Plumbing License in Mississippi: Requirements, Exams, Reciprocity and Costs (2026)

Mississippi licenses plumbing at the company level, not the individual level: there is no state journeyman or master plumber card, only a Certificate of Responsibility or residential license issued to a business by the Mississippi State Board of Contractors (MSBOC). That single fact trips up more search results than any other on this topic, and getting it wrong changes who applies, what they apply for, and what the company has to prove about the person whose name sits on the license.

At a glance

• Who issues it: Mississippi State Board of Contractors (MSBOC), Jackson
• State journeyman or master license: None; those tiers belong to cities and counties
• Commercial license needed: Work over $50,000, including subcontractors and equipment installation
• Exams: PSI, open book: Law and Business Management plus a trade exam; 70 percent to pass
• Application fee: $400 commercial (one classification included), $50 residential (one classification included)

Search results for Mississippi plumbing licensing are a mixed bag. One widely circulated guide describes a "Journeyman Plumber License" earned through an approved apprenticeship and a board administered exam, with a separate "Plumbing Contractor License" layered on top, as if Mississippi ran a ladder like many neighboring states do. Others name an agency that does not exist in any MSBOC rule, form or statute: a "Mississippi State Plumbing Board."

One older source tied that invented name to Mississippi Code Annotated Title 73, Chapter 41, which is titled Athlete Agents and was repealed in full in 2001, replaced by the Uniform Athlete Agents Law in Chapter 42. Neither claim holds up against the board's own rules.

Here is what is actually true, checked against MSBOC's website and forms on October 16, 2026. The agency that licenses plumbing contracting businesses is the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, and the credential is a Certificate of Responsibility carrying the Plumbing classification (commercial) or a residential license carrying Residential Plumbing. There is no statewide journeyman plumber license, no statewide master plumber license, and no state apprentice registration. Those tiers exist in Mississippi, but inside individual cities and counties, not at the state level.

This guide walks through the licensing process from the board's own rules, forms and exam bulletin, along with the statutes that back them up. Our guides to the Mississippi contractor license overview and the national contractor license picture cover the surrounding ground.

Mississippi plumbing license at a glance

Notes on the table:

• The residential threshold splits by project type: new residential construction over $50,000, remodeling or additions over $10,000, and roofing over $10,000.
• Fire sprinkler work carries its own lines: public projects over $5,000, private projects over $10,000.
• A $100 fee applies for each trade classification added beyond the first.
• The Fire Sprinkler classification sits outside Plumbing and Mechanical entirely and carries its own NICET Level 3 qualifier requirement, covered further on.

Who licenses plumbing in Mississippi

MSBOC was established in 1952 and describes itself as the state's contractor licensing authority. It is a ten member board appointed by the Governor, and its founding statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 31-3-3, reserves one seat for a plumbing or heating and air conditioning contractor. The board regulates both commercial and residential contractors who bid on or perform work in Mississippi. Its offices sit at 2679 Crane Ridge Drive, Suite C, Jackson, MS 39216, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 320279, Jackson, MS 39232-0279.

The board exists for a specific reason, not just paperwork. Its founding statute, § 31-3-2, states its purpose directly: protecting the public against the "incompetent, inexperienced, unlawful and fraudulent acts" of contractors. That language shows up again later in this guide, because it is also what MSBOC points to when it explains why a qualifying party has to be a real, working employee rather than a name borrowed for an application.

MSBOC issues two families of license, and plumbing appears in both. On the commercial side, the credential is the Certificate of Responsibility, which the board's own "How Do I?" page answers plainly: a Certificate of Responsibility is the official name for a commercial license. It is issued to the business in its exact legal name and can carry one or more classifications; commercial licensing sits under Miss. Code Ann. § 31-3-1 et seq. On the residential side sits a separate, cheaper application with its own list of nine classifications, governed by Miss. Code Ann. § 73-59-1 et seq.

Mississippi's local privilege tax statute, § 27-17-457(4), confirms both citations by naming Title 31 Chapter 3 and Title 73 Chapter 59 as the controlling authorities.

Neither license family contains a journeyman or master plumber tier. MSBOC's own application walkthrough lists the complete residential roster: Residential Builder, Residential Remodeler, Residential Roofer, Residential Construction Manager, Residential Solar, Residential Mechanical, Residential HVAC, Residential Plumbing, and Residential Electrical. One naming wrinkle is worth flagging: the board's website footer still calls it the "Mississippi State Board of Public Contractors," an older statutory name, while its current forms and headers say "Mississippi State Board of Contractors." They are the same agency, and neither name belongs to a plumbing board.

When you need a state plumbing license

Mississippi draws its lines by dollar amount. Below the relevant threshold, the state stays out and a city or county takes over; above it, MSBOC's rules and § 31-3-1 require a license.

• Commercial work over $50,000 needs a Certificate of Responsibility. This covers prime contractors and subcontractors, including equipment installation.
• New residential construction over $50,000 needs a residential license.
• Residential remodeling or additions over $10,000 needs a residential license.
• Residential roofing over $10,000 needs a residential license.
• Fire sprinkler work has its own lower lines: public projects over $5,000, private projects over $10,000.
• Subcontractors doing residential electrical, mechanical, HVAC or plumbing work on a residential construction or improvement project the board regulates must be licensed by MSBOC.

That last bullet is the one plumbers miss most. MSBOC's guidance states it directly: work under $10,000 in residential electrical, plumbing or HVAC does not need a state license, but the city or county building official still has to be contacted. On the commercial side, work under the $50,000 line gets the same answer: call the city or county where the job sits.

So the honest answer to "do I need a Mississippi plumbing license" is that it depends on the size of the job. If the answer is no, that only means the question has moved to city hall.

One more wrinkle belongs here. A Residential Builder license holder can take on commercial work without a separate commercial license, but only within strict limits: the project cannot exceed 7,500 square feet or three floors. Step outside either limit and the job needs a Certificate of Responsibility like any other commercial contract.

Example. A plumbing subcontractor bidding a $38,000 bathroom addition on an existing house needs a residential license with Residential Plumbing, because the job is an improvement over $10,000. The same company bidding a $65,000 plumbing package on a new single family home needs the same residential license and classification, but now because the home itself is new construction over $50,000, not because of the remodel threshold. Change the job to a $65,000 tenant build out in a strip mall, and the threshold and the license both change: that is commercial work over $50,000, so it needs a Certificate of Responsibility instead.

Fire sprinkler work sits in its own category, not under Plumbing or Mechanical. MSBOC lists Fire Sprinkler Work as a stand-alone classification alongside Solar and Wind Construction, separate from the six major classifications described below. A commercial applicant seeking the Fire Sprinkler classification also has to show that the qualifying party holds a NICET Level 3 certification, a requirement the Plumbing and Mechanical classifications do not carry. A plumbing company that also wants to bid fire sprinkler work needs this separate classification and this separate credential, not an extension of its Plumbing scope.

Plumbing sits under the Mechanical classification

This structural fact decides what you pay and which exam you sit. MSBOC organizes commercial licensure into six major classifications: Building Construction, Electrical, Heavy Construction, Highway Street and Bridge Construction, Mechanical, and Municipal and Public Works. Under each major sits a list of specialty classifications, and the board's rule is direct: holding a major entitles the license holder to perform every specialty listed beneath it.

The practical effect shows up most with mixed trade shops. A mechanical contractor that also runs plumbing crews, or a plumbing company that occasionally sets equipment covered elsewhere in the Mechanical list, has to decide early whether the specialty or the major actually matches its bid pipeline. Switching later means a new application, a new net worth statement, and in most cases a new exam.

Plumbing is a specialty under the Mechanical major. So is HVAC, Refrigeration, Boiler Installation and Repair, Process Piping, Ductwork, Fueling Systems, Underground Utilities, Irrigation Systems, Swimming Pools, Millwright, Welding, Cathodic Protection, Insulation, and Instrumentation and Controls, fifteen specialties in total under Appendix A of the commercial application. That split creates two routes:

1. Take the Mechanical major, and every specialty beneath it, plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration, process piping and boilers, comes with it on one classification fee.
2. Take the Plumbing specialty alone, and the license stays limited to plumbing's own scope.

The right call depends on what the shop actually bids. A company doing plumbing and mechanical work both should weigh the major against paying $100 per added specialty to rebuild it piece by piece. The trade off runs both ways: the Mechanical exam is longer and broader, and a major needs $50,000 of net worth against $20,000 for a specialty.

What the Plumbing classification actually covers

MSBOC's scope language for the Plumbing specialty is broad, and two parts of it catch people off guard. In the board's own words, the classification covers installation, maintenance and repair of commercial and residential plumbing systems, including sanitary and storm drainage, venting, public and private water supply, septic tanks, wells, swimming pool piping and irrigation systems. It also reaches air piping, vacuum line piping, oxygen line piping, nitrous oxide piping and other medical gas systems, fire line standpipes and sprinklers, ink and chemical lines, fuel oil and gasoline piping, tank and pump installation outside bulk storage plants, and pneumatic control piping, plus incidental excavation. The classification explicitly excludes fuel gas and boiler systems.

Two takeaways matter most. Medical gas sits inside the plumbing classification, so a Mississippi Plumbing credential reaches oxygen, nitrous oxide, vacuum and air piping in hospitals and clinics. Fuel gas and boilers sit outside it: a plumbing specialty holder who sets boilers or runs fuel gas needs the Mechanical major instead, which names boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems and liquefied petroleum and natural gas fuel lines in its own scope, or the standalone Boiler Installation and Repair specialty. PSI's exam bulletin echoes the same boundary in its own words for the Plumbing exam.

Residential Plumbing is simpler: installation, maintenance and repair of residential plumbing systems only, with no commercial scope. Residential Mechanical bundles residential plumbing with residential HVAC, but MSBOC requires both trade exams, Residential HVAC and Residential Plumbing, to hold it.

