1.2 Definitions, Licensure Requirement & Qualification for the Exam

Where the definitions come from

Domain D (Definitions) and Domain E (Qualification for Licensure) are worth one item each, but both draw on precise wording. Virginia plumbers are regulated under Title 54.1, Chapter 11, Article 3 of the Code of Virginia (§§ 54.1-1128 through 54.1-1135) and the Board for Contractors' Individual License and Certification Regulations, 18VAC50-30. Both are in the DPOR reference booklet that PSI allows in the testing room.

Statutory and regulatory definitions

Statute (§ 54.1-1128):

• Tradesman: any individual who engages in, or offers to engage in, work for the general public for compensation in the trades of electrical, plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
• Backflow prevention device worker: an individual who maintains, repairs, tests or periodically inspects cross-connection control devices such as reduced pressure principle assemblies and double check-valve assemblies.
• Board: the Board for Contractors.

Regulation (18VAC50-30-10):

• Journeyman: a person with the ability, proficiency and qualifications to install, repair and maintain specific types of materials and equipment, using a working knowledge sufficient to comply with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC), according to plans and specifications.
• Master: a person with the ability, proficiency and qualifications to plan and lay out the details for installation and supervise the work of installing, repairing and maintaining, using a working knowledge of the USBC.
• Plumber: a tradesman who performs construction, repair, maintenance, alteration or removal of plumbing systems regulated under the USBC.
• Plumbing work: installation, maintenance, extension, alteration or removal of piping, fixtures, appliances and appurtenances connected with backflow prevention devices, boilers, domestic sprinklers, hot water baseboard heating, hydronic heating, process piping, public or private water supply systems within or adjacent to a building, sanitary or storm drainage facilities, steam heating systems, storage tanks incidental to these systems, venting systems, and water heaters. Plumbers may also install, maintain, extend or alter liquid waste, sewerage, storm water and water supply systems.
• Residential plumber tradesman: a separate license limited to dwellings and townhouses as defined in the Virginia Residential Code, and to structures annexed to them.
• Formal vocational training: courses in the trade at an accredited educational facility, or formal training approved by the Board and given by trade associations, businesses, the military, correspondence schools or similar organizations.
• Incidental: work that is necessary for a particular repair or installation and is outside the regulant's scope of practice.
• Address of record: the mailing address the licensee designates for Board notices and correspondence.
• Renewal and reinstatement: renewal is the periodic continuation of a license; reinstatement restores an expired license without a new application.

Note that the journeyman definition does not say "under the general direction of a master." That phrase is a common distractor. The regulation separates the two levels by function: the journeyman installs and maintains to plans and specifications, and the master plans, lays out and supervises.

Who needs a license (§ 54.1-1129 and § 54.1-1131)

• No individual may engage in, or offer to engage in, work as a tradesman unless licensed.
• An individual working under the supervision of a tradesman licensed in that specialty does not need a tradesman license.
• A licensee in one specialty does not need a second license for work that is incidental to work in their own specialty.
• Article 3 does not apply to work on a ship, boat, barge or other floating vessel, or to work on a single-family residence worth less than $250 by an individual who does not hold himself out to the public as a tradesman (§ 54.1-1131 C).

General requirements for every applicant (18VAC50-30-25 and -30)

• At least 18 years of age.
• Submit documentation of identification, vocational training and experience.
• Follow all rules of the Board and testing organization about conduct at the exam. A violation is grounds for denial.
• Provide an address of record. A post office box is acceptable only when a physical address is also provided.
• Disclose any felony or non-marijuana misdemeanor conviction in any jurisdiction (§ 54.1-204), and any action taken by another board against a license.
• An applicant who does not complete the process within 12 months of the Board receiving the application must submit a new application. Changes in the information supplied must be reported before the license is issued.

The journeyman qualification matrix (18VAC50-30-39 B)

A journeyman plumber applicant must show one of these combinations:

Related rules:

• Verification (18VAC50-30-47): experience is verified by reference letters from building officials or inspectors, current or former employers, contractors, engineers, architects, or current or past clients. Education is verified by a transcript or diploma. The DPOR application uses an Individual Experience Verification Form.
• Continuing education as training (18VAC50-30-48): up to 40 hours of Board-approved continuing education may count toward formal vocational training.
• Master level (18VAC50-30-39 D): one year holding a journeyman license in the trade, three years holding a residential plumber tradesman license, or nine years of practical experience.

Exemptions, reciprocity and fees

Exam exemptions (18VAC50-30-50; § 54.1-1131 A): a person certified by the Department of Housing and Community Development before July 1, 1995, or by a local governing body before July 1, 1978, does not need to take the exam. An individual who completes an apprenticeship program approved under § 54.1-1131 A 3 and proves it with a certificate of completion or similar document is exempt from the journeyman examination. The current DPOR application says a Virginia registered apprenticeship sponsor may hold an exam exemption and that DPOR verifies the sponsor's status. Out-of-state apprentices must send documentation from that state's apprenticeship agency and from the sponsor.

Other jurisdictions (18VAC50-30-70): a license from another jurisdiction is accepted if the Board finds that jurisdiction's standards substantially equivalent and the applicant passed a substantially equivalent exam. A licensee from another jurisdiction may also sit for the same level of Virginia exam by applying with a copy of a current license.

Fees:

All Board fees are nonrefundable and are not prorated. A fee remains active for one year from receipt.