Louisiana trade license reciprocity

Louisiana does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license. The only state electrical credential is the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) commercial contractor license with the Electrical classification, required for any electrical project of $10,000 or more; it is issued to the contracting business (or to an individual as a sole proprietor) on the strength of a qualifying party who passed the trade exam, and the LSLBC FAQ and Types of Licenses pages list no journeyman or master electrician license. Journeyman licensing exists only where a parish or city ordinance creates it: New Orleans issues a Class 'D' Journeyman Electrical License ($60 per year) to applicants who pass the ICC F17 National Standard Journeyman Electrician exam, Jefferson Parish administers its own electrical exam and requires a parish-licensed electrician to file electrical permits, and Shreveport directs journeyman and master candidates to ICC testing while requiring contractor registration with the city. None of these jurisdictions publish a reciprocity or endorsement rule for out-of-state journeyman licenses; in practice the portable credential is the ICC National Standard Journeyman Electrician exam, which several cities accept directly. An out-of-state journeyman who only wants to work as an employee needs whatever local card the parish or city requires, and nothing at the state level.

Louisiana does not issue a statewide master electrician license. The state-level credential for electrical work is the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) commercial license with the Electrical classification, mandatory for any electrical project of $10,000 or more; it is a contractor license issued to the business (or to a sole proprietor) and qualified by a natural person, the qualifying party, who passed the Electrical trade exam through PSI, so it is treated here as a business license rather than a person-held master credential, even though Texas recognizes the Louisiana statewide license as master-equivalent. Master electrician licenses exist only at the local level: New Orleans issues a Class 'A' Master Electrical License ($125 per year) to an applicant who passed the ICC F49 Electrical Contractor exam or holds the LSLBC statewide license as its qualifying party, carries $500,000 of general liability insurance, and is the only Class 'A' holder for the company; Jefferson Parish issues a parish trade contractor license ($200) built on the state license. For the state contractor license the LSLBC waives the trade exam for any applicant who passed a comparable classification exam in any other state, with no partner-state list since October 23, 2024, but the Business and Law course/exam, the financial statement and the other licensing requirements are never waived. No parish or city page reviewed publishes reciprocity for out-of-state master licenses.

Louisiana does not issue a statewide journeyman or technician license for heating, air conditioning or refrigeration work. The only state HVAC credential is the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) commercial contractor license in the Mechanical classification (or its Heat, Air Conditioning, Ventilation, Duct Work and Refrigeration subclassification), required for any mechanical project of $10,000 or more and issued to the contracting business or sole proprietor on the strength of a qualifying party who passed the trade exam; the LSLBC's FAQ and Types of Licenses pages list no journeyman, master or technician license. Journeyman mechanic licensing exists only where a city or parish ordinance creates it: New Orleans issues a Class 'B' Journeyman Mechanical Contractor License ($55 per year) to applicants who pass the ICC G31 National Journeyman Mechanical exam and work under a Class 'A' air conditioning and refrigeration contractor, Jefferson Parish requires air conditioning and heating equipment to be installed or replaced by a parish-licensed mechanical contractor, and Shreveport registers contractors and refers journeyman and master testing to the ICC or the LSLBC. Under La. R.S. 37:2156.1(I), however, employees of a statewide-licensed mechanical contractor cannot be required to pass any local examination or certification as a condition of working for that contractor, so a local journeyman card matters mainly to technicians working for contractors below the state threshold or outside the state system. None of these jurisdictions publish reciprocity for out-of-state journeyman licenses; the portable credential in practice is the ICC journeyman mechanical exam. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is required of anyone who handles refrigerants.

Louisiana does not issue a statewide master HVAC or master mechanic license. The state-level credential for HVAC work is the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) commercial license in the Mechanical classification (major classification 6, or subclassification 6.1 Heat, Air Conditioning, Ventilation, Duct Work and Refrigeration), mandatory for any mechanical project of $10,000 or more; it is a contractor license issued to the business (or a sole proprietor) and qualified by a natural person, the qualifying party, who passed the trade exam through PSI, so it is treated here as a business license rather than a person-held master credential. Master mechanic licenses exist only at the local level: New Orleans issues a Class 'A' Master Mechanical Contractor License ($110 per year) to an applicant who passed the ICC G29 Master Mechanical exam directly or through LSLBC state testing, carries $500,000 of general liability insurance, and is the only Class 'A' holder for the company; Jefferson Parish issues a $200 parish trade contractor license built on the state license. For the state contractor license the LSLBC waives the trade exam for any applicant who passed a comparable classification exam in any other state without waivers, exemptions or grandfathering, with no partner-state list since October 23, 2024, but the Business and Law course/exam, the financial statement and the other licensing requirements are never waived. No parish or city page reviewed publishes reciprocity for out-of-state master licenses. Federal EPA Section 608 certification applies to anyone who handles refrigerants.

Louisiana licenses Journeyman Plumbers statewide through the State Plumbing Board of Louisiana (SPBLA), which also registers apprentices and licenses Residential Plumbers, Master Plumbers, natural gas fitters and medical gas and WSPS endorsements. A new in-state applicant must be a registered apprentice with 7,000 hours (indentured, in a Louisiana Workforce Commission-approved program) or 8,000 hours (unindentured) of supervised plumbing work documented by payroll records or W-2s, file a notarized application with $135 ($125 exam + $10 processing), and pass a Board-administered 80-question, 3-hour written exam on the 2021 IPC/IRC plus a 1-hour practical, scoring at least 70% in each category. The first license costs $50; licenses expire December 31 each year and renewal requires 3.5 hours of continuing professional education each year. A journeyman works under a licensed Louisiana Master Plumber and must be employed by a licensed master company for the license to be 'workable'. The Board has signed journeyman reciprocity agreements only with Texas and Arkansas; a plumbing license from any other state qualifies the holder to sit the Louisiana journeyman exam without Louisiana apprentice registration, provided the origin state required at least 8,000 on-the-job hours. Act 908 of the 2026 session transfers plumbing licensing to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors on January 1, 2027; existing licenses carry over, and the Act lowers the experience needed for the journeyman license to 2,500 hours of verified apprentice work.

Louisiana licenses Master Plumbers statewide through the State Plumbing Board of Louisiana (SPBLA). A Master Plumber may perform plumbing work and employ registered apprentices and licensed journeymen; each plumbing company must designate one Responsible Active Master Plumber who keeps the company's insurance on file with the Board under La. R.S. 37:1361 et seq. To sit the master exam an applicant must hold a current Journeyman Plumber license (or a Louisiana professional engineer license) and file a notarized application with $110 ($100 exam + $10 processing). The exam is a three-part open-book written test scored at 70% per part: 80 questions on the 2021 IPC/IRC, a part on Title 51 Public Health-Sanitary Code Part XIII (sewage disposal), and 40 questions on the NASCLA Louisiana Master Plumbers and Master Natural Gasfitters Guide to Business, Law, and Project Management. The initial license is $190 active (associated with a plumbing company that has insurance on file) or $40 inactive; licenses expire December 31 and active masters complete 5 hours of CPE a year (3.5 hours for an inactive master working as a journeyman). The Board states that it 'does not reciprocate Master licenses'; out-of-state masters enter through the journeyman license. Act 908 of the 2026 session transfers plumbing licensing to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors on January 1, 2027; existing licenses carry over, and the Act requires 1,000 hours of verified work as a licensed journeyman before the master license.

Louisiana licenses homebuilders statewide through the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, which calls the credential a Residential Building Contractor license and carries it on the license as the Residential Construction classification. It is required for the construction of a residential structure of not more than three floors, and for home improvement work on an existing residence, once the project value including labor and materials exceeds $50,000; below that, home improvement work between $7,500 and $50,000 needs a Home Improvement registration instead, which is a consumer-protection filing with a $25,000 net-worth test and insurance but no examination, and residential swimming pool work above $7,500 needs the Residential Swimming Pools subclassification. The license belongs to the business rather than the person: an individual, corporation, LLC or partnership applies, and it designates a qualifying party, a sole proprietor, partner, member, manager, stockholder, officer or full-time employee, who personally sits the trade examination and completes the Louisiana Business and Law course, so a builder moving to Louisiana applies as or for the entity that will sign contracts. Every applicant files a financial statement showing at least $50,000 net worth, prepared by an accountant, and residential licensees must also carry general liability insurance and workers' compensation and take six hours of continuing education a year. Louisiana sets no minimum experience or apprenticeship for a contractor license, so out-of-state years do not shorten any step, and La. R.S. 37:2160(D) preempts any municipal or parish examination authority, which makes the state license the only competency credential a builder needs.

Louisiana's unlimited tier is the commercial license issued by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, and the classification that covers buildings is Building Construction: the building, maintenance, repair, raising, levelling, development or demolition of any and all structures, together with the landscaping, earthwork, parking areas, driveways and sidewalks. It sits alongside three other major commercial classifications, Highway, Street and Bridge Construction, Heavy Construction, and Municipal and Public Works Construction, plus Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing and Hazardous Materials and a long list of subclassifications and specialties, and a licensee may only bid or perform work inside the classifications printed on the license. A commercial license is required once a project for commercial purposes reaches $50,000 including labor and materials, and the threshold drops to $10,000 for electrical, mechanical and plumbing work and to $1 for asbestos, hazardous waste, lead-based paint and underground storage tank work. The license is entity-held and qualified by a named person: the business applies and designates a qualifying party for each classification and for the Louisiana Business and Law requirement, and that qualifying party is the one who sits the trade examination. A commercial applicant files a financial statement showing at least $50,000 net worth, passes a background investigation, and registers with the Louisiana Secretary of State; unlike a residential applicant, it does not have to file insurance certificates with the Board, and there is no continuing education requirement. A commercial license does not allow a contractor to build a single residential home, which needs the Residential Construction classification.

Louisiana licenses home inspectors statewide through the Louisiana State Board of Home Inspectors, and the license is issued to an individual only: it will not be issued to a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, firm or group, although a licensed inspector may work for one. There is a single grade. The rules use "trainee" for a person working through the Board's education, not for a credential anyone can inspect on, so the license an experienced inbound inspector is looking at is simply the Licensed Home Inspector. The home-grown route is long: 130 hours of Board-approved instruction, made up of 90 classroom hours, 30 hours of in-field platform training and ten live inspections with a certified in-field trainer, then the National Home Inspector Examination, then the Board's Standards of Practice and Report Writing Seminar and its standards and code of ethics examination. Every active licensee carries both errors and omissions insurance and general liability insurance at $300,000 a year each, with a deductible no higher than $5,000, and files the certificate with the Board named as certificate holder. Licenses run a year, renew with continuing education and a sample inspection report, and every inspection carries a $5 state fee reported to the Board monthly.