Becoming a master plumber takes about 5 to 6 years of full time work in the states we checked that have a master license, depending on apprentice hours, journeyman time and exceptions.
In the six states we checked, the four that have a master license put it at about 5 to 6 years of full time work by our arithmetic (5 in Georgia, Minnesota and Colorado, about 5 to 6 in Texas), while Washington tops out at a journey level certificate and North Carolina's plumbing contractor license, which is not a master title, needs 2 years. The time is made of three pieces, and every state counts them a little differently.
Treat these as minimums on paper. Your hours have to be documented and certified, and the clock only runs on work the board recognizes. Our founders, Marshall Schofield and Jeremiah Jaskulski, are master plumbers as well as licensed general contractors, so we know how much the paperwork matters. For the company side of licensing, start with our contractor license guide.
At a glance
- Texas: 8,000 hours before the journeyman exam, then 2 years as a licensed journeyman (1 year with a Department of Labor approved training program) before the master exam (Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners).
- Georgia: 5 years of plumbing experience for the statewide master license, at least 2 of them as a licensed journeyman (Rule 121-3-.02).
- Washington: 8,000 hours and not less than four years for the journey level certificate, which is the top individual level L&I lists (WAC 296-400A-121).
- Minnesota: 4 years of recorded experience for the journeyworker exam, then 1 year as a licensed journeyworker for the master exam (DLI).
- Colorado: the Division lists five full time years (8,500 hours) of practical experience for the master license; confirm how it counts journeyworker time (DPO).
- North Carolina: no master title; the plumbing contractor license needs 2 years (4,000 hours), and up to half may be study (G.S. 87-21; State Board).
The three pieces that make up the total
Every state's total is the same sum with different numbers in it: apprentice time (counted in hours, years, or both), the journeyman exam, and then a set stretch as a licensed journeyman before the master exam. A few states skip that last rung or have no master title at all. For what each rung may do once you hold it, see journeyman vs master plumber, and for the full ladder from your first day on a job site, see how to become a licensed plumber.
Years and hours are not the same thing
Read the unit before you count. Minnesota defines one year of practical plumbing experience as at least 1,750 hours and credits no more than 1,750 hours for any one calendar year. Colorado says one month of full time experience is equivalent to 163 hours. North Carolina writes 2 years as 4,000 hours.
Washington requires both 8,000 hours and four years, so overtime cannot shorten that path, and part time work stretches every one of them.
State by state: how long to the top license
The table adds up the official minimums. The notes carry the citations and exceptions, and every figure is what the official source gave when we read it on October 12, 2026.
| State | Before the journeyman exam | Before the master exam | Minimum total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 8,000 hours as a registered apprentice | 2 years licensed (1 with a DOL program) | 8,000 hours plus 2 years |
| Georgia | 1 year of plumbing experience | 5 years total, 2 of them licensed | 5 years |
| Washington | 8,000 hours and 4 years as a trainee | No master level listed | 4 years |
| Minnesota | 4 years recorded, or an apprenticeship | 1 year as a licensed journeyworker | 5 years |
| Colorado | Up to 4 years (6,800 hours) | 5 full time years (8,500 hours) | 5 years (8,500 hours) |
| North Carolina | No journeyman license on the applicant page | No master title | 2 years (4,000 hours), half may be study |
Texas
Texas licenses every rung. The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners says you may register as a Plumber's Apprentice at 16, and that you must register before you can start counting hours: any hours worked before registration do not count toward the Tradesman Plumber-Limited or Journeyman exams.
For the journeyman exam the Board requires at least 8,000 hours of experience working in the plumbing trade, plus either a 48 hour course approved by the Board or enrollment in or completion of a training program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship.
For the master exam, the Board lists several routes. The main one is holding a journeyman license in Texas or another state for at least two years. A second route is holding a journeyman license for at least one year and having completed a Department of Labor approved training program.
So the Texas minimum is 8,000 hours, then 2 years, or 1 year with the approved program. At 2,000 hours a year, which is our arithmetic and not the Board's, that is six years of full time work. Our Texas plumbing license guide walks through the application.
Georgia
Georgia puts it in one rule. Rule 121-3-.02 of the State Construction Industry Licensing Board says an applicant for the statewide journeyman plumber license must document a minimum of one year of experience in plumbing work, and an applicant for the statewide master plumber license must document a minimum of five years, with at least two of the five years licensed as a journeyman plumber.
So the Georgia minimum is five years, and the licensed journeyman time is inside those five years, not added to them.
The rule sorts experience into Primary, gained through direct installation of plumbing systems, and Secondary, which includes county or public works maintenance and full time municipal or county inspection. The rule allows Secondary experience for the journeyman requirement but does not mention it for the master requirement, so ask the Division before you count it. The rule does not mention apprentices or credit for school, and Class II master applicants must also document commercial or industrial experience. See the Georgia plumbing license guide.
Washington
Washington differs: the Department of Labor and Industries lists the journey level plumber (PL01) as the highest individual certificate and does not list a master level. The path to PL01 is four years or more, at least 8,000 hours, as a plumber trainee under a certified journey level plumber, with at least 4,000 of those hours in commercial or industrial installations.
WAC 296-400A-121 states the exam threshold as 8,000 hours and not less than four years of documented training, and it also requires 16 hours of continuing education, including at least 4 hours of industry related electrical training, before testing. The rule does not shorten the 8,000 hours or four years for school or an apprenticeship.
It does let a trainee in an approved apprenticeship or technical school program work without direct on-site supervision during the last six months. The residential specialty certificate (PL02) is a shorter route: 3 years or more, at least 6,000 hours, but it is limited to single family homes, duplexes and apartment buildings up to three stories. See the Washington plumbing license guide.
Minnesota
Minnesota has the clearest breakdown. The Department of Labor and Industry says the journeyworker exam requires one of four routes: at least four years of recorded experience as a DLI registered unlicensed plumber, completion of a DLI registered apprenticeship program, a current Minnesota restricted license plus two years of experience gained while holding it, or a current license from another state that requires at least four years of experience and an exam.
On the registered unlicensed plumber route, the four years must include 2,000 hours of water distribution, 2,000 hours of drain, waste and vent, and 1,000 hours of fixture installation. DLI also accepts certified experience from military service, a DLI approved plumbing education class, or an apprenticeship in another state, and credits no more than two years of out of state experience unless you first obtain a license there.
For the master exam, DLI lists three routes: at least one year of practical experience as a licensed journeyworker, an equivalent master license from another state, or a Minnesota restricted master license plus five years of verifiable experience in business as a plumbing contractor in Minnesota. On the main route the sum is four years plus one year, so five years at the least. Minn. Stat. 326B.46 then ties the credential to the company: a plumbing contractor's responsible individual must be a master plumber. See the Minnesota plumbing license guide.
Colorado
Colorado states the numbers on the Division of Professions and Occupations licensing requirements page. A residential plumber must verify 2 years (3,400 hours) of practical experience. For the journeyworker license, the page says the maximum experience the board requires is 4 years (6,800 hours). For the master plumber license, the applicant must furnish evidence of five full time years (8,500 hours) of practical experience.
The page requires an Affidavit of Experience from current and former plumbing contractor employers and does not let you verify your own experience, even with a license from another state. Licensees from another state may apply by endorsement with a state or federally approved apprenticeship or the required years of experience for the comparable license.
The page does not say whether the master figure counts the years you already worked toward journeyworker, and it does not describe credit for school. Credit for school may sit in Colorado's licensing statute, and we did not open an official copy of it, so ask the Division before you count classroom time. Our Colorado plumbing license guide has the rest.
North Carolina
North Carolina answers the question with a different question. G.S. 87-21 and the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors do not use a master plumber title. What the Board licenses is the plumbing contractor, and to take that exam an applicant must have 2 years (4,000 hours) of on-site full time experience in installing, maintaining, servicing or repairing plumbing or heating systems, whether or not a license was required for the work.
The exceptions are built into the same sentence. The Board says up to one half of the requirement (2,000 hours) may be academic or technical training directly related to the work, and G.S. 87-21 says the experience the Board requires may not exceed two years, that up to one half may be courses of study, and that registration is not required at the start of the period of experience.
Current and former military personnel may receive credit for experience gained during active service. The Board also lists plumbing technician licenses that need 3,000 hours for Class I and 2,500 hours for Class II. See the North Carolina plumbing license guide.
Practical guidance if you are planning the climb
The shortcuts are not uniform: North Carolina halves the experience with study, Texas shortens the master wait with an approved program, and Washington's rule does not shorten the hours at all. So do not assume school replaces years.
- Find the unit your state counts in. Hours, years or both, and whether credit is capped per calendar year.
- Register before you log hours. Texas does not count hours worked before apprentice registration, and Minnesota counts recorded experience as a registered unlicensed plumber.
- Get every year certified. Colorado relies on employer affidavits and Minnesota on certification by the licensed master plumber responsible for the work, and Colorado will not accept your own word.
- Ask about your exception before you assume you do not have one. A Department of Labor approved program shortens the Texas wait for the master exam, and an approved class or military service can count in Minnesota.
- Decide whether you want the credential or the company license. A master plumber license and a plumbing contractor license are different things in most states, and our guide to the plumbing contractor license by state explains the company side.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to become a master plumber? In the four states we checked that have a master license, it comes to about 5 to 6 years by our arithmetic. Georgia and Minnesota both come to 5 years, Colorado lists 5 full time years (8,500 hours), Texas needs 8,000 hours plus 2 years, and Washington and North Carolina do not use a master title.
Can I skip the apprentice years with a trade school? Not entirely. North Carolina lets up to half of the contractor exam experience come from academic or technical courses of study, Minnesota accepts a DLI approved education class when the school certifies the experience, and Colorado's requirements page does not describe school credit. Washington's rule does not shorten the 8,000 hours or four years for school.
Does a license from another state shorten the wait? Sometimes. Texas accepts a journeyman or master license from another state for exam eligibility, Minnesota accepts a current license from a state with at least four years of experience and an exam, and Colorado has an endorsement route. North Carolina's Board says it has no license reciprocity agreements with any other state, but it has a Technical Examination Waiver Agreement with South Carolina for plumbing and HVAC contractors (the North Carolina business law exam is still required) and a Neighbor State License Recognition Act. Ask the board where you want to work before you count anything.
What if a state has no master plumber license? Then count to whatever the state does license: the journey level certificate in Washington, the plumbing contractor license in North Carolina.
If you own the company but not the master license
Some people want to run a plumbing business before they have the years. A qualifying agent can qualify the company while you build your years: this person qualifies the company as an owner or a full time W-2 employee who supervises the work, and the company then holds the license that permits and contracts attach to. It has to be a real working arrangement: Minnesota, for example, requires a managing employee who is the responsible individual to be actively engaged in plumbing work for the contractor, and allows an individual to serve for only one contractor. Read what a qualifying agent is, see how to hire a qualifying agent, and review our contractor qualifier services for how it works.
Next step
If you are a plumber ready to run your own jobs, or a company that needs a qualifier behind a plumbing license, call 615-219-2110 or start at Hire a Qualifying Agent. Tell us the state and the work you do, and we will tell you plainly what the board expects.
Sources
Retrieved October 12, 2026.
- Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, Plumber's Apprentice
- Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, Journeyman Plumber
- Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, Master Plumber
- Georgia Rules and Regulations, Chapter 121-3, Rule 121-3-.02, Statewide Master and Journeyman Plumber License
- Washington L&I, Plumber Certification
- Washington Administrative Code, WAC 296-400A-121
- Minnesota DLI, Plumbing license experience requirements
- Minnesota Statutes, Section 326B.46
- Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations, Plumbing Applications and Forms
- North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors, Applicant Information
- North Carolina General Statutes, G.S. 87-21
Disclaimer: This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, licensing guidance, or an offer of services. Licensing requirements vary by jurisdiction. For specific compliance questions, contact The Licensing Company for a confidential consultation.