[License Guru]

Hello Plumbingzone! My name is Phil. I'm a former California Contractors State License Board Application Technician. I've been helping contractors with their licensing questions on contractortalk for quite a while now and thought I'd come over to this forum to offer my help and advice to anyone who needs it here.

If you have a CA licensing question, fire away.

 

[ToUtahNow]

Hello Plumbingzone! My name is Phil. I'm a former California Contractors State License Board Application Technician. I've been helping contractors with their licensing questions on contractortalk for quite a while now and thought I'd come over to this forum to offer my help and advice to anyone who needs it here.

If you have a CA licensing question, fire away.

How much do you charge these days to help someone get their license?

Mark

 

[License Guru]

Hey Mark,

I offer a free application review for forum members. Check out my site for other services.

Can't advertise on the forum. It's a rule breaker. :whistling2:

 

[ToUtahNow]

I'm really not that curious as I have had my California license for 28-years already. I had just heard the CSLB was finally cracking down on the proof of experience and wondered if that made it tougher to get a license.

On another note what are the CSLB rules related to handymen now? I was also wondering about their take on GCs doing plumbing or HO pulling permits then hiring non-licensed people to do the work? It seems there are an awful lot of GCs doing plumbing under their GC license due to the 3-trades but not making carpentry one of the trades.

Mark

 

[Redwood]

People actually need help to get a license in California?:blink:

Or are your customers just the developmentally challenged ones...:whistling2:

 

[pcplumber]

Sure!

People actually need help to get a license in California?:blink:

Or are your customers just the developmentally challenged ones...:whistling2:

This joke, in the box below, was told at a doctor's convention. This is the reason:

Many doctors are not fond of plumbers because doctors often spend hundreds of thousand of dollars for their education and it takes 6 to 12 years to get a medical degree. Before a doctor makes his first dollar he is often about 30 years old, has huge loans to pay, he is broke, and his beginning salary is only about $80,000 per year. This is not a great monetary reward when plumbers, often with less than a high school education, are earning $75,000 to $150,000 per year, at less than 25 years of age. Not all plumbers earn this much money. The average income for a plumber (employee) is $25,000 to $70,000 per year. The owners of the average plumbing company earns less than $150,000 per year, and some owners earn over $1 million per year. Many doctors never net more than $120,000 per year after expenses.
Also, doctors are not particularly fond of attorneys.

BRAIN CELLS FOR SALE - STORY TOLD AT DOCTOR'S CONVENTION

Would you like to buy some brain cells? I have brain cells from individuals in many different fields.

Sure! What do you have?

I have several one-ounce bottles of attorney's brain cells for $50 an ounce.

What else?

I have several one-ounces of doctor's brain cells for $200 an ounce?

Do you brain cells from any other trade?

Yes, I have only one ounce of plumber's brain cells and I want $20,000.

Wow! Why so much for the plumber's brain cells?

Well! Do you know how many plumbers I had to go through to get one ounce of brain!​

 

[user823]

Passing the California plumbing contractors test is as easy as passing a drivers license test.

 

[ROCKSTARPLUMBER]

Seriously, I wish everyone of you guys had to come to Florida and try and get a plumbing license. Tell em bout it Pro Tech.

 

[ILPlumber]

Is Florida a UPC state?

UPC was one of the easiest contractor tests I've taken in a while.

 

[pcplumber]

I disagree!

Passing the California plumbing contractors test is as easy as passing a drivers license test.

I don't believe 99% of the plumbers can pass the California test without going to a contractor school that gives you the answers. Unless the test was changed since I took it, we had to look at blue prints and calculate the number of water pipe and drain pipe fittings. We had to read the specs first. There was a question asking how many galvanized 1/2 inch 90's were in the building. This was sort of a trick question because the water piping was overhead and the specs said there were air chambers on some fixtures. The question asked 50, 55, 60, or 65. We had to add extra 90's because each air chamber required two additional 90's as the water pipe dropped from the ceiling and made two 90 degree turns to make the air chambers vertical.

There was also a water fountain and the test asked how many 1-1/2 inch 45's were required. We had to know that the water fountain vent had an offset around a ceiling beam.