What the application requires

This section follows the commercial application MSBOC posts on its Forms page today, revised 2/2026, and the residential application carries the same revision date in a shorter format.

Financials. Commercial applicants need a reviewed or audited financial statement, prepared and signed by a CPA within the last twelve months. MSBOC is blunt about why: because it offers an unlimited license, the applicant must show the required net worth, and a compilation will not be accepted. That floor is $20,000 for a specialty and $50,000 for a major, so a plumbing only shop needs $20,000 and a Mechanical major shop needs $50,000. Residential applicants skip this requirement entirely.

Insurance. Commercial applicants carry general liability of at least $300,000 per occurrence and $600,000 aggregate, with MSBOC named as certificate holder so it learns if the policy lapses. The insured name must match the license name exactly, and the certificate needs a valid policy number and effective dates. Residential applicants show proof of coverage with no minimum amount set.

Workers' compensation. Required only once the company reaches five or more employees.

References. Three letters, one of which must come from a bank or financial institution; the other two can come from anyone the applicant has worked with on construction related projects. The residential application asks for reference letters even from applicants who have already passed an exam.

Experience. At least three completed jobs in the classification requested. MSBOC's own application video adds a pointed warning: office duties do not qualify as trade experience.

Tax numbers. A Mississippi sales or use tax number is a statutory requirement for commercial applicants, plus a Mississippi income tax ID or federal tax ID. Residential applicants may use a Mississippi income tax ID, a federal tax ID, or a Social Security number.

Entity standing. Corporations, LLCs and LLPs must be registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State in good standing, with the application name matching the Secretary of State record exactly. Printed proof from the Secretary of State's website is enough; an official certificate is not required.

The qualifying party's proof of employment. Covered in full below, this is the part of a Mississippi application that matters most to any company bringing in an outside qualifier.

Adding a classification later. A licensed company that wants to add Plumbing, Mechanical, or any other classification after its initial license issues does not file a new application from scratch. It files MSBOC's Application for Additional Classification, pays the $100 per class fee, and still has to meet the net worth, insurance, reference and exam requirements tied to the new classification, including a separate trade exam if the new classification calls for one. A commercial shop that starts with Building Construction and later wants to add Plumbing follows this route rather than reapplying as if it had never been licensed.

An identity gate with no workaround. MSBOC's walkthrough is explicit: a U.S. Social Security number is required for each qualifying party on the license, and no other form of identification is accepted. The 2/2026 application also asks for a valid email for testing purposes. If the intended qualifier does not hold a U.S. SSN, the application cannot move forward.

A published, honest contradiction. The 2/2026 commercial and residential applications close with a signed Consent and Release and Statement of Truth, and their checklists ask for no notary. MSBOC's Apply For A License page states the same thing directly: the board no longer requires an affidavit or notarized signature, and any references to that requirement in older videos or transcripts should be disregarded.

Yet the Forms page that links those same applications still labels each one as requiring notarization, and the board's commercial rule, 30 Miss. Code R. 802-1.1(2)(f), still calls for signatures notarized "where indicated." The application itself is the newest document and no longer indicates a notary line, but calling the board at 601-354-6161 before paying a notary is the safer move.

The residential extra: a contract disclosure. A residential license holder must tell the owner in writing, at the signing of the contract, whether the company carries general liability insurance. The disclosure sits immediately above the purchaser's signature line, in bold, conspicuous type larger than the rest of the contract.

The exams

All MSBOC exams run through PSI and are open book.

Every applicant, with no exception, sits the Mississippi Law and Business Management exam; MSBOC is careful to note that it is a required exam rather than a trade classification, so no classification fee applies to it. On top of that comes a trade exam for any classification that requires one, and Plumbing, Residential Plumbing and Residential Mechanical (which needs two) all do. The passing score is 70 percent for both commercial applicants, under rule 802-1.1(9), and residential applicants, under the residential rules.

These figures come from PSI's State of Mississippi Contractor Examinations Candidate Information Bulletin, updated April 23, 2026, and unchanged as of this guide's October 2026 check:

A few bulletin details are worth knowing before exam day. The commercial Plumbing exam weights Drain, Waste and Vent at 15 questions and Isometric Analysis at 12, its two largest blocks. The Residential Plumbing exam carries fuel gas, LP gas and fuel oil questions even though the commercial Plumbing classification excludes fuel gas work.

PSI mixes in a small share of unscored experimental questions, roughly 10 percent of the total, and allows books that are highlighted, underlined and indexed but not written in, plus a silent, non programmable calculator. Scores are reported immediately after the exam ends.

NASCLA does not help a plumber here. MSBOC accepts the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building in place of its own Building Construction exam, and the NASCLA Accredited Electrical Examination in place of its Master Electrical exam. That is the complete list; the Mechanical major and the Plumbing specialty are not on it, so a NASCLA credential will not shortcut a Mississippi plumbing classification.

