South Carolina trade license reciprocity

South Carolina has no state journeyman electrician license. The LLR Contractor's Licensing Board licenses mechanical contractors (entities qualified by an individual qualifying party) for electrical work over $10,000 and the Residential Builders Commission licenses residential electricians, and neither chapter of the contractor law creates a journeyman credential; an electrician who is not a contractor works under one of those licensees without any state license. The journeyman-level credential that does exist is the journeyman electrician card of the SC Mechanical Trades Certification Program, run since 1965 by the Municipal Association of South Carolina (the association of the state's cities) and, since January 1, 2026, by the Carolinas AGC Foundation; the program's own page says the card is not a license and must not be represented as one. Whether a card is needed depends on the city or county building department, and the local ordinances themselves is not stated in the board's published materials on this verification date. No reciprocity or out-of-state acceptance is published for the journeyman card, so an arriving journeyman should expect to document two years of experience, pay the $35 application fee and take the Prov exam if a local jurisdiction or employer requires the card; the card's master-level counterpart is what LLR accepts toward the state contractor licenses.

South Carolina has no 'master electrician' license. The highest person-held electrical credential is the Contractor's Licensing Board's Qualifying Party certification in the Electrical (EL) classification of the Mechanical Contractor license: the individual passes the South Carolina electrical technical exam (or the NASCLA Accredited Electrical exam) and the South Carolina Business Management & Law for Commercial Contractors exam, documents two years of experience within the past five, and is certified as the primary qualifying party for a licensed entity (which may be a sole proprietorship); the certification stays with the person and can be transferred to another licensee. The license itself is issued to the business, with a $350 licensure fee and a financial statement or surety bond sized by license group (Mechanical Group 2, jobs to $50,000: working capital $10,000 or net worth $15,000, or a $15,000 bond). A residential-only alternative is the Residential Builders Commission's Residential Electrician license ($135 application, $220 license), issued to the individual after one year of residential experience and the residential technical plus Business Management and Law exams. South Carolina has technical-exam waiver agreements, listed in the Board's Reciprocity/Waiver Agreements document, that cover the electrical classification for Alabama, Georgia (Un-Restricted), Mississippi, North Carolina (Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited with matching group limits), Ohio, Reading (Pennsylvania), Tennessee (CE) and Utah (Master Electrician exams passed before May 2017), plus the MASC/CAGC Master Electrician card and the NASCLA Accredited Electrical exam; every waiver applicant must still pass the South Carolina Business Management & Law exam. Licensees from other states take the South Carolina (or NASCLA) technical exam.

South Carolina has no state journeyman HVAC license. The LLR Contractor's Licensing Board licenses mechanical contractors (entities qualified by an individual qualifying party) for air-conditioning, heating and refrigeration work over $10,000, and the Residential Builders Commission licenses Residential HVAC Installers and Repairers for residential work over $500; neither chapter of the contractor law creates a journeyman or technician credential, so an HVAC technician who is not a contractor works under one of those licensees with no state license. The journeyman-level credential that does exist is the trade certification card of the SC Mechanical Trades Certification Program, run since 1965 by the Municipal Association of South Carolina (the association of the state's cities) and, since January 1, 2026, by the Carolinas AGC Foundation; the program's own page says the card is not a license and must not be represented as one. No reciprocity or out-of-state acceptance is published for the journeyman card, so an arriving technician should expect to apply to CAGC ($35 application, PROV exam) if a local jurisdiction or employer requires a card. EPA Section 608 certification is federal and required of everyone handling refrigerants regardless of any South Carolina card.

South Carolina has no 'master HVAC' license. The highest person-held HVAC credential is the Contractor's Licensing Board's Qualifying Party certification in the Air Conditioning (AC), Heating (HT), Refrigeration (RG) or Packaged Equipment (PK, up to 25 tons and 500,000 BTU per unit) classification of the Mechanical Contractor license: the individual passes the South Carolina technical exam for each classification through PSI and the South Carolina Business Management & Law for Commercial Contractors exam, documents two years of experience within the past five (or a PHCC Academy of North Carolina heating and air-conditioning apprenticeship), and is certified as the qualifying party for a licensed entity (which may be a sole proprietorship); the certification stays with the person, who 'is not a licensed contractor' alone. The license itself is issued to the business, with a $350 licensure fee and a financial statement or surety bond sized by license group (Mechanical Group 2, jobs to $100,000: working capital $10,000 or net worth $15,000, or a $15,000 bond). A residential-only alternative is the Residential Builders Commission's Residential HVAC Installer and Repairer license ($135 application, $220 license), issued to the individual after one year of residential HVAC experience and the residential technical plus Business Management and Law exams. South Carolina has technical-exam waiver agreements, listed in the Board's Technical Exam Waiver Agreement List (revised May 2026), covering HVAC classifications for Alabama (Heating and Air Conditioning, Refrigeration), Georgia (Unrestricted Conditioned Air), Louisiana (Statewide Mechanical), North Carolina (Heating Groups 1, 2 and 3), Ohio (HVAC, packaged equipment only), Tennessee (CMC and CMC-C), Texas (Class A and Class B air conditioning and refrigeration) and Utah (HVAC, warm air heating, refrigerated air conditioning and refrigeration exams passed before May 2017), plus the MASC/CAGC HARV Master Mechanical card. Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina licenses obtained by exam and held for a year also waive the technical exam for the residential license. Every waiver applicant must still pass the South Carolina Business Management & Law exam. Licensees from other states take the South Carolina technical exam. EPA Section 608 certification is a separate federal requirement.

