Washington trade license reciprocity

Washington issues a statewide General Journey Level Electrician (01) certificate of competency through the Department of Labor & Industries. An out-of-state electrician can qualify to sit the Washington journey level exam with an out-of-state journey level certificate obtained by examination in a jurisdiction requiring at least 8,000 supervised hours, or with 16,000 hours of documented out-of-state experience; the exam is open book and requires a 70 percent score. Washington's only electrician reciprocity agreement is with Oregon: holders of an Oregon General Journeyman (J) or General Supervising (S) license obtained by Oregon examination can receive the 01 certificate without taking the Washington exam. Certificates renew every three years on the holder's birthdate and require 24 hours of continuing education.

Washington issues a statewide Master Electrician (01) certificate through the Department of Labor & Industries. To sit the master exam an applicant must have held a valid journey level electrician certificate for four years, and L&I applies this as four years certified as a general journey level electrician with L&I; WAC 296-46B-945 states that no out-of-state credit may be applied toward qualifying for the master exam. Master certificates cannot be obtained through reciprocity, and Washington has no master-level agreement with any state. An out-of-state master electrician therefore first obtains the Washington journey level (01) certificate, holds it for four years, and then takes the master exam. Certificates renew every three years with 24 hours of continuing education.

Washington does not license HVAC technicians or journeymen as such; there is no state HVAC, mechanical or refrigeration trade license, so an out-of-state HVAC journeyman license has nothing to transfer to and is not needed to work for a registered contractor. What Washington does require is an electrical certificate for the electrical side of HVAC work: the Department of Labor & Industries issues the HVAC/Refrigeration (06A) specialty electrician certificate for wiring and line-voltage components within HVAC and refrigeration equipment, and the narrower HVAC/Refrigeration restricted (06B) certificate for low-voltage and small circuits. The 06A requires 4,000 hours of supervised experience as an electrical trainee plus 48 hours of classroom instruction and a PSI exam; the 06B requires 2,000 hours and 24 hours of classes. L&I has an electrical reciprocity agreement only with Oregon and only for the general journey level (01) certificate, so out-of-state HVAC technicians document their hours on L&I's out-of-state experience application and take the specialty exam. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is required to handle refrigerants; gas piping and boiler work fall under separate plumbing and boiler programs.

Washington has no master HVAC or mechanical contractor license and no HVAC trade or business exam. A business that installs or services heating, ventilation, air conditioning or refrigeration systems must register with the Department of Labor & Industries as a general contractor or as an HVAC specialty contractor, which requires a Department of Revenue business registration, a continuous surety bond of $30,000 (general) or $15,000 (specialty) or an equivalent assignment of savings, a general liability insurance policy and a $150.20 application fee; unlike plumbing, electrical, elevator, boiler and asbestos work, HVAC carries no additional education, examination or licensing requirement. Electrical work on the equipment must be done by 06A or 06B HVAC/Refrigeration specialty electricians, or by a licensed electrical contractor, and refrigerant handling requires federal EPA Section 608 certification. Registration does not evaluate or credit an out-of-state master HVAC license, and L&I publishes no HVAC reciprocity; a master HVAC licensee who only wants to work for an employer needs no Washington license, while one who wants to contract independently simply registers.