The essentials
- Licensing authorityGeorgia State Construction Industry Licensing Board — Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers (Office of Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division) — official site
- Statewide?Yes — Georgia licenses at the state level
- Experience requiredMaster Plumber (both classes): a minimum of 5 years of plumbing experience covered by the Georgia State Plumbing Code, at least 2 of those years licensed as a journeyman plumber; Class II applicants must additionally document commercial or industrial plumbing experience. Journeyman minimum experience — verify with the board, as published figures differ.
- ExamPSI Services. The board approves the application first, then PSI contacts the candidate to open an account and schedule; exams run continuously at multiple Georgia sites. Fail twice and you must complete a board-approved review course before sitting again.
- Renewal & CEBiennial — licenses renew online through the GOALS account by November 30 of even-numbered years (late window December 1–31). Continuing education accrues at 4 hours per year, so 8 hours must be documented at each biennial renewal.
- Bond / insuranceNot published in a form we could verify — confirm with the board
- ReciprocityNone we could confirm
License classes in Georgia
Georgia issues the following classes. Getting the class right matters — several states have residential-only or limited-scope licenses that will not cover commercial or multifamily work:
- Journeyman Plumber — works under the direction of a master plumber; cannot contract independently
- Master Plumber Class I (restricted) — limited to single-family dwellings, one-level dwellings for not more than two families, and commercial structures not exceeding 10,000 square feet
- Master Plumber Class II (unrestricted) — no size or occupancy restriction; requires documented commercial or industrial plumbing experience
Experience and training
Master Plumber (both classes): a minimum of 5 years of plumbing experience covered by the Georgia State Plumbing Code, at least 2 of those years licensed as a journeyman plumber; Class II applicants must additionally document commercial or industrial plumbing experience. Journeyman minimum experience — verify with the board, as published figures differ.
One thing worth knowing regardless of state: the hours only count if they were logged properly at the time. Several boards require you to register as an apprentice before the clock starts, and hours worked while unregistered are simply gone. If you are early in the trade, get the registration paperwork right now rather than reconstructing it four years later.
The exam
PSI Services. The board approves the application first, then PSI contacts the candidate to open an account and schedule; exams run continuously at multiple Georgia sites. Fail twice and you must complete a board-approved review course before sitting again.
Renewal and continuing education
Biennial — licenses renew online through the GOALS account by November 30 of even-numbered years (late window December 1–31). Continuing education accrues at 4 hours per year, so 8 hours must be documented at each biennial renewal.
Letting a license lapse is more expensive than it looks. Some states allow a short grace period with a penalty fee; others treat a lapsed license as forfeited and make you retest from scratch. Put the renewal date in your calendar with a 90-day warning, not a 7-day one.
Insurance and bonding
We could not verify a published state bond or insurance minimum for Georgia. That does not mean you should work uninsured — local permit offices, general contractors and property managers routinely require a certificate regardless of what the state demands.
Separately from whatever the state requires: Pipe Well requires every plumber on the network to carry current general liability insurance and to upload the certificate before the first appointment is sent.
Working across state lines
We could not confirm any published reciprocity agreement for Georgia. That does not always mean there is none — several states evaluate out-of-state licenses case by case, or let you sit for the exam on the strength of a license held elsewhere. If you are relocating, call the board and ask specifically about endorsement or credential review rather than assuming you start over.
What plumbers actually get wrong here
The Secretary of State's office states Georgia has no plumbing reciprocity with any other state, so an experienced master relocating from Alabama, Tennessee or the Carolinas re-tests through PSI regardless of tenure — ignore third-party sites that list reciprocal states. The Class I restriction is the most common scope violation in Georgia: Class I is capped at 10,000 square feet of commercial area and at one- and two-family dwellings, so bidding a mid-size retail or office build puts you outside your license. CE is earned annually (4 hours) even though renewal is only every two years, so plumbers who wait until the renewal year discover they cannot retroactively bank the prior year's hours. The two-strike rule on the exam also bites — a board-approved review course is mandatory before a third attempt.
Once you are licensed: getting the work
A license gets you legal. It does not get you a full schedule. The usual next step is buying leads — $40 to $85 for a contact that three or four other shops bought at the same moment, which at a realistic 10–20% close rate works out to somewhere between $300 and $1,000 for every job you actually book, plus the unpaid hours spent chasing the ones that go nowhere.
