Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from New Jersey's official board.
New Jersey's statewide license is the Master Plumber credential; journeyman/apprentice are worked-toward classifications, not standalone state licenses.
| Requirements | Master Plumber: at least 21 years old; ~5 years in the trade (four years in a US DOL registered apprenticeship plus one year as a journeyman), or an accredited engineering degree plus one year installing plumbing; pass the three-part master plumber exam (trade, business & law, practical, 70% each); $3,000 bond. |
| Reciprocity | A reciprocity route exists on paper but, on the Board's own published record, has been granted to no state. The State Board of Examiners of Master Plumbers states in its FAQ that the regulations allow individuals licensed in other states to apply through reciprocity, but that per N.J.S.A. 45:14C-19 the licensure standards of the other state must be equal to or comparable with New Jersey's and that state must reciprocate with New Jersey. The Board publishes the resulting determinations in 'Reciprocity with Other States' (as of 06/18/19), a state-by-state table with a 'reciprocity granted' column and a 'reciprocity denied' column: the granted column is blank for every state, while reciprocity was denied for Alabama (05/23/19), Colorado (06/23/16), Delaware (04/27/17 and 06/27/17), Florida (05/23/19), Georgia (01/24/14), Kentucky (01/24/14), Maryland (04/27/17 and 06/27/17), New York (09/22/16), Pennsylvania (01/16/17), South Dakota (01/24/14), Tennessee (01/24/14) and Virginia (04/27/17 and 06/27/17). The Board's current applications and forms page lists no separate reciprocity application, so out-of-state applicants in practice use the standard examination-eligibility route (a four-year Department of Labor approved apprenticeship plus 1,200 hours, or a bachelor's degree plus 1,200 hours after the degree), with a $100 application fee. Note that the determinations table appears to cover the Master Plumbers and HVACR boards jointly and does not cleanly separate the two. |
| Renewal | Biennial (every two years); renewal attestation of continuing education for the prior biennial period. |
| Notes | New Jersey's statewide license is the Master Plumber credential; journeyman/apprentice are worked-toward classifications, not standalone state licenses. |
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Sources: www.njconsumeraffairs.gov, www.njconsumeraffairs.gov, www.njconsumeraffairs.gov, www.njconsumeraffairs.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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