Scheduling follows a fixed sequence. An applicant cannot book a PSI exam independently. MSBOC first sends the qualifier's information to PSI after receiving the application, PSI then emails a confirmation, and only after that email arrives can the candidate schedule. The board's FAQ states it plainly: no candidate may schedule an exam until MSBOC submits that information, which is why the board stresses a valid email address and tells applicants to check their spam folder for the PSI notice.

PSI charges separately from MSBOC. The current bulletin lists $120 for one exam portion and $240 for two, charged at every registration whether it is a first attempt or a retake, and neither refundable nor transferable. Cancelling without losing the fee requires PSI to receive the cancellation at least 2 days before the exam date. PSI's candidate line is (855) 557-0619.

Reciprocity: do plumbing licenses transfer to Mississippi?

Partly, and only in one specific way. MSBOC has written agreements with other state boards, but reciprocity in Mississippi means waiver of a trade exam only, never a waiver of the application, the financials, the insurance or the Mississippi Law and Business Management exam, which every applicant still takes.

For plumbing specifically, the list of boards that help is short, drawn from MSBOC's Reciprocity page and Appendix C of the 2/2026 application:

Three practical notes follow from that table. First, each waived exam still costs $50, and the other state's board has to complete Part 2 of MSBOC's Reciprocity Verification Form and return it. Second, the board's own pages disagree on how long the license must have been held elsewhere: the "How Do I?" page says 3 consecutive years, while the Reciprocity page sets that condition board by board, from current licensure up to five years without discipline, so the safer move is to read the live Reciprocity page and ask a licensing agent which condition applies to a specific file.

Third, two statutes sit outside these agreements entirely: the Universal Recognition of Occupational Licenses Act, § 73-50-2, which can waive an exam for an applicant who proves Mississippi residency, and the Military Family Freedom Act, § 73-50-1, covering military members, spouses and dependents. Neither guarantees a license; the board still decides whether out of state qualifications match in scope.

The reciprocity list looks short for plumbing specifically, but MSBOC's agreements cover more ground for other trades: Building Construction reciprocity reaches boards in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina, and Electrical reciprocity reaches North Carolina and South Carolina as well. A company holding both a Building Construction and a Plumbing classification in the same state of origin may find one classification waives cleanly into Mississippi while the other does not, so each classification on a multi-trade license has to be checked against the Reciprocity page on its own. That same page is also the right place to confirm a condition before applying, since several of the state-by-state entries change which years of licensure or discipline history count.

Moving a plumbing license from a neighboring state sets up the other side of this question: see our guides to the Alabama plumbing license, Tennessee plumbing license, Louisiana plumbing license, Arkansas plumbing license, Ohio plumbing license and South Carolina plumbing license. Moving a license between Mississippi's own cities and counties works through different statutes, covered in the local layer section below.

Fees

MSBOC sets these fees and can change them; verify with the board before writing a check. These are published on the board's fee schedule, alongside PSI's bulletin for exam costs.

A commercial plumbing shop taking the Plumbing specialty alone pays $400 to MSBOC; adding HVAC as a second specialty brings that to $500. Taking the Mechanical major instead covers both, plus thirteen more specialties, for the same $400. On the residential side, Residential Plumbing alone is $50, a second residential classification brings it to $150, and a first time qualifier sitting both the Law and Business Management exam and a trade exam pays PSI $240 on top. MSBOC takes checks and money orders only, never cash, and none of its fees are refundable.

The board's published fee schedule still carries an effective date of January 1, 2016, confirmed again on its FAQ page today; these amounts have held steady for a decade, which is worth knowing but also worth confirming before relying on them for a bid. Bond and insurance premiums are set by the carrier, separate from MSBOC's fees, and so is the CPA's charge for a reviewed or audited statement, which belongs in the budget for any commercial application.

Example. A two person residential plumbing outfit applying for Residential Plumbing alone pays MSBOC $50 for the application, plus PSI's $240 if the qualifying party sits both the Law and Business Management exam and the trade exam on the first try. A commercial shop applying for the Mechanical major instead of Plumbing alone pays the same $400 to MSBOC, but budgets for the longer, broader exam and the higher $50,000 net worth floor behind it.

