State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master
Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) — Board for Contractors, Tradesmen runs plumbing licensing in Virginia. Below: the exact ladder, the transfer doors into Virginia from all 50 states, the renewal and lapse lines, and the master-of-record rule for opening a company — every figure from the board's own publications, checked October 22, 2026.
State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master Primary sources Checked October 22, 2026
| The ladder | Virginia |
|---|---|
| Journeyman credential | Journeyman Plumber (Tradesman) |
| Total hours required | 8,000 |
| Classroom hours | 240 |
| Apprentice registration | Not required by the state |
| Exam | PSI · $100 — Journeyman exam fee $100 paid to PSI (18VAC50-30-100 caps the journeyman exam at $100; PSI candidate bulletin lists Journeyman Plumber $100). Board approval of experience/education is required before sitting. |
| License fee | $150 |
| Renewal | Every 2 years (expires 2 years from the last day of the month of issuance) |
| Continuing education | 3 hours of continuing education per trade designation per renewal cycle, from a Board-approved provider (18VAC50-30-120) |
| Master credential | Master Plumber (Tradesman) |
Registration, in the board’s terms: Virginia has no state apprentice registration for plumbers. DPOR expresses the standard route in years — 4 years of practical experience plus 240 hours of formal vocational training — rather than in hours; 8,000 hours is the 4-year equivalent. Experience beyond 4 years may substitute for formal training at 1 year per 80 hours, up to 200 hours.
Master Plumber (Tradesman): One year of practical experience as a licensed journeyman in the trade — OR 9 years of practical experience in the trade verified by individuals who observed the applicant's work (3 years as a Virginia licensed residential plumber tradesman is an additional route on the current application) — OR current journeyman/master licensure by a governing body outside Virginia. Pass the master exam.
Master exam fee $125 to PSI (statutory/regulatory cap in 18VAC50-30-100). The tradesman license alone does not authorize contracting: work over $1,000 also requires a Board for Contractors contractor license.
Master exam fee: $125
Virginia tradesman licenses expire every 2 years. If DPOR does not receive the renewal application/fees within 30 days of expiration the license must be reinstated, and reinstatement is only possible within one year of expiration (18VAC50-30-130).
Reinstatement: Within 1 year of expiration: apply for reinstatement, meet the entry requirements of 18VAC50-30-30 (including the 3-hour CE for renewal/reinstatement) and pay the renewal fee plus the reinstatement fee under 18VAC50-30-130.
Past the line: More than 1 year after expiration: no reinstatement is permitted. The applicant must apply for a new tradesman license and meet the then-current entry requirements, including examination.
Virginia endorses journeyman licenses from: none. DPOR's Tradesman Exam & License Application offers 'Reciprocity' as a method of licensure ($150 fee, same as examination) and accepts a current out-of-state journeyman or master license/certification, with a Certification/Letter of Good Standing, as a qualifying route — but DPOR publishes no list of named reciprocal states on the application, so accepts is an empty list rather than a guessed list.
| Licensed in | Door into Virginia | |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Alaska | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Arizona | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Arkansas | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| California | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Colorado | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Connecticut | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Delaware | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| District of Columbia | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Florida | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Georgia | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Hawaii | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Idaho | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Illinois | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Indiana | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Iowa | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Kansas | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Kentucky | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Louisiana | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Maine | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Maryland | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Massachusetts | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Michigan | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Minnesota | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Mississippi | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Missouri | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Montana | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Nebraska | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Nevada | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New Hampshire | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New Jersey | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New Mexico | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New York | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| North Carolina | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| North Dakota | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Ohio | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Oklahoma | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Oregon | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Pennsylvania | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Rhode Island | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| South Carolina | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| South Dakota | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Tennessee | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Texas | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Utah | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Vermont | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Washington | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| West Virginia | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Wisconsin | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Wyoming | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
Included in the $49 PlumberLicenseCheck Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. The checkers above stay free either way.
The seat: Qualified Individual — Board for Contractors contractor license (Class A/B/C). A tradesman license qualifies the individual, not the business. Performing work over $1,000 requires a separate Virginia contractor license from the Board for Contractors (Class C, B or A depending on contract value), and the business must have a Qualified Individual who holds the master tradesman license for the work it contracts.
Some Virginia localities historically issued their own tradesman cards; DPOR offers a 'card exchange' (locality card for a state tradesman license, $110 fee on the current application) and an Apprenticeship Program Exchange method — one reason older sources still describe local Virginia journeyman cards.
Run the owner gate for your situation →
Rules as published by Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) — Board for Contractors, Tradesmen and the statutes it administers, checked October 22, 2026. Board: https://www.dpor.virginia.gov/Boards/Tradesmen/
