Virginia trade license reciprocity

Virginia issues a statewide Journeyman Electrical tradesman license to individuals (never to companies) through the Board for Contractors' Tradesmen Program at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). A first-time applicant qualifies for the PSI journeyman exam ($100) with a combination of practical experience and vocational training (4 years plus 240 hours down to 7 years plus 40 hours), a related degree plus experience, 8 years of verified experience, or completion of a registered apprenticeship, which exempts the applicant from the exam. The application fee on the 2026 form is $171.75, which includes the $7.25-per-year technology fee added by 2026 House Bill 30 on top of the $150 fee in 18VAC50-30-90. A journeyman or master license from another state qualifies its holder to sit the Virginia exam without documenting hours, and a licensee who has held that out-of-state license for at least one year may instead apply through Universal License Recognition, which issues the license without the Virginia trade exam. The Board also has signed journeyman-level examination reciprocity agreements with the District of Columbia, Kentucky and West Virginia. Anyone who contracts for work over $1,000 needs a separate Virginia contractor business license.

Virginia issues a statewide Master Electrical tradesman license to individuals through the Board for Contractors' Tradesmen Program at DPOR. Under 18VAC50-30-39 a first-time applicant qualifies for the PSI master exam ($125) with one year of practical experience as a licensed journeyman, three years as a Virginia residential tradesman, or nine years of verified practical experience in the trade; the application fee on the 2026 form is $171.75 including the technology fee. A current journeyman or master license from another state is itself an accepted qualification to sit the master exam, and a master licensed elsewhere for at least one year may apply through Universal License Recognition and receive the license without the Virginia trade exam. The Board has master-level examination reciprocity agreements with Alabama, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. The master tradesman license is a personal qualification; contracting for work over $1,000 requires a separate Class A, B or C contractor business license from the same Board, and the North Carolina and Ohio agreements also cover that business license's exams.

Virginia issues a statewide Journeyman HVAC tradesman license to individuals (never to companies) through the Board for Contractors' Tradesmen Program at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). A first-time applicant qualifies for the PSI journeyman exam ($100) with a combination of practical experience and vocational training (four years plus 240 hours down to seven years plus 40 hours), a related degree plus experience, eight years of verified experience, or completion of a registered apprenticeship, which exempts the applicant from the exam; the application fee on the 2026 form is $171.75, which includes the $7.25-per-year technology fee added on top of the $150 fee in 18VAC50-30-90. A journeyman or master HVAC license from any other state is itself an accepted qualification to sit the Virginia exam without documenting hours, and a licensee who has held that out-of-state license for at least one year may instead apply through Universal License Recognition (ULR) and receive the license without the Virginia trade exam. The Board's only HVAC-specific agreement is an examination reciprocity agreement with the Maryland HVACR Board covering journeyman and master licenses. HVAC licensees complete three hours of International Mechanical Code continuing education each three-year license term, and anyone contracting for work over $1,000 also needs a Class A, B or C contractor license. EPA Section 608 certification is required federally to handle refrigerants; DPOR does not list it as a licensing prerequisite.

Virginia issues a statewide Master HVAC tradesman license to individuals through the Board for Contractors' Tradesmen Program at DPOR. Under 18VAC50-30-39 a first-time applicant qualifies for the PSI master exam ($125) with one year of practical experience as a licensed journeyman, three years as a Virginia residential HVAC tradesman, or nine years of verified practical experience in the trade; the application fee on the 2026 form is $171.75 including the technology fee. A current journeyman or master HVAC license from another state is itself an accepted qualification to sit the master exam, and a licensee who has held an out-of-state license for at least one year may apply through Universal License Recognition and receive the master license without the Virginia trade exam. The Board's only HVAC reciprocity agreement is an examination reciprocity agreement with the Maryland HVACR Board covering journeyman and master licenses; the electrical agreements with Alabama, DC, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia do not extend to HVAC. The master tradesman license is a personal qualification; contracting for work over $1,000 requires a separate Class A, B or C contractor business license from the same Board. EPA Section 608 certification is required federally to handle refrigerants.

Virginia issues a statewide Journeyman Plumbing tradesman license to individuals (never to companies) through the Board for Contractors' Tradesmen Program at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). A first-time applicant qualifies for the PSI journeyman plumbing exam under 18VAC50-30-39(B) with a combination of practical experience and vocational training (four years plus 240 hours down to seven years plus 40 hours), a related degree plus experience, or eight years of verified experience; a registered Virginia apprenticeship can exempt the exam. The application fee on the 2026 Tradesman Exam & License Application is $171.75, which includes the $7.25-per-year technology fee on top of the $150 fee in 18VAC50-30-90; the PSI journeyman exam fee published on the Tradesmen page is $100. A journeyman or master plumber license from another governing body outside Virginia is itself an accepted qualification to sit the Virginia exam without documenting hours, and a licensee who has held that out-of-state license for at least one year may instead apply through Universal License Recognition (ULR) and receive the license without the Virginia trade exam. DPOR's reciprocal-agreements list does not name any origin state for plumbing (the only plumbing-related partner is WSSC, a Maryland bi-county commission, not a state). Licenses expire three years from the last day of the month of issuance; renewal is $160 plus three hours of board-approved plumbing building-code continuing education. Anyone contracting for work over $1,000 also needs a Class A, B or C contractor license. A separate Residential Plumbing license (April 1, 2025) is a lower residential-only rung and is not this journeyman credential.

