Guides · The ladder
“My state doesn't license plumbers” is the most misunderstood sentence in the trade. In these seven states the state doesn't. Somebody else does — and their rules are not softer for being local.
New York — no state license; New York City's Department of Buildings runs a master/journeyman system with a year-in-NYC requirement that blocks clean transfers, and other cities license locally. Pennsylvania — the state registers home-improvement contractors; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh license plumbers. Ohio — the state licenses specialty contractors (OCILB); journeyman credentials are local. Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska — city/county systems (Kansas City, St. Louis, Omaha, Lincoln and others). Wyoming — local licensing.
There is no license to endorse into — and no state license to endorse from. Your experience record becomes the whole application at the local board, which is why documentation matters even more here. Local boards often credit verified out-of-state experience; they are never required to.
A plumber from a ladder state working in New York City without the local credential is unlicensed where it counts. The reverse also confuses: a New Yorker with a decade of NYC-registered work holds real, verifiable experience that ladder states weigh on the exam route.
Each state's local map is on its state page.
