Plumbing License Delaware: There Is No Journeyman License, and What That Changes (2026)

If you are searching for how to get a journeyman plumber license in Delaware, stop. There isn't one.

Delaware issues exactly one plumbing license to individuals, and it is the Master Plumber license. There is no state journeyman plumber license, no state apprentice plumber license, and no tiered ladder of state credentials the way Maryland, New Jersey and most other states run it. You are either a licensed master plumber in Delaware, or you are working under the supervision of one, or you are breaking the law.

That single structural fact changes almost everything about how a plumbing career and a plumbing business work in this state, and it is the fact that page-one search results get wrong most often. Several widely-circulated guides describe a "Delaware journeyman plumber exam," walk you through applying for it, and even quote an application fee for it. The Delaware Division of Professional Regulation does not offer that license. Follow those guides and you will spend weeks chasing a credential that does not exist.

Here is what Delaware actually requires, verified against the Board's own pages and the statute, as of September 2026.

Who regulates plumbing in Delaware

The Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, inside the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation (DPR), licenses plumbers. Its statutory authority is 24 Del. C. Chapter 18, and its rules sit at Title 24, section 1800 of the Delaware Administrative Code.

One board covers both trades. The same board that issues your Master Plumber license issues Master HVACR licenses, and the two statutes are written as mirror images of each other. That matters more than it sounds, and we come back to it below.

Everything is filed through DELPROS, the Delaware Professional Regulation Online Services portal. There is no paper application path for the license itself, though several supporting documents still have to arrive at the Board office by mail from a third party.

What a Delaware Master Plumber is allowed to do

Under § 1807(a), you cannot provide plumbing services in Delaware, or hold yourself out as a "licensed plumber," "master plumber," or "licensed master plumber," unless you hold the license or fall inside a statutory exemption.

The Board defines the scope plainly: a Master Plumber can design, install, construct, replace, service, repair, alter, or modify the pipes, fixtures and other apparatus used for bringing the water supply into a building and removing liquid and water-carried wastes from a building. A Master Plumber can also install and connect gas piping.

Note what is not in that scope. If you are working on heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation, or process cooling or heating systems, including the gas piping serving that equipment, the Board says you need a Master HVACR or Master HVACR Restricted license in addition to your Master Plumber license. A plumbing license does not cover mechanical work in Delaware, and a mechanical license does not cover water supply and waste. Contractors who do both routinely carry both.

The four exemptions: who can work without a license

§ 1807(c) lists the only ways to legally do plumbing work in Delaware without holding the license yourself:

• Supervised workers. An apprentice, journeyman, mechanic, or other person providing plumbing services under the supervision of a master plumber who is that individual's employer, or who is employed full time by the same business entity as that individual.
• Homeowners. An individual doing plumbing work other than gas piping in or about their own home, provided the home is not for sale and no part is for rent or lease, and provided they have filed a permit application with the authorized inspection authority.
• Agricultural property. Work on property used exclusively for agricultural purposes, again with a permit application filed.
• Statutory cross-references. Work performed under § 1832 (local regulation) or authorized under Subchapter III (the HVACR subchapter).

Read the first exemption again, because it is the most consequential sentence in the entire chapter and almost nobody writes about it. Delaware does not simply say your crew must be "supervised by a master." It specifies the employment relationship the supervising master must have with the crew: the master must be their employer, or a full-time employee of the same business entity.

That is a statutory staffing requirement, not a paperwork formality, and we break down what it means for a plumbing business in Delaware's Full-Time Employee Rule.

Penalties for unlicensed plumbing work

§ 1807(d) sets the fines directly in statute:

• First offense, not less than $1,500 and not more than $3,000
• Second or subsequent offense, not less than $3,000 and not more than $6,000

Justice of the Peace Courts have jurisdiction. These are floors as well as ceilings, the statute says "not less than," so a first offense cannot be settled for a token amount.

Separately, under § 1813(b), if the Board determines someone is providing plumbing services or using the title "master plumber" or "licensed plumber" contrary to the chapter, the Board shall request that the Attorney General's Office issue a cease and desist order, prosecute, or both. That is not discretionary language.

The two qualifying routes to a Master Plumber license

§ 1808(a)(1) gives you exactly two paths. Both end at the same license.

