1.1 Alabama Exam Format, Licensing Law & Board Rules

Why this section matters

The Alabama exam is open book, so your score depends on knowing where a rule lives and which rule applies. Five questions come straight from Alabama plumbing and gas law. This section also gives you the official exam blueprint, which tells you where the other 70 questions come from.

The exam at a glance

The Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board (the Board, often called PGFB) decides who may test. Prov, Inc. develops and delivers the exam. The current candidate information bulletin (Prov CIB dated December 15, 2025, attached to the Board's April 2026 Journeyman application) lists these facts:

Prov lists 20 Alabama test centers. The Board's exam page also says virtual (Examroom) and out-of-state sites may be available. A Spanish-language version of the Journeyman Plumber exam is offered with the same content outline.

The 12 official subject areas

Approved references and book rules

The bulletin lists six references: the 2022 Code of Alabama, Title 34, Chapter 37; Administrative Code Chapter 720; the 2021 International Plumbing Code (IPC); the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC); Mathematics for Plumbers and Pipefitters (8th edition); and Modern Plumbing (8th edition). Board rule 720-X-7-.01 says exams are based on the 2021 IPC and 2021 IFGC.

Prepare your books before test day:

• You may highlight and attach permanent tabs.
• Handwritten notes are allowed in pen, in the margins, but no calculations.
• Moveable tabs, sticky notes, inserted photocopies, photocopied books and test-prep guides are not allowed.
• You may not write in or mark your books during the exam.
• Only a simple four-function calculator is allowed.

Bring a current government photo ID. If the session has started when you arrive, you are turned away and forfeit the fee. Cancel or reschedule at least three business days ahead, or the fee is forfeited.

Retakes, reviews and score checks

Your eligibility lasts 30 days from its start date. If you fail or do not test in that window, file a retake form with the Board and pay another exam fee (§34-37-7 allows reexamination on reapplication). After failing twice, and only if you scored within 10% of the passing mark, you may buy a 1.5-hour review of missed questions for $80. A hand-score check costs $25 and must be requested within 90 days.

Eligibility and the path to certification

Under §34-37-6(e) and rule 720-X-4-.01, a journeyman plumber applicant must:

1. Submit the Application for Examination (the in-state form is for current Alabama certificate holders, such as registered apprentices; out-of-state applicants use a separate form).
2. Prove two years of current work experience as an apprentice plumber, or completion of a Board-approved apprentice training program.
3. Sign the declaration of U.S. citizenship or lawful presence.
4. Pay the fees and pass the written exam.

After passing, you have 90 calendar days to become certified. Miss that window and you must retake the exam (§34-37-6(g)). At the journeyman level, the Board charges a $50 application processing fee and a $75 initial certificate fee.

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Since January 1, 2026, master-level applicants must also pass a separate business and law exam. If you pass a plumbing exam and still want to do gas fitting, the Board says you must hold at least an apprentice gas fitter certification.

Who does what: definitions and supervision

Plumbing (§34-37-1(12)) is work installing, repairing or replacing pipes, fixtures or other apparatus that supply water or remove liquid or waterborne waste on private property. Board rule 720-X-2-.01 adds specific limits:

• For a single-family home, the water line from the meter (or well pump outlet) to the building is plumbing.
• The building sewer is plumbing from the building drain until it reaches the property line, an individual disposal system, or an easement or right-of-way.
• Not plumbing: nonresidential water lines 4 inches and larger and sewers 6 inches and larger shown on an engineer's sealed civil drawings; grinder pumps or lift stations with discharge lines of 4 inches or more; and cutting or boring concrete.
• Onsite wastewater systems permitted by the Health Department are not plumbing. Their installers are licensed by the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Board.

Supervision rules you must know:

A residential jobsite is up to three structures in one phase of a subdivision that are next to each other or on the same or intersecting streets, or up to eight attached dwellings under one roof (§34-37-1(16)).

Every legal entity doing plumbing registers each year. Its registered business name must appear on two sides of each service vehicle in letters at least 2 inches high (§34-37-6(c)). Carry your current certificate and show it on request (§34-37-8(c)). A Board certificate is valid statewide, and a city or county may not require a separate competency exam (§34-37-8(b)).

Who is exempt

Section 34-37-15 lets these people work without a certificate, although the work is still subject to inspection:

• A property owner working on a building the owner owns or occupies.
• A regular maintenance employee working on the employer's premises who does not plumb for the public.
• Utility crews working on mains and service lines off private property (except easements), as long as they do not alter gas piping on the customer side of the meter.
• People who only test backflow devices.
• Anyone connecting a washing machine to existing piping, provided the work does not tie into waste lines on the outlet side of the trap.

Renewal, continuing education and inactive status

• All certificates and registrations expire December 31 (§34-37-9).
• A renewal received after December 31 pays a late penalty equal to the renewal fee, and unpaid fees for earlier years come due (r. 720-X-9-.01). A journeyman renewal is $75, so the late penalty is also $75.
• Certified contractors must complete 4 hours of continuing education each year and submit proof before November 1 (r. 720-X-21-.02). One CE hour equals at least 50 minutes, and extra hours do not carry over.
• No CE is needed for the calendar year in which you get your first journeyman certificate. Contractors aged 65 or older are exempt starting the year after they turn 65.
• If you are not working in the trade, file an inactive status affidavit (§34-37-14(c)). Tell the Board about any change of home or business address within 30 days (§34-37-14(a)).

Discipline and penalties

• You may not let anyone use your name or certificate to get permits or do work, and certificates cannot be sold or transferred (§34-37-14(a), §34-37-16).
• The Board may fine up to $2,000 per violation plus hearing costs, order training, and issue cease-and-desist orders (§34-37-17). Board rule sets minimum fines of $500 for violations not related to gas and $1,000 for gas-related violations.
• After written notice and a hearing, the Board may suspend a certificate for up to one year or revoke it. A majority of members must agree, and a revoked holder may not reapply for one year (§34-37-12).
• Violating the chapter is a Class A misdemeanor (§34-37-17(c)).

Code adoption and the Board itself

Where no local code exists, rule 720-X-1-.02 applies these codes: the 2021 IRC to residential plumbing and gas work, the 2021 IPC to commercial plumbing, and the 2021 IFGC to commercial gas work. Medical gas work follows the IPC and NFPA 99 and requires an NITC (or Board-approved) certification and a Board endorsement (r. 720-X-14-.01).

The Board has nine members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, with terms of up to four years (§34-37-3; r. 720-X-1-.01). They are:

• a master plumber;
• a mainly residential master plumber;
• a journeyman plumber;
• a professional engineer;
• a city or county building official;
• a master gas fitter;
• a mainly residential master gas fitter;
• a journeyman gas fitter;
• a member of the public.

Four members form a quorum. The office is at 216 Aquarius Drive, Suite 319, Homewood, Alabama.

Exam traps

• Old exam numbers: Older PSI listings showed 70 questions in 3 hours. The current Prov exam has 75 questions in 2.92 hours.
• Direct vs. general supervision: Apprentices need direct, on-site supervision. Journeymen work under a master's general supervision.
• The 90-day clock vs. renewal: The 90-day rule is about getting your first certificate after passing. Renewal happens every December 31.
• Ratios: The apprentice ratio is 5 on residential jobsites and 3 on other jobsites, not 1 to 1.