Pipe Well works the other way round. We book appointments, not leads, and we handle everything up to the moment you knock on the door: the advertising, the phone call, qualifying the job, getting the address and access details, and agreeing a date and time window with the homeowner. What reaches your phone is a scheduled appointment — name, address, time window and what is wrong. You reply YES and it is yours.
What it costs
Nothing to join. No subscription, no per-lead charge. You do the job, you set your own price, and you collect payment from the customer directly. Then Pipe Well is paid 50% of the job after your documented materials come off the top:
(amount collected − documented materials) × 50%
| Collected | Materials | Net | Pipe Well | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $400 | $40 | $360 | $180 | $220 |
| $1,200 | $520 | $680 | $340 | $860 |
| $2,800 | $800 | $2,000 | $1,000 | $1,800 |
| $8,500 | $3,200 | $5,300 | $2,650 | $5,850 |
Due within 48 hours of the customer paying you. If they never pay, you owe nothing. And look honestly at that last row — on a big repipe our share is a large number. If your book is already full of $8,500 jobs you are better off filling that capacity yourself. We are worth most to a shop with open capacity it cannot currently fill.
Apply free → Run your own numbersQuestions plumbers ask about licensing in Georgia
Do you need a license to do plumbing work in Georgia?
Yes. Georgia State Construction Industry Licensing Board — Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers (Office of Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division) is the licensing authority for Georgia. The Secretary of State's office states Georgia has no plumbing reciprocity with any other state, so an experienced master relocating from Alabama, Tennessee or the Carolinas re-tests through PSI regardless of tenure — ignore third-party sites that list reciprocal states. The Class I restriction is the most common scope violation in Georgia: Class I is capped at 10,000 square feet of commercial area and at one- and two-family dwellings, so bidding a mid-size retail or office build puts you outside your license. CE is earned annually (4 hours) even though renewal is only every two years, so plumbers who wait until the renewal year discover they cannot retroactively bank the prior year's hours. The two-strike rule on the exam also bites — a board-approved review course is mandatory before a third attempt.
Who issues the plumbing license in Georgia?
Georgia State Construction Industry Licensing Board — Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers (Office of Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division). The official site is https://sos.ga.gov/georgia-state-division-master-and-journeyman-plumbers.
What license classes exist in Georgia?
Journeyman Plumber — works under the direction of a master plumber; cannot contract independently. Master Plumber Class I (restricted) — limited to single-family dwellings, one-level dwellings for not more than two families, and commercial structures not exceeding 10,000 square feet. Master Plumber Class II (unrestricted) — no size or occupancy restriction; requires documented commercial or industrial plumbing experience.
How many hours of experience do you need for a Georgia plumbing license?
Master Plumber (both classes): a minimum of 5 years of plumbing experience covered by the Georgia State Plumbing Code, at least 2 of those years licensed as a journeyman plumber; Class II applicants must additionally document commercial or industrial plumbing experience. Journeyman minimum experience — verify with the board, as published figures differ.
Who administers the Georgia plumbing exam?
PSI Services. The board approves the application first, then PSI contacts the candidate to open an account and schedule; exams run continuously at multiple Georgia sites. Fail twice and you must complete a board-approved review course before sitting again.
How often does a Georgia plumbing license renew?
Biennial — licenses renew online through the GOALS account by November 30 of even-numbered years (late window December 1–31). Continuing education accrues at 4 hours per year, so 8 hours must be documented at each biennial renewal.
Can I get booked plumbing appointments in Georgia once I am licensed?
Yes. Pipe Well Plumbing books customer appointments in Georgia and texts them to licensed plumbers whose service radius covers the address. Joining is free — no subscription and no per-lead fee. Pipe Well is paid 50% of the job after your documented material costs are deducted, and only after the customer has paid you.
Booked appointments in Georgia
Set your ZIP and a service radius of at least 30 miles and we will match appointments inside it. Free to join.
Join Free → Plumbing jobs in GeorgiaPlumbing license requirements in other states
Compiled from Georgia State Construction Industry Licensing Board — Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers (Office of Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division) published materials, last reviewed July 2026. Where a figure could not be verified against a primary source we have said so rather than estimate it. Spotted something out of date? Email info@pipewellplumbing.com and we will correct it.