California trade license reciprocity

California has no license called 'journeyman electrician'. The state-level personal credential is the electrician certification issued by the Department of Industrial Relations' Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) under Labor Code §108 and 8 CCR §§290-296.4, which is mandatory for anyone who performs electrical work as an employee of a C-10 licensed electrical contractor. The category that corresponds to a journeyman is the General Electrician certification, which requires 8,000 hours of qualifying experience (or completion of a state-approved apprenticeship) and a passing score of 70% on the General Electrician exam; narrower categories exist for Residential Electrician (4,800 hours), Fire/Life Safety Technician (4,000), Voice Data Video Technician (4,000) and Non-Residential Lighting Technician (2,000). The exam has been administered by CPS HR Consulting since June 1, 2026 with scheduling through Pearson VUE. DIR has no reciprocity agreement with any state and never waives the California exam, but an electrician license from another state is accepted as proof of experience and makes the holder eligible to sit for the test; out-of-state electricians must be certified before they start work, with no grace period. Certification is valid three years and is renewed with 2,000 hours of work plus 32 hours of continuing education.

California does not issue a master electrician license or any personal electrician credential above the DIR General Electrician certification. The state-level credential above that is a C-10 Electrical Contractor license from the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), which is issued to a business (sole owner, partnership, corporation or LLC) and qualified by a named individual rather than held by the electrician personally, so an out-of-state master electrician has nothing to transfer to unless they intend to contract. A master electrician who only wants to work for an employer needs the DIR electrician certification described at the journeyman level. To contract independently the qualifying individual must document at least four years of journeyman-level or higher experience within the past 10 years, pay the $450 application fee, pass both the CSLB Law and Business exam and the C-10 trade exam through PSI within 18 months, be fingerprinted, post a $25,000 contractor's bond (plus a $25,000 bond of qualifying individual where applicable), carry workers' compensation or file an exemption, and pay the initial license fee of $200 (sole owner) or $350 (non-sole owner) for a two-year license. CSLB's reciprocity program covers contractors licensed for the previous five years in good standing in Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada or North Carolina, but only classifications on the Reciprocal Classifications List: for electrical work the only mapped classifications are Arizona C-11, K-11 and L-11 Electrical, which map to California C-10; Nevada's C-2 Electrical is not mapped (only Nevada C-2d Low Voltage maps to C-7), and the Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina entries cover only general building. Where reciprocity is granted CSLB may waive the C-10 trade exam but retains the right to require it, staff determine comparability case by case, and the Law and Business exam, bond, fingerprinting and all other licensure requirements still apply. A DIR electrician certification is not required for a licensed contractor's own work, only for electricians employed by C-10 contractors.

California does not issue a journeyman, technician or mechanic license for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning or refrigeration work. The only state HVAC credentials are contractor classifications issued by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) to a business: C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor and C-38 Refrigeration Contractor (systems below 50°F). Under Business and Professions Code §7053 the Contractors State License Law does not apply to a person who does the regulated work as an employee for wages, so HVAC technicians employed by a C-20 or C-38 contractor work without any personal state license; California's personal certification program for electricians (Labor Code §108) has no HVAC counterpart, and no city or county HVAC mechanic license was found in the largest jurisdictions (Los Angeles issues mechanical permits to licensed contractors and lists no HVAC technician license). An out-of-state journeyman or HVAC technician license therefore has nothing to transfer to in California and is neither required nor recognized for employment. The federal EPA Section 608 technician certification still applies to anyone who services equipment containing refrigerants. A technician who wants to contract independently must obtain a C-20 or C-38 license, described at the master level.

California does not issue a master HVAC or master refrigeration license, and the credential that sits above the (non-existent) journeyman level is a CSLB contractor license in classification C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning or C-38 Refrigeration. That license is issued to a business (sole owner, partnership, corporation or LLC) and qualified by a named individual rather than held by the mechanic personally, so an out-of-state master HVAC license transfers to nothing unless the holder intends to contract; a master who only wants to work for an employer needs no California license at all. To contract, the qualifying individual must document at least four years of journeyman-level or higher experience within the past 10 years, pay the $450 application fee, pass both the CSLB Law and Business exam and the C-20 (or C-38) trade exam through PSI within 18 months, be fingerprinted, post a $25,000 contractor's bond (plus a $25,000 bond of qualifying individual where applicable), carry workers' compensation or file an exemption, and pay the initial license fee of $200 (sole owner) or $350 (non-sole owner) for a two-year license. CSLB's reciprocity program can waive the trade exam for a contractor who has held an active license in good standing for the previous five years in a classification on the Reciprocal Classifications List: for C-20 the mapped classifications are Arizona C-39, C-39R (as printed), K-39, K-79, L-39 and L-79 Air Conditioning and Refrigeration and Nevada C-1f Heating, Cooling and Circulating Air and C-21 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning; for C-38 they are Arizona L-49 Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration and Nevada C-21a Refrigeration. The Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina reciprocity entries cover only general building. Even where reciprocity is granted CSLB retains the right to require the trade exam, decides comparability case by case, and always requires the Law and Business exam, bond, fingerprinting and every other licensure requirement. EPA Section 608 certification is a federal prerequisite for handling refrigerants and is not part of the CSLB application.

California does not issue a statewide journeyman plumber or master plumber license. The only state plumbing credential is the C-36 Plumbing Contractor classification from the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), which is a contractor license qualified by a named individual, not a personal tradesperson card. Business and Professions Code §7053 takes wage employees outside the Contractors State License Law, so a plumber who works for a C-36 contractor needs no CSLB license; California's personal electrician certification (Labor Code §108) has no plumbing counterpart. Some cities and counties still examine and card journeyman plumbers (certificate of competency / journey-level plumber) for work in that jurisdiction. Those cards are not statewide, are not issued by CSLB, and an out-of-state journeyman plumber license is not recognized by any state board. An arriving journeyman should ask the building department where the job is whether a local plumber card is required and sit that city's exam; contracting independently requires a C-36 license, described at the master level.

California does not issue a license titled 'master plumber'. The statewide credential that sits above municipal journeyman cards is the C-36 Plumbing Contractor license from the Contractors State License Board. The license is issued to a business entity (sole owner, partnership, corporation or LLC) but is qualified by a named individual who personally meets the experience and exam requirements and is responsible for the classification, so an out-of-state master plumber or plumbing contractor who intends to contract in California applies as that qualifying individual. A master plumber who only wants to work as an employee needs no C-36 license (B&P §7053) and should instead check city journeyman-card rules. To qualify C-36, the individual documents at least four years of journeyman-level or higher plumbing experience within the past 10 years, pays the $450 original application fee, passes both the CSLB Law and Business exam and the C-36 trade exam through PSI within 18 months of application acceptance, is fingerprinted (DOJ $32 plus FBI $17 plus Live Scan rolling fees), posts a $25,000 contractor's bond (and a $25,000 bond of qualifying individual where applicable), carries workers' compensation or files an exemption, and pays the initial license fee of $200 (sole owner) or $350 (non-sole owner) for a two-year license. CSLB reciprocity can waive the C-36 trade exam for a contractor who has held an active license in good standing for the previous five years in an Arizona classification mapped to C-36 (C-37, C-37R Plumbing, K-37, K-77, L-37, L-77). Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina reciprocity entries are general building only; Nevada's published list has no class mapped to C-36. Even when reciprocity is granted CSLB retains the right to require the trade exam, and the Law and Business exam, bond, fingerprinting and all other licensure requirements still apply.

