Missouri Plumbing License: No State License, City Boards, and What You Actually Need (2026 Guide)

Missouri does not issue a statewide plumbing license. There is no state plumbing board, no state journeyman card, and no single application that lets you plumb from Kansas City to Cape Girardeau. What Missouri has instead is a 1939 statute that pushes the entire job down to cities and counties, and a patchwork of city and county licensing authorities that each built their own version of the ladder on top of it.

At a glance

• Statewide license: Missouri does not issue a statewide plumbing license.
• Who issues it: Plumbing licensure in Missouri lives entirely at the municipal and county level.
• When required: Under RSMo § 341.010, cities and towns of 15,000 or more inhabitants require master and journeyman plumbers to hold a certificate from the local board.
• Exam: Missouri's local boards commonly accept ICC (delivered through Pearson VUE) or Prometric.
• Fees: Jefferson City charges $233 for a plumbing contractor license and $117 for a master or journeyman license.

That structure is why searching "Missouri plumbing license requirements" returns so much bad information. Aggregator pages quote hour counts, fees, and renewal cycles as though a state agency published them. No state agency did, and at least one popular guide describes a "Missouri State Board of Plumbers" that does not exist. The numbers those pages repeat are either statutory text written before World War II or a single city's fee schedule presented as a statewide rule.

This guide explains what Missouri law actually says, what the major jurisdictions actually require in 2026, including one, Columbia, that most guides skip entirely, and what it means for a plumbing company that wants to hold licenses in more than one Missouri market at the same time.

Missouri Has No Statewide Plumbing License, and That Is Not Changing in 2026

There is no Missouri Division of Professional Registration plumbing board. Plumbing licensure in Missouri lives entirely at the municipal and county level.

This is worth stating plainly because Missouri does license one trade statewide: electrical. Sections 324.900 to 324.945 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, enacted in 2017, created a statewide electrical contractor license administered by the Division of Professional Registration. Plumbing got no equivalent. If you have read our guide to electrician licensing in Missouri and assumed plumbing worked the same way, it does not.

The practical consequence: your license is only as portable as the jurisdiction that issued it says it is.

A Springfield master plumber card does not authorize work in Kansas City. A Kansas City certificate of qualification does not authorize work in Jefferson City. A Columbia certificate does not authorize work anywhere else. Each market is a separate application, a separate board, and often a separate exam.

Chapter 341: The Two-Track Statute Almost Nobody Explains Correctly

Missouri's plumbing statute is Chapter 341, "Plumbers and Plumbing." It is not one scheme, it is two, aimed at two different kinds of jurisdiction, and confusing them is the single most common error on page one of Google.

Track one: cities and towns of 15,000 or more (§§ 341.010 to 341.080)

Section 341.010 provides that any person "engaging or working at the business of plumbing in cities or towns of fifteen thousand or more inhabitants in this state, either as master plumber or journeyman plumber, shall first receive a certificate." The remaining sections in this track set up the machinery: examination (§ 341.020), application (§ 341.030), a local board of examiners (§ 341.040), meetings and examination fees (§ 341.050), city regulation of plumbing (§ 341.060), the plumbing inspector (§ 341.070), and penalties (§ 341.080).

Track one has a wrinkle almost nobody mentions. Section 341.050 says a certificate issued under it "shall be valid and have force throughout the state," but the Missouri Supreme Court held in State ex rel. Sprague v. City of St. Joseph, 549 S.W.2d 873 (Mo. 1977), that Chapter 341 does not apply to a constitutional charter city. Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia, and Jefferson City all operate under city charters and license plumbers through their own ordinances, which is why a certificate from one of them does not carry into the others.

Notice what this track does not contain: any hour requirement, any experience requirement, and any age requirement. Those are set by the local board. This is why you cannot honestly answer "how many hours do I need for a Missouri journeyman plumber license" with a single number, and why the sites that give you one are guessing.

Track two: counties of the first classification (§§ 341.090 to 341.220)

The second track applies to counties of the first class only, and only after the county's governing body adopts it by a finding of public necessity (§ 341.100). St. Louis County made that finding in its own plumbing code, which adopts §§ 341.090 to 341.220 by reference wherever they do not conflict with the county's ordinance (SLCRO § 1103.P-030). The track creates a county department of plumbing and sewer inspection and a board of plumbing and sewer inspection, and, unlike track one, it does state experience minimums, in § 341.170:

• Master plumber, Minimum age: 25 · Statutory experience requirement: 3 or more years as a licensed journeyman plumber
• Journeyman plumber, Minimum age: 21 · Statutory experience requirement: At least 5 years as an apprentice under a licensed master plumber
• Master drainlayer, Minimum age: 25 · Statutory experience requirement: 3 or more years as a licensed journeyman drainlayer
• Journeyman drainlayer, Minimum age: not specified · Statutory experience requirement: At least 1 year drainlaying under a licensed master plumber or master drainlayer

Section 341.170 also requires that a master plumber "possess the ability to direct other persons in the installation of plumbing and drainage" and be "skilled in planning, designing and installing plumbing and drainage facilities", a supervisory competence standard, not just a technical one. That distinction matters later.

