C-36 License Experience Requirements: What Counts, the 10-Year Window, and How to Prove It

To qualify for a California C-36 plumbing contractor license, the person who qualifies the license needs at least four years of journey-level plumbing experience within the 10 years immediately before the application is filed. Credit is given only for experience as a journeyperson, foreperson, supervising employee, or contractor. A completed apprenticeship or accredited training can count, but never for more than 3 years, and every qualifier must show at least one year of practical journey-level work. Someone who observed your work has to verify it on CSLB's Certification of Work Experience form.

That is the gate. Here is exactly what counts, what does not, and how to document it.

Key facts

What "journey level" means

The regulation defines a journeyman as an experienced worker in the trade who is fully qualified, as opposed to a trainee, and is able to perform the trade without supervision, or one who has completed an apprenticeship program.

So the test is not your title. It is whether you could be handed plumbing work and do it without someone checking every step. Time spent as a trainee does not count. Time spent running the work does.

The 10-year window, and two exceptions

The four years must fall within the last 10 years immediately preceding the filing of the application. CCR section 825 gives two exceptions:

• You were a qualifier before. An applicant who was formerly a qualifier on a license in the same classification may compute experience without regard to the ten-year limitation.
• You served in the armed forces during a National Emergency. That length of service may be added to the 10 years.

Training, apprenticeship and school credit

Acceptable training in an accredited school or completion of an approved apprenticeship program in the construction trade you are applying for is counted as experience. In no case will it count for more than 3 years of the four.

To claim it, you send written documentation with the application, including copies of apprenticeship completion certificates and official transcripts. No credit is given for high school coursework, and all documents are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Whatever credit you get, every qualifier must demonstrate at least one year of practical journey-level work experience.

CSLB is also clear that there are no specific educational or course requirements to get a California contractor license.

Veterans

CSLB runs a Military Veterans Application Assistance Program with expedited processing of veterans' applications by specially trained staff, including the evaluation of any transferable military experience and training. You provide evidence of service with the application, such as military orders or a DD 214. Veterans also get a 50-percent reduction in the initial license fee under B&P Code section 7137.

Who verifies your experience

Someone other than you must verify it: an employer, fellow employee, other journeyperson, contractor, union representative, building inspector, architect, engineer, business associate, or a homeowner or client if you were self-employed. The person who verifies it must have observed the relevant work during the time period in question and complete and sign the Certification of Work Experience form that comes with the application.

Pick someone who actually watched you work during the years you are claiming, and who will answer the phone if CSLB calls.

Keep your proof ready

CSLB says to be prepared to provide documentation of any experience listed on the form whenever it requests it, and the qualifier could be randomly selected to provide documentation. Pay records, tax records, invoices and letters from employers that match the dates you list are what make a claim hold up.

If you do not have four years yet

CSLB gives two options: choose someone else who meets the requirements to act as the qualifier, or work for a licensed contractor until you meet the minimum qualifications.

Common questions

How many years of experience do you need for a C-36 license?

Four years of journey-level experience as a journeyperson, foreperson, supervising employee, or contractor, within the 10 years immediately before you file the application.

Does an apprenticeship count toward the C-36 experience requirement?

Yes. A completed approved apprenticeship counts as experience, but training and apprenticeship together can never count for more than 3 years, and you still need at least one year of practical journey-level work.

Do I need a degree or a course to get a C-36 license?

No. CSLB says there are no specific educational or course requirements to get a California contractor license.

Who can sign my Certification of Work Experience?

Someone who observed your work during the time you are claiming: an employer, fellow employee, other journeyperson, contractor, union representative, building inspector, architect, engineer, business associate, or a homeowner or client if you were self-employed. It cannot be you.

Does military service help?

Yes. CSLB's Military Veterans Application Assistance Program expedites veterans' applications and evaluates transferable military experience and training. Service during a National Emergency can also be added to the 10-year window.

Sources

• CSLB, Get Licensed to Build
• CSLB, California Contractors State License Law & Reference Book (CCR Title 16, section 825)
• California Business and Professions Code: Contractors State License Law

_Last reviewed: 2026-10-15. Every fact above is quoted from the law or CSLB document it cites and checked by code against our stored copy of that document._

Experience gets you in the door. The exams get you the license.

Once your experience is accepted, you have two closed-book exams to pass. Take the free 21-question C-36 diagnostic to see, topic by topic, where you would lose points today. No account needed. The full course is $148.75 one time: lessons for both exams, practice questions with written explanations, and timed practice exams, in English and Spanish. See what is included.