Georgia licenses its plumbing contractors as Master Plumbers, in two classes examined separately by PSI: Master Plumber Class I (Restricted) and Master Plumber Class II (Unrestricted). Both examinations are closed book, both run seven hours, and on both, a scaled score of 70 is required to pass every form. The PassProfessor Georgia Master Plumber program covers both classes in one program, built on the 2024 Georgia Plumbing Code.
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Two classes, one program, never blended
Georgia issues three plumbing licenses through the Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers of the State Construction Industry Licensing Board: Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber Class I, and Master Plumber Class II. The master tier — the contracting tier — is the pair this program covers. Georgia has no separate plumbing contractor license title: a plumbing contractor here is a person licensed as a Master Plumber Class I or Class II engaged in the business of plumbing contracting, responsible for permits, code compliance, inspections, and final approval. A licensed journeyman is not a plumbing contractor.
Class I is the restricted class, and Class II is the unrestricted class: Class II authorizes all scopes of plumbing work without limitation, expressly including commercial buildings of any size, industrial facilities, institutional occupancies, multistory structures of any occupancy classification, and specialized-use facilities. The classes sit different examinations, with different scored totals, and a candidate prepares for the class being sought; this program holds the two apart throughout. One piece of candor at the outset: the sources behind this program carry two differing statements of the restricted class’s precise scope limits, and the published record does not settle which statement the live examination keys. This program therefore describes Class I as the restricted class in general terms, and candidates should confirm the current scope statement with the Division before relying on any specific threshold. The companion guide at /georgia-master-plumber-exam-guide/ records how the program handles that open point.
The examinations at a glance
| Item | Master Plumber Class I (Restricted) | Master Plumber Class II (Unrestricted) |
|---|---|---|
| Scored questions | 120 scored: 80 trade + 40 Administrative/Business/Design | 140 scored: 100 trade + 40 Administrative/Business/Design |
| Pretest questions | 24 unscored pretest; 144 presented in total | 28 unscored pretest; 168 presented in total |
| Time | 7 hours, in two parts of 3.5 hours with a break between | 7 hours, in two parts of 3.5 hours with a break between |
| Book status | Closed book | Closed book |
| Format | Computer-based, multiple-choice, four choices (A–D), through PSI | Computer-based, multiple-choice, four choices (A–D), through PSI |
| Passing standard | A scaled score of 70 is required to pass every form | A scaled score of 70 is required to pass every form |
| Practical component | None — no hands-on practical and no drawing component | None — no hands-on practical and no drawing component |
A scaled score, stated in its own form
Georgia’s passing standard needs one careful sentence, because it is routinely misstated elsewhere. The bulletin’s scoring position is that the minimum passing score on each examination form is converted to a final scaled score of 70 — a scaled score of 70 is required to pass every form. A scaled score is a converted score, not a share of questions answered correctly, and this program states the standard only in that published form. Candidates should not convert the Georgia figure into another state’s form; the number travels with its scale, or it does not travel at all.
Pretest questions sit inside both examinations — 24 presented to Class I candidates and 28 to Class II — unscored and unidentified. There is no penalty for guessing, so no presented question should be left unanswered. Only silent, non-programmable calculators without alpha keys or printing capability are permitted. Scores are reported in person or by United States mail only, never by telephone, e-mail, or fax, and a candidate who does not pass receives subscores by content area. The Board mails licenses to passing candidates approximately six weeks after each examination window. A duplicate score report may be requested in writing within one year of the examination date, at $25 per copy — the one examination-administration charge the bulletin itself publishes. Georgia law also provides examination-score points for qualifying veterans, as the bulletin sets out.
Closed book at the master tier
Book status is the sharpest mechanical difference between Georgia’s master examinations and its journeyman examination. Both Master examinations are closed book: the reference materials on the bulletin’s suggested list may not be used during either Master sitting. The Journeyman examination, by contrast, permits its references. A journeyman accustomed to an open-book sitting with the code at hand faces a different performance at the master tier — the material must be carried in memory, organized for recall across a seven-hour day, and the study method changes accordingly. This program is built for the closed-book performance: retrieval, not lookup.
