on the business's behalf, and who must hold four years of practical or management trade experience in this type of construction.

Arizona's unlimited general building license is the B-1 General Commercial Contractor classification, issued statewide by the Registrar of Contractors (AZ ROC). It allows the licensee to construct, alter and repair any structure built for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons, animals or movable property, including the management and direct or indirect supervision of the work; electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, boiler, swimming pool, spa and water well work must be subcontracted to an appropriately licensed contractor. B-2 General Small Commercial Contractor is the same commercial scope capped at projects of $2,000,000 or less including labor and materials. Neither commercial classification covers residential work: the Registrar separates its markets by prefix, with B-1 and B-2 commercial general building, plain B residential general building, C- and R- commercial and residential specialty trades, CR- specialty dual, and K codes general dual. To hold both sides on one license you take a dual classification: KB-1 Dual Building Contractor covers the B-1 and B scopes together, and KB-2 Dual Residential and Small Commercial covers the B-2 and B scopes together. The license is held by a business, not by a person: it may be issued to a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company or corporation, and the Registrar states that "the license belongs to the business and not to the qualifying party." The reader of this page is the qualifying party, the regularly employed person who supplies the four years of experience and passes the exams on the business's behalf.

Arizona certifies home inspectors statewide through the State Board of Technical Registration under A.R.S. 32-122.02 and rule R4-30-247, and calls the credential a Certified Home Inspector. There is one tier and no apprentice or associate grade: an applicant either meets the full standard or is not certified, so the credential an experienced inspector moving to Arizona seeks is the only one the Board issues. The Board is not the Registrar of Contractors, which licenses contractors and has no part in inspector certification. Arizona's own examination is the National Home Inspector Examination, and the standard route also takes 84 hours of classroom training, 30 parallel inspections supervised by a long-established Arizona inspector, and a Department of Public Safety fingerprint clearance card. The Board publishes no reciprocity agreement with any named state, but Arizona's universal licensure statute, A.R.S. 32-4302, requires the Board to certify an applicant who establishes residence in Arizona and has held a home inspector credential in good standing in another state for at least a year, which is the route almost every inbound inspector will use. Every certified inspector, whichever route they take, must file financial assurance within sixty days of certification and keep it current at each annual renewal.