How to become a licensed plumber in Alaska

Journeyman level 8,000 hours on the job + state exam What's a journeyman?

Licensing office Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Mechanical Inspection Section · (907) 269-4925 [1][24]

The license pathway in Alaska

1. 1

   Plumber Trainee (trainee certificate of fitness)

   • $250 ($50 application + $200 certificate)
   • Valid 6 years. The state rule allows renewal with proof you're still indentured in a registered apprenticeship; Mechanical Inspection's requirements page calls it nonrenewable (you re-apply)

   Lets you do plumbing code work under the direct supervision of a certified journeyman plumber. The state issues it only with proof of indenture in an apprentice plumber program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship. No more than two trainees may work for each certified journeyman on a job site. [2][3][4][22]

2. 2

   Plumber Restricted Utility (PU)

   • 1,000 hours on the job
   • Up to 125 hours of trade-related classroom training may count
   • Yes: open book (2018 Uniform Plumbing Code), 70% to pass
   • $50 application + $200 certificate
   • Every 2 years, $200

   A limited certificate for water service, building sewer and storm drain lines outside the building. You qualify with 1,000 hours installing water, sewer or storm lines while holding a plumber utility trainee COF. That trainee certificate is the one exception to the apprenticeship rule: it needs a notarized employer letter instead. [2][3][4][6]

3. 3

   Plumber Gas (PG)

   • 4,000 hours on the job
   • Up to 500 classroom hours may count
   • Yes: open book, 70% to pass
   • $50 application + $200 certificate
   • Every 2 years, $200

   A limited certificate for installing fuel and gas piping within property lines. You need 4,000 hours of plumbing work, at least 2,000 of them installing fuel gas piping, earned while holding a trainee COF, plus the exam. [2][4][6]

4. 4

   Plumber Journeyman

   • 8,000 hours on the job
   • Up to 1,000 hours of classroom training in a registered apprenticeship or accredited program may count toward the 8,000
   • Yes: open book (2018 Uniform Plumbing Code), 4-hour limit, 70% to pass
   • $50 application + $200 certificate
   • Every 2 years, $200; 16 hours CE

   Lets you do all plumbing work covered by the Uniform Plumbing Code, including gas piping. You need 8,000 hours of commercial or residential plumbing work earned while holding a trainee COF, plus the exam. Maintenance hours don't count. [2][3][4][6]

5. 5

   Mechanical Administrator, plumbing categories (Department of Commerce)

   • 4 years of experience
   • Yes, through PSI
   • $150 application + $200 license
   • Every 2 years, $200; 8 hours CE

   Alaska's closest thing to a master plumber license. A mechanical contractor must be, or employ, a licensed mechanical administrator, who supervises but doesn't do the work under this license. The unlimited commercial and industrial plumbing category usually takes four of the last six years as a journeyman plumber; the residential plumbing and hydronic heating category takes two of the last four years. [5][16][17][18][20][21]

Who needs a certificate of fitness in Alaska

State law requires a certificate of fitness for plumbing work covered by the Uniform Plumbing Code that Alaska has adopted (the 2018 edition). You must carry the certificate while you work, and an employer or employee who breaks the law commits a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500.

Mechanical Inspection's plumbing inspectors cover communities of 2,500 people or more, checking new and altered plumbing, gas and fuel piping. Its website says a state certificate is required "in all parts of Alaska other than small communities"; if you'll work in a smaller community, confirm the rules with Mechanical Inspection. In the Municipality of Anchorage, the city's own inspectors handle inspections under an agreement with the state.

One narrow exception: someone certified by the Department of Environmental Conservation to install septic systems may install the septic sewer piping from within two feet of a building without a utility plumber certificate. [1][3][4][7]

The ladder: trainee to journeyman

• Plumber Trainee: for registered apprentices only; no experience or exam; $250 for six years.
• Plumber Restricted Utility (PU): 1,000 hours on water, sewer and storm lines, plus an exam.
• Plumber Gas (PG): 4,000 hours, including 2,000 installing fuel gas piping, plus an exam.
• Plumber Journeyman: 8,000 hours plus an exam; covers all plumbing code work.