Virginia issues a statewide Master Plumbing tradesman license to individuals through the Board for Contractors' Tradesmen Program at DPOR. Under 18VAC50-30-39(D) a first-time applicant qualifies for the PSI master exam with one year as a licensed journeyman in the trade, three years holding a valid Virginia residential plumber tradesman license, or nine years of verified practical experience; the application fee on the 2026 form is $171.75 including the technology fee, and the PSI master exam fee published on the Tradesmen page is $125 (regulatory cap $225). A current journeyman or master plumber license from another governing body outside Virginia is itself an accepted qualification to sit the master exam, and a licensee who has held an out-of-state license for at least one year may apply through Universal License Recognition and receive the master license without the Virginia trade exam. DPOR does not publish a plumbing reciprocity agreement with any origin state; the only plumbing-related partner on the Board list is WSSC. The master tradesman license is a personal qualification; contracting for work over $1,000 requires a separate Class A, B or C contractor business license. Licenses expire three years from the last day of the month of issuance; renewal is $160 plus three hours of board-approved plumbing code continuing education per designation.

Virginia licenses contractors through the Board for Contractors at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, and the license is issued to a business entity rather than to a person. Every license carries two separate things: a class (A, B or C) that sets the dollar limit on the work, and one or more classifications or specialty designations that set the type of work. Class C covers a single contract or project over $1,000 but under $30,000 and under $250,000 of work in any 12 months; Class B covers $30,000 to under $150,000 per project and $250,000 to under $1 million a year, and requires $15,000 of documented net worth or equity; Class A has no monetary ceiling and requires $45,000 of net worth or equity. A $50,000 surety bond on the Board's form may be filed instead of the financial statement, and Class C has no financial requirement at all. Homes-only work is the Residential Building (RBC) classification, which covers dwellings and townhouses and their accessory structures and folds in concrete, home improvement, masonry, painting, roofing, landscape and swimming pool work on those properties, but never electrical, plumbing, HVAC or gas fitting and never commercial buildings; smaller repair and remodeling firms may instead take the Home Improvement (HIC) specialty. The firm names a qualified individual for each designation, who must have one year (Class C), three years (Class B) or five years (Class A) of experience in that work and must pass the Board's RBC technical examination, and Class A and Class B firms also name a designated employee who passes the PSI business examination. All classes need eight hours of Board-approved pre-license education, and licenses run two years from the last day of the month of issuance.

Unlimited and commercial building work in Virginia is a Class A license with the Commercial Building (CBC) classification, issued by the Board for Contractors at DPOR to a business entity rather than to a person. The class letter is purely about money: Class A carries no monetary ceiling and requires $45,000 of documented net worth or equity, Class B is capped at $150,000 per project and $1 million a year and requires $15,000, and Class C is capped at $30,000 per project and $250,000 a year with no financial requirement; a $50,000 surety bond on the Board's form may replace the financial statement for Class A or Class B. The CBC classification covers construction, remodeling, repair, improvement, removal and demolition of commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental and accessory-use buildings, including multi-family housing, and absorbs the commercial improvement, concrete, masonry, roofing, painting, billboard, marine facility, recreational facility and industrialized building specialties for that work; it does not cover electrical, plumbing, HVAC or gas fitting, which are separate classifications, and it does not cover dwellings and townhouses, which are the RBC classification. Heavy civil work is its own Highway/Heavy (H/H) classification. The firm names a qualified individual with five years of commercial building experience for Class A (three for Class B, one for Class C) who passes the CBC technical examination or holds the NASCLA Accredited Examination, and a designated employee who passes the Advanced, General and Virginia portions of the PSI business examination. Eight hours of Board-approved pre-license education are required for every class, and the license runs two years from the last day of the month of issuance.

Virginia licenses home inspectors statewide. The Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors sits inside the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, and under 18VAC15-40-20 it is unlawful to perform a home inspection without its license, although someone inspecting only a single component or system of a residential building is not performing a home inspection and needs no license. There is one license grade and no trainee, associate or apprentice tier, so an experienced inspector arriving from another state applies for the same Licensed Home Inspector credential as everyone else. What Virginia adds instead of a junior tier is a specialty on top: the New Residential Structures (NRS) specialty, without which a licensee may not inspect a new residential structure or carry out any course-of-construction inspection. A new residential structure is one where record title has not yet passed to a purchaser and the purchaser has not taken possession, so the NRS specialty is what covers pre-closing and builder-warranty work on new homes; it is applied for on its own form, costs its own $80 fee, and rests on a board-approved training module of at least eight contact hours on the Virginia Residential Code taken within the previous two years. Every licensee must hold general liability insurance of at least $250,000 per occurrence, and the license runs for two years from the last day of the month in which it was issued.