I remember there was also a 4 x 3 wye in the sewer pipe rather that a 4 x 4 wye.

I though the test was quite difficult for the average repair plumber who had no formal blue print training, and no experience with new construction.

 

[ROCKSTARPLUMBER]

I don't believe 99% of the plumbers can pass the California test without going to a contractor school that gives you the answers. Unless the test was changed since I took it, we had to look at blue prints and calculate the number of water pipe and drain pipe fittings. We had to read the specs first. There was a question asking how many galvanized 1/2 inch 90's were in the building. This was sort of a trick question because the water piping was overhead and the specs said there were air chambers on some fixtures. The question asked 50, 55, 60, or 65. We had to add extra 90's because each air chamber required two additional 90's as the water pipe dropped from the ceiling and made two 90 degree turns to make the air chambers vertical.

There was also a water fountain and the test asked how many 1-1/2 inch 45's were required. We had to know that the water fountain vent had an offset around a ceiling beam. And on a side note, 99% of the plumbers in Cal, are service plumbers?

I remember there was also a 4 x 3 wye in the sewer pipe rather that a 4 x 4 wye.

I though the test was quite difficult for the average repair plumber who had no formal blue print training, and no experience with new construction.

See dude, you just dug your own grave here. That test SHOULD be difficult for any service tech, that has no new construction experience. My father has been a service tech for over 30yrs, and if I handed him a set of plans, it would be like handing a monkey a Ps3 controller. 4X3 wye? What was it serving? 90's? Don't know about the rest of you, but, I put my adapters for my arichambers on a Tee fitting, just before the turn down, don't know why it would require more 90's. Not trying to break your balls there Kaliforina man, but your test seems simple. You have to take a class if you are a serivce man to get all the answers? SHIOT, sign me up.

 

[ROCKSTARPLUMBER]

Is Florida a UPC state?

UPC was one of the easiest contractor tests I've taken in a while.

Its ICC here Ill.

 

[pcplumber]

You just flunked the test!

See dude, you just dug your own grave here. That test SHOULD be difficult for any service tech, that has no new construction experience. My father has been a service tech for over 30yrs, and if I handed him a set of plans, it would be like handing a monkey a Ps3 controller. 4X3 wye? What was it serving? 90's? Don't know about the rest of you, but, I put my adapters for my arichambers on a Tee fitting, just before the turn down, don't know why it would require more 90's. Not trying to break your balls there Kaliforina man, but your test seems simple. You have to take a class if you are a serivce man to get all the answers? SHIOT, sign me up.

The water pipes were in the ceiling and you cannot put your air chambers before the turn down. Air chambers must be as close to the fixture as possible where the water hammering occurs. The pipes came down and a tee was installed for the fixture. Then, the vertical pipe continued downward and two 90's were installed to so the air chambers could be made vertical. I'm not the dummy who drew the plans!:no:

 

[user823]

I took the Ca. test, yes it was 20 years ago but from what I hear not much has changed. I didn't even study, I didn't even have the required 4 years, maybe 2-1/2 and still passed it with flying colors the very first time. They don't even check your experience!
You have no clue what a real Master Plumbers test is like until you take one from a state like Mn., IL, etc. The test is around 5 hours long. It's in four sections if you're taking the Masters. You better be prepared to size a commercial 8 story building for water and dwv using fixture units, it's not horseshoes, you have to get it exact. You better know how to draw in all the drains, branch vents, vent stacks and stack vents, yoke vents, battery circuit vents etc..
You better know how to draw isometric drawings of water and dwv and then size them. You better know how to do your elevations for your drain rough in's. Once again, it has to be exact to the fraction. You also have to size a commercial roof for drains and leaders. It goes on and on, it's five hours long.
Don't even tell me how hard the Ca. test is, I know better. I plumbed out there for 16 years and found out I didn't know sh*t when I took a real test. I have my Master license now but you don't get it by getting a little help on the internet. It takes months if not years to learn this stuff to prepare for the test.
When you get a Master Plumbing license you've earned it and earned the right to be called a Master Plumber! ooooooohRAH!!!!!!!!

