How to become a licensed plumber in New Jersey

Licensing office New Jersey State Board of Examiners of Master Plumbers (Division of Consumer Affairs) · (973) 504-6420 [1]

The license pathway in New Jersey

1. 1

   Apprentice plumber

   • Part of a 4-year USDOL-registered apprenticeship
   • $50 Board registration

   You learn and assist in plumbing installation while an employer sponsors you in a U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) registered apprenticeship. A master plumber or supervisory journeyman must supervise you on site at all times. [2][4][5][12]

2. 2

   Journeyman plumber

   • 4 years of experience
   • Completed with the 4-year apprenticeship
   • $75 registration ($50 if you registered before, e.g. as an apprentice)

   After a 4-year USDOL apprenticeship (or a bachelor's degree in mechanical, plumbing or sanitary engineering) you work as a journeyman under a master plumber or supervisory journeyman. The Board takes journeyman registration applications online, with a work experience form from your employer. [4][5][11][12][14][27]

3. 3

   Master plumber

   • 5 years of experience
   • A 4-year USDOL apprenticeship that includes propane education (or a qualifying engineering degree)
   • Yes, PSI: Master Plumber (100 questions, open book), Practical (25 questions, closed book), Business and Law (50 questions, open book); 70% on each
   • $100 application; $87 + $106 + $47 exam fees; $160 license fee after you pass ($80 in the second year of the two-year cycle); $25 pressure seal
   • Every 2 years, $160; 5 CE credits

   You must be 21 or older and complete one year (at least 1,200 hours) as a journeyman in New Jersey after your apprenticeship, on work done under the state plumbing code and inspected by a licensed New Jersey plumbing inspector. Then pass all three exams, post a $3,000 surety bond, apply for a pressure seal and pay the license fee. [2][3][5][6][7][12][15][26]

Who needs a license in New Jersey

The Board's FAQ quotes the rule: "plumbing shall only be performed by a master plumber, an authorized plumbing contractor, or by employees whose remuneration is reported on a Form W-2." The rule adds that those employees work under a master plumber's supervision. A plumbing business needs a licensed master plumber who owns at least 10% of it, called the bona fide representative.

That covers minor work and ordinary repairs even when no permit is needed, and doing the work for free or for a nonprofit doesn't change it. Some work is open to anyone, licensed or not, including:

• clearing stoppages (and installing or removing the cleanout needed to clear one)
• storm, sanitary and water piping from a connection point more than three feet outside a building
• demolition or removal of plumbing after the water and sewer are disconnected and sealed outside the building
• testing backflow prevention devices, by testers certified under the state's environmental rules

The licensing law doesn't apply to a single-family homeowner who does plumbing work on their own home, or to a public agency's full-time employees working on the agency's own property. [2][4][5][8][9]

The ladder: apprentice, journeyman, master

• Apprentice plumber: anyone other than a master or journeyman whose main job is "learning and assisting in the installation of plumbing." A master plumber or supervisory journeyman must be on site the whole time an apprentice works.
• Journeyman plumber: someone who finished a four-year USDOL-registered apprenticeship (or a bachelor's degree in mechanical, plumbing or sanitary engineering) and works under a master or supervisory journeyman. The master or supervisory journeyman keeps daily contact and inspects permit work when it's done. The Board takes journeyman registration applications.
• Supervisory journeyman: a journeyman with three more years of work after the apprenticeship; this person can supervise apprentices on site.
• Master plumber: age 21 or older, the apprenticeship (or degree), then one year of at least 1,200 hours as a journeyman in New Jersey, and all three exams. Since December 21, 2016, that experience only counts if it was done under the state plumbing code and inspected by a licensed New Jersey plumbing inspector.

[3][4][5][6][10][11]

The master plumber exam

PSI runs the exams at test centers in New Jersey after the Board approves you. First-time candidates take all three on the same day:

• Master Plumber: 100 questions, 195 minutes, 70% (70 correct) to pass, $87. Open book; you bring the National Standard Plumbing Code, 2021.
• Master Plumber Practical: 25 questions, 130 minutes, 70% (18 correct), $106. Closed book; mostly isometric drawing analysis, with code tables handed out at the test center.
• Business and Law: 50 questions, 130 minutes, 70% (35 correct), $47. Open book with the NASCLA contractor's guide for New Jersey.

If you fail a section, you wait six months to retake it. You get two more tries at failed sections; after that you lose your passing scores and retake everything. Your application closes if you don't sit within two years of approval or pass every section within five years. See the PSI candidate bulletin. [5][7]

Fees and renewal

• Application to take the exam: $100, or $50 if you're already registered with the Board (nonrefundable).
• Exam fees, paid to PSI: $87, $106 and $47.
• Master license: $160 if issued in the first year of the two-year license cycle, $80 in the second year, billed with the bond request after you pass. The first pressure seal is $25.
• Journeyman registration: $75, or $50 if you registered with the Board before (nonrefundable).
• Apprentice registration: $50 in the Board's fee schedule, though its applications page offers no apprentice form; ask the Board whether you need to register.
• Surety bond: $3,000, filed after you pass the exam.

Master licenses expire June 30 of odd-numbered years and renew for $160; a late renewal adds $50 and reinstatement costs $150. You need five continuing education (CE) credits each two-year period; your first renewal is exempt. If you don't renew within 30 days after expiration, your license is suspended. Ask the Board at (973) 504-6420 about your situation. [2][5][7][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

Union and open-shop apprenticeships

• Union: Plumbers Local 24 (northern counties), Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9 (Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Hunterdon and parts of Burlington and Ocean) and Local 322 (southern counties) run union apprenticeships; Local 24's and Local 9's last five years. The state's construction trades directory lists their areas and contacts. Local 24 and Local 9 take applications in person during set windows; Local 9 says it generally accepts them once a year.
• Open shop: ABC New Jersey lists Plumber among its USDOL-approved apprenticeships.
• State: the NJ Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship can connect you with programs.

Compare the routes in union vs. non-union and how to get an apprenticeship. [18][19][20][21][22][23]

If you're licensed in another state

The Board's FAQ says licensees from other states may apply through reciprocity, but only if the other state's standards are "equal to or comparable with" New Jersey's and that state reciprocates. The Board posts a list of states it has reviewed, dated June 2019. Every state on that list (Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia) is marked "reciprocity denied"; none is marked granted. Confirm with the Board before you apply.

Military spouses licensed elsewhere, who have moved to New Jersey with an active-duty spouse, can get a one-year temporary courtesy license ($80) if they practiced at least two of the last five years.

See our license reciprocity guide and reciprocity map. [2][24][25]

Steps to get licensed in New Jersey

1. Get hired and start a registered apprenticeship

   Find a plumbing contractor who will sponsor you, or apply to a union or ABC New Jersey program. Your employer registers you with the USDOL Office of Apprenticeship. [2][18][22]

2. Finish the 4-year apprenticeship

   Work under constant on-site supervision while you complete the four-year program, which must include education in propane services. [2][5]

3. Work as a journeyman plumber

   Register as a journeyman through the Board's applications page and work at least one year (1,200 hours) under a master in New Jersey, on code work inspected by a licensed New Jersey plumbing inspector. [3][4][5][11]

4. Apply for the master plumber exam

   Once you're 21, apply online with proof of your experience (the Work Experience Certification for Master Plumber) and the $100 fee. The Board reviews applications at its monthly meeting and mails approval letters. [2][6][11]

5. Pass the three PSI exams

   Pay and schedule with PSI. First-time candidates take all three exams on the same day and need 70% on each. [5][7]

6. Post a bond and get licensed

   After you pass, send the Board a $3,000 surety bond, a pressure seal application and the $160 licensing fee ($80 in the second year of the two-year cycle); it issues your license once it has them. Renew every two years with five CE credits. [2][12][13][15][26]

Where to get the hours

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

• Union

  UA plumbers locals (union)

  Union plumbing apprenticeships run by Plumbers Local 24 (northern NJ), Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9 (central NJ) and Local 322 (southern NJ); Local 24 and Local 9 describe five-year programs. The state's construction trades directory lists each local's counties and contacts. [18][20][21]

• Open shop

  ABC New Jersey apprenticeship

  Associated Builders and Contractors' New Jersey chapter lists Plumber among its USDOL-approved apprenticeships. You send a résumé, take a placement test and are introduced to member employers. [22]

• State program

  NJ Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship

  The state contact for current and future apprentices in the New Jersey Apprenticeship Network; it has an online form to connect you with programs. [23][28]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask