Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Maryland's official board.
Maryland licenses well drillers through the State Board of Well Drillers at the Maryland Department of the Environment, which examines and licenses the individuals who drill water supply and geotechnical wells or install water pumps and water conditioning equipment.
| Requirements | The Board sets standards and administers qualifying examinations to license individuals who drill water supply and geotechnical wells or install water pumps or water conditioning equipment. The practice of well drilling covers making, altering, repairing or sealing a well for profit, and installing, altering, repairing or disconnecting well system equipment including pumps, tanks and water treatment units. To apply, a person completes the Application for Initial License with the non-refundable application fee, includes a detailed account of actual years of experience installing wells or well system equipment along with the names and phone numbers of previous employers in the groundwater industry, and after Board approval passes the appropriate examination. A person who satisfies the experience requirements for the class and category of license sought, passes the Board examination and files the required insurance and bonding documents will receive a license. Well driller licenses are issued in the categories General, Geotechnical and Water Supply. MDE publishes an examination application fee of $75, an initial license fee of $50 to $150 depending on the class and category, and a renewal fee of $100 to $200 every two years depending on class and category. The Board's authority is Environment Article Title 13 and COMAR 26.05.01 through 26.05.04. Separate MDE permits may be required before a licensee constructs or modifies a well, including a well construction permit and a water appropriation and use permit or exemption. |
| Reciprocity | Yes, as an examination waiver, but no partner states are published. The Board of Well Drillers regulations contain a Reciprocity regulation providing that the Board may waive the examination for an applicant who files an application, is licensed in an equivalent class or category in a state with which the Board has made a reciprocal agreement, provides adequate evidence of meeting the experience requirements in COMAR 26.05.01.04 and of having passed an examination in the licensing state or any other state that is substantially similar to the Board's examination, has paid the application and licensure fees, and has provided evidence that bonding and liability insurance requirements are satisfied. The same regulation provides that the Board may make a reciprocal agreement with any other state to waive the examination requirement for an applicant equivalently licensed in that state, provided that the other state waives the examination requirement for Maryland licensees to a similar extent. Fees are a $75 application fee with licence fees of $100 to $150 initially depending on class and category. The Department of the Environment publishes no list of states with an active reciprocal agreement, the regulation only authorises the Board to make them case by case. |
| Renewal | All licenses expire on June 1 of each odd-numbered year, and a license may be renewed for a two-year term on payment of the renewal fee, submission of proof of satisfactory completion of 20 hours of Board-approved training related to the practice, and submission of valid bond and insurance documents where appropriate. |
| Notes | Maryland licenses well drillers through the State Board of Well Drillers at the Maryland Department of the Environment, which examines and licenses the individuals who drill water supply and geotechnical wells or install water pumps and water conditioning equipment. |
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Sources: mde.maryland.gov, mde.maryland.gov, mde.maryland.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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