South Carolina has no state journeyman plumber license. The LLR Contractor's Licensing Board licenses mechanical contractors (entities qualified by an individual qualifying party) for mechanical contracting work over $10,000, including the Plumbing (PB) classification confirmed on the Board's Reciprocity/Waiver Agreements list, and the Residential Builders Commission licenses residential specialty contractors for residential work over $500; neither Chapter 11 nor Chapter 59 of Title 40 creates a journeyman or master plumber credential, so a plumber who is not a contractor works under one of those licensees with no state license. The journeyman-level credential that does exist is the trade certification card of the SC Mechanical Trades Certification Program, run since 1965 by the Municipal Association of South Carolina (the association of the state's cities) and, since January 1, 2026, by the Carolinas AGC Foundation; the program's own page says the card is not a license and must not be represented as one. Whether a card is needed depends on the city or county building department. No reciprocity or out-of-state acceptance is published for the journeyman card, so an arriving journeyman plumber should expect to apply to CAGC ($35 application, PROV exam) if a local jurisdiction or employer requires a card.

South Carolina has no license titled 'master plumber'. The highest person-held plumbing credential is the Contractor's Licensing Board's Qualifying Party certification in the Plumbing (PB) classification of the Mechanical Contractor license. The individual passes the South Carolina Plumber technical exam through PSI (or holds a CAGC/MASC Master Plumber certification earned by exam, or a listed out-of-state waiver exam) and the South Carolina Business Management & Law for Commercial Contractors exam, documents two years of full-time experience within the past five years in the classification (or a PHCC Academy of North Carolina plumbing apprenticeship certificate), and is certified as the qualifying party for a licensed entity (which may be a sole proprietorship). The certification stays with the person; Doc. 168 states the certified qualifying party 'is not a licensed contractor' and the entity holds the license. The license fee is $350, with a financial statement or surety bond sized by mechanical group (Group 2, jobs to $100,000: working capital $10,000 or net worth $15,000, or a $15,000 bond). Work over $10,000 requires this license under § 40-11-30. The Board's waiver list accepts North Carolina Plumbing Class 1, Ohio Plumbing and Tennessee CMC or CMC-A exams in place of the plumbing technical exam; other out-of-state licensees take both South Carolina exams.

South Carolina licenses residential builders statewide through the Residential Builders Commission, a separate body from the Contractor’s Licensing Board that handles commercial work. A residential builder is anyone who constructs or superintends the construction, repair or improvement of a residential building not over three floors high and with no more than sixteen units in any single apartment building, where the undertaking costs more than $5,000. Unlike the commercial license, this one is held by the person: the $15,000 surety bond must name the individual as principal and cannot be in a company name, and you may only put a company on your license if you own at least 51 percent of it, otherwise the company applies for its own residential business Certificate of Authorization. Entry needs one year of residential building experience within the past five years, a credit report, the bond and both parts of the PSI examination. The technical part can be waived three ways: a current South Carolina General Contractor license in the Building (BD) or Limited Building (LB) classification, a current examined license held a year or more in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi or North Carolina, or the NASCLA Commercial General Building Contractor exam passed within the past three years. A license issued on any of those waiver routes is a limited one that does not allow the holder to perform the mechanical trades.

Commercial and unlimited building work in South Carolina runs through the Contractor’s Licensing Board, which licenses General Contractors for any general contracting where the total cost of construction is more than $10,000. The license belongs to the business, not to the person: an individual, corporation, LLC or partnership holds it and must designate a Primary Qualifying Party for each classification, an individual in a management role who personally passes the examinations, so an inbound contractor applies as or for the entity that will sign contracts and pull permits. The Building classification covers commercial, industrial, institutional, modular and all other building construction including residential structures, and carries the Wood Frame Structures, Nonstructural Renovation, Masonry, Pre-engineered Metal Buildings, Roofing, Structural Framing and Miscellaneous Metals subclassifications. Every license also carries a group limit driven by money rather than skill: Group 1 bids and jobs up to $100,000 through to Group 5 with no cap, each set by working capital, net worth or a surety bond. The qualifying party for a Group 1, 2 or 3 license passes either the limited building contractor examination or the unlimited general contractor examination, while Groups 4 and 5 require the unlimited examination, and structures built under a limited building examination are restricted to three stories.

South Carolina licenses home inspectors statewide, and the regulator is the same board that licenses residential builders and residential specialty contractors: the Residential Builders Commission at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Article 5 of Title 40, Chapter 59 makes the license necessary before anyone transacts home inspection business or holds out as a home inspector, and it applies to residences of no more than three floors and sixteen units. The license is personal. The Commission will not issue one to a partnership, corporation, firm or group, although a licensed inspector may inspect for a company or contract through one, and a firm in which the licensee owns less than 51 percent needs its own certificate of authorization. There is one tier and no apprentice, associate or trainee grade beneath it, so an experienced inspector arriving from another state applies for the full license directly. Code enforcement officials, licensed architects, engineers, general contractors and residential builders, and CL100 wood infestation inspectors are exempt within their own scope, but the article's conduct rules still bind them when they inspect. South Carolina requires no insurance, no surety bond and no continuing education of a licensed home inspector, which sets it apart from the builder side of the same Commission.