Washington does not run an exam based contractor license for general construction: it runs a registration system through the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).
Requirements checked against the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) published requirements on September 29, 2026.
| Licensing board | Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L and I), Tumwater; single statewide authority under RCW 18.27, no separate contractors board |
|---|---|
| License required when | No dollar threshold or tier stated; general and specialty contractors must register with L and I (a bond and insurance registration, not a competency license), pass or fail with no tiers by job size |
| What the state calls the qualifier | None for general or specialty contractor registration (registration is issued to the business entity); electrical contractors need a certified electrical administrator or master electrician, plumbing contractors a designated plumber |
| NASCLA exam accepted | no |
| Reciprocity and endorsement | Oregon (electrical journeyman only; none for general contractor registration) |
| Exam waivers | Nothing to waive for general or specialty registration since it has no exam or experience test; for electrical, an Oregon General Journeyman can transfer without retaking the trade exam if the original license came from a state approved apprenticeship of at least 8000 hours and 576 classroom hours |
| Experience required | None for general or specialty contractor registration (electrical journeyman needs 8000 trainee hours, master needs 4 years as a journeyman, plumber journey level needs 8000 hours) |
| Application and exam fees | 150.20 dollars |
| Renewal | every two years, 150.20 dollars |
| Time to license | Mailed applications 3 to 4 weeks after receipt; L and I says plan for 4 to 8 weeks total with bond and insurance time; in person filing can be same day |
| Bond and financial requirements | Continuous surety bond of 30000 dollars (general) or 15000 dollars (specialty), or an assigned savings account or CD in the same amount, effective July 1, 2024; general liability insurance of 200000 dollars public liability and 50000 dollars property damage, or 250000 dollars combined single limit |
| Penalty for unlicensed work | Not stated |
| Time to replace a qualifier | No qualifier to replace for general or specialty registration; electrical contractor license becomes void within 90 days without a replacement administrator or master electrician, 180 days if that person dies or is incapacitated (RCW 19.28.061); no day count confirmed for a designated plumber |
| Companies one qualifier may qualify | No cap at the general contractor registration level (no qualifier exists); an electrical administrator or master electrician may serve only one electrical contractor at a time; no cap confirmed for a designated plumber |
Facts checked on July 14, 2026.
Each line was checked against the state board’s published requirements on the date shown. Not stated means the board material we reviewed did not state it, so we do not guess. Boards change rules; confirm the current figure with the board before you file.
Every general and specialty contractor must register before advertising or performing work, and registration turns on proof of a surety bond, liability insurance, and state business licensing rather than trade exams or experience. The trades are different: electrical and plumbing contractors hold true licenses through L&I with designated credential holders standing behind each company. Read the registration rules and the trade license rules separately, because they work differently.
Washington requires registration, not a competency license, for general and specialty contractors. L and I (the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries) issues it to the business entity, tied to its UBI number, with no qualifying individual. Electrical and plumbing work use separate L and I credentials, each requiring a certified administrator, master electrician, or designated plumber on staff.
Washington does not run a competency licensing system for general contractors the way states such as Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas do. Instead, Washington runs a registration system built on bonding, insurance, and business accountability. General contractor registration in Washington is not a qualifying agent placement in the way licensure works in those other states, and the qualifying agent model used there does not carry over to Washington general contractor work in the same way.
Washington uses two designations rather than a tiered dollar system. A general contractor may perform work in two or more unrelated trades on a single project and may hire subcontractors. A specialty contractor is limited to one of more than 60 specific specialty designations, covering trades such as roofing, painting, HVAC and refrigeration, tree removal, and mobile home installation, and cannot hire subcontractors outside that specialty (Washington Labor and Industries, register as a contractor page). Neither designation carries a monetary ceiling the way Nevada or Tennessee attach a dollar limit to a license; registration is pass or fail, not tiered by job size.
