How to get a plumber license in Oregon

Journeyman level 7,700 hours on the job + state exam What's a journeyman?

Licensing office Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD), Department of Consumer and Business Services, for the State Plumbing Board · 503-373-1268 [2][4]

The license pathway in Oregon

1. 1

   Apprentice plumber

   • At least 144 hours a year under the statewide plumber apprenticeship standard

   You join a state-registered plumbing apprenticeship and work under the supervision of a licensed journeyman plumber while you take related classes. A plumbing contractor may not let anyone work as an apprentice plumber who doesn't meet Oregon's apprenticeship law. [1][8]

2. 2

   Journeyman plumber (JP)

   • 7,700 hours on the job
   • 4 years of experience
   • 576 hours (equivalency route); built into a registered apprenticeship
   • Yes, 4 hours, 64 questions, open book
   • $100
   • 3-year cycle; 24 hours CE including 4 hours of code change

   Lets you do all plumbing installations, alterations and remodels. You qualify with a certificate of completion from a registered four-year apprenticeship, or with 576 hours of classroom training plus 7,700 hours of on-the-job experience split evenly between residential and commercial work. [2][3][5][6]

3. 3

   Plumbing business (PB)

   A BCD business license that lets a company advertise and install, change and repair plumbing. It doesn't let the holder work as a journeyman plumber without the individual license, and the business also needs a Construction Contractors Board (CCB) license. [15][16]

Who needs a plumbing license in Oregon

State law says you may not work as a journeyman plumber without a journeyman plumber license. An apprentice plumber may work at the trade under the supervision of a licensed journeyman plumber. Plumbing contractors may not let unlicensed people work as journeymen or let anyone work as an apprentice who doesn't meet Oregon's apprenticeship law.

The Building Codes Division issues the journeyman plumber (JP) license and three limited plumbing licenses: water-treatment installer (WTI), residential water-heater installer (WHI), and solar heating and cooling installer (STL). Its list of individual licenses has no master plumber license (state law lets the State Plumbing Board create a supervising plumber license by rule, but BCD lists none). Call BCD licensing at 503-373-1268. [1][2][4]

Qualifying for the journeyman plumber license

BCD accepts any of three routes:

• A certificate of completion from a registered four-year apprenticeship, or a referral letter from the registered training committee or a board-approved training program.
• At least 576 hours of classroom training (math and science, codes, drainage, water systems, blueprint reading, seismic restraints and more) plus 7,700 hours of on-the-job experience: 3,850 residential and 3,850 commercial, with minimums in each work category.
• Twice the experience in each category (7,700 residential and 7,700 commercial hours), gained lawfully under a license that covers the scope of an Oregon JP.

BCD counts no more than 2,000 hours of experience a year, and only lawful experience counts. [2][3][5]

The exam, fees and renewal

The JP exam is 4 hours, 64 questions and open book, and BCD says the passing score for all its license exams is 75%. After BCD approves your application it mails a Letter of Authorization; you schedule with your test site and must test within 60 days. Results take about two weeks, and after a failure you wait 30 days to retake it.

The JP application fee is $100 and is nonrefundable. Each three-year cycle you need 24 hours of approved continuing education, including 4 hours of code change. The rule also adds a 4-hour Oregon rule and law course after dates set in a BCD table, so confirm your hours with BCD. BCD lists April 1, 2029, as the next renewal date for all JP licenses. [2][4][5][6]

Union and open-shop apprenticeships

Oregon's registered programs are listed by the BOLI Apprenticeship and Training Division, from Astoria to Klamath Falls and Pendleton. All of them must meet the statewide plumber standard: age 18, a diploma or GED, and at least 144 hours of related classes a year.

• UA Local 290 (Tualatin) is the union route. Its plumber standard runs 8,000 hours, starting at 40% of the journey rate.
• Area I Plumbers (Lake Oswego) is an open-shop program: four years, classes at Clackamas Community College, starting at 45% of the average journey wage.

[7][8][9][10][11][12]

If you're licensed in another state

Oregon has journeyman plumber reciprocity with Idaho and Montana only. You need a current license with no violations in the past three years, an apprenticeship equivalent to Oregon's four-year program, a passing score of 75% or better on that state's exam, 1,000 hours worked under the license, and no failed Oregon exam in the past two years. Apply with the Reciprocal Plumbing License Application ($100).

From other states, you can apply under the experience route above and take the Oregon exam. [3][13][14]

Plumbing businesses

A company that installs or repairs plumbing for others needs BCD's plumbing business (PB) license, which doesn't by itself let anyone work as a journeyman. Plumbing is also construction work that needs a Construction Contractors Board license. [15][16]

Steps to get licensed in Oregon

1. Join a registered plumbing apprenticeship

   Apply to a BOLI-registered program. Once registered, you can work as an apprentice plumber under a licensed journeyman. [1][7]

2. Finish the hours and classes

   Complete the four-year program: Oregon's equivalency rule counts 7,700 on-the-job hours, half residential and half commercial, plus 576 classroom hours. [2][3]

3. Apply to BCD for the JP license

   Send the Journeyman Plumber License Application with your certificate of completion or referral letter from your training committee, or your experience verification forms, and the $100 fee. Applicants who take an exam must show a diploma, GED or college degree. BCD mails you a Letter of Authorization. [2][4][5][6]

4. Take the exam within 60 days

   Schedule the 4-hour, 64-question open-book exam with your test site; you need 75% to pass. Results come by mail in about two weeks; after a failure you wait 30 days to retest. [2][4]

5. Renew on the three-year cycle

   Complete 24 hours of approved continuing education, including 4 hours of code change, before you renew. [5]

Where to get the hours

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

• State program

  BOLI Apprenticeship and Training Division: plumber programs

  Oregon's apprenticeship agency lists every registered plumber program with its contact, average journey wage and whether it is taking applications. [7][18]

• Union

  UA Local 290 Plumbers and Steamfitters JATC (290 Tech, Tualatin)

  The union program that trains plumbers, steamfitters and HVAC/R technicians. Its plumber standard is 8,000 hours of on-the-job training. [9][10]

• Open shop

  Area I Plumbers JATC (Lake Oswego)

  An open-shop (non-union) four-year program with classes at Clackamas Community College; apprentices work for the program's registered plumbing companies. [11][12]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask