How plumber licensing works in Kansas

Journeyman level Licensed by cities or counties, not the state What's a journeyman?

The license pathway in Kansas

1. 1

   Apprentice or helper

   • Topeka apprentice license $33

   Kansas law sets no apprentice level. Some cities do: Topeka requires apprentices to be licensed with the city and to work directly under a journeyman or master, never alone on a job site. [2][4]

2. 2

   Journeyman plumber

   • 2 years of experience
   • Up to 1 year of the 2 can be trade school (at least 930 program hours)
   • Yes, ICC, IAPMO or Prometric standard exam; 75% to pass
   • Wichita/Sedgwick County $35; Topeka $53
   • 12 CE hours every 2 years or 6 a year

   Before a city or county issues a journeyman certificate, it must verify at least 2 years of field experience, working under the direct supervision of a journeyman or master plumber or attending trade school. [1][2][3][4]

3. 3

   Master plumber

   • Yes, master-level standard exam; 75% to pass
   • Wichita/Sedgwick County $35; Topeka $103
   • 12 CE hours every 2 years or 6 a year

   Before issuing a master certificate, the city or county must verify that you have held a journeyman certificate for at least 2 years or have at least 4 years of field experience. [2][3][4]

4. 4

   Plumbing contractor (local)

   • Wichita/Sedgwick County $360 for 2 years; Johnson County $100 application + $225 a year
   • Wichita: every 2 years (odd years); Johnson County: yearly

   To run a plumbing business, you license the company where you work. In Wichita and Sedgwick County, a trade contractor license needs a master certificate holder as the qualified person; Johnson County's Class DP license needs a qualifying individual who passed an approved exam. [7][10][11][22]

Who licenses plumbers in Kansas

Kansas has no state plumber license. Under K.S.A. 12-1509, any county or city "requiring the licensure of plumbers" may test applicants with the standard exams named in K.S.A. 12-1508: those given by the International Code Council (ICC), the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) or Prometric. The county or city must set a 75% passing score and require continuing education (CE): at least 12 hours every 2 years or 6 hours a year, with at least half on the code.

A city or county may also use other exams, but a license based on a non-standard exam is good only in that city or county unless the local governments have a reciprocal agreement. [1][2][5]

Journeyman and master rules in state law

Before a city or county issues a journeyman certificate, it must verify documented proof of at least 2 years of field experience. Field experience means working under the direct supervision of someone with a valid journeyman or master certificate, or attending trade-related school. No more than 1 year can come from school, and the schooling must be at least 930 program hours, shown by a certificate of completion.

Before it issues a master certificate, the city or county must verify that you have held a valid journeyman certificate for at least 2 years, or have at least 4 years of field experience.

State law also covers medical gas piping: no one may install, improve, repair, maintain or inspect a medical gas piping system in a county or city unless they are licensed under these plumbing statutes and certified under the ASSE Series 6000 standards. [2]

Wichita and Sedgwick County (MABCD)

The Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department (MABCD) requires journeymen and masters in the electrical, mechanical and plumbing trades to hold trade certificates "to work in Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita."

• Journeyman plumbing: 2 years of field experience, or 1 year of field experience and 1 year of plumbing trade school, plus 75% or better on ICC exam K9R (Plumbing with Gas) or 560 (Journeyman Plumber with Gas), or an IAPMO exam.
• Master plumbing: a journeyman certificate and 2 years of field experience as a journeyman, or 4 years of field experience, plus 75% or better on ICC exam K9F or 557 (Master Plumber with Gas), or an IAPMO exam.

The certificate fee is $35. Certificates last 2 years, and each year journeymen and masters need 3 hours of trade-specific CE and 3 hours of general CE (12 hours per renewal). MABCD needs official letters of passing; IAPMO exams in Kansas are scheduled through IAPMO. Questions: (316) 660-1840. [3][6][7]

Topeka

Topeka's Development Services Division issues all contractor and trade licenses in the city. Its application covers master ($103), journeyman ($53) and apprentice ($33) plumbing licenses. Apprentices must be licensed with the city and work directly under the supervision of a journeyman or master; they can't be left at the work site alone. The form lists a work ratio of "Plumbing 1-1."

Journeyman and master applicants show a passing score of 75% or more; if your certificate comes from an ICC exam, you also prove your time in the trade. Masters and journeymen need 6 hours of CE a year, 3 of them code-related, and licenses renew by December 14 each year. Contact: licensing@topeka.org or (785) 368-3905. [4][8]

Kansas City, Kansas and Johnson County

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas says trade masters must carry a master's license with its Building Inspection division, and contractors working in Wyandotte County need a city business license.

Johnson County Contractor Licensing licenses companies. Its Class DP Plumbing Contractor License covers plumbing work only. The company names a qualifying individual who scored 75% or higher on an approved ICC or Prometric exam, carries at least $1,000,000 in general liability insurance, and pays a $100 application fee plus $225 a year. The qualifying individual needs 8 hours of CE per license classification each year. [9][10][11][12][13]

Union and open-shop apprenticeships

Plumbers & Pipefitters Apprenticeship Training of Kansas, the training program of UA Local 441, runs a 5-year apprenticeship in plumbing, pipefitting, welding and HVAC. You apply online when applications are open, take two online assessments at the Wichita, Topeka or Frontenac facility, pass a drug screen and interview with the JATC board. After you pass, the Local 441 dispatcher lets you know when a job placement with a union (signatory) contractor is available; school is in Wichita on a rotating schedule and normally starts in August.

For non-union training, ABC Heart of America runs a plumbing apprenticeship for the Kansas City area with 144 classroom hours and 2,000 on-the-job hours a year. You can also search the Apprenticeship Job Finder or contact a KANSASWORKS workforce center. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Moving within Kansas or from another state

Kansas has no state license to transfer, and the Kansas licensing bodies we checked publish no agreements with other states. Within Kansas, state law says a certificate based on a designated standard exam plus the required experience is "valid proof of competency for licensure, without additional examination" in any county or city that licenses plumbers, and such licenses "shall be valid" in other licensing counties and cities.

MABCD, however, says it "does not reciprocate with state testing" or with other jurisdictions and accepts only the exams it lists. Ask the city or county where you'll work what it will accept. [2][3][7]

Steps to get licensed in Kansas

1. Check the rules where you'll work

   Kansas leaves plumber licensing to counties and cities. Ask the building department where you'll work; Topeka licenses apprentices, and Wichita and Sedgwick County require journeyman and master certificates from MABCD. [2][3][4]

2. Get hired or join an apprenticeship

   Apply to a registered program such as Plumbers & Pipefitters Apprenticeship Training of Kansas or an open-shop program, or get hired by a plumbing contractor. [15][18]

3. Build 2 years of field experience

   Work under the direct supervision of a journeyman or master plumber. Up to 1 year can be trade school of at least 930 program hours. Keep proof: MABCD wants documented hours on company letterhead with a description of the work. [2][3]

4. Pass a journeyman exam

   Take an approved standard exam and score at least 75%. MABCD accepts ICC exams K9R (Plumbing with Gas) or 560 (Journeyman Plumber with Gas), or an IAPMO exam; ICC exams are scheduled through Pearson VUE. [1][2][3]

5. Apply for your certificate and keep it current

   Apply to the city or county with your test results and proof of experience. You need 12 hours of continuing education every 2 years or 6 hours a year, at least half on the code. [2][3][6]

6. Move up to master and contractor

   After 2 years as a journeyman (or 4 years of field experience), pass a master exam. To contract, license a business that names you (or another master) as its qualified person. [2][3][7]

Where to get the hours

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

• Union

  Plumbers & Pipefitters Apprenticeship Training of Kansas (UA Local 441)

  A 5-year plumbing and pipefitting apprenticeship (with welding and HVACR training) for union contractors, with classes at the Wichita training center and testing in Wichita, Topeka or Frontenac. [14][15][23]

• Open shop

  ABC Heart of America plumbing apprenticeship

  Non-union (open-shop) apprenticeship for the Kansas City area, trained at its Kansas City, Missouri facility; apply in person. [18][19]

• State program

  Kansas Office of Registered Apprenticeship

  The state office in the Kansas Department of Commerce that supports registered apprenticeship programs; it doesn't place people, so you apply to a sponsor or employer. [21][24]

• Other

  U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Job Finder

  Search registered plumber apprenticeships by location anywhere in Kansas. [20]

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Questions people ask