Georgia Journeyman Plumber Exam: Complete 2026 Study Guide
The Georgia journeyman plumber exam is an open-book, computer-delivered test administered by PSI for the Georgia Construction Industry Licensing Board, Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers. This guide covers what the exam tests, which references you need, and how to prepare.
Georgia Journeyman Plumber Exam Overview
The Journeyman examination covers only the trade content categories. Here are the current details:
| Questions | 120 questions (100 scored, 20 unscored) |
| Time limit | 5 hours |
| Passing score | a scaled score of 70 |
| Books in the exam room | Open book |
On exam day
- Questions are multiple choice with four options (A, B, C, D), delivered one at a time by computer.
- You must present two forms of ID: a current, government-issued primary ID with name, signature and photograph, plus a secondary ID showing your name and signature.
- You must report to the Test Center no later than your scheduled testing time.
- Journeyman candidates may bring and use the listed reference materials during the examination.
- Only silent, non-programmable calculators without alpha keys or printing capabilities may be used in the testing room.
- Pencils and one piece of scratch paper at a time are provided and must be returned, while phones, cameras, recorders, notes, watches and hats are prohibited in the testing room.
Scheduling, changes and retakes
- You schedule your examination appointment online at https://test-takers.psiexams.com/gaco or by calling PSI at 855-898-0711 after your application is approved.
- Board approval of your application is required before you can schedule an examination appointment.
- Fees are nonrefundable; one free reschedule is allowed if PSI is contacted at least 2 business days before the appointment, and a second reschedule or a cancellation requires a new application and fee.
- Arriving more than 15 minutes late means you will not be admitted, and missing the appointment forfeits all fees and requires a new application and fee.
- Results are given as a printed score report showing 'pass' or 'did not pass' with the final scaled score, plus content-area subscores for failing candidates.
- A failing candidate must retake the whole examination, and after two failures must complete a Board approved review course before being admitted to a third examination.
- Passing candidates are mailed their licenses by the Board Office approximately six weeks after each examination window.
Source: Georgia Construction Industry Licensing Board, Division of Master and Journeyman Plumbers Licensure Examinations — Candidate Information Bulletin, November 2024 (Rev. 11/1/2024); reference list effective 1-1-26 through 12-31-26. Check the bulletin before test day: fees and rules can change.
Topics on the Georgia Plumbing License Exam
The official content outline breaks the exam into nine topics. Study them in proportion to their weight.
Perform Plumbing Systems Installation Activities — 21 items (21%)
The heaviest topic. Verified questions cover gas pipe sizing (systems must supply each appliance inlet at not less than the minimum supply pressure required by the appliance; volumetric flow rate is the sum of the maximum input of the appliances served), sizing using Table 402.4(2) for Schedule 40 metallic pipe, combustion air openings for outdoor air, ignition-source elevation in private garages, support spacing for steel gas pipe, appliance support at grade level, and specific appliance rules for sauna heaters and unvented room heaters.
Comply with Regulations — 15 items (15%)
Indoor combustion air by the standard method and the known air-infiltration-rate method, combustion air openings between spaces on the same story, appliance height in public garages, assumed free area of wood versus metal louvers, plus the Georgia amendments: the high-efficiency fixture waiver conditions, boiler/water heater and pressure vessel thresholds, and maintenance responsibility with the code official's reinspection authority.
Perform Maintenance and Repair Activities — 15 items (15%)
Service-call work under the fuel gas code: gauge range limits for pressure testing, minimum test pressure, test duration, sediment trap requirements, isolating appliances rated below the test pressure, MP regulator test-port location, overpressure protection limits, tracer wire for buried nonmetallic piping, and appliance connector length limits.
Safety-related Issues — 15 items (15%)
Gas piping test pressures and durations, purging (outdoor purging thresholds and stopping points), backflow prevention on standby fuel supplies, hanger and support standards, T&P relief valve location on storage water heaters, and calling 811 before excavation.
Perform Pipe Cutting and Joining Activities — 10 items (10%)
Copper tubing types and their uses, grade and drop calculations for horizontal waste pipe, percent grade conversions, and the reference point for measuring house sewer and house drain elevations.
Work Planning/Organizing — 7 items (7%)
Reading isometrics and drainage diagrams: totaling drainage fixture unit loads on stacks and branches, treating a bathroom group as one unit, and sizing a segment from a printed table at a given slope.
Perform System Testing Activities — 7 items (7%)
Altitude adjustment for gas flow rate, minimum test pressure relative to proposed maximum working pressure, gauge scale limits, and test duration by pipe volume or dwelling type.
Comply with General Laws — 5 items (5%)
Complaint status notification duties of the division director and board, the ten-day felony conviction notice, sanctions for a second controlled substance conviction, and where the business registration number must be displayed.
Calculate the following during installation and service: offset, volume, area, pressure, depth, circumference, radius, weight, etc. — 5 items (5%)
Offset, volume, area, pressure, depth, circumference, radius and weight — plus material selection by temperature, elevation calculations along a graded run, PVC schedules for DWV, and drainage fitting orientation.
Sample Georgia Journeyman Plumber Practice Questions
Four sample Georgia journeyman plumber practice questions. Answers are not shown here — work them with your code books, then try more questions on the free practice exam.
1. As the master, you are installing an under-sink point-of-use electric tankless ('instant hot') water heater serving a single lavatory in an office suite. The manufacturer's instructions require a special accessory at the faucet so the heater can bring the water up to the set temperature. Which accessory is required?
