Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Georgia's official board.
Two things decide whether a Georgia well driller stays licensed. The first is the WELL LOG: file every completion report on time, because reporting failures are the most common cause of enforcement in this trade. The second is scope, check whether pump installation and well decommissioning need separate credentials in Georgia, because a driller who pulls and sets pumps, or plugs an abandoned well, may be performing a licensed activity their drilling licence does not cover.
| Requirements | WATER WELL DRILLING IS LICENSED IN ESSENTIALLY EVERY STATE, and Georgia is no exception, but the licence is issued by an environmental or water agency rather than a construction board. In Georgia the licensing body is the state's water, natural resources or environmental agency. This page names the agency type rather than a specific programme title because these programmes are frequently reorganised; confirm the current agency and application route before applying, the National Ground Water Association maintains a current list of state licensing agencies. WHY THE AGENCY IS NOT A CONSTRUCTION BOARD. Well drilling is regulated as GROUNDWATER PROTECTION rather than as a building trade, so the licensing body is almost always the state's water, natural resources or environmental agency, a Division of Water Rights, a Department of Environmental Quality, a Department of Natural Resources or a Department of Ecology. Looking for a contractors' board here is the commonest wrong turn. WHAT IS TYPICALLY LICENSED. Most states license the DRILLER and the PUMP INSTALLER as separate credentials, with a combination licence for those doing both. Many also license, and this surprises people, DECOMMISSIONING or ABANDONMENT of wells as its own regulated activity, and Utah's statute expressly covers cleaning, deepening, renovation and repair as well. WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS USUALLY LOOK LIKE. A minimum age, documented drilling experience or a period working under a licensed driller, references from licensed drillers or contractors, a written competency examination on well construction standards and groundwater protection, a fee, and in many states a bond. THE OTHER HALF OF THE JOB IS THE WELL LOG. The agency that licenses the driller is normally the agency that receives the WELL LOG or completion report, and filing it is a legal duty with its own deadline. Failure to file is one of the most common enforcement actions against drillers, and it is easier to lose a licence that way than through a construction fault. THE NATIONAL GROUNDWATER ASSOCIATION maintains a list of state agencies handling private water well driller licensing and registration, and offers voluntary certification that several states recognise. |
| Reciprocity | Reciprocity between state well driller programmes is uncommon, because each state's examination is built on its own well construction standards, aquifer conditions and reporting rules, the technical content is genuinely state-specific in a way that electrical or plumbing code is not. A driller moving between states should expect to sit the new state's examination. Voluntary NGWA certification is recognised by some states as evidence of competence and is the nearest thing to a portable credential in this trade. |
| Renewal | Licences renew on the agency's published cycle, commonly annually, and most states now require continuing education in well construction and groundwater protection. Where a bond is required it must be maintained continuously, a lapsed bond is a lapsed licence. |
| Notes | Two things decide whether a Georgia well driller stays licensed. The first is the WELL LOG: file every completion report on time, because reporting failures are the most common cause of enforcement in this trade. The second is scope, check whether pump installation and well decommissioning need separate credentials in Georgia, because a driller who pulls and sets pumps, or plugs an abandoned well, may be performing a licensed activity their drilling licence does not cover. |
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Sources: www.ngwa.org, www.ngwa.org, www.epa.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
GA's register has not been re-collected in 31 days, so this page will not change tonight and the figure above stands as of August 17, 2026. Every other market ATI tracks refreshes nightly: track one and see which contractors just got licensed, added a trade, or dropped off, and pull the full record on any of them. Free trial, cancel anytime.