Every contractor also carries general liability insurance of 200000 dollars in public liability and 50000 dollars in property damage, or 250000 dollars combined single limit (Washington Labor and Industries, register as a contractor page). These figures were raised from a much lower legacy amount. If an older source quotes a 12000 dollar bond, that figure is outdated; confirm the current bond amount, either 30000 or 15000 dollars, with L and I before relying on it.
Before applying to L and I, the business must already be registered with the Washington Department of Revenue and hold a Unified Business Identifier, a UBI number; L and I will not process a contractor registration until the Department of Revenue business license filing and excise tax account are verified (Washington Labor and Industries, register as a contractor page; confirmed on application form F625-001-000, revised 07-2026). The application, along with the bond or assigned account, the insurance certificate, and a 150.20 dollar fee, is filed with L and I. That fee figure is confirmed on the 07-2026 revision of the official application form. A separate L and I notice describes a 6.51 percent fee increase across contractor and licensing programs effective July 1, 2026, but the contractor registration fee itself had not changed as of September 29, 2026; confirm the current fee with L and I before quoting it. Mailed applications are currently taking 3 to 4 weeks after receipt to process and activate, and L and I's own guidance is to plan for 4 to 8 weeks total once bond underwriting and insurance binding time are added in. In person filing at an L and I office can be same day if every document is already in order (Washington Labor and Industries, register as a contractor page). Under RCW 18.27.060, the renewal schedule is every two years at 150.20 dollars (Washington State Legislature).
Effective July 1, 2026, L and I implemented a Homeowner Recovery Program under 2SHB 1534, a state fund that lets an eligible construction consumer apply for a recovery payment of up to 25000 dollars against an unsatisfied final judgment obtained against a registered contractor (Washington Labor and Industries, contractor laws and rules page). This program sits alongside the bond and insurance requirements, not in place of them, and reflects an increase in consumer protection rather than a reduction.
There is no qualifying individual or responsible managing employee role for general or specialty contractor registration itself. Registration is issued to the business entity, tied to its UBI number, not to a named individual the way a southeast state ties a license to its qualifying agent (Washington Labor and Industries, register as a contractor page and application form F625-001-000). The application does ask whether anyone with common ownership, management, or control of the applicant business has ever held a separate Washington registration, so L and I tracks people across companies for enforcement history. This is not a qualifier assignment and does not cap how many companies a person can be associated with at the general contractor registration level.
One real limit does exist, confirmed directly on the current F625-001-000 application form. L and I must deny a registration application from a "successor," defined on the form as an applicant operating with all or part of the assets of a previously registered entity under substantially common ownership, management, or control, if that prior entity has an unsatisfied final judgment for work covered by RCW 18.27 or owes L and I certain unpaid debts. In plain terms, a principal cannot avoid a judgment by closing one company and opening a new one under the same ownership; that workaround is a stated denial ground, not only a fine risk (Washington Labor and Industries, application form F625-001-000, revised 07-2026).
General or specialty contractor registration: no qualifying individual exists to replace, the registration is business level only. Electrical contractor: 90 days to replace an administrator or master electrician who leaves voluntarily, 180 days if that person dies or is incapacitated, both under RCW 19.28.061 (Washington State Legislature). Plumbing contractor: a designated plumber must be maintained on staff. Confirm directly with L and I what the statutory replacement window is, in days, for what happens if that plumber leaves.
Washington does not accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors for its general or specialty contractor registration. Washington also does not appear on NASCLA's separate electrical exam participating agencies list, so there is no NASCLA pathway in this state for either general contracting or electrical work. NASCLA transfer credit does not apply to a Washington general contractor or electrical credential.
Washington has no general contractor exam; its registration system, described above, does not include a testing requirement. The relevant exams for Washington trade credentials sit within the electrical and plumbing categories. All of them are administered through PSI Services LLC, not Prov, not Pearson VUE, and not ICC. The four PSI programs covered below are the electrician certification exam, the master electrician exam, the electrical and telecommunications administrator exam (all three within one PSI electrical bulletin), and the plumber journey level exam (a separate PSI plumbing bulletin).