What the trade examinations cover
The trade portion is published in nine categories, and the two classes weight them differently — the clearest evidence that these are distinct examinations rather than one paper at two lengths.
| Trade category | Class I scored | Class II scored |
|---|---|---|
| A. Comply with General Laws | 5 | 5 |
| B. Comply with Regulations | 15 | 15 |
| C. Work Planning/Organizing | 8 | 7 |
| D. Perform Pipe Cutting and Joining Activities | 4 | 10 |
| E. Perform Plumbing Systems Installation Activities | 16 | 21 |
| F. Perform System Testing Activities | 5 | 7 |
| G. Perform Maintenance and Repair Activities | 11 | 15 |
| H. Safety-related Issues | 11 | 15 |
| I. Calculate (offset, volume, area, pressure, and similar) | 5 | 5 |
| Trade subtotal | 80 | 100 |
Installation work is the largest block in both classes and grows with the class; pipe cutting and joining more than doubles from Class I to Class II; maintenance, repair, and safety all carry materially more weight in the unrestricted examination. Category A reaches the licensing board’s own functions, underground-utility location law, accessibility law, and state water conservation law; Category B reaches the state plumbing and gas codes, federal construction safety rules, permits and inspections, trenching law, the state boiler code, health department requirements, and manufacturer recommendations. The bulletin also warns that some questions rest on field experience and trade practice, not limited to the listed references.
The master-only block of 40 questions
Every Master candidate, in both classes, sits a further 40 scored questions that Journeyman candidates do not sit at all: the Administrative/Business/Design block, in three published parts — Comply with Business Laws, 15 questions; Comply with Administrative Requirements, 15 questions; and Plumbing System Design, 10 questions. Georgia folds this block into the master examinations themselves — there is no separate business and law examination in this state — so the sitting a master candidate prepares for is a 120- or 140-question sitting, not an 80- or 100-question one, and preparation time is allocated on that full count.
The code: 2024, Georgia’s edition, and no other
Tested and adopted coincide in Georgia, and the date matters. The 2024 International Plumbing Code together with the Georgia State Amendments is the official Georgia State Minimum Standard Plumbing Code — the 2024 Georgia Plumbing Code — and since May 1, 2026 the examinations are based only on that 2024 edition: the reference list’s earlier window, in which either of two Georgia editions could be used, has closed. Preparation composed from an earlier national edition is preparation for a sitting that no longer exists; this program is drafted only to the 2024 code with its Georgia amendments.
Georgia’s amendments are the delta, structural as well as numerical. Georgia deletes the model code’s Chapter 1, Scope and Administration, entirely and without substitution; that chapter survives only as a reference guide for local governments. And where Georgia replaces a model table, the Georgia value governs outright: under the replaced Table 604.4, the Georgia maximum flow for a shower is 2.5 gpm at 60 psi. A candidate who answers a Georgia flow question from the unamended national table has answered another jurisdiction’s question. The suggested reference list pairs the Georgia plumbing and gas codes with standard trade mathematics and design texts, accessibility standards, the state underground-utilities manual, and — for Master candidates only — the federal construction safety regulations.
The ladder, and what is settled on it
The ladder runs Journeyman, then Master Class I or Master Class II. Georgia measures full-time experience at 2,000 hours in a calendar year, each 2,000 documented hours counting as one year, verified by signed affidavit from each licensed Master Plumber Class I or Class II who supervised the applicant. The journeyman rung is settled in the sources: one year of full-time experience under a licensed Master Plumber Class I or Class II, plus passing the journeyman examination. Applicants name three persons licensed as plumbers as references — for Class I, at least one must be a licensed Master Plumber; for Class II, at least two must be. Every applicant submits a secure and verifiable identity document and an affidavit verifying lawful presence, with immigration documentation where applicable, and applying carries express consent to a criminal background check with fingerprints, at the applicant’s expense.
On the master rung itself, this program practices the same candor: the statute layer and the rule layer state the master experience years differently, and no published source read settles which statement the current examination keys. The program therefore prints neither version as settled, and master applicants should confirm the current experience statement with the Division when they apply. The shape of the gate is not in doubt: documented full-time experience, supervised and affidavit-verified, references from licensed plumbers, and the examination passed at a scaled score of 70.
After the sitting: retakes, renewal, continuing education
A candidate who does not pass must retake and pass the examination to be licensed, and Georgia adds a study gate: an applicant who has failed twice must present evidence of completing a Board-approved review course before admission to a third examination; after a third failure, no further course is required before later attempts. An approvable course includes a college, postsecondary, or military code course, or a course of at least six hours taught by an instructor holding a contractor or master license in the trade. Examination fees are nonrefundable. An appointment may be rescheduled once at no charge, online or by telephone, at least two business days ahead; a second reschedule, arriving more than 15 minutes late, or failing to report requires a complete application and fee again.
Every Georgia license is valid for two years under biennial renewal. Renewal requires continuing education: a minimum of eight hours within the 24 months before expiration, with reduced positions for those licensed a shorter time — four hours for a licensee initially licensed less than two years, and none before the initial renewal for a licensee initially licensed less than one year. Hours may not be carried forward, and licensees keep their continuing education records for at least five years. The late-renewal window runs no more than 31 days past expiration, after which the license lapses; reinstatement turns on how long the license has been expired, and a license expired more than three years may require reexamination.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Both classes, held apart. One program, two examinations: the shared categories taught once, the class-weighted categories taught at each class’s published counts, and the master-only 40-question block treated as part of every master sitting. Material is composed only to the 2024 Georgia Plumbing Code and written from scratch against the Georgia sources.
Built for a closed-book, scaled-score sitting. Preparation is organized for recall across two three-and-a-half-hour parts, with the pretest reality stated plainly: presented totals run to 144 and 168 questions, and pacing belongs to the presented count, not the scored one.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, its Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers, or PSI, and this program is not a Georgia course. Completing it confers no license and no exemption; the Division alone licenses, and candidates register for examinations through PSI’s channels.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Georgia Master Plumber Class I (Restricted) and Class II (Unrestricted) program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. The full examination guide, with the category-by-category account and a study plan for the seven-hour closed-book day, is at /georgia-master-plumber-exam-guide/.
Frequently asked questions
What master credentials does Georgia issue?
Two: Master Plumber Class I (Restricted) and Master Plumber Class II (Unrestricted). They are separately examined classes of one master tier, and this program covers both without blending them.
How do the two examinations differ in size?
Class I presents 144 questions: 120 scored — 80 trade plus 40 Administrative/Business/Design — and 24 unscored pretest. Class II presents 168: 140 scored — 100 trade plus the same 40-question block — and 28 unscored pretest.
How long is each examination?
Seven hours for each class, delivered in two parts of three and a half hours with a break between.
Are the Master examinations open book?
No. Both Master examinations are closed book. The Journeyman examination permits its references; the master tier does not, and the study method has to change accordingly.
What score passes in Georgia?
A scaled score of 70 is required to pass every form. The bulletin converts each form’s minimum passing score to that scaled figure; it is a scaled score, stated in that form throughout this program.
Which code edition is examined?
The 2024 Georgia Plumbing Code — the 2024 International Plumbing Code with Georgia amendments. Since May 1, 2026 the examinations rest only on the 2024 edition, which is also the adopted state minimum standard code.
Is there a practical or drawing component?
No. Both Master examinations are computer-based multiple-choice examinations, four choices per question, and no hands-on practical or drawing component forms part of either sitting.
What is the 40-question block journeymen do not sit?
The Administrative/Business/Design block every Master candidate sits: Business Laws 15 questions, Administrative Requirements 15 questions, and Plumbing System Design 10 questions, inside the same master sitting. Georgia has no separate business and law examination.
How is experience documented for a master application?
By signed affidavit from each licensed Master Plumber Class I or Class II who supervised the applicant, with full-time experience measured at 2,000 hours in a calendar year. Applicants also name three persons licensed as plumbers — at least one licensed Master Plumber for Class I, at least two for Class II.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Board or PSI?
No. PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, its Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers, or PSI. The Division alone licenses plumbers.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.