Route 1, the apprenticeship route (2 years after your certificate). You hold a journeyman's certificate issued in any state following completion of a plumbing apprenticeship program that meets or exceeds the Federal Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training Standards, and after receiving that certificate you performed plumbing services for 2 years under the supervision of a master plumber or someone holding a similar level of licensure in another state.

The Board's application page is specific about what this "Journeyman Certificate" is: one issued by a federally-approved plumbing apprenticeship program, such as the Delaware Department of Labor's. It is a training completion document. It is not a Delaware license, it does not let you work unsupervised, and it is the source of nearly all the confusion in this state.

Route 2, the experience route (7 years, plus a bypass exam). You performed plumbing services for 7 years under the supervision of a master plumber or equivalent out-of-state licensee, and then successfully completed the apprenticeship equivalency test approved by the Board and administered by a Delaware vocational-technical school.

The Board reviews your experience first. If it approves, you are notified you may take the Apprenticeship By-Pass Exam, and you call one of three schools directly to schedule:

• New Castle County, New Castle County VoTech, (302) 683-3643
• Kent County, PolyTech High School, (302) 697-4545
• Sussex County, Sussex Tech, Georgetown, (302) 856-9035

This is a real and meaningfully different path. Five extra years of documented field time replaces the formal apprenticeship, but you have to pass an additional exam that Route 1 candidates never sit for.

Proving your experience

Experience is proven by the Board's Verification of Employment form, completed by your supervisor. All evidence of experience must be submitted by affidavit on Board-approved forms.

Delaware is more flexible than most states about what happens when a supervisor will not or cannot sign:

• If you cannot get the Verification of Employment form from the supervisor, you may substitute a W-2 or an affidavit of the employer or an officer of the employing company, but you must also enclose a written statement explaining why you cannot obtain the form.
• For periods of self-employment, you may submit Schedule C.

Acceptance of proof of experience is explicitly at the Board's discretion. Build the strongest file you can rather than assuming a minimum will clear.

You also submit State/Jurisdiction Licensure Verification sent directly to the Board office from each state or jurisdiction where you currently hold or have ever held a license, and "jurisdiction" here includes cities and counties, not just states. The Board flags one situation specifically: in Pennsylvania, plumbing licenses are not issued by a state board, so if your only current license came from a Pennsylvania municipality, you must apply by examination.

What the application may not ask you

§ 1808(c) contains an applicant protection that is worth knowing about, because it is unusual and because it tells you what to push back on. The application form may not require you to submit:

• a photograph of yourself
• information related to citizenship
• place of birth
• length of state residency
• personal references

If a form or a third-party service asks you for those things in connection with a Delaware plumbing licence application, that requirement is not coming from the Board.

The exams: two vendors, in sequence

Delaware runs a two-vendor system, and the order matters.

ABC Delaware, Associated Builders and Contractors Delaware administers the Apprenticeship By-Pass Examination when the Board requires it (the Route 2 path above; for plumbing the Board directs candidates to the county vo-tech schools listed earlier). After you test, the vendor sends results to the Board. Once passing results are received and verified, Board staff forward your registration to the licensure exam vendor.

ProV Exam (Prov), ProV administers all required licensure examinations for the Plumbing and HVACR trades. Once the Board forwards your registration, ProV contacts you from a ProV email address within roughly 1 to 2 weeks with a Candidate Information Bulletin. Check your spam folder; the Board warns candidates about this directly.

ProV offers two formats:

• In-person at four Delaware locations across Wilmington, Newark and Dover, by appointment, typically 2 to 5 days per week at 8:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and/or 1:00 p.m. depending on the facility.
• Online via the Examroom service, by appointment, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on a compatible computer.

§ 1809(a) requires the written standardized exam to be offered at least quarterly, so there is a statutory floor on availability.

The passing score, and the three-strikes rule

You must score at least 70% to pass.

Then there is a rule that can cost you a year and that essentially no competing guide mentions. Under Board Regulations 2.2.2 and 3.1.6, plumbing and HVACR applicants who do not receive a passing score after three attempts must reapply as a new applicant and obtain the Board's approval to sit again, and may not reapply until one full year has passed from the date they last took the examination.

Three failures does not mean "try again next month." It means a twelve-month lockout plus a fresh application, fresh Board review, and a fresh fee. Plan your attempts accordingly.

After you pass, allow up to two weeks for the Board office to receive your official score. Once the Board has the score and confirms you have met all licensure requirements, the license is issued and you receive an email with your renewal and continuing education details.

Delaware plumbing license fees

These are the Board's published application fees, from the DPR fee schedule last updated January 5, 2026. All fees are processed in DELPROS by credit or debit card. The Division does not accept cash, checks, or money orders by mail, and all processing fees are non-refundable.

• Plumber, $173
• Plumber or HVACR Temporary, $40
• Commercial Hood System Examination, $50
• Service Request, Inactive License Status Change, $45
• Service Request, Verification of Licensure, $35
• Service Request, Verification of Licensure with Exam Scores, Hours or History, $45
• Service Request, Request for Roster, $45
• Service Request, CE Course Approval as a Provider, $45

Note the license type on the fee schedule is listed simply as "Plumber" at $173. If a guide quotes you a lower figure such as $141, it is quoting a prior biennium. § 1811 requires the Division to recompute fees at the beginning of each licensure biennium, so Delaware fees move on a two-year cycle and stale numbers circulate constantly.

Renewal fees are not published in advance. You are notified of the amount at the time of renewal. If you renew after expiration you pay a late fee equal to 50% of the renewal fee on top of the renewal fee itself.

Board fees are set by the Division of Professional Regulation and change at each biennium. Verify current amounts in DELPROS or with the Board before you budget.

Renewal, continuing education and inactive status

§ 1812(b) makes the license renewable biennially, on payment of the fee, submission of the renewal form, and proof of any continuing education the Board requires.

Continuing education is prorated for your first renewal based on when in the licensure period your license was issued, per the Board's published schedule:

• Licensed on or after 11/1 of even years but before 11/1 of odd years, 3 hours
• Licensed on or after 11/1 of odd years but before 7/1 of even years, 0 hours
• Licensed on or after 7/1 of even years to 11/1 of even years, 5 hours

For all subsequent renewals you owe 5 hours, unless you hold dual licenses, in which case Section 5 of the Board's Rules and Regulations governs. CE is tracked in DELPROS through the Continuing Education tab.

An important procedural detail: do not upload CE certificates into DELPROS unless you have been notified that you were selected for audit. The Board runs random audits, and only then do you enter course information and upload a certificate signed by the course presenter or a designated official of the sponsoring organization for each course.

§ 1812(c) lets the Board set a late-renewal window, capped by statute at no more than one year past the designated renewal date. § 1812(d) allows a licensee to request inactive status for no more than five years, with reactivation requiring an application, the reactivation fee, and proof of CE.

Discipline: what puts your license at risk

§ 1814 lists the grounds. Two are worth calling out for anyone thinking about license arrangements:

• § 1814(a)(1), fraud or material deception to acquire a license, allowing another person to use your license, or aiding or abetting an unlicensed person to represent themselves as licensed.
• § 1814(a)(6), violating any provision of the chapter or any lawful regulation under it.

Sanctions under § 1815 run from a letter of reprimand through censure, probation, suspension, revocation, and an administrative penalty not to exceed $500 for each violation. A disciplinary hearing requires the affirmative votes of five or more Board members, and a licensee who disagrees may appeal to Superior Court within 30 days.

The "allowing another person to use your license" language is the reason license-rental arrangements are a disciplinary problem in Delaware and not merely a business risk. We cover the general version of that question in Is It Legal to Rent a Contractor License?

The business layer: your Master Plumber license is not a contractor license

This is the part most trade guides skip, and it is where plumbers who go out on their own get blindsided.

Your DPR Master Plumber license is a personal, individual credential. It says you are competent. It does not authorize a business to contract in Delaware. For that, you need a contractor business license from the Delaware Division of Revenue, under 30 Del. C. Chapter 25, an entirely separate agency, an entirely separate statute.

Under § 2502(a), any person wanting to do business in Delaware as a contractor obtains a license from the Division of Revenue for a fee of $75. It runs until January 1 and is renewed annually on or before December 31.

Timing is written into the statute. The license must be obtained, and proof of compliance made, prior to or in conjunction with the execution of a contract. On competitively bid contracts over $50,000, you must have initiated the license application before or with your bid, and if you are a subcontractor, before the general contractor submits its bid.

