Who issues the license, and at what level
The credential comes from the Georgia State Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers. That division is one of five sub-boards inside the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, which sits in the Office of Secretary of State. The division lists five board members and an executive director, and takes mail at 214 State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia 30334.
This is a state license with statewide effect. The rules call it a statewide license in their own titles: Rule 121-3-.02 is headed Statewide Master and Journeyman Plumber License. There is no separate county plumbing license layered underneath it and no city-issued plumbing competency card that replaces it.
The license belongs to a person. Georgia does not issue a plumbing business license, and it does not issue a plumbing business registration number. What the rules require instead is in Rule 121-6-.01: a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation doing contracting work must have regularly connected with the business a person holding an appropriate and current license. That person must work in the business full time, must supervise the work, and may not qualify more than one business at a time.
Two practical consequences follow. First, if your qualifying licensee leaves, the company loses its ability to contract for the work that license covers. Second, the rule states that a licensee is deemed unable to supervise during hours when he is working for another employer, and during those hours the business cannot perform work that depends on his supervision. Georgia wrote that sentence deliberately. A borrowed license that shows up on paper and nowhere else is a rule violation, not a workaround.
Paper applications are no longer accepted. Everything is filed through the GOALS portal.
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Class I and Class II master plumber: the actual scope line
Georgia splits the master plumber license into two classes, and the dividing line is written into Rule 121-3-.02(1) in one sentence.
Statewide Class I Master Plumber licenses are limited to plumbing involving single-family dwellings, one-level dwellings designed for not more than two families, and commercial structures not to exceed 10,000 square feet in area. Statewide Class II Master Plumber licenses are unrestricted.
Read the Class I restriction carefully, because it has three separate limbs and contractors trip over the second one. Single-family dwellings are in. Two-family dwellings are in only if they are one level. A two-story duplex is outside the plain words of the restriction. Commercial structures are in only up to 10,000 square feet of area.
The division states the same limit in its own FAQ, describing Class I as limited to single-family dwellings, one-level dwellings designed for not more than two families, and commercial structures not to exceed 10,000 square feet. Class II it describes as having no restrictions.
The square footage cap is the one that decides what work you can bid. A Class I master plumber can run a residential service company and small commercial jobs without limit on volume. The moment a commercial building crosses 10,000 square feet, Class I cannot hold the plumbing on it. That is a scope question, not a permit question, and it does not go away because a general contractor is willing to sign.
The application form the division publishes carries both classes on the same sheet, labelled Master Plumber Class 1 Restricted and Master Plumber Class 2 Non-restricted. The words restricted and non-restricted are the division's own shorthand for the rule above.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1rules.sos.ga.gov 2sos.ga.gov 3sos.ga.gov 4
Journeyman plumber, and why Class II needs one first
Georgia issues a statewide journeyman plumber license as well. Rule 121-3-.02(5) sets the bar at a minimum of one year of experience in plumbing work of a type covered by the Georgia State Plumbing Code, plus the examination.
The journeyman license is not optional decoration on the way to master. Rule 121-3-.02(4) requires master plumber applicants to document five years of experience with at least two of those five years being licensed as a journeyman plumber. You cannot skip the journeyman step and arrive at master on raw field time alone, because two of the five years have to have been spent holding the journeyman license.
That has a scheduling consequence worth planning around. If you are starting from nothing, the earliest realistic path is one year to qualify for journeyman, then two years holding it, inside a total of five years of documented plumbing work. Waiting until year five to take the journeyman exam pushes the master license out to year seven.
Class II asks for one more thing on top. Rule 121-3-.02(4) states that applicants for Class II Master Plumber license must also document experience in commercial or industrial plumbing. Residential-only history will not support a Class II application no matter how many years of it there are.
One caution on the paperwork. An application form the division publishes states three years of qualifying experience for journeyman, while the current rule and the division's own FAQ both state one year. The rule was amended in February 2025 and took effect in March 2025. Ask the division which figure governs your filing before you assemble reference letters.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1rules.sos.ga.gov 2sos.ga.gov 3sos.ga.gov 4
What counts as experience: primary and secondary
Rule 121-3-.02 defines the experience it will accept, and it splits into two named categories.
Primary Experience means working experience gained through the direct installation of plumbing systems and directly related activities of a type covered by the Georgia State Plumbing Code, under the supervision of a licensed master plumber. The rule gives examples: installation of plumbing pipes and fixtures by a plumbing contractor, a master plumber, a journeyman plumber, a plumbing foreman, a plumbing superintendent, or a military plumber holding a rank of at least third class petty officer or E-4 noncommissioned officer.