How to get a Mississippi plumbing license, step by step

1. Size the work. Decide whether the company will take commercial jobs over $50,000, residential subcontract work on regulated projects, or only small residential jobs that stay local, since that decides commercial, residential, or a city license.
2. Pick the classification. Plumbing specialty, Mechanical major, Residential Plumbing or Residential Mechanical. Check the scope: fuel gas and boiler work needs the Mechanical major or its own specialty.
3. Set up the entity. Register the corporation or LLC with the Mississippi Secretary of State, confirm good standing, and lock in the exact legal name that will appear on every bid, contract and permit.
4. Get the tax numbers. A Mississippi sales or use tax number for commercial work, plus an income tax or federal tax ID from the Department of Revenue and the IRS.
5. Name the qualifying party. An owner, officer, member of the executive staff, or responsible managing employee with a U.S. Social Security number, a valid email, and proof of employment such as a check stub, W-2, or Secretary of State listing.
6. Build the file. A CPA statement within 12 months (commercial), a general liability certificate naming MSBOC, workers' compensation if the company has 5 or more employees, three reference letters with one from a bank, and at least three completed jobs in the classification.
7. Mail the application and fee to MSBOC, P.O. Box 320279, Jackson, MS 39232-0279, including the Reciprocity Verification Form and $50 per waived exam if claiming reciprocity. The 180 day clock starts on receipt.
8. Wait for the PSI confirmation email, then register, pay PSI, and schedule the Law and Business Management exam and the trade exam.
9. Pass with 70 percent on each exam, bringing the exact code editions PSI lists in the bulletin.
10. Wait for board review. Completed files go to the board on Fridays, and approved licenses issue the following Wednesday; search the company name on MSBOC's license lookup after that for the license number, expiration date and status.

How to verify a Mississippi plumbing license

MSBOC runs a public license search at search.msboc.us, separate from its main site, and it is the fastest way to check whether a plumbing company is actually licensed before signing a contract.

1. Search by name or number. Enter the company's exact legal name, or its license number without any letter prefix or suffix, in the main search box.
2. Use Advanced Search if the name search comes up empty. Business names change, and a name typed slightly differently than the board has it on file will not match.
3. Check the classification, not just the status. A company showing an active Certificate of Responsibility for Building Construction is not necessarily licensed for Plumbing; the classification list on the record has to show Plumbing, Mechanical, or Residential Plumbing specifically.
4. Treat the result as a starting point, not a verdict. MSBOC's own search tool warns that its records can be out of date, and recommends calling the board directly at 601-354-6161 before relying on what the search shows.

A license lookup only covers the state layer. Because a large share of ordinary residential plumbing work in Mississippi runs through city and county licenses instead, as the local layer section below explains, a plumber working a small job may be properly licensed by a city or county and still show nothing in MSBOC's search. For that kind of job, the right verification call goes to the city or county building official, not to MSBOC.

Timeline

MSBOC processes completed applications weekly. Its Testing page is specific about the mechanics: completed applications go to the board on Fridays, only fully completed files are reviewed, and approved licenses issue the following Wednesday. PSI's bulletin adds that successful candidates receive the Commercial Certificate of Responsibility or Residential License roughly one week after board approval.

The board's other pages give slightly different figures for the same step: its "How Do I?" page still says the process usually takes about a week to 10 days from Board review to issuance, while its own video transcripts say five working days in one place and seven working days in another. Planning for a week to 10 days after approval is the safer read than pinning a hard date.

The front end of the process, not the board review, is where most of the time goes. Scheduling cannot start until PSI confirms eligibility, and the CPA statement, bank reference letter and insurance certificate all come from people working on their own calendars. The clock that actually bites is the 180 day rule: applications not completed within 180 days are destroyed. Sending an incomplete application and letting it sit while chasing a CPA statement or bank letter means starting over, with a fee that is not refunded.

Renewal, continuing education and inactive status

A Mississippi license runs for one year. MSBOC sends renewal notices by email roughly 60 days before expiration, which makes a current email address on file an operational requirement, though Mississippi's residential statute still permits notice by mail or email. Renewal can happen online, paying and uploading every required document, or by mailing the renewal form; the board asks applicants not to mail documents separately after paying online.

Renewal is not a rubber stamp. The commercial rule requires every renewal applicant to furnish a balance sheet prepared under generally accepted accounting principles, current insurance, and proof that the qualifying party is still employed. A license can be renewed up to 180 days after expiration; past that window it cannot be renewed at all, and the company files a brand new application with a new fee, new financials, and potentially new exams. The residential statute prices the late window at the license fee plus a 10 percent penalty, which is the $10 late fee on a $100 renewal.

Continuing education applies to Residential Plumbing. Each qualifying party on a residential license must complete two credit hours of continuing education a year from a board approved provider or instructor, with proof filed at renewal. The requirement applies to residential licenses issued on or after July 1, 2015, and § 73-59-11 caps it at two hours annually.

A credit hour runs 50 minutes of instruction, and MSBOC does not dictate which courses satisfy it unless the board orders education after a disciplinary hearing. The board's continuing education page sets no hours at all for commercial Certificate of Responsibility holders.

Inactive status fits a company that is not currently building: return the license, submit a written request, and pay a $25 processing fee. Two points trip people up here. Annual renewal fees still apply while inactive, and an inactive license genuinely cannot bid, contract, pull permits or perform work; it is off, not merely quiet. Returning to active costs another $25, plus proof of general liability insurance, and commercial holders have to produce financial information again.

Penalties, and what a false answer costs

Working without the license is a criminal matter in Mississippi, not a paperwork gap.

• Commercial. Under § 31-3-21, bidding, contracting or otherwise engaging in the business of a contractor without a Certificate of Responsibility is unlawful. Knowingly bidding without one is a misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both. Bids over $50,000 must carry the COR number on the outside of the envelope or they go unopened, and the board can also issue an order of abatement plus a civil penalty of up to 3 percent of the contract.
• Residential. Under § 73-59-9, undertaking residential construction without a required license, or filing false information to get one, is a misdemeanor with a fine of $100 to $5,000, 30 to 60 days in county jail, or both; under § 73-59-13 the board can separately levy a monetary penalty of $100 to $5,000 per violation.
• Operating under the wrong name. MSBOC treats doing business under any name other than the one on the certificate as equivalent to unlicensed construction.

A false answer on the application form carries its own penalty. The commercial rule, 30 Miss. Code R. 802-1.1(5), provides that if any information on an application or in an oral interview turns out false, the Certificate of Responsibility is terminated and withdrawn, and no renewal or new certificate can issue until one year has passed from that date. The 2/2026 commercial and residential applications quote the same rule under its older number, 30-9-802:1.1.3.5, and both still say one year; earlier versions of this guide stated that bar as five years, which the rule as amended January 6, 2022, and the current applications do not support. For a shop that lives on commercial work, a misstatement on the form costs a full year of eligibility, which is effectively the whole business.

Complaints, hearings and appeals

Anyone can start that process. A homeowner, a competing contractor, or another member of the public can file a complaint with MSBOC using its complaint form, and a credible complaint is what leads to the hearing described below.

A contractor facing a board hearing, whether over an unlicensed complaint or a false statement on an application, works on the board's own procedural clock, not a court's. MSBOC's rules require evidence to reach the board at least 10 days before a scheduled hearing, or the contractor can bring 13 copies of that evidence to the hearing itself. After the board issues a decision, a contractor who wants to appeal has 10 days from that decision to file.

Those procedural windows matter most for a company that already has a qualifying party, insurance, and a clean application, because a missed evidence deadline or a missed appeal window can turn a defensible complaint into a license suspension by default. Anyone facing a hearing notice should treat both 10 day windows as fixed, not aspirational, and should bring documentation rather than relying on an explanation given at the hearing itself.

The local layer: city and county plumbing licenses

Because Mississippi's state thresholds sit at $10,000 and $50,000, a large share of ordinary residential plumbing work falls entirely to cities and counties. This is where journeyman and master plumber tiers actually exist in Mississippi, inside municipal and county examining boards rather than a state registry.

Gulfport illustrates the pattern. Its Building Code Services contractor license application lists Master Plumbing among its license types, requires the license to sit in the name of the qualifying party who tested for the company, charges a $100 licensing fee that is waived for holders of an MSBOC Certificate of Responsibility, and asks for liability insurance of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate with completed operations coverage and the city named as certificate holder; it also waives its five reference letter requirement for applicants who already hold a state license. Every city and county writes its own version of this, so a call to the building official where the job sits is the right move before quoting work in Jackson, Hattiesburg, or anywhere else.

Two statutes keep this patchwork workable, and they answer the "do plumbing licenses transfer" question inside the state. Miss. Code Ann. § 27-17-457 lets a contractor, naming the trades explicitly as electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, water and sewer, roofing or mechanical, who holds a license from one municipality or county with an examining board that gives a written exam, do business in any other municipality or county without a new license or exam, on three conditions:

• Evidence of the local license;
• Evidence that the holder actually took and passed the written exam that qualified for it, with a grandfather clause for licenses issued before May 1, 1972, in jurisdictions that did not then examine; and
• No separate place of business in the other municipality or county.

Subsection (2) extends that same portability to a contractor who holds a current Certificate of Responsibility, under the same first two conditions. Subsection (3) says no extra privilege license bond is required elsewhere as long as the home jurisdiction's bond is current, and subsection (5) leaves each city's and county's permit authority intact. Subsection (6) then governs advertising: a taxpayer under a local privilege license cannot call themselves "licensed" to the public unless they are in compliance under subsection (1)(b) or hold a current state Certificate of Responsibility.

Advertising as licensed on the strength of a local privilege license alone requires naming the specific city or county, such as "licensed by the city of ___," or naming the State Board of Contractors if that applies. A tax officer can suspend the privilege license until the advertising is fixed, so a bare "licensed plumber" on a truck door is not automatically safe to run in Mississippi.

Miss. Code Ann. § 17-25-5 governs the exam itself. Every municipality and county must grant competency exam reciprocity to a plumbing contractor already licensed by another Mississippi municipality or county, without a further exam, if the contractor shows a license issued on a written exam approved by MSBOC or the Building Officials Association of Mississippi, proof of passing it, at least two years actively engaged in the business, and at least one year holding the license. The local license fee still applies unless the contractor holds a current Certificate of Responsibility, in which case no fee is collected, and each jurisdiction can still set its own bonding, with a contractor operating more than one place of business needing a privilege license for each.

One boundary caps all of this: § 27-17-457(4) states that nothing in the section overrides Title 31 Chapter 3 or Title 73 Chapter 59, and where they conflict, those chapters control. Municipal portability does not substitute for a state license once a job crosses the state's own dollar thresholds.

The qualifying party: the person the license stands on

Everything above is about the company, and none of it works without a person. Mississippi calls that person the qualifying party: an owner, officer, member of the executive staff, or responsible managing employee who takes the trade exam and stands behind the company's work. MSBOC's own plain language description sums it up directly: every licensed company needs one real, tested person attached to its Certificate of Responsibility.

The board does not take that relationship on faith. The 2/2026 commercial application includes a literal checkbox for proof of employment, check stub, W-2, or Mississippi Secretary of State listing, next to a field labeled "Date Hired." The one exemption, no proof required when applying in an individual name, proves the rule, since a sole proprietor cannot employ themselves. The underlying rule, 30 Miss. Code R. 802-1.1(2)(l), requires that the qualifying party be regularly employed by the certificate holder, actively engaged in the classification of work, hold the necessary experience and skill to supervise or perform it, and that the certificate holder furnish proof of that employment at both application and renewal, not just once.

Four more limits shape how a company should plan around a qualifier. A qualifying party may serve no more than three separate entities without special board permission for a fourth. A company may have more than one qualifying party, including different qualifiers for different classifications.

If a qualifier leaves, both the departing qualifier and the company must notify the board in writing immediately, and the company then has 90 days to name a replacement or face a hearing on why the Certificate of Responsibility should not be suspended or revoked. If the license carries more than one classification and the qualifier for the other classes stays on, the company keeps operating in those remaining classes; only the class tied to the person who left comes off the license, and it comes off the day of the hearing unless a replacement is named in time. We cover the full mechanics of that role, including the change fee and the dual notification duty, in our guide to the Mississippi Certificate of Responsibility and qualifying party.

That W-2 requirement is also the reason a company without an in house qualifier cannot simply hire around the problem with a contractor relationship. A qualifying agent qualifies the company, not just a job: a real, tested professional employed full time by the business who sits the exams, holds the classification, and supervises the licensed work, structured as an actual employee rather than a side arrangement. Hiring a qualifying agent is the practical answer when nobody currently on staff can pass the Plumbing or Residential Plumbing exam, and companies evaluating whether that fits their bid pipeline can look at contractor qualifier services built around the same full time employment structure MSBOC's own application checks for.

When nobody in the company can sit the exam

An individual plumber looking for a state journeyman or master license in Mississippi will not find one; the honest next step is a conversation with the city or county examining board where the work sits. A company starting a plumbing business that plans to take work over the state's thresholds needs an MSBOC license, and that means a qualifying party who can pass the exams and prove employment with a check stub or W-2.

That second requirement is where companies most often stall. Financials, insurance, reference letters and tax numbers are solvable with a phone call and a checkbook. A genuinely qualified employee is not, and growing one from scratch takes years.

The Licensing Company, led by founders Marshall Schofield and Jeremiah Jaskulski, places qualifying agents as full time W-2 employees: never as contractors, never on a percentage, never per project, which is the structure Mississippi's own application is built to verify. We cover the same structure nationally for plumbing contractors, and for the state level picture across every trade, our Mississippi contractor license guide and the national contractor license guide fill in the rest.

Frequently asked questions

Does Mississippi have a state journeyman plumber license? No. MSBOC issues commercial Certificates of Responsibility and residential licenses to businesses, with classifications like Plumbing and Residential Plumbing. There is no state journeyman or master plumber credential; journeyman and master tiers in Mississippi exist inside municipal and county examining boards.

Is there a "Mississippi State Plumbing Board"? Not as a licensing authority. The agency that licenses plumbing contractors is the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, and no agency called a plumbing board appears in its rules, forms, applications or website. One older claim tied to that invented name cited Mississippi Code Annotated Title 73, Chapter 41 as its authority, a chapter titled Athlete Agents that was fully repealed in 2001.

Do you need a plumber license in Mississippi? It depends on the job and the location. A company needs an MSBOC license for commercial plumbing over $50,000 and for residential plumbing subcontract work on projects the board regulates. Below those lines the state steps back and the city or county decides, which is where individual plumber licenses and permits actually live.

How much does a Mississippi plumbing license cost? The state's own fees are fixed: $400 for a commercial application including one classification, $100 per additional classification, $50 for a residential application, plus PSI's $120 per exam portion. The total cost of getting licensed is not fixed, because it depends on a CPA's fee for a reviewed statement, an insurance premium at the $300,000 and $600,000 minimums, and, for a company without an in house qualifier, the cost of bringing one in, which varies with classification and risk and is worth discussing directly with a consultation.

How many questions are on the Mississippi plumbing exam? PSI's current bulletin lists 70 questions in 3 hours for the commercial Plumbing exam and 80 questions in 4 hours for Residential Plumbing. Every applicant also sits the 50 question, 2 hour Law and Business Management exam. All are open book and need 70 percent to pass.