Vendor and scheduling. PSI Services LLC administers the exam. A candidate must first apply to and be approved by L and I (Washington Labor and Industries, Electrical Licensing, Apply tab) before registering with PSI. L and I then sends an eligibility notice containing an Exam Unique ID, which becomes the candidate's WLI ID Number for PSI registration. Candidates can schedule online at PSI Washington Labor and Industries exams or by phone at 855 834 8751 (PSI Candidate Information Bulletin, "Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Electrical Certification").
Question count and time limit. Question count and section time vary by specialty and certificate level; the bulletin's Examination Content Outlines table (starting on page 5) gives the exact figure for each of the roughly 15 specialty categories. As one reference point, the broadest certificate, 01 General electrician, combines a NEC and theory section, a Washington codes section, and a major load calculations section into a total exam of seven hours, matching the top tier of PSI's hourly fee schedule below. Narrower specialties run shorter, some as little as one to two hours total.
Passing score. 70 percent on every section; each section must be passed independently.
Open or closed book. Open book. Candidates may use any original copyrighted material, including material that contains questions and answers, plus a silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator.
What the exam covers. The content outline runs by National Electrical Code article grouping for every specialty: NEC 90 introduction, NEC 100 to 110 general requirements, NEC 200 to 225 and 280 to 285 wiring and protection, NEC 230 services, NEC 240 overcurrent protection, NEC 250 grounding and bonding, NEC 300 to 398 wiring methods, NEC 400 to 427 and 455 to 480 electrical equipment, NEC 430 to 450 motors, HVAC, generators and transformers, NEC 490 equipment over 600 volts, NEC 500 to 516 hazardous locations, NEC 517 to 590 special occupancies, NEC 600 to 695 special equipment, NEC 700 to 702 emergency and standby systems, NEC 705 to 780 special conditions, and NEC 800 to 830 communication systems, plus a Washington laws and rules section covering RCW 19.28 and WAC 296-46B, and, for electrician (not administrator) certificates, a major load calculations section. All code content is based on the 2020 National Electrical Code. The 06A HVAC and Refrigeration Electrical specialty has its own dedicated exam within this PSI program.
Approved reference or book list. There is no single fixed list, since the exam is open book and permits any original copyrighted material. In practice, candidates commonly bring a 2020 NEC, a printed copy of RCW 19.28 and WAC 296-46B (an internet printed PDF copy is acceptable if placed in a binder), and general trade reference guides. Washington Labor and Industries names Ugly's Electrical References, Ferm's Fast Finder, and Soares Book on Grounding as commonly used guides; these are examples, not a required or fixed list.
Tabbing and highlighting rules. Highlighting, underlining, and permanent index tabs are allowed on copyrighted references and must be in place before the exam begins. Sticky notes, repositionable tabs, and other removable markers are not permitted. Nothing may be written in the references during the exam; the bulletin states that doing so constitutes an attempt to cheat.
Where to test. Fourteen PSI centers across Washington: Arlington, Bremerton, Everett, Kent, Olympia, Puyallup, Richland, Bellevue near Seattle, Snohomish, Spokane Valley, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Yakima. Unlike the plumbing program below, the electrical bulletin allows a candidate to test at any PSI center nationwide, not only the Washington list, so a neighboring state center, Oregon or Idaho for example, is an option. The bulletin does not mention remote or online proctoring, so remote testing should be treated as not offered for this program.
Retake rules. A 14 day minimum wait after any failed attempt. A 3 month wait after a third failure within the same one year eligibility window. Electricians and master electricians have one year from L and I approval to pass every section. Administrators must pass all sections within one year of their first attempt. Passed sections do not need to be repeated within that window.