Two more provisions in this track that competitors routinely skip:

• Drainlaying is a separate license. Section 341.170(5) requires any licensed master or journeyman plumber who wants to engage in the business of drainlaying to secure a drainlayer's license first. And § 341.200(2) runs the other way: a drainlayer licensee "shall not be permitted to do plumbing work or to install any plumbing equipment or facilities within the interior of any building." Outside this county track, drainlaying is licensed only where a local code creates the license; both St. Louis County (SLCRO § 1103.P-148) and the City of St. Louis license master drainlayers separately from plumbers.
• The master's bond has an employment condition attached. Section 341.200(1) requires a master plumber to file a $2,000 surety bond with one licensed corporate surety before a license issues, approved by the county counselor. The bond is conditioned in part on the fact that "the principal in said bond will employ licensed journeyman plumbers or licensed journeyman drainlayers in the performance of plumbing and drainlaying work." The bond is not only about workmanship, it is a promise about who is on your payroll.

The fee trap: why "$10 for a Missouri master plumber license" is wrong

Section 341.180 sets an application fee of ten dollars for a master plumber or master drainlayer license and two dollars for a journeyman plumber or journeyman drainlayer license, with a one-year license term, renewal by application to the board of plumbing and sewer inspection, and a hard consequence for lapsing: "failure to secure a renewal license on or before the expiration of the original license shall require the applicant for such license to submit to reexamination upon the same terms and conditions imposed upon new applicants." Fail the exam and § 341.180 makes you wait ninety days from the date of the original application before reapplying.

Those dollar figures are the statutory text as enacted in 1943 and never updated. They are not what any Missouri jurisdiction charges in 2026. Jefferson City, to take one verified example, charges $117 for a master plumbing license, not $10. Treat § 341.180 as a description of the statutory framework, and get the actual number from the jurisdiction you are applying in.

Fee disclaimer: every fee in this guide is set by a city, county, or testing vendor and is subject to change. Verify current amounts with the issuing authority before you budget or apply.

What the Major Missouri Jurisdictions Actually Require

Kansas City

Kansas City licenses contractors through the Department of City Planning and Development under Chapter 18 of the Building and Rehabilitation Code (Article XII, Division 3, §§ 18-324 to 18-343), which lists seventeen contractor license classes in § 18-327. A plumbing contractor license covers sanitary plumbing and potable water supply piping, gas piping, water heaters, chemical piping, gas ranges and other gas-fired appliances, steam heating plants not exceeding 15 psi, hot-water heating plants not exceeding 30 psi, and low-voltage wiring up to 48 volts for gas-fired appliances and water heaters where not enclosed in conduit or raceway.

Two layers exist and people conflate them constantly:

1. The company holds the contractor license. Application fee $60, license fee $181, valid four years and renewed quadrennially at $181 (§§ 18-20 and 18-330).

2. A person holds the certificate of qualification. Application fee $60 (nonrefundable). The city evaluates the applicant's education, experience, and references, and requires passage of a written examination prepared and administered by the city's third-party testing agency (§ 18-336).

   The certificate is issued at no further charge for the first four years, then renews quadrennially at $181 (§ 18-20). The city can reissue a lapsed certificate without a new exam only if reissuance is requested within two years after expiration; after that you start over, exam included (§ 18-338).

Plumbing contractors in Kansas City carry two obligations that mechanical contractors do not: a liability insurance certificate with a minimum aggregate limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence naming the City as additional insured, and a minimum $500 cash deposit posted with the director of finance (§ 18-327). Certain excavation permits require an additional restoration deposit of up to $50,000 under Chapter 64.

Kansas City also requires every licensed contractor to keep a current city business license in the same company name and ownership, to keep an active fictitious name registration with the Missouri Secretary of State when it does business under a name other than the licensee's own, and to procure a new license within ten days of any change in company name, ownership, organization, or managing personnel (§ 18-332). If the qualified supervisor leaves, the contractor must notify the city in writing within ten days (§ 18-335).

Springfield

Springfield's Building Development Services department certifies electricians, plumbers, gas fitters, and mechanical craftsmen. The experience ladder is published and refreshingly explicit:

• Master Plumber (or Electrician / Mechanic), Option 1: 4 years as a certified journeyman in the trade · Option 2: 10 years satisfactory experience in the trade
• Journeyman Plumber (or Electrician / Mechanic), Option 1: 4 years under the supervision of a master in the trade · Option 2: 6 years' experience in the trade
• Master Gas, Option 1: 4 years as a certified gas journeyman · Option 2: 4 years as a master mechanic or plumber, plus 2 years as a gas journeyman
• Journeyman Gas, Option 1: 4 years as a journeyman mechanic or plumber under a master in that trade · Option 2: 6 years' experience in plumbing or mechanics

Applications require an Applicant Experience Form for every employer and a separate application packet for each trade, all signed and notarized, describing job responsibilities in detail with start and end dates. Self-employed applicants submit Schedule C or 1099s.

The board meets the first Thursday of every month at 5:00 p.m. in the Busch Building; attendance is not mandatory and results come by email. Approval to test is good for one year.

ICC testing fees run approximately $125 paid directly to Pearson VUE, and the passing score is 75% or better. On top of the exam fee, Springfield charges its own certification fee once you pass: $25 for a Journeyman certificate and $50 for a Master certificate, with annual renewal at the same $25 and $50 under the city's published craft and trade certification fee schedule. The governing law is Chapter 36, Article IV of Springfield's Land Development Code.

Springfield also recognizes reciprocity from other jurisdictions: an applicant already certified elsewhere can apply on the strength of a passing score of 75% or higher from an approved exam board, Prometric, Experior, Block, or ICC, without resitting Springfield's own exam. The catch: the prior exam must be the identical exam Springfield requires, and the full experience documentation is still required.

Jefferson City

Jefferson City is the most transparent Missouri jurisdiction on fees, and its 2026 numbers show exactly how far modern reality has drifted from Chapter 341's statutory text:

• Plumbing Contractor License, $233
• Master Plumbing License, $117
• Journeyman Plumbing License, $117
• Apprentice License, $14
• Journeyman / Master renewal, $34

A plumbing contractor license also requires a current certificate of insurance and a minimum $5,000 surety bond. The city's board accepts two ICC exams, G28, Journeyman Plumber with Gas, and G27, Master Plumber with Gas, both under the PMG category. Exam fees are not paid to or processed by the city. Licenses renewed in the current cycle run through June 30, 2028.

Jefferson City's municipal plumbing code requires that all plumbing work within the city be performed by licensed plumbing contractors, with a single exception for a homeowner performing work at his own residence with the plumbing inspector's approval. It also imposes a rule with real staffing consequences: all personnel working for a contractor within the City of Jefferson must be licensed with the City of Jefferson City.

Columbia

Columbia runs its own local licensing program through a five-member Board of Plumbing Examiners, the Community Development Director serving as non-voting secretary, one master plumber, one master or journeyman plumber, and two lay members with no connection to the plumbing industry, all voting members required to be Columbia residents.

The city recognizes five tiers, each with its own hour requirement:

• Master Plumber, 4,000 hours as a journeyman under a master plumber's direct supervision, or registration as a Missouri professional engineer actively engaged in plumbing contracting
• Journeyman Plumber, 8,000 hours of on-the-job apprenticeship training
• Residential Journeyman Plumber, 6,000 hours as an apprentice, limited to one- and two-family homes
• Apprentice Plumber, entry-level credential
• Maintenance Plumber, 6,000 hours as an apprentice, restricted to routine fixture maintenance for a single employer

Applicants must pass the standard examination prepared by Thomson Prometric or the ICC National Standardized Examinations Program. Fees: a $50 application fee, refunded if the applicant attends the board interview, a $30 Journeyman certificate, a $90 Master certificate, and renewal every three years at the same $30 or $90 split, with late renewal fees that climb with time: $10 through March 30 of the first year after expiration, $50 for the rest of that year, then $100 plus $100 for each additional year. A contracting master plumber or plumbing contractor must also file a surety bond of at least $10,000. On reciprocity, the city code says the board will honor licenses from other jurisdictions if the applicant meets Columbia's experience minimums and passed one of the two recognized exams.

There is a catch that decides whether any of the above matters right now: the Board of Plumbing Examiners' own page states the board is currently inactive. If you are searching "Columbia MO" plumbing licensing, do not assume the standard process is running. Contact the City of Columbia's Community Development Department directly to confirm current status before you plan an application around it.

St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis

These are two different jurisdictions, not one. The City of St. Louis is an independent city that is not part of St. Louis County, and each licenses separately.

St. Louis County licenses plumbers under Chapter 1103 of its revised ordinances, with a Board of Plumbing Examiners (one master plumber, one master drainlayer, one journeyman plumber, an engineer or certified plumbing designer, and the code official) examining and licensing applicants (SLCRO § 1103.P-100). The county sets its own qualifications on top of the Chapter 341 framework it adopted: a master plumber applicant needs at least five years as a licensed journeyman plus ten years of practical experience, or an approved equivalent (§ 1103.P-152).

County licenses run three years, not the one year in § 341.180 (§ 1103.P-162). Published fees: $30 exam application, $140 per exam when the county administers it, $150 for a three-year master license, $45 for a three-year journeyman license, and $10 to register an apprentice (§ 1103.P-170).

The county also operates a separate mechanical licensing program under Chapter 1108. Confirm current fees and exam scheduling directly with the county before applying.

The City of St. Louis licenses master plumbers, journeyman plumbers, apