How to Get a Plumbing License in Maine: There Is No Company License to Get

To get a plumbing license in Maine, you apply to the Plumbers' Examining Board as an individual, not as a business. Maine has no company, firm, or partnership plumbing license at all, a change the Legislature made in 2017, and the state still has no general or residential contractor license of any kind.

At a glance

• Maine repealed its plumbing company license in 2017 (PL 2017, c. 210, Pt. D, §7); every plumbing, fuel, and electrical license names one individual.
• LD 1226, the bill that would have created a state residential contractor license, died in the Senate at sine die adjournment on April 29, 2026.
• Home construction contracts over $3,000 must be in writing, with the down payment capped at one third of the price (10 M.R.S. §1487).
• A master or journeyman plumber may supervise no more than 3 trainee plumbers at once (32 M.R.S. §3302(3)).

Every legal authority to perform licensed construction work in Maine attaches to a named human being, not to the LLC that employs them. That has consequences a lot of business owners do not see coming until the person holding the card walks out the door. For how every other state handles contractor licensing, see how to get a contractor license in each state.

The 2017 repeal almost nobody noticed

Title 32, chapter 49 is Maine's plumbing law. Until 2017 it contained §3507, "Corporations, firms and partnerships." That section is gone. It was repealed by PL 2017, c. 210, Pt. D, §7, and the statute now carries it as a bare heading followed by the word (REPEALED).

The same act did something else in the same breath. It amended the definition of "master plumber" at §3301(5). The section now reads:

"'Master plumber' means any individual qualified under this chapter engaging in or about to engage in the business of installing plumbing or plumbing systems. The license must specify the name of the individual to whom the license is issued."

Two changes, one act, pointing the same direction. Delete the entity-licensing section; narrow the master plumber definition from "person" to "individual" and require the license to name that individual. Maine did not drift into individual-only licensing. It legislated it.

You can see the result on the board's own site. The Plumbers' Examining Board's licensing page lists exactly four categories, Master Plumber, Journeyman Plumber, Trainee Plumber, and Journeyman-in-Training, all grouped under "Individual Licenses." Other boards under the same Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation license entities alongside individuals: Barbering and Cosmetology has "Establishments," Pharmacy has "Establishments," Accountancy has an Accountancy Firm category, Funeral Services has a Funeral Home Establishment category. The Plumbers' Board has no such entry, because there is nothing to put in it.

The Maine Fuel Board, which licenses oil burner, solid fuel, propane, and natural gas technicians, is structured the same way. Its licensing page lists ten individual license types and no company license.

The 2026 bill that would have changed everything, and didn't

Here is where the published guidance on Maine gets actively wrong, and it is worth being precise about because contractors are making plans on it.

LD 1226, "An Act to Protect Consumers by Licensing Residential Building Contractors," was introduced in the 132nd Legislature in March 2025. It would have required licensure for residential contractors on projects over $15,000 and created a new Residential Construction Board to administer it, a board composed of three contractors, a municipal code enforcement officer, an attorney experienced in residential construction, a University of Maine System representative overseeing career and technical education programs, a residential architect, and two public members.

The House passed it to be enacted on a 72 to 69 roll call in early June 2025, and the Senate then placed it on the Special Appropriations Table pending enactment, over an annual funding gap reported at roughly $620,000. It was carried over into the second regular session under a joint order, never taken up off the table, and on April 29, 2026 the Legislature's own record closed the file: "Died On Adjournment."

Dead. Not delayed, not phased in, not pending rulemaking. It never became law and it has no effective date.

We are flagging this because several licensing directories currently state that LD 1226 takes effect January 1, 2027 and will require a state license for residential projects over $15,000. That is not correct. A contractor who reads that, budgets for a license application and continuing education, and plans a 2027 compliance project is preparing for a law that does not exist. A contractor who reads it and assumes they are already covered by a coming state framework is making the opposite mistake.

If a successor bill is introduced in a future session, and given that this was not the first attempt, one probably will be, the effective dates and thresholds will be whatever that bill says, not what LD 1226 said. Watch the Legislature, not the directories.

What actually applies to a Maine contractor right now

No state license for general or residential construction. General contracting, framing, roofing, siding, drywall, concrete, none of it carries a Maine state license.

A written contract requirement with teeth. Title 10, chapter 219-A governs home construction contracts, and it comes with real penalty exposure for both sides of the job.

Notes on the table:

• The contract must also include a work and materials description, the payment method, and the Attorney General's consumer protection information.
• The $3,000 threshold and the one third down payment cap are not negotiable, and this is the most violated rule in Maine residential construction.
• State plumbing inspectors have powers within their counties similar to a sheriff's under 32 M.R.S. §3402: citations, summonses, investigations, and correction orders.
• Trade licenses that exist are individual: plumbing under chapter 49, fuel under chapter 139, and electrical work under its own board.

Why "the company holds the license" is not available in Maine

In most states a contracting business gets its own license and designates a qualifying individual to stand behind it. The license lives on the entity; the qualifier is the human credential that supports it. That is how West Virginia works, how Montana's plumbing registration works, how Florida and dozens of others work.

Maine removed that layer.

There is no entity license to hold, so there is nothing for a qualifier to be attached to in the formal, filed sense. What there is instead is a set of statutory relationships that only function if the right licensed individuals are actually employed:

Trainees require a master, by employment. 32 M.R.S. §3501(3) lets the board issue a trainee plumber license to a person who shows they are "employed by a licensed master plumber or an entity that employs a licensed master plumber or plumbers and will assist the licensed master plumber or plumbers as a trainee plumber." No master on the payroll, no trainee licenses. That is the closest thing in Maine law to a company level requirement, and note how it is phrased, the entity's standing depends entirely on who it employs.

Journeymen require a master, by supervision. On the fuel side the board is explicit: a Journeyman Oil Burner and/or Solid Fuel Technician must be under the indirect supervision of a Master Oil Burner and/or Solid Fuel Technician. Your journeymen can work unaccompanied, but not unsupervised in the legal sense.

Helpers require a technician, on site. The strictest standard on the Fuel Board's books: a Propane and Natural Gas Helper must work under the direct and continuous supervision of a licensed Propane and Natural Gas Technician on site.

Supervision is capped. 32 M.R.S. §3302(3): a master or journeyman plumber may not have more than 3 trainee plumbers working under their direct supervision. One master does not scale infinitely.

Municipalities check at the permit counter. 32 M.R.S. §3302(2) bars towns from requiring their own plumber's license, but in the same sentence bars them from issuing a plumbing permit "unless satisfied that the person, firm or corporation applying for the permit complies with this chapter." The town is the enforcement point, and what it verifies is individual licensure.

Stack those and the picture is clear. A Maine plumbing or heating company is not legal because of a certificate in a frame. It is legal because specific licensed individuals are employed there, supervising specific people, within specific ratios. Remove the individuals and the whole structure fails at the permit counter the next morning.

The failure mode this creates

The call we get from Maine sounds the same every time.

The company is real. The LLC is in good standing, the insurance is current, the crews are experienced, the work is sold and scheduled. And the one master plumber, or the one master oil burner technician, whose license made all of it possible has retired, taken another job, gotten sick, or was never actually there in the way the owner believed.

In a state with an entity license, there is at least a certificate to point at while you sort it out, and usually a statutory window to designate a replacement qualifier. In Maine there is no certificate and no window, because there was never an entity license to begin with.

The trainees' licenses were premised on employment by a master. The journeymen's work was premised on a master's indirect supervision. Both premises just became false.

And the replacement is not quick. Maine's master plumber license requires at least one year and 2,000 hours as a licensed journeyman, or four years and 8,000 hours as a licensed trainee. Master Oil Burner Technician requires four years of licensed experience with at least two of those as a licensed journeyman. You cannot promote your way out of the gap in a quarter.

What a qualifying agent does in a state like this

A qualifying agent is a licensed individual who holds the credential a business needs in order to perform licensed work, an owner or a full-time W-2 employee who actually supervises the work. See What Is a Qualifying Agent for the full role, Hire a Qualifying Agent for how a placement works, and our contractor qualifier services if you want the qualifying piece and the Maine filings handled together. In Maine, where there is no entity license, the qualifier's role is more direct and in some ways more demanding: they are the licensed capacity of the business.

They are the master plumber whose name lets your trainees be licensed. They are the master oil burner technician providing the indirect supervision your journeymen legally require. They are the person the code enforcement officer is checking on before the permit issues.

Which means the employment relationship is not a formality. It is the mechanism.

Every qualifier The Licensing Company places is a W-2, full-time employee of the company they qualify. We do not do percentage arrangements, per-project arrangements, flat-fee license rentals, or 1099 structures, and in Maine that stance is not just our policy, it is the only structure that matches what the statutes and board rules actually describe.

A supervision standard written as "direct and continuous... on site" cannot be satisfied by someone who is not genuinely part of the business. Neither can §3501(3)'s requirement that a trainee be employed by a master plumber or by an entity that employs one.

We wrote about the general version of this problem in Can a Qualifying Agent Be a 1099 Contractor?. Maine is a clean example of why the answer is no.

How other states handle the same problem

Maine is unusual but not alone in tying licensure to a named individual, and it is useful to see the range:

• West Virginia licenses the entity but ties the qualifying individual to one company at a time.
• Montana requires a designated master plumber of record, in writing, for each business.
• Delaware goes further and writes a full-time employment requirement into the licensing chapter's exemptions section.
• Omaha does it by city ordinance rather than state statute.
• Alaska created a dedicated administrator license as the qualifying credential.

Maine sits at one end of that spectrum: the individual license is not a supporting document for a company license, because there is no company license at all. If you are tracking this across more than one state, our licensing services in all 50 states page covers how each board handles the same question.

What to do about it

If you own a Maine plumbing or heating business, know exactly whose license your operation depends on, and know their retirement horizon. The concentration risk is higher here than in an entity-license state because there is no paper buffer.

If you are buying a Maine contracting business, do not assume licensure transfers with the entity. It cannot, the license names an individual, and that individual is a person who may or may not be staying. Before you close, verify the license directly:

1. Get the seller's license number and full legal name.
2. Search OPOR's ALMS database, board 4460 for plumbing or board 4320 for fuel. Paper verifications ended March 1, 2019.
3. Confirm the license is active, not expired or suspended.
4. Confirm in writing whether the holder stays on as a W-2 employee after closing.

If you are expanding into Maine from another state, budget for the fact that your out-of-state company license buys you nothing here structurally. You need a licensed individual on your Maine payroll.

If you are already doing licensed work without the licensed individual, the exposure is real. Unlicensed practice is a civil violation under 10 M.R.S. §8003-C, punishable by a fine of $1,000 to $5,000 per violation, and Maine's state plumbing inspectors carry powers within their counties similar to a sheriff's under 32 M.R.S. §3402, citations, summonses, investigations, and orders to remove or remedy noncompliant work. Working Without a Contractor License covers what enforcement generally looks like.

If you need a licensed master on the org chart, start with What Is a Qualifying Agent for the role and Hire a Qualifying Agent for how a placement works. If you hold a Maine master license and want to understand the other side of the arrangement, Become a Qualifying Agent explains it.

Frequently asked

How do I get a plumbing license in Maine? You apply to the Plumbers' Examining Board as an individual; Maine issues no business or firm license. The path runs trainee to journeyman to master, with hour and exam requirements at each step.

Does Maine have a contractor license? Not at the state level for general or residential construction. Trade licenses exist for plumbing, fuel and heating, and electrical work, and each names an individual.

Did Maine pass a residential contractor licensing law? No. LD 1226 passed the House in 2025 but died in the Senate at sine die adjournment on April 29, 2026, after it was left on the Special Appropriations Table unfunded. Directories reporting a January 1, 2027 effective date are reporting a bill that failed.

Can my LLC hold a Maine plumbing license? No. 32 M.R.S. §3507, which covered corporations, firms and partnerships, was repealed in 2017, and §3301(5) requires the master plumber license to name an individual.

What do I need for a written contract in Maine? Under 10 M.R.S. §1487, home construction contracts over $3,000 in materials or labor must be in writing and signed by both parties, with the down payment capped at one third of the contract price and the Attorney General's consumer information included.

How many trainees can one master supervise? Three, under 32 M.R.S. §3302(3).

How long does it take to replace a departed master plumber internally? At minimum one year and 2,000 hours as a licensed journeyman before that person can sit the master exam, or four years and 8,000 hours from the trainee level. Master Oil Burner Technician requires four years of licensed experience with two as a journeyman.

Related reading

• Maine Contractor License Requirements, the state page for Maine
• Plumbing License Maine, the full four rung ladder, fees and exam rules
• HVAC License Maine, the Fuel Board's ten license types
• How to Get an Electrician License in Maine, the third Maine trade
• Can a Qualifying Agent Be a 1099 Contractor?, why the employment relationship matters
• How to Get a General Contractor License, the national picture
• State Licensing Guides, every state we cover

Need a licensed qualifier on a Maine payroll? Call 615-219-2110 or see Hire a Qualifying Agent.

Statutory citations were verified against 32 M.R.S. chapter 49, 32 M.R.S. §3402, and 10 M.R.S. chapter 219-A and §8003-C, as published by the Maine Legislature, and against the Plumbers' Examining Board and Maine Fuel Board licensing pages, all read October 13, 2026. LD 1226's status was verified against the 132nd Legislature's official bill status page the same day. Laws and board rules change, verify current requirements with the relevant board before acting.

Sources

• 32 M.R.S. §3301, Definitions, Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• 32 M.R.S. §3302, Local regulation prohibited, Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• 32 M.R.S. §3402, State inspectors, Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• 32 M.R.S. §3501, Issuance of licenses, Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• 32 M.R.S. §3507, Corporations, firms and partnerships (repealed), Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• 10 M.R.S. §1487, Home construction contracts, Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• 10 M.R.S. §8003-C, Unlicensed practice, Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• LD 1226, HP 801, 132nd Legislature, Second Regular Session, Text and Status, Maine Legislature, read October 13, 2026
• Plumbers' Examining Board, Licensing, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, read October 13, 2026
• Maine Fuel Board, Individual Licenses, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, read October 13, 2026
• Notice Regarding License Verification Requests, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, read October 13, 2026