Fees. PSI bills electrician exam sections by the hour: 1 hour 45 dollars, 2 hours 55 dollars, 3 hours 65 dollars, 4 hours 75 dollars, 5 hours 85 dollars, 6 hours 95 dollars, 7 hours 105 dollars. Registration fees are not refundable or transferable and are valid for one year. This is PSI's testing fee only, separate from L and I's own application and certification fees described above.
Vendor and scheduling. Same PSI program and portal as the electrician exam above (PSI Washington Labor and Industries exams), and it requires L and I preapproval the same way. As described above, the prerequisite is holding a journeyman certificate for at least four years before L and I will approve a candidate to sit this exam.
Question count and time limit. Shorter than the matching electrician exam for the same specialty, since it drops the major load calculations section. For 01 General, the bulletin's table shows a combined NEC and theory plus Washington codes section only, no separate load calculation section, for the master electrician certificate.
Passing score. 70 percent per section, the same standard used across the whole PSI Washington electrical program.
Open or closed book. Open book, identical policy and allowed materials to the electrician exam above.
What the exam covers. The same NEC article by article outline and the same RCW 19.28 and WAC 296-46B Washington laws and rules section as the electrician exam for the matching specialty, without the major load calculations component.
Approved reference or book list. Same open book rule: any original copyrighted material, no fixed list.
Tabbing and highlighting rules. Identical rule to the electrician exam: permanent tabs and highlighting only, nothing written in during the exam.
Where to test. Same statewide PSI network, same nationwide flexibility, no remote proctoring mentioned in the bulletin.
Retake rules and fees. Same 14 day and 3 month retake rules as the electrician exam. Billed at PSI's flat administrator and master electrician rate per attempt regardless of number of sections; a retest within the year is billed by the hour instead.
Vendor and scheduling. PSI, same portal as above. Unlike electrician and master electrician candidates, an administrator candidate needs no L and I approval to register for the PSI exam; the WLI ID Number used to register is simply the candidate's Social Security Number with no spaces, dashes, or other punctuation.
Question count and time limit. Administrator sections test NEC and theory plus Washington codes only; there is no major load calculations component. The administrator must pass every section of the exam within one year of the first attempt.
Passing score. 70 percent per section.
Open or closed book. Open book, same rule as the electrician and master electrician exams.
What the exam covers. The same NEC article groupings and the same RCW 19.28 and WAC 296-46B chapter as the corresponding electrician specialty, since the administrator is the person on staff who is expected to know the code for whatever specialty the firm performs. This is the role closest to a qualifying agent in Washington's system, as described above.
Approved reference or book list. Same open book rule: any original copyrighted material, no fixed list.
Tabbing and highlighting rules. Same permanent tab and highlighting rule as above.
Where to test. Same statewide list, testable at any PSI center nationwide.
Retake rules and fees. Once every section is passed, the candidate must apply for the administrator certificate within 90 days of the last passing score or must retest. Billed at PSI's flat administrator rate per attempt; a retest section is billed by the hour.
Vendor and scheduling. PSI Services LLC, a separate program from the electrical bulletin above. A candidate first applies for eligibility with L and I (Washington Labor and Industries, Plumbing, Plumber Certification); eligibility is valid for one year. Once approved, PSI emails a confirmation and the candidate pays and schedules by phone at 855 746 8173 or online at PSI Washington plumbing exam portal (PSI Candidate Information Bulletin, "Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Plumbing Examinations").
Question count and time limit. Three separate 90 minute portions in one sitting: a 100 item journey level code and general trade knowledge portion, a 25 item waste and vent drawings portion, and a 25 item water sizing drawings portion. A candidate must pass all three portions inside the same eligibility window.
Passing score. 70 percent on each of the three portions.
Open or closed book. Closed book. Tables 702.1, 610.3, 610.4, and 610.10 are supplied at the exam. Table 703.2 is explicitly not supplied and must be known from memory.
What the exam covers. The 2015 Uniform Plumbing Code with Washington State amendments, journey level code and general trade knowledge, waste and vent sizing, and water sizing drawing exercises.