The Division of Revenue will not issue the license until you have also:

• complied with the applicable provisions of § 375 of Title 30,
• filed a certificate of notice from the Delaware Department of Labor confirming you have notified them you are entering into construction contracts in Delaware, and
• filed a certificate of insurance showing workers' compensation coverage as required by Delaware law, or a Department of Labor form declaring you a qualified self-insurer.

Then there is the gross receipts tax. Delaware has no sales tax; it taxes construction receipts instead. The Division of Revenue publishes the contractor rate at 0.6537% (.006537) of taxable gross receipts, with the first $100,000 per month exempt ($300,000 quarterly). Monthly filers pay by the 20th of the following month; quarterly filers by the last day of the first month after the quarter closes. New licensees file quarterly through their first calendar year, after which the Division performs a "lookback" and may change your frequency.

Two gross-receipts details that catch people:

• You may deduct amounts paid to subcontractors, but only if the subcontractor is licensed and subject to the chapter, a written agreement states the exact sums payable, and you attach Form 1280 listing each subcontractor's name, address, taxpayer ID, license number, business code and amount paid.
• You may not deduct architects, engineers, equipment rental, hauling, delivery, trailer rentals, trash removal, utilities, operating expenses, or taxes and fees paid to any state, county, city or municipality. That list is long and it is published.

Note also that § 2502(c)(1) as codified states the additional license fee at 0.6472%, while the Division of Revenue's published contractor guidance uses 0.6537%. Use the Division's published rate for filing and confirm the current figure with Revenue before you compute a return.

Gross receipts rates, exclusions and thresholds are set by the Delaware Division of Revenue and change. Verify current figures with the Division before filing.

If you are not a Delaware-based business

Nonresident contractors face an additional requirement that has nothing to do with your trade license. All nonresident contractors must supply a surety or cash bond to the Division of Revenue equal to six percent (6%) of the total of all contracts exceeding $20,000 for construction in the state. Cash bonds and bank letters of credit from financial institutions are accepted.

And whoever hires you carries a duty too. Under § 2503, every architect, professional engineer, contractor or construction manager must notify the Department of Finance within 10 days of entering a contract with a nonresident contractor or subcontractor, reporting the total contract value and the names and addresses of the parties, on Form 5060. Failure to comply draws a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per occurrence, and willful or knowing failure is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $3,000, imprisonment up to six months, or both.

Bond percentages, thresholds and penalties are set by statute and by the Division of Revenue and are subject to change. Verify before relying on them.

The sentence the Division of Revenue prints itself

Buried in the Division of Revenue's own contractor guidance is the cleanest statement of Delaware's two-layer system anywhere in state publications:

"The Business License Issued by the Division of Revenue is not a regulatory license and the issuance of such license does not attest to the qualifications of the applicant to perform the activity described on such license."

Your $75 business license proves you registered and you are paying gross receipts tax. It proves nothing about competence. The competence layer lives with the Board of Plumbing, HVAC and Refrigeration Examiners, and it attaches to a person, not to the company. Which is exactly why the person matters so much. If you want the general framing of that split, see State vs. Local Contractor License.

Local codes still apply

§ 1832 preserves local authority: nothing in Chapter 18 limits any county, municipality or other governmental entity from adopting and enforcing plumbing, HVACR or fuel gas codes and regulations that do not conflict with the chapter. Delaware is small, but Wilmington, the three counties, and individual towns can and do impose their own permit and inspection requirements on top of the state license.

What this means if you want to run a plumbing company in Delaware

Put the three facts side by side and the picture is unusually clear.

1. Delaware licenses only masters. There is no journeyman tier to fall back on.
2. Your crew's legal right to work depends on a master who is their employer or a full-time employee of the same business entity (§ 1807(c)(1)).
3. If your company loses its sole license holder, § 1831 starts a hard clock: written notice to the Board within 7 days, an emergency Board meeting within 10 days, and at most a 100-day temporary license for a replacement who must be an owner or employee and who must sit the next available exam.

A Delaware plumbing company without a master plumber in-house is not a company with a staffing gap. It is a company with roughly one hundred days before it must cease and desist. Most owners solve this by holding the license themselves. Owners who cannot, because they came from the business side, or because the license holder retired or left, need a licensed master who joins the business as a full-time W-2 employee, because that is the only relationship the statute contemplates.

