Georgia Plumbing Continuing Education

Good news, Georgia plumbers. You don’t need very much continuing education (CE) in order to keep your license active. And you can get the hours you do need online and on-demand, so you can take them whenever and wherever it’s best for you. 

Still, though, because the state’s Professional Licensing Boards (PLB) website isn’t very easy to navigate or forthcoming with information, you might be wondering what, exactly, you need as far as CE goes. To help, we’ve outlined the continuing education requirements for Georgia plumber license renewal. 

How many CE hours you need (journeymen and master plumbers)

Whether you’re a journeyman or master plumber, the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia say that you need four continuing education hours each year. That means that by the time your renewal application is due every two years, you need to have completed eight total hours.  

If you recently got your plumber license and haven’t had it for a full two years, your CE requirement adjusts accordingly:

• If you’ve had your license for one full year by the time renewal is due, you need four CE hours.
• If it will have been less than a year since you got your license, you’re off the hook.

That applies to this renewal cycle only. Next time around, you’ll need the full eight hours. 

If you don’t meet the applicable CE requirement during each renewal cycle, you can be subject to disciplinary action, which the PLB says can include denying your license renewal or revoking it entirely.

Long story short, if you want to continue working as a licensed plumber, make sure you’re getting four CE hours each year. 

Getting CE that counts

You can’t just plunk down in any classroom to get hours that will satisfy the PLB. They specifically say that your hours need to be focused on the work you do. In fact, your hours need to fall into predetermined categories.

Journeymen, you can take hours on plumbing:

• Installation
• Design
• State codes
• Products, tools, and materials
• Innovations and new techniques
• Safety
• Work-related legal issues

Master plumbers, you can take CE hours on any of the above, plus:

• Environmental issues
• Business issues

The good news is the state allows you to take your CE online, so getting your four hours each year shouldn’t be a big hassle. 

Reporting your CE for renewal

In order to renew your license, you’ll need to list your completed CE hours on the renewal application, which you can complete online.  

Don’t toss out your CE course certificates of completion when you submit your renewal, though. State law requires you to keep records on your CE for at least five years, and the PLB can ask for them at any time. 

If you do get a records request, the state will want to see paperwork that shows:

• The name of the education provider
• The course title and outline
• When and where you completed the course (again, online is okay)
• How many hours you took
• Something indicating that you satisfactorily completed those hours

To make that easy for you, our Georgia plumbing CE comes with a certificate of completion that we automatically send you each time you finish a course.