Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from West Virginia's official board.
Statewide plumber certification effective January 1, 2009 under W.Va. Code 21-14.
| Requirements | West Virginia defines its plumbing licenses by EXAMINATION, not by an hour count. W. Va. Code section 21-14-2 defines a journeyman plumber as a person qualified by passage of a journeyman plumber written examination with a score of at least 70 percent who is competent to instruct and supervise the work of a plumber in training; a master plumber as a person who has passed a master plumber written examination with a score of at least 70 percent and who is competent to design plumbing systems; and a plumber in training as a person who has not passed the journeyman plumber examination. The master plumber examination may not be taken until one year after the journeyman plumber examination is passed. The Division of Labor's own page adds that all master and journeyman applicants are required to certify experience and take a written examination, and describes a plumber in training as a person with an interest in and aptitude for plumbing work who alone is not capable of performing it. NO HOUR THRESHOLD IS PUBLISHED. Neither W. Va. Code chapter 21 article 14, nor legislative rule 42 CSR 32 (Supervision of Plumbing Work, active version effective 5/1/2023), nor the Division of Labor's plumber certification pages, FAQ, fee page, forms page or license application state a minimum number of hours or years for the journeyman or master plumber license. ORDER OF OPERATIONS. West Virginia tests first and licenses second: the Plumber License Application/Affidavit requires a master or journeyman applicant to submit the examination score report with the application, giving the examination date and score. The application is signed under penalty of perjury and sworn before a notary public. Fees are paid by check, certified check, cashier's check or money order payable to the West Virginia Division of Labor - no cash: Master $75.00, Journeyman $75.00, Plumber in Training $25.00. The plumber in training classification requires no examination and works only under the direct supervision of a licensed master or journeyman, which the rule defines as instruction, direction, oversight and control of the work at each separate job site or location. Certain plumbing work is exempt from licensure under W. Va. Code section 21-14-3(c). EXAMINATION ADMINISTRATION. The examinations are delivered by Prov, Inc. (866-720-7768, provexam.com). Prov's West Virginia Division of Labor Candidate Information Bulletin is the document that carries the question counts, time limits, fees and reference books; BLOCKED SOURCE - the bulletin at provexam.com returned HTTP 403 Forbidden to an automated fetch on 2026-09-07, and no copy of it is hosted on labor.wv.gov, so the per-examination question count, time limit and examination fee are not recorded here. |
| Reciprocity | Yes, through two separate boards with different answers. For the individual Master Plumber, Journeyman Plumber and Plumber-in-Training license issued by the Division of Labor, two mechanisms exist, neither of which appears on the Division's own consumer-facing pages, those pages are silent on reciprocity, and the mechanism lives only in the statute and rule. Legislative rule 42 CSR 32-14 ('Reciprocity; Work Experience'), effective 5/1/2023, made under W. Va. Code § 21-14-4(3), provides that the Commissioner may in his or her discretion grant a West Virginia license of the same classification without examination to a plumber licensed or authorised by another state whose requirements are equivalent to West Virginia's; the applicant must meet § 21-17-3(a) and pay the standard $75 license fee. A parallel clause at § 42-32-14.2 covers an applicant whose experience comes from a state that does not license plumbers at all, requiring two or more years of experience under § 21-17-4 plus any required national examination. No states are named in either clause. Separately, W. Va. Code ch. 21 art. 17, the Review and Credential Acknowledgement Procedures Act, is mandatory rather than discretionary: a license shall be issued to an applicant who holds a similar-scope license from another state held at least one year in good standing having met that state's education and examination requirements, establishes West Virginia residency, clears a criminal background check, has never had a license revoked or surrendered for misconduct, has no pending disciplinary matters elsewhere, and pays the fees and bonding. For the separate business Plumbing classification on the general West Virginia contractor license, the Contractor Licensing Board's published reciprocity list names Ohio (effective 4/27/2018) and Tennessee (effective 12/17/2020), both including the Business and Law examination; the applicant must hold a current Ohio or Tennessee plumbing contractor license obtained by examination, and the Board's notes specify that workers must still be properly licensed by the West Virginia Division of Labor. |
| Renewal | Renewal date printed on the certification card; renewal notices sent ~45 days before due. Fees: Master $75, Journeyman $75, Plumber-in-Training $25. No continuing education requirement stated. |
| Notes | Statewide plumber certification effective January 1, 2009 under W.Va. Code 21-14. |
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Sources: labor.wv.gov, labor.wv.gov, labor.wv.gov, labor.wv.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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