 

[ILPlumber]

Do you mean to tell me you have to know about plumbing to be a master plumber?:laughing:

I thought I could just get the answers from Phil.

 

[pcplumber]

I agree with you 100%

I took the Ca. test, yes it was 20 years ago but from what I hear not much has changed. I didn't even study, I didn't even have the required 4 years, maybe 2-1/2 and still passed it with flying colors the very first time. They don't even check your experience!
You have no clue what a real Master Plumbers test is like until you take one from a state like Mn., IL, etc. The test is around 5 hours long. It's in four sections if you're taking the Masters. You better be prepared to size a commercial 8 story building for water and dwv using fixture units, it's not horseshoes, you have to get it exact. You better know how to draw in all the drains, branch vents, vent stacks and stack vents, yoke vents, battery circuit vents etc..
You better know how to draw isometric drawings of water and dwv and then size them. You better know how to do your elevations for your drain rough in's. Once again, it has to be exact to the fraction. You also have to size a commercial roof for drains and leaders. It goes on and on, it's five hours long.
Don't even tell me how hard the Ca. test is, I know better. I plumbed out there for 16 years and found out I didn't know sh*t when I took a real test. I have my Master license now but you don't get it by getting a little help on the internet. It takes months if not years to learn this stuff to prepare for the test.
When you get a Master Plumbing license you've earned it and earned the right to be called a Master Plumber! ooooooohRAH!!!!!!!!

I am from Massachusetts and they are probably the strictest in the nation. If I remember right, plumbing started in the United States in Harftord Connecticut. I think the California test took me 30 minutes for the plumbing section and 30 minutes for the business section. I had a more difficult time with the business section because I had no experience with running a business in California and the laws are confusing when I had no prior experience in applying them. I am not going to lie. I had a neighbor that paid to go to contractor licensing school. I was to poor at the time. I studied his book and I knew the answers to the test, so perfect, I wrote the answers on scratch paper before I opened my test boor because I did not want to confuse myself.

 

[user823]

Do you mean to tell me you have to know about plumbing to be a master plumber?:laughing:

I thought I could just get the answers from Phil.

Where was Phil when I needed him!:whistling2:

 

[ToUtahNow]

I took my California test in 1981 along with 1,200 others from all trades in the Pasadena Convention Center. I believe I had plans for a 17-story building and was only allowed a pencil and a rule. The trade section took about 45 minutes and the law about 30 minutes. In 1985 I went back for my GC in the same place which took about 30 minutes. Many years later I took the Nevada test and half of it was open book. There were 12 people testing and all of it was on the computer.

You can say what you want about testing schools but they are available in all States not just California. Many of them are there just to help with paperwork so your app is accepted the first time. The problem with most plumbers is they are plumbers not paper pushers.

Mark

 

[License Guru]

I'm really not that curious as I have had my California license for 28-years already. I had just heard the CSLB was finally cracking down on the proof of experience and wondered if that made it tougher to get a license.

On another note what are the CSLB rules related to handymen now? I was also wondering about their take on GCs doing plumbing or HO pulling permits then hiring non-licensed people to do the work? It seems there are an awful lot of GCs doing plumbing under their GC license due to the 3-trades but not making carpentry one of the trades.
Mark

WOW... you guys have been busy in this thread!

Mark, the $500 rule still applies but the state hasn't the money or the guts to put the clamps down on the 1000's out there who go over the limit. About the only thing they did was allow self-employed experience to be accepted when applying.

They are required to pull 3% of apps submitted for experience verification and I've had several clients get their apps pulled. Not because of what I did, they just got picked randomly.

Contracting for a plumbing job with only a B license is working out of class and could end up in some form of disciplinary action... but whose gonna know or tell? Only if you screw up and the HO files a complaint would the CSLB ever know. Even then you'd probably only get a letter of warning.

 

[License Guru]

Do you mean to tell me you have to know about plumbing to be a master plumber?:laughing:

I thought I could just get the answers from Phil.

I've got ALL the answers.... just ask me!