Plumbing license reciprocity by state · Pair verdict

Transfer a plumbing license from North Dakota to California

Your North Dakota license, California's rules. This page computes the pair the boards leave you to guess at — the full checker adds your license status and level.

A different door

No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route

California has no reciprocal contractor license. Out-of-state journey-level experience may be documented and verified toward the four-year requirement on the Certification of Work Experience form (CSLB), but the qualifier must still qualify and examine in California, subject to any exam-waiver provisions for persons already qualifying a California license.

California's journeyman gate, for the exam route: not published hours. One rule outranks the pair: a lapsed North Dakota license endorses nowhere — reinstate at home first.

Rules as published by Contractors State License Board (CSLB), checked October 22, 2026. Confirm with the board before you apply.

Run this pair with your license status

The two states, side by side

North Dakota (where you are licensed)

State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master

Journeyman gate: 7,600 hours · Exam $50

North Dakota ladder page →

California (where you want to work)

Contractor-license state (no state journeyman license)

Journeyman gate: not published hours · Fees not published

California ladder page →

The Kit's transfer packet was built for this move

Included in the $49 PlumberLicenseCheck Kit

  • Verification letters to your home board, in the form destination boards request
  • The filing-order checklist for the endorsement or exam-route application
  • An hour-and-experience documentation pack that survives a board audit

See what's inside the Kit

One payment. Yours to keep. The checkers above stay free either way.