Secondary Experience means work experience gained while engaged in work or training related to the installation of plumbing and directly related activities covered by the code. The rule gives two examples: plumbing work performed by a maintenance employee of a county water department or public works department, and inspection of plumbing by a full-time municipal or county inspector.
The rule allows journeyman applicants to use Primary or Secondary experience. That matters for two groups in particular. Municipal and county plumbing inspectors can count their inspection time. So can water department and public works maintenance staff, who often assume their years do not count because they were never employed by a plumbing contractor.
Every application also needs three notarized reference forms from licensed plumbers with personal knowledge of the experience. The reference requirement scales with the class you are seeking. For Class I, at least one of the three references must be a licensed master plumber. For Class II, at least two must be from licensed master plumbers. Line those references up early, because the division wants originals and notarization.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1rules.sos.ga.gov 2sos.ga.gov 3
The examination and the review course rule
Rule 121-3-.02(2) sets one pass mark for all three credentials. To obtain a statewide Class I or Class II Master Plumber license or a statewide Journeyman Plumber license, a person must submit a completed application, meet the experience requirement, obtain a minimum score of seventy on the appropriate examination, and pay the required fees.
Seventy is the number. It does not move by class.
The division uses PSI, which its own materials also refer to as PSI/AMP, as the testing vendor. Exams are offered on a continuous basis and at various locations. The sequence matters: the board approves the application first, then the applicant receives testing details and a candidate identification number, then the exam is scheduled. You do not book a seat and apply afterwards.
There is a rule about failing that catches people by surprise. Rule 121-2-.06 states that any applicant for master plumber or journeyman plumber who takes and fails the examination twice must present satisfactory evidence to the division that the applicant has completed a board approved review course before being scheduled for a third examination. The division's FAQ says the same thing in plainer words.
The rule then adds a detail that cuts the other way. If the applicant fails a third time, no additional courses are required before subsequent attempts. The review course is a one-time gate after two failures, not a penalty attached to every failure after that.
Rule 121-2-.06 also sets what an approved review course looks like. It must either cover code requirements and be run by a college, postsecondary technical school or military service, or run a minimum of six hours of actual instruction under an instructor holding a contractor or master license in the trade.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1rules.sos.ga.gov 2sos.ga.gov 3sos.ga.gov 4sos.ga.gov 5
Every fee the division publishes
The division publishes a plumbing fee schedule, and the amounts are small compared with most states.
An initial application for master non-restricted, master restricted or journeyman by examination is $30.00. A processing fee of $10.00 applies to application fees, which is why the application packet states an initial application fee of $40.00 and breaks it out as a $30.00 application fee plus a $10.00 processing fee.
Renewal is $45.00. Late renewal, filed within 30 days of the license expiration date, is $35.00. A license lapsed more than 30 days but less than three years carries $70.00. A license lapsed three or more years also carries $70.00 and requires re-examination.
The application packet states reinstatement figures on the same basis. Reinstatement for a journeyman is $80.00, made up of a $70.00 application fee plus the $10.00 processing fee. Reinstatement for a master plumber is $160.00, made up of a $150.00 application fee plus the $10.00 processing fee.
Two things are worth noticing about this list. First, there is no separate license issuance fee sitting behind the application fee. Second, there is no business registration fee, because Georgia does not register plumbing businesses.
The examination seat fee is charged by PSI, not by the division, and the division's fee schedule does not carry it. Budget for it separately and get the current figure from the vendor when you receive your candidate identification number.
Fees move. The division publishes the schedule through the GOALS portal and in this PDF, and the PDF is the version to check before you file.
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Medical gas piping: the certification most Georgia plumbers forget
Georgia treats medical gas piping as a separate certification riding on top of the plumbing license, and Rule 121-2-.11 sets the terms.
Medical gas piping is defined as any piping system purveying oxygen, nitrous oxide, medical compressed air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide or other nonflammable medical gas, or a vacuum piping system, within a medical, dental or other health care facility, including a laboratory inside one.
To hold the Statewide Plumber Medical Gas Piping Systems Certification a person must hold a current Georgia master or journeyman plumber license, and complete a 32 hour division approved medical gas piping certification program that complies with the American Society of Sanitary Engineers 6000 series based on National Fire Protection Association 99, as currently approved by the State Fire Marshal. The program must include a minimum of 24 hours of classroom instruction, and a written examination plus braze testing under ASME Section IX or AWS B2.2. The braze test must be performed on a minimum of one and one half inch type L tubing.
The certification then has to be kept alive by working. Rule 121-2-.11(3) voids it if the underlying plumber license goes inactive, suspended or revoked, if the certification is surrendered, or if the holder fails to perform brazing during each 12 month period. The holder must keep documentation of brazing performed for the previous two years, signed by a licensed plumber who witnessed it, and produce it on request.
For a contractor chasing dental offices, clinics, surgery centers or lab work, this is the credential that decides whether you can bid at all. It is not implied by a Class II master license.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov
Renewal: November 30 of even-numbered years
Georgia plumbing licenses renew biennially, and the whole state renews on the same date rather than on each licensee's anniversary.
Rule 121-4-.02(1) states that licenses and certificates will be renewed biennially by the expiration date as provided by rules of the Joint Secretary, Professional Licensing Boards Division. The division states the operative date plainly: renewal is completed online and is required by November 30 of even-numbered years, with a late renewal window of December 1 to December 31.
Miss the date and the consequence is immediate. Rule 121-4-.02(2) states that if not renewed by the expiration date, licenses or certificates shall be deemed invalid, and any person holding one shall not be authorized to engage in the business or profession for which licensed. There is no grace period during which you may keep working while the paperwork catches up.
Rule 121-4-.02(3) closes the obvious defence. Neither the failure of the board to send, nor the failure of the licensee to receive, a renewal form or reminder excuses the failure to renew. Keep your address current with the division and diary the date yourself.
A lapsed license requires reinstatement, and renewal of a lapsed license is at the discretion of the division, which may attach conditions including retaking the licensure examination. Rule 121-4-.02(5)(b) makes the three year mark decisive: if the reinstatement application comes in more than three years after the expiration date, the applicant must submit a reinstatement application and application fee and must take and pass the appropriate examination.
Renewal applications also require disclosure of felony or misdemeanor findings or pleas since the last approval, and authorization for a criminal history record check.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1rules.sos.ga.gov 2sos.ga.gov 3sos.ga.gov 4
Continuing education: 8 hours in 24 months
Rule 121-4-.04 sets continuing education for master and journeyman plumbers, and the headline number is 8 hours.
Any applicant for renewal of a master or journeyman license must complete a minimum of 8 hours of continuing education within the 24 months prior to the license or certificate expiration date. An applicant who has been initially licensed for less than two years must have completed four hours while licensed prior to renewal. An applicant initially licensed for less than one year is not required to complete continuing education prior to the first renewal.
The division's FAQ expresses the same requirement as four hours a year for a total of eight per renewal, which matches the 24 month figure in the rule.
Rule 121-4-.04(2) limits the subject matter. Courses must be in plumbing installation, design, state codes, products, innovations or new techniques, tools and materials, safety, or work-related legal issues. Master plumbers, and only master plumbers, may also count courses in environmental or business issues. Providers are limited too: an institute of higher education, a vocational-technical school, a trade, technical or professional organization, or an institute under the State Board of Technical and Adult Education.
Reporting is by attestation, with records kept by you. Renewal applicants report on the renewal application whether the requirement has been met. Rule 121-4-.04(3) then requires licensees to keep records for at least five years after completing a course, including the school or organization, the course title, the location and date, the course outline or topics, the hours of instruction, and documentation of attendance and satisfactory completion. Those records must be produced to the division on request.
Keep the certificates. The attestation is what you file; the folder is what gets audited.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1rules.sos.ga.gov 2sos.ga.gov 3
Reciprocity: the rule exists, the agreements do not
This is the question out-of-state plumbers ask first, and Georgia gives a clear answer that differs from what the rulebook alone suggests.
The division's own FAQ states that Georgia does not have reciprocity with any other states for these licenses.
Rule 121-2-.03 nevertheless describes a mechanism. It says the respective divisions may enter into a formal written agreement with other state licensing boards to offer licenses by endorsement or by reciprocity, and that a person may be issued a master plumber or journeyman plumber license by submitting a completed application, a fee, and evidence of a current out-of-state license in an appropriate classification granted on the basis of passing an examination issued and conducted by a qualifying licensing board. The applicant must also document the prerequisite experience.
The two statements fit together. The rule authorises agreements; the division reports that none are in force for plumbing. Treat the rule as a standing power rather than a route you can currently walk.
Rule 121-2-.03 also sets conditions that would apply if an agreement existed. The other board must conduct examinations and have requirements substantially equal to Georgia's at the time the application is filed, and must offer a similar privilege to Georgia licensees. The type and class of license issued would be decided by the Georgia board based on the other board's requirements, not by the applicant. Anyone licensed under a grandfather provision without passing a qualifying examination is excluded outright.
The division may also deny an application where it appears the applicant is trying to circumvent Georgia law by first becoming licensed elsewhere.
Plan on taking the Georgia examination.
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Unlicensed plumbing and what the division actually does
The division publishes a running list of cease and desist orders issued and consented to by the Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers. The entries name individuals and entities and record the violation type as unlicensed practice, plumbing.
That list is the clearest evidence of how Georgia enforces. The cease and desist order is the routine instrument, it is public, and it carries a name and a location. For a contractor, the reputational cost of appearing on a page published by the Secretary of State is a separate problem from whatever financial penalty accompanies it.
Enforcement also reaches licensees who lend their credential. Rule 121-6-.01 requires the qualifying licensee to be engaged in the business full time, to provide adequate supervision, and to be responsible for the work performed, and bars that person from qualifying more than one business at a time. The same rule states that during hours when the licensee is working for another employer, the business cannot perform contracting work that depends on his supervision.
Rule 121-5-.02 defines unprofessional conduct and is the hook the division uses in disciplinary proceedings. Rule 121-6-.01(2) points at it directly, noting that a failure to comply with the registration provisions of O.C.G.A. 10-1-490 is grounds for disciplinary action under the unprofessional conduct rule, separate from any penalty imposed under O.C.G.A. 10-1-493.
The practical exposure for a licensed contractor is therefore not only a fine. It is a disciplinary file against the license the business depends on, and losing the qualifying licensee stops the business from contracting.
Check the cease and desist page before you subcontract to anyone you have not worked with.
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Advertising and license display: what Georgia requires of plumbers, and what it does not
This is where Georgia differs from most states, and where secondary guides get it wrong.
Georgia has a detailed display and advertising rule in the Construction Industry Licensing Board rulebook. It is Rule 121-3-.05, headed Display of Business Registration Number, and it was renumbered from Rule 121-6-.04 in February 2025, effective March 2025. Its authority citations include O.C.G.A. 43-14-9.
Read its first line and the scope becomes obvious. Effective December 1, 2021, any business performing conditioned air contracting shall display, as set forth below, the business registration number. Every requirement under it is written for conditioned air contractors.
Those requirements are specific, and they are the ones frequently quoted as if they applied to plumbers. The registration number is the license number of the qualifying licensee including the prefix CN or CR preceded by GA. REG., so a licensee holding CN-555123 displays GA. REG. CN-555123. All commercial vehicles used exclusively in daily operation must display it legibly and visibly on both sides in characters at least two inches high. Advertisements in telephone yellow pages other than a standard listing, in a newspaper, or in printed matter proposing to perform services and distributed to the public must display it prominently and legibly. All invoices and proposal forms used for conditioned air contracting must display it.
None of that reaches plumbing. Chapter 121 contains no parallel vehicle lettering rule, no advertising number rule, and no invoice or proposal rule for master or journeyman plumbers, and Georgia issues plumbers no business registration number to display. Rule 121-6-.03 registers branch offices for utility contractors only.
So the state-level advertising duty on a Georgia plumber is narrow. What still binds is the scope of your class. A Class I master plumber advertising unrestricted commercial capability is advertising work the license does not authorise, and Rule 121-5-.02 on unprofessional conduct is the exposure. Local licensing, and general advertising law, apply on their own terms.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1sos.ga.gov 2
Atlanta: bring the physical license card
Atlanta adds a document requirement at the permit counter that catches contractors who have only a digital copy.
The City of Atlanta states that due to several instances of fraudulent documentation, and to protect the interests of all state-licensed contractors, the city requires the physical state-issued contractor's license card for the issuance of any permit. That is described as effective immediately on the city's permitting page. A photograph of the card, a screenshot of the state lookup, or a PDF is not what the policy asks for.
Permits are filed online. The city states that all permit types must be submitted online through the Accela Citizen website, with the exception of Express permits, which are accepted only in person.
Homeowners may submit their own permit application in Atlanta, and the city notes there is no need to wait for the contractor to do so. That does not change who may perform the work: the state plumbing license governs that, and the city's card requirement is about proving it.
The office that handles this is the Office of Buildings, Trades Work Stream, reachable at permitissuance-oob@atlantaga.gov or 404-865-8550.