That is the whole reason qualifying agents exist, and Delaware's statute happens to spell out the requirement more explicitly than most. If you are on the licensing side of that equation, start with What Is a Qualifying Agent? If you need one placed in your business, Hire a Qualifying Agent walks through how the W-2 placement works. If you are a licensed master weighing whether to serve as one, see Become a Qualifying Agent.

Frequently asked questions

Does Delaware have a journeyman plumber license? No. The Division of Professional Regulation issues a Master Plumber license to individuals and nothing below it. What people call a "journeyman certificate" in Delaware is a completion certificate from a federally-approved apprenticeship program, such as the Delaware Department of Labor's. It shortens your path to the master license from seven years to two, and it lets you work legally under a master's supervision, but it is not a state license and it does not let you work on your own.

How long does it take to become a licensed Master Plumber in Delaware? Two years of supervised work after a federally-approved apprenticeship certificate, or seven years of supervised work plus the Apprenticeship By-Pass Exam. Add Board review time, the exam scheduling window (ProV contacts you 1 to 2 weeks after the Board forwards your registration), and up to two weeks for the Board to receive your official score.

What does a Delaware plumbing license cost? The Board's application fee is $173 as published on the January 2026 fee schedule, plus exam costs charged by ProV and, if applicable, ABC Delaware or a county vo-tech school. On the business side, the Division of Revenue contractor license is $75 annually, plus gross receipts tax at the published rate on receipts above the monthly exclusion, plus the 6% nonresident bond if you are based outside Delaware. Fees are set by the Board and the Division and change, verify before budgeting.

How much does it cost to get a qualifying agent for a Delaware plumbing company? There is no list price, because there is no standard situation. What drives it is the classification you need, how quickly you need the license in place, the risk profile and volume of the work, whether the placement is one state or several, and how long you need it. Because Delaware requires the master to be a full-time employee of the business, the arrangement is a genuine employment relationship with real payroll, not a fee for the use of a number. The honest answer is that it is quoted per situation, Consultation Packages is where that conversation starts.

Can I use a master plumber who works for another company as my qualifier? No. § 1807(c)(1) exempts supervised workers only where the supervising master is their employer or is employed full time by the same business entity. A master carrying a license for a company he does not work for full time does not satisfy the statute, and § 1814(a)(1) makes allowing another person to use your license grounds for discipline.

What happens if my company's only licensed plumber quits? § 1831 governs. Notify the Board in writing with supporting documentation within 7 days. The Board schedules an emergency meeting within 10 days, and you may keep operating until that meeting provided you keep the same personnel apart from the departed license holder. An owner or employee who wants to take over must file a licensure application before that meeting; the Board may then issue a 100-day temporary license, dated from your notification. The temporary holder must sit the next available exam, and the temporary license expires immediately if they skip it or fail it. When the 100 days run out with no license holder employed, the entity must cease and desist immediately.

Do I need both a plumbing and an HVACR license? Possibly. The Board's position is explicit in both directions. A Master Plumber needs a Master HVACR or Master HVACR Restricted license as well if working on heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation or process cooling and heating equipment, including the gas piping serving it. A Master HVACR needs a Master Plumber license as well if working on water supply into a building or waste removal from it. See HVAC License Delaware for the mechanical side.

Can I be licensed in Delaware if I have a criminal record? Possibly. § 1808(a)(5) addresses convictions substantially related to providing plumbing services, and provides that the Board, or between meetings, the Board President or designee, shall waive that paragraph as it applies to a criminal conviction if, after considering the factors in 29 Del. C. § 8735(x)(3), it finds a waiver does not create an unreasonable risk to public safety. § 1808(a)(6) carves out felony sexual offenses from that waiver path. This is a fact-specific determination; take it to the Board or to counsel rather than assuming either outcome.

Related Delaware guides: HVAC License Delaware · Electrician License Delaware · Delaware's Full-Time Employee Rule · Delaware Contractor Licensing State Guide · All State Guides

Sources verified September 3, 2026: Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, Master Plumber Licensure, Examinations, Fee Schedule (updated January 5, 2026), and Continuing Education pages; 24 Del. C. Chapter 18, Subchapters II and IV; 30 Del. C. Chapter 25; Delaware Division of Revenue, "Tax Tips for Contractors and Real Estate Developers Conducting Business in Delaware." Fees, rates and requirements are set by the Board, the Division of Revenue and the General Assembly and are subject to change, verify with the agency before relying on any figure.