Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Arizona's official board.
Because Arizona licenses businesses rather than people, a plumber moving here from a journeyman-card state finds there is nothing personal to transfer. The four years of documented experience is what carries across, and two of those years must be recent.
| Requirements | ARIZONA LICENSES THE CONTRACTING BUSINESS THROUGH A QUALIFYING PARTY, NOT THE INDIVIDUAL TRADESPERSON. There is no state journeyman card in Arizona: a license is held by a business, and a named QUALIFYING PARTY supplies the experience and sits the examination on its behalf. A worker is not licensed by the state; the company they work for is. EXPERIENCE (A.R.S. 32-1122). The qualifying party must have a MINIMUM OF FOUR YEARS of practical or management trade experience in the relevant kind of work, AT LEAST TWO OF WHICH must fall within the last ten years, so old experience alone does not qualify. Up to two years of accredited technical training may substitute, but substitution may never exceed half the requirement. Prior service as a qualifying party in Arizona in the same classification waives the documentation. The registrar may reduce the four years where custom and usage in a particular craft show the requirement to be excessive. AGE. A license may not be issued to a minor, to a partnership with a minor partner, or to a corporation with a minor as a corporate officer. EXAMINATION. A written examination covering the kind of work contracted for, plus general knowledge of the state's building, safety, health and lien laws, the administrative principles of the contracting business and the registrar's rules. It must have been taken NOT MORE THAN TWO YEARS before the application. The registrar may waive it where the qualifying party held the same classification within the last five years. BOND. A contractor's bond must be filed in the amount set for the classification and the anticipated annual gross volume, and maintained. A RESIDENTIAL contractor must additionally pay an assessment into the Registrar's Residential Recovery Fund, or post a surety or cash bond of $200,000. CLASSIFICATION. Plumbing is licensed under the 37 classifications, C-37 commercial, CR-37 residential and the dual L-37, and the classification decides which market the contractor may take work in. |
| Reciprocity | There is no published plumbing reciprocity list. The only examination relief in A.R.S. 32-1122 is for a qualifying party who held the SAME Arizona classification within the previous five years. Confirm current policy with the ROC before assuming an out-of-state license helps. |
| Renewal | ROC license fees are quoted for a two-year license, so renewal is on a two-year cycle against the published fee schedule and renewal checklist. The contractor's bond, and the Residential Recovery Fund assessment for residential work, must be maintained throughout. |
| Notes | Because Arizona licenses businesses rather than people, a plumber moving here from a journeyman-card state finds there is nothing personal to transfer. The four years of documented experience is what carries across, and two of those years must be recent. |
A free report on your market: what the trade pays, how that compares with nearby counties, and where your credential sits against the local licensed workforce. No account needed.
Sources: roc.az.gov, roc.az.gov, roc.az.gov, roc.az.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
This page is a free snapshot of Arizona. Track the same market every night and see which contractors just got licensed, added a trade, or dropped off, and pull the full record, with contact details where available, on any of them. Get the weekly intelligence email on the markets you follow. ATI is in private beta; apply for access.