A. An inline pressure-reducing valve
B. A thermostatic mixing valve
C. A special low-flow aerator
D. A vacuum relief valve
Tests whether you follow manufacturer's instructions for point-of-use water heater installation.
2. As the master plumber, you are running PEX water distribution piping through bored holes in wood studs in a concealed wall. At one stud, the edge of the bored hole is 1 inch from the nearest edge of the member. What does the code require at that stud?
A. No added protection, because the piping is nonmetallic
B. Plastic sheathing not less than 0.008 inch thick
C. A steel shield plate not less than 0.0236 inch thick
D. A steel shield plate not less than 0.0575 inch thick
Tests pipe protection requirements when installing pipe through wood framing.
3. As the master, you are placing a gas-fired boiler on a masonry chimney that formerly carried flue products from an oil-fired appliance. After the flue is cleaned and inspected, an accessible cleanout with a tight-fitting cover must be installed so that its upper edge is not less than how far below the lower edge of the lowest chimney inlet opening?
A. 12 inches
B. 6 inches
C. 3 inches
D. 4 inches
Tests venting and chimney service requirements for gas appliances.
4. A journeyman must travel across an elevated work area where no adequate securing areas exist to attach the lanyard. Which component of the fall protection system is provided so the lanyard can be clipped to it and slide along as the worker moves?
A. Harness D-ring
B. Shock absorber
C. Lifeline
D. Body belt
Tests personal fall arrest system components.
What Types of Questions to Expect
Every item on the PSI Georgia plumbing exam is multiple choice with four options, delivered one at a time by computer. Our practice questions use these patterns:
- Direct code lookups. A number, distance, percentage or duration stated in the IPC, IFGC or the Georgia amendments — "not less than 8 feet above the floor," "25-percent free area," "18 AWG."
- Scenario questions. A job situation where you must pick the rule that governs. Example: a permit suspended 14 months means a new permit at the full fee applies, because the reduced-fee provision covers only unchanged documents and suspension not exceeding one year (IPC 2024, Section 105.5.3).
- Threshold and exception questions. Two rules apply; you must decide which governs. A 1½ times multiplier versus a 3 psig floor; a 10-cubic-foot volume rule versus the single-family dwelling rule.
- Table reading. Pull a capacity from IFGC Table 402.4(2) at a given length and pressure drop, or a drainage size from an IPC table at a given slope.
- Figure reading. Total DFU loads from isometrics and drainage diagrams, then size a segment.
- Calculations. Drop = grade × run, elevation along a graded run, volume, area and pressure conversions.
A Georgia journeyman plumber practice test built on these same patterns is the fastest way to find which chapters you still have to tab.
Study Materials for the Georgia Journeyman Plumber Exam
The Journeyman examination is open book. Build your set around the required references:
Codes
- International Plumbing Code 2024 — the core plumbing reference for installation, testing, fixtures and permits.
- Georgia State Amendments to the International Plumbing Code (2024 Edition) — Georgia-specific changes: high-efficiency fixtures, boiler thresholds, maintenance. Always check the amendment before answering from the base IPC.
- International Fuel Gas Code 2024 — combustion air, gas pipe sizing, testing, purging, appliances and venting.
- Georgia State Amendments to the International Fuel Gas Code (2024 Edition) — the Georgia gas code changes.
Beginning May 1, 2026 the exams are based only on the 2024 Georgia Plumbing Code and the 2024 Georgia Gas Code. Do not study from the 2018 editions.
Trade and math references
- Plumbing Technology: Design and Installation (4th) — water heaters, relief valves, DWV testing, safety, ladders, trenching, PPE and system sizing.
- Mathematics for Plumbers and Pipefitters (8th) — offsets, grade and drop, volume, area, pipe materials and elevations.
Law and business
- Georgia-NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management (5th) — licensing board law, jobsite safety, underground utility safety, scheduling and estimating.
- Georgia 811 Excavator Manual (2025) — the location law for underground utilities.
- 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design — accessible fixture requirements.
- The ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer (EEOC) — employment obligations and complaint procedures.
- Employer's Tax Guide (Publication 15, Circular E).
Organizing your books
- Redi-Tag Permanent Colored Tabs — index the tables and chapters you use most.
- Sharpie Highlighters — mark thresholds, exceptions and multipliers.
Study Tips for the Georgia Plumbing License Exam
- Weight your hours. Installation, Regulations, Maintenance and Safety together carry most of the scored items. Gas code content runs through all four — if your gas work is weak, start there.
- Practice the lookup, not the memorization. Open book rewards speed of retrieval. Drill finding Table 402.4(2), the combustion air sections and the drainage sizing tables until you go straight to the page.
- Tab by task, not by chapter number. "Gas test pressure," "combustion air," "DFU tables," "relief valves." You will be searching under time pressure by what you are doing, not by section number.
- Learn the exception pairs. Many items hinge on which of two rules governs. Write the pairs on a single sheet and review them.
- Check the Georgia amendment first. The exam is based on the 2024 IPC and IFGC with Georgia amendments, so an amendment may override the base code.
- Pace yourself at about 2 minutes 30 seconds per question. Flag anything that takes longer than that and come back.
- Work full-length sets. Sitting a complete Georgia journeyman plumber practice test trains both recall and book-handling speed.
- Confirm your registration details through PSI and the Georgia licensing division, and read the official bulletin.
Ready to Start Preparing?
Start with 10 questions free, then work the full set of 100 questions to see where your books slow you down. Every practice question carries the correct answer and an explanation, plus a citation where one applies, so a miss sends you to the page you need to tab.