Plumbing Contractor License in Georgia: Requirements, Qualifier, Bond and Exams

Yes.

Georgia licenses plumbing contracting statewide through the Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers — but the state issues no separate plumbing contractor license.

Under the 2026 statute, no person may engage in plumbing contracting as a Master Plumber Class I or a Master Plumber Class II unless the division has issued that person a valid license, and a partnership, limited liability company or corporation may do plumbing only while a licensee is regularly connected with it on a full-time basis.

The credential is an individual license, and it applies across Georgia.

The three statewide plumber licenses are Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber Class I and Master Plumber Class II, all issued by the same division.

Our research did not examine city-level plumbing requirements, so check with the city or county where a job is permitted as well.

The Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers sits inside the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, under the Georgia Secretary of State, and it issues all three plumber licenses.

The contracting classes are the two master classes.

Master Plumber Class I is restricted: under the 2026 statute it covers single-family homes, townhomes and multifamily buildings — including hotels and apartments — up to three stories, and commercial buildings up to 20,000 square feet.

Master Plumber Class II has no scope limit.

Journeyman Plumber sits below them: a journeyman works under the direction of a plumbing contractor, and the license does not allow contracting.

On underground work, master plumbers and utility contractors may build plumbing from the property line up to 5 feet from a building regardless of cost or depth; within 5 feet of the building, only licensed plumbers may work.

The qualifier is a Master Plumber Class I or Class II: the statute requires a company to keep someone with a valid Class I or Class II master plumber license regularly connected with it, actively engaged in the performance of the business on a full-time basis.

Master Plumber Class I takes a minimum of 4 years of full-time plumbing experience, at least 3 of them performed while licensed as a Journeyman Plumber — only 1 year for journeymen who were licensed before March 1, 2025.

Master Plumber Class II takes a minimum of 5 years, at least 4 of them as a licensed journeyman (2 years for journeymen licensed before March 1, 2025), including at least 2 years of unrestricted-scope work.

The journeyman license beneath them takes 1 year of full-time plumbing experience under a licensed Master Plumber, an affidavit from that master, and a passing exam score of 70.

Board rules also bar a licensee from qualifying more than one business for business registration at a time.

The requirement the statute states is a board-approved examination passed with a minimum score of 70 — the same minimum score the law sets for Georgia conditioned air and plumbing license exams.

Our research found no separate contractor exam: the master plumber examination is the contracting credential's exam, and the journeyman exam follows the same passing score.

On the vendor, the plumbing division's own FAQ names its testing vendor, PSI, and describes the sequence: the board approves the candidate first, then PSI contacts the candidate about setting up an account and registering for the approved exam.

Our research lists no separate business-and-law exam for Georgia plumbing contractors.

Confirm the current exam list with the division before you schedule.

Georgia has no mandatory state license bond for plumbers.

A licensee may optionally execute and deposit with the judge of the probate court in the county of their principal place of business a bond in the sum of $10,000 — and once that bond is on deposit, counties and cities may not demand a separate code-compliance bond.

On insurance, statewide minimums for conditioned air or plumbing contractors were not found in the statute or board rules we read, so ask the division before you apply.

Two pieces are confirmed; the fee amounts are not.

Licenses and certificates issued under the chapter are valid for a period of 2 years and renew biennially, with a 31-day late renewal window.

Plumber renewals are completed online and are required by November 30 of even-numbered years, with late renewal from December 1 to December 31.

Renewal also takes continuing education: a minimum of 8 hours within the 24 months prior to the license or certificate expiration date.

The exact fee amounts were not captured in our research — the Secretary of State publishes them on its GOALS fee schedule — so price the application from there and confirm with the division.

Not as an open door.

Georgia's divisions may grant a license by reciprocity to an applicant licensed in another state, but the statute sets conditions: the other state's requirements must be substantially equal to Georgia's, the applicant must have been principally engaged in the practice authorized by that license for not less than 2 years immediately preceding the application, and the other state must offer Georgia licensees the same privilege.

Our research did not confirm which states Georgia currently holds plumbing reciprocity agreements with, so ask the division before you count an out-of-state license toward anything.

Notify the division fast.

When the qualifying master plumber leaves the company, the company must notify the appropriate division within 7 days of the severance of connection.

The statute sets that notice deadline rather than an explicit replacement deadline; the exception is a qualifier's death, after which the company may keep working under the license for 90 days, with one further 90-day extension possible for good cause.

Because board rules bar a licensee from qualifying more than one business at a time, you cannot line up someone who already qualifies another company — and a qualifier cannot supervise work for your company during hours worked for another employer.

Verify any candidate's license in the Secretary of State's licensee search before you rely on it, and start recruiting the next qualifier before the current one gives notice.

Georgia rewrote its construction licensing law — Title 43, Chapter 14 — through SB 553, effective July 1, 2026.

Section numbers and some requirements changed, so a requirement quoted from a pre-2026 source may no longer match the statute; the old section 43-14-8 for plumbers is out of date.

Two figures to watch: the board's older rule text still says Master Plumber Class I is limited to commercial structures of 10,000 square feet and that either master class takes 5 years — the 2026 statute superseded those figures with 20,000 square feet and three stories for Class I, and 4 years for Class I experience.

When we read the board's rule chapters in September 2026, they had not yet been updated to match the 2026 statute; where an older page and this one disagree, confirm with the division.