California licenses residential contractors statewide through the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), and the homes-only classification is B-2 Residential Remodeling Contractor, created by Business and Professions Code section 7057.5 and issued since January 1, 2021. A B-2 contractor improves an existing residential wood frame structure and may only take a contract that requires at least three unrelated building trades or crafts; it cannot make structural changes to load-bearing parts of a building such as footings, foundations, load-bearing walls or roof structures, and it cannot install, replace or extend electrical, mechanical or plumbing systems unless it holds the matching specialty classification or subcontracts that work. A Class B General Building license also covers houses, including new construction and structural remodeling, so many residential builders apply for B instead of or as well as B-2. CSLB issues the license to a business (sole owner, partnership, corporation, limited liability company or joint venture) and the person who meets the experience and examination requirements is named on it as the qualifying individual, a responsible managing employee (RME) or responsible managing officer (RMO), so the reader who is moving states applies as that qualifier. A contractor license from another state cannot be used in California, even as a subcontractor or for a single project, and any project worth $1,000 or more in labor and materials, or any project needing a permit or workers, requires a CSLB license. Cities and counties separately require a local business tax registration, which is an additional step and not a substitute for the state license.

California's unlimited building credential is the Class B General Building Contractor license from the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), and there is no dollar limit or tier system above it. Under Business and Professions Code section 7057 a general building contractor's principal business is structures requiring at least two unrelated building trades or crafts; a B contractor may not take a prime contract on a project involving other trades unless the contract needs at least two unrelated trades besides framing and carpentry, or it holds the relevant specialty classification, or it subcontracts to a licensed specialty contractor, and fire protection (C-16) and well drilling (C-57) always need the specialty license or a subcontractor. Class A General Engineering is a parallel classification rather than a grade above B: it covers fixed works requiring specialized engineering knowledge such as highways, bridges, tunnels, dams, pipelines, sewers, grading and earthmoving, and a contractor who does both kinds of work holds both classifications. Below B sits B-2 Residential Remodeling, limited to existing residential wood frame structures and contracts using three unrelated trades. CSLB issues the license to a business entity and the person who meets the experience and examination requirements is named on it as the qualifying individual, a responsible managing employee (RME) or responsible managing officer (RMO), so an out-of-state general contractor moving to California applies as that qualifier. A license from another state cannot be used here even as a subcontractor or for a single project, and cities and counties additionally require a local business tax registration that does not replace the state license.

California issues no home inspector license, certificate or registration, so an inspector moving here has no state credential to apply for, no examination to sit and nothing to transfer from another state. No board or bureau of the Department of Consumer Affairs regulates home inspectors, and there is no home inspector classification among the Contractors State License Board's A, B, B-2 and C classifications. What binds a California home inspector instead is the Home Inspectors chapter of the Business and Professions Code, sections 7195 through 7199: it defines a home inspection as a noninvasive physical examination performed for a fee in connection with the transfer of a residential dwelling of one to four units; it requires the inspector to work with "the degree of care that a reasonably prudent home inspector would exercise"; it makes it an unfair business practice to perform or offer, for an additional fee, repairs to a structure the inspector or the inspector's company reported on in the past 12 months, to inspect for a fee any property the inspector has a financial interest in, to offer a referral reward to the owner, broker or agent, or to take an engagement whose fee depends on the conclusions in the report; it forbids giving an opinion of valuation; and it makes void as contrary to public policy any contract term that waives that duty of care or limits the inspector's liability to the cost of the report. An action for breach of that duty must be brought within four years of the inspection. California does license the work on either side of the inspection, and section 7196.1 confirms the chapter exempts a home inspector from none of it: contractors through the Contractors State License Board, wood-destroying pests and organisms through the Structural Pest Control Board, where only a licensed Branch 3 (termite) field representative or operator may make the inspection and issue any statement about the presence or absence of those organisms, and architects, professional engineers and real estate appraisers through their own boards. Because California holds no home inspector examination, the National Home Inspector Examination has nothing to stand in for here, and any "certified" designation an inspector advertises comes from a private trade association rather than from the state; the Legislature names one such body, the California Real Estate Inspection Association, in section 7195.5, but only as a group the Department of Water Resources consults, not as a licensing authority.