Approved reference or book list. None for the journey level or residential specialty portions, since they are closed book. The bulletin lists two other plumbing programs that are open book: Medical Gas Plumber (allowed reference: NFPA 99C Gas and Vacuum Systems book) and Domestic Pump or Irrigation Specialty Plumber (allowed reference: 2015 Uniform Plumbing Code with the Washington State Amendments), both purchasable through the Washington Association of Building Officials, WABO, at 360 628 8669 or Washington Association of Building Officials.
Tabbing and highlighting rules. For the open book plumbing programs, allowed references may be highlighted, underlined, annotated, and tabbed with permanent tabs before the exam begins. Nothing may be written in during the exam and no additional loose papers may accompany the reference; any extra material found will be confiscated and reported to the department.
Where to test. Plumbing candidates are restricted to the Washington centers only: Arlington, Bremerton, Ellensburg, Everett, Kennewick, Lakewood, Liberty Lake, Olympia, Puyallup, Bellevue near Seattle, Snohomish, Spokane Valley, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Yakima. Unlike the electrical program above, the plumbing bulletin states that Washington candidates can only test at the centers listed; out of state testing requires the special arrangement and ADA accommodation request process at the end of the bulletin. No remote or online proctoring is mentioned anywhere in the bulletin.
Retake rules. A 14 day wait after any failed portion. A candidate who fails any portion must retake all three portions, not just the failed one, unless the Department determines a waiver applies based on prior attempts. Eligibility itself is good for one year with unlimited retest attempts allowed inside that year.
Fees. PSI issued a new plumbing bulletin, revised 7/30/2026, superseding the 2022 version, and it raised the testing fees: the three portion first sitting exam is now 84 dollars, up from 80 dollars, and an individual portion retest is now 52 dollars, up from 50 dollars. Separately, per Washington Labor and Industries' own plumber examination page, L and I charges its own application fee of 202.10 dollars and a temporary permit fee of 100.30 dollars, both unchanged; confirm these two L and I figures against a current fee schedule before quoting either number. The new bulletin also confirms that a candidate who passes has 90 days to pay the certification fee to L and I or must reapply and test again, the same 90 day structure used elsewhere in this state's licensing system.
The current bulletin also lists two additional plumbing specialty exams: a Residential Service Plumber exam, 65 items, closed book, and a Backflow exam, 55 items, closed book, both scored at 70 percent like every other PSI Washington plumbing exam. These sit alongside the Journey Level, Residential Specialty, Medical Gas, and Domestic Pump or Irrigation programs already described above.
Bulletins referenced for this section: PSI Services LLC, "Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Electrical Certification, Candidate Information Bulletin," copyright 2025, revised 10/30/2025, at PSI Washington Labor and Industries exams, confirmed current with the same fee schedule, same NEC 2020 basis, same 70 percent passing score, and same content outlines by specialty. PSI Services LLC, "Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Plumbing Examinations, Candidate Information Bulletin," revised 7/30/2026, at PSI Washington plumbing exam portal, replacing the 10/10/2022 version (checked September 12, 2026).
Washington has no experience or financial requirements for general or specialty contractor registration, a sharp contrast with states such as Florida and Georgia. Washington's registration process should not be assumed to work the same way those states' licensing processes do.
There is no general contractor reciprocity or licensure by endorsement path to describe, since Washington's general and specialty registration has no exam and no experience test to waive. Reciprocity questions for Washington most often concern a specific trade, especially electrical work, rather than general contractor registration.
Electrical work in Washington runs on a separate licensing track from general contractor registration, administered by L and I's Electrical Program under RCW 19.28. An electrical contractor license requires a 4000 dollar electrical and telecommunications contractor surety bond or assigned savings account, and every electrical contractor must have a certified, actively assigned electrical administrator or master electrician on staff (Washington Labor and Industries, electrical contractor page). This administrator role is the closest thing Washington has to a qualifying agent.