Toward the 8,000 journeyman hours, the state counts no more than 500 hours of utility work, 2,000 hours of gas work and 1,000 hours of classroom training. Out-of-state hours count only if they were worked legally there. There is no master plumber certificate: Mechanical Inspection says holding both a journeyman COF and a mechanical administrator license "allows the holder to function like how a master trades license works in many other states." See journeyman vs. master and the plumber hub. [2][4][5]

The journeyman exam

After Mechanical Inspection approves your packet, you test in Anchorage, Juneau or Fairbanks on the first or third Wednesday of the month, at a Job Center elsewhere, or at an Alaska-based plumbing union hall. The plumber journeyman exam is open book using the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code. You have up to four hours, need at least 70%, and must bring a government-issued photo ID. If you fail, wait 30 days to retest. [4][6]

Fees, renewal and continuing education

Each certificate of fitness costs a $50 nonrefundable application fee plus a $200 certificate fee. Trainee certificates last six years; journeyman certificates last two years and renew for $200. Renewal requires 16 hours of approved continuing education (CE) in the previous 24 months: at least 8 on changes to the Uniform Plumbing Code and no more than 8 industry related. [2][3][4]

Union and other apprenticeships in Alaska

Because the trainee certificate requires apprenticeship indenture, a registered apprenticeship is the way into plumbing in Alaska. The state's apprenticeship office says programs exist in both union and non-union workplaces.

UA Local 367 in Anchorage runs a five-year, 10,000-hour program for plumbers, pipefitters, welders and service technicians, with six weeks of classes a year. Call (907) 562-2810. UA Local 375 in Fairbanks trains plumbers, pipefitters and pipe welders; call the JATC at (907) 456-5989.

For other registered programs, use the U.S. Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Finder, linked from the state's apprenticeship page, or visit a Job Center. See also union vs. non-union and the aptitude test. [3][8][9][10][11][12][13]

If you're licensed in another state

Since August 8, 2025, Alaska reciprocates journeyman plumber certificates with other states "without a mutual agreement between states." Mechanical Inspection publishes the list of qualifying state licenses; you must have held yours for a full year. The reciprocal certificate costs $50 plus $200, needs no exam and renews like any journeyman COF.

A provisional certificate ($50 plus $100) lets you work for up to a year while carrying your home-state license. Because many states don't include fuel gas work in their plumber license, provisional certificates don't allow gas work in Alaska. See the reciprocity list and our reciprocity guide. [2][4][5][14]

Plumbing contractors and mechanical administrators

Plumbing businesses register as mechanical contractors with the Department of Commerce's Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. A mechanical contractor must be, or employ, a licensed mechanical administrator in the right category, and needs a $10,000 bond.

Administrator exams are scheduled through PSI after the state approves your application. The fees are $150 per category to apply and $200 for a two-year license. Some work is excluded from the administrator law, such as mechanical work costing $50,000 or less on homes or small businesses in communities under 5,000 people. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Steps to get licensed in Alaska

1. Get into a registered plumbing apprenticeship

   Apply to a program such as UA Local 367 or UA Local 375, or find an employer sponsor through the state's apprenticeship page. [9][10][12]

2. Get your plumber trainee certificate

   Send the trainee application and your Davis Bacon letter to MI@alaska.gov with $250. [5][22]

3. Work under a journeyman and document your hours

   Mechanical Inspection recommends having each employer complete the Experience Verification Form every six months or when you leave. Only work for a properly licensed contractor, under direct journeyman supervision, counts; maintenance doesn't. [4][5][23]

4. Apply for the journeyman certificate at 8,000 hours

   Submit the electrical and plumbing application with your experience forms and the $50 application fee. After the packet is approved (7-10 business days), Mechanical Inspection schedules your exam. [2][5][6][23]

5. Pass the open-book exam

   Department testing is in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks on the first and third Wednesday of each month, with proctored testing at Job Centers elsewhere. The exam is open book using the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code, and you need 70%. Then pay the $200 certificate fee. [2][6]

6. Renew every two years

   Renew for $200 with 16 hours of continuing education in the past 24 months, at least 8 of them on Uniform Plumbing Code changes. [2][4]

Where to get the hours

Programs that train plumbers in or for Alaska, from their own official pages. Listed by type, not ranked.

• Union

  UA Local 367 Plumbers and Steamfitters JATC (Anchorage)

  A five-year, 10,000-hour apprenticeship for plumbers, pipefitters, welders and service technicians, with six weeks of classes each year at the Anchorage training center. [10][11]

• Union

  UA Local 375 Plumbers and Pipefitters JATC (Fairbanks)

  A paid, registered apprenticeship in plumbing, pipefitting and pipe welding, with training at the Fairbanks center. Applications are accepted year-round with quarterly interview deadlines. [12][13]

• State program

  Registered apprenticeship programs in Alaska (Apprenticeship Finder)

  The state points job seekers to the U.S. Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Finder for Alaska programs and sponsors, union and non-union, and to Job Centers and apprenticeship@alaska.gov for help. [8][9]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask