The adopting ordinance for the International Plumbing Code was amended in 2022 to bring City of Knoxville licensing requirements in line with the regulations set forth by the State of TN licensing board.
The meetings and public posting for these changes were published in the first quarter of 2022 year; changes were reviewed and approved by City Council in two separate public hearings in March. The amendment to ordinance provides for two types of plumbing license which allow the holder to be issued permits – one license through reciprocity of a State of TN CMC or CMC-A license, the other is a limited license based on a State of TN LLP license and documented experience.
Similar changes were made to all mechanical and electrical licenses; gas licenses were eliminated completely and the requirement for permitting rolled into the plumbing and/or mechanical license.
The Journeyman license was originally created to recognize an individual as working under the supervision of another licensed contractor; it did not impart any rights to hold permits or perform work outside of said supervision. This license type is also not supported by the State of TN licensing board and did not impart rights outside of this jurisdiction.
As such, the Journeyman license type was not carried over and became invalid with adoption of City ordinance O-33-2022 on March 22, 2022. The City of Knoxville no longer licenses the Journeyman license type.
In order for a license to be issued to an individual, evidence must be provided by the applicant that they hold one of the above referenced State of TN licenses – the easiest path being the Installer license based on the State LLP. Details on how to acquire the LLP license can be found at https://www.tn.gov/commerce/regboards/llp.html.