Under RCW 19.28.061, no person may concurrently serve as master electrician or administrator for more than one electrical contractor at a time; the role is exclusive to a single firm (Washington State Legislature). If that person's relationship with the contractor ends, the contractor's license becomes void within 90 days unless a replacement administrator or master electrician is qualified and assigned; if the administrator dies or becomes incapacitated, the window is 180 days, and the contractor must notify the department in writing within 10 days of a termination caused by death or incapacitation (Washington State Legislature). There are no prerequisites to sit the administrator exam itself, which is offered through PSI, but becoming a journeyman electrician first requires 8000 hours of experience as a trainee, with at least 4000 of those hours in commercial or industrial work, and a master electrician credential requires holding a journeyman certificate for at least 4 years before testing (Washington Labor and Industries, electrical examination page). All electrical exams are delivered by PSI, open book, against the 2020 National Electrical Code and Washington's own laws and rules (RCW 19.28 and WAC 296-46B), with a 70 percent passing score per section (PSI Washington Labor and Industries exams, bulletin copyright 2025, revised 10/30/2025).
Washington has a narrow reciprocity agreement with Oregon only. An Oregon General Journeyman license, or a Washington EL01 certificate holder, can transfer without retaking the trade exam if the original license came from a state approved apprenticeship of at least 8000 hours and 576 classroom hours, and only if that Oregon license was itself obtained by Oregon examination. This is documented in L and I's own Reciprocal Agreement materials and its Application for a Reciprocal 01 General Journey Level Electrician Certificate, form F500-148-000 (Washington Labor and Industries). Idaho and Montana have no confirmed reciprocity agreement with Washington for electrical licensing; an applicant from those states tests from scratch.
An electrical contractor license application (form F500-018-000, revised 07-2026) currently costs 353.90 dollars for the contractor license itself plus 53 dollars to assign an administrator or master electrician, 406.90 dollars total, confirmed on the current official form. General liability insurance is not a stated requirement for a standard electrical contractor license; L and I's own page notes it does not track liability insurance for electrical contractors. The certificate of insurance requirement on the application (20000 dollars property damage, 50000 dollars injury to one person, 100000 dollars injury to more than one person, each occurrence) applies specifically to telecommunications contractors, category 09, not to general electrical contractors, and that liability insurance requirement does not apply to the electrical track except for telecommunications work.
Plumbing also runs on its own statutory track, RCW 18.106, separate from general contractor registration. A plumbing contractor license requires the business to employ a full time individual holding a valid journey level or specialty plumber certificate of competency, assigned as the designated plumber for the scope of work performed; this is the plumbing equivalent of the electrical administrator requirement (Washington State Legislature, RCW 18.106.400). A journey level plumber certificate requires 8000 hours, at least four years, of supervised trainee experience, with at least 4000 of those hours, two years, in commercial or industrial work (Washington Labor and Industries, plumber certification page). The journey level exam is delivered by PSI, closed book, and a candidate who fails may retest after a mandatory two week wait (Washington Labor and Industries, plumber examination page). Whether there is a cap on how many plumbing contractor licenses one designated plumber may serve at once should be confirmed with L and I directly.
Technicians handling refrigerant also need federal EPA Section 608 certification, a federal requirement layered on top of Washington's state rules.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, L and I, handles construction contractor registration statewide out of its Tumwater headquarters (Washington Labor and Industries, register as a contractor page, checked September 29, 2026). There is no separate contractors board the way Nevada or Georgia run one, and no county or city alternative for general construction work. L and I is the single statewide authority for both general and specialty contractor registration under RCW 18.27 (Washington State Legislature).
Official Licensing Authority
All contractor license applications, renewals, and qualifying agent changes must go through this board.
We place a licensed qualifying agent with your company as a full time W-2 employee and prepare the qualifier filing with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). Tell us your trade and what you have going on, and pick a time for a discovery call. Or call 615-219-2110.
Provide your information for a compliance assessment.
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