Two practical points for a plumbing company working Atlanta. First, whoever pulls your permits needs the actual card in hand, which means the qualifying licensee has to be available or the card has to travel. Second, if the card is lost or the name on it does not match the business filing the application, fix that with the division before you schedule work, not on the morning of the permit run.
Atlanta does not issue its own plumbing competency license. The state license is the license.
Sourcesatlantaga.gov
Augusta: the state card plus insurance, bond and a business tax return
Augusta-Richmond County runs a fuller local process than Atlanta, and it publishes its plumbing contractor requirements as a single checklist.
The state credential comes first. Augusta requires a copy of the State of Georgia master plumbing contractor license card, and points applicants to the Secretary of State.
On top of that, Augusta sets its own financial requirements, which the state does not impose. General liability insurance must be a minimum of $50,000/$100,000 with Augusta-Richmond County listed as certificate holder. A surety bond is required with Augusta-Richmond County listed as obligee, at a minimum of $20,000 for commercial and $15,000 for residential.
The rest of the checklist is administrative but each item stops a file. A completed business tax return with all grayed sections filled. The last four digits of the Social Security number for all owners and agents. SAVE and E-Verify affidavits, which the office will notarize at no cost. The number of vehicles and W-2 employees.
Vehicle decals are $4.00 each and are required for each vehicle operating on site. A fire inspection is normally $75.00, paid at the office with the license, and commercial locations need a lease agreement or deed with the inspection scheduled through the Fire Marshal's office.
Augusta also confirms the licensing chain at the permit counter. Its permit FAQ states that contractors must hold a state license in the appropriate trade, and that plumbing work does not require a certificate of appropriateness.
The pattern to carry into any Georgia jurisdiction: the state issues the competency license, and the city or county attaches insurance, bonding and a business tax certificate on top.
Sourcesaugustaga.gov 1augustaga.gov 2
Insurance and bonding: what Georgia does not require
Contractors coming from states with a statutory insurance minimum look for Georgia's number and cannot find it, because there is not one for plumbers.
Chapter 121 of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, which is the complete rulebook for the State Construction Industry Licensing Board and its plumbing division, contains no general liability insurance requirement, no surety bond requirement and no minimum coverage figure for master or journeyman plumbers. The qualification rules, the application rules, the issuance and renewal rules, the disciplinary rules and the business registration rules together set experience, references, examination, fees, continuing education and supervision. They do not set coverage.
The division's plumbing application packet matches that. It asks for the application fee, notarized references, experience documentation, a background check from local law enforcement, a secure and verifiable document, an affidavit of citizenship and disciplinary history. It does not ask for a certificate of insurance or a bond.
That absence is a planning point, not a green light. The requirement simply moves down a level. Augusta-Richmond County requires $50,000/$100,000 general liability with the county as certificate holder, and a surety bond of $20,000 for commercial or $15,000 for residential with the county as obligee. Other jurisdictions set their own figures.
Customers and general contractors also set their own. A commercial general contractor will specify limits in the subcontract regardless of what the state asks for, and a homeowner comparing bids will ask.
The accurate sentence for a Georgia plumbing contractor is that insurance and bonding are a local and contractual requirement rather than a licensing one, and that the number you actually have to hit is set by the county you are working in and the contract you are signing.
Sourcesrules.sos.ga.gov 1sos.ga.gov 2augustaga.gov 3
How a customer verifies a Georgia plumbing license
The Secretary of State's Licensing Division runs a public licensee search, and it is the tool both customers and the cities use.
The division points the public to a search for a licensee through the GOALS system, the Secretary of State's professional licensing platform. Searching there returns the licensee record held by the state, which is the same record a permit clerk relies on.
What a customer should check is more than the existence of a record. Three fields decide whether the plumber in front of them can legally do the job. The licence status must be current, which matters most in December of even-numbered years when the November 30 renewal date has just passed. The credential must be master rather than journeyman if the person is contracting rather than working under a master. And the class must match the building: Class I is capped at single-family dwellings, one-level two-family dwellings and commercial structures up to 10,000 square feet, while Class II is unrestricted.
Homeowners can also check the enforcement side. The division publishes its cease and desist orders for the plumbing division, listing names and locations against the violation type of unlicensed practice, plumbing. Searching a company name there is a fast negative check.
For a contractor, the same page is a sales asset rather than a compliance chore. Customers who have been told to verify will do it, and a record that comes back current, master class, correct class for their building answers the question before it is asked. Put the licence number on the estimate and let them confirm it.
The division also offers written verifications and transcripts through its licensing division for situations where a search result is not enough, such as applying in another state.
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