Can I use my NASCLA certification to get a Mississippi plumbing license? No. MSBOC accepts NASCLA accredited exams only for the Building Construction major and the Electrical major. The Mechanical major and the Plumbing specialty are not covered.

Do plumbing licenses transfer to other states? Not automatically. Mississippi waives the plumbing trade exam for qualifying license holders from a short list of boards, including Tennessee, Ohio, the Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board, and, for Residential Plumbing, the South Carolina Residential Builders Commission, but the full application and the Law and Business Management exam are still required. Inside Mississippi, § 27-17-457 and § 17-25-5 let a tested city or county license carry to other cities and counties without a new exam, under the conditions described above.

Do I need a license for a $6,000 residential plumbing repair? Not from MSBOC. Residential plumbing work below $10,000 falls outside the state license, but the local building official or permit office still needs a call, because the city or county almost certainly has its own requirement, and that is where Mississippi's journeyman and master tiers actually live.

Is there continuing education for Mississippi plumbers? For residential license holders, yes: each qualifying party on a Residential Plumbing or Residential Mechanical license must complete two credit hours a year from a board approved provider, for licenses issued on or after July 1, 2015. MSBOC sets no continuing education hours for commercial Certificate of Responsibility holders, though city and county licenses may carry their own rules.

What happens if my qualifying party quits? Both the departing qualifier and the company must notify the board in writing immediately, and the company has 90 days from disassociation to name a replacement. Missing that window brings a hearing notice and a show cause proceeding on whether the Certificate of Responsibility should be suspended or revoked. If the license holds multiple classifications and other qualifiers remain, those classes keep operating; only the departed qualifier's class comes off. Planning for that scenario ahead of time is the subject of our contractor qualifier contingency plan.

Can one person qualify several Mississippi companies? Up to three. A qualifying party may serve no more than three separate entities without first appearing before the board and getting special permission for a fourth.

What if my company needs both Plumbing and HVAC? Two options exist. Take the Plumbing and HVAC specialties separately, paying $400 for the first classification and $100 for the second, or take the Mechanical major for $400 and get both plus thirteen other specialties in one classification. The right call depends on the longer, broader Mechanical exam and the higher $50,000 net worth floor against the convenience of one classification covering everything.

Can a residential license holder take on commercial work? Only within limits. A Residential Builder license lets the holder take commercial jobs without a separate Certificate of Responsibility, but only if the project stays at or under 7,500 square feet and three floors. A larger or taller commercial project needs a commercial license regardless of what the company already holds on the residential side.

Can the qualifying party be a 1099 contractor? Mississippi's application asks for a check stub or W-2 as proof of employment, records the date hired, and requires that same proof again at renewal. The board describes the qualifier as someone really employed by the company and actively engaged in the licensed trade, not just on paper. We cover how boards nationally treat this question in can a qualifying agent be a 1099 contractor.

Talk to us about your Mississippi plumbing license

If your company is ready to bid Mississippi plumbing work over the state's thresholds and needs a qualifying party who can pass the exams and sit on the payroll, call The Licensing Company at 615-219-2110 or start at Hire a Qualifying Agent. Marshall Schofield and Jeremiah Jaskulski built the company around a single idea: a license should stand on a real, tested person who actually works for you. We will tell you plainly whether your company can be licensed, which classification fits the work you want, and what the board will ask to see. That answer holds whether your company needs its first Mississippi classification or its tenth, in plumbing or any other trade MSBOC licenses.

Sources

All sources retrieved October 16, 2026.

• Mississippi State Board of Contractors, Apply For A License (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, How Do I? (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Frequently Asked Questions (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Classifications (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Testing (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Reciprocity (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Continuing Education (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Qualifying Party (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Forms (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2016 (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Commercial Application, Revised 2/2026 (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC, Residential Application, Revised 2/2026 (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• 30 Miss. Code R. 802-1.1, Application for Certificate of Responsibility (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• 12 Miss. Code R. 3-20-600.43, Certificate of Responsibility (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• PSI, State of Mississippi Contractor Examinations Candidate Information Bulletin (updated 4/23/2026) (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 31-3-21, bidding and awards (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 31-3-2, legislative purpose (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 27-17-457 (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 17-25-5 (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• MSBOC License Search (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• Miss. Code Ann. Title 73, Chapter 41 (Athlete Agents, repealed 2001) (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• City of Gulfport, Building Code Services (retrieved 2026-10-16)
• City of Gulfport, Application for Contractor's License (retrieved 2026-10-16)

Fees, thresholds and requirements in this guide are set by the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, by PSI, by cities and counties, and by your insurance carrier, and they change. Verify current figures with the board at 601-354-6161 or 800-880-6161, or at msboc.us, before relying on them. Statutory references are to the Mississippi Code of 1972 as currently published. This guide covers the licensing process; it is not exam preparation and it is not legal advice.

Related: Mississippi electrician license · Mississippi HVAC license · Mississippi contractor licensing overview · Alabama plumbing license · Louisiana plumbing license · Tennessee plumbing license · All state guides