Contractor-license state (no state journeyman license)
Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board (Department of Business and Professional Regulation) runs plumbing licensing in Florida. Below: the exact ladder, the transfer doors into Florida 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.
Contractor-license state (no state journeyman license) Checked in part Checked October 22, 2026
Checked in part. The certified/registered structure, the four-year experience rule, fingerprinting, and financial/credit review were confirmed on DBPR (myfloridalicense.com) application checklists and in Fla. Stat. 489.111/489.115 on 2026-10-22. The state examination fee, the initial license fee amount, and the delinquent-to-null-and-void lapse timeline were NOT confirmed on a primary DBPR page in this pass, so those fields are null.
| The ladder | Florida |
|---|---|
| Journeyman credential | No state journeyman license |
| Total hours required | not published |
| Classroom hours | not published |
| Apprentice registration | No state registration system |
| Exam | Florida DBPR state certification examination (Business & Finance and Trade Knowledge parts) — Certified applicants must pass the state certification examination, submit fingerprints through an FDLE-registered Livescan provider for a background check, and prove financial stability and responsibility with a credit report including a FICO-derived score (DBPR CILB application checklists). Exam and initial license fee amounts were not confirmed on a primary page in this pass. |
| License fee | Not published |
| Renewal | Every 2 years — certified licenses expire August 31 of even-numbered years; registered licenses expire August 31 of odd-numbered years |
| Continuing education | 14 hours per 2-year renewal cycle, including at least 1 hour each in workplace safety, workers' compensation, business practices, laws and rules, and an advanced Florida Building Code module |
| Master credential | Certified Plumbing Contractor — Qualifying Agent for a business |
Registration, in the board’s terms: Florida issues no state journeyman or master plumber license and has no state apprentice registration for plumbers. Worker experience is accumulated as an employee of a licensed plumbing contractor; some counties/cities historically issued local journeyman certificates and local certificates of competency, which feed the registered-contractor route (see localNote).
Certified Plumbing Contractor — Qualifying Agent for a business: Meets the Fla. Stat. 489.111 examination-eligibility criteria (18 or older, good moral character, and the four-year experience/education combinations), passes the state certification examination, and satisfies fingerprinting and financial-responsibility review (DBPR).
Businesses do not hold the trade credential themselves: a construction business must be qualified by a certified (or registered) contractor — its qualifying agent — who is legally responsible for the business's plumbing work. A qualifier seeking to qualify additional businesses faces added Board review, including a Board appearance if the approval would result in qualifying three or more businesses (DBPR CILB checklist).
Certificates and registrations renew every two years (Fla. Stat. 489.115(4)). A license not renewed by the August 31 deadline becomes delinquent; the point at which a delinquent license becomes null and void and requires a new application was not confirmed on a primary DBPR page in this pass.
Reinstatement: Delinquent renewal is available under Fla. Stat. 489.115, but the exact window was not confirmed on a primary source as of 2026-10-22 — see partialNote.
Past the line: Not confirmed on a primary source as of 2026-10-22.
Florida endorses journeyman licenses from: none. Fla. Stat. 489.115(3): the Board shall certify by endorsement an applicant who meets Florida's certification requirements and has passed a substantially equivalent national, regional, state, or territorial examination and satisfied s. 489.111, or who holds a license from a state with substantially equivalent criteria or a reciprocal agreement with the Board. No named plumbing reciprocity states are listed in the statute, so accepts is empty; the route is endorsement, not automatic reciprocity.
| Licensed in | Door into Florida | |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Alaska | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Arizona | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Arkansas | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| California | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Colorado | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Connecticut | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Delaware | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| District of Columbia | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Georgia | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Hawaii | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Idaho | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Illinois | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Indiana | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Iowa | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Kansas | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Kentucky | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Louisiana | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Maine | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Maryland | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Massachusetts | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Michigan | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Minnesota | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Mississippi | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Missouri | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Montana | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Nebraska | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Nevada | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| New Hampshire | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| New Jersey | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| New Mexico | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| New York | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| North Carolina | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| North Dakota | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Ohio | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Oklahoma | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Oregon | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Pennsylvania | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Rhode Island | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| South Carolina | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| South Dakota | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Tennessee | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Texas | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Utah | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Vermont | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Virginia | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Washington | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| West Virginia | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Wisconsin | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
| Wyoming | No endorsement — experience credit toward the contractor route | Run the pair → |
Included in the $49 PlumberLicenseCheck Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. The checkers above stay free either way.
The seat: Qualifying Agent. A plumbing business must be qualified by a certified or registered plumbing contractor (its qualifying agent) who supervises and is responsible for its work; the applicant and the business undergo financial/credit review, and the business must maintain required liability and workers' compensation coverage or a valid exemption. A non-plumber may own the business if a licensed qualifying agent qualifies it.
Two layers by design: certified contractors (state exam) work statewide, while registered contractors rest on a local certificate of competency and may work only in that local jurisdiction. Local journeyman certificates exist in some jurisdictions as experience credentials, but there is no state journeyman license.
Run the owner gate for your situation →
Rules as published by Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board (Department of Business and Professional Regulation) and the statutes it administers, checked October 22, 2026. Board: https://www.myfloridalicense.com/CheckListDetail.asp?SID&xactCode=1045&clientCode=0613&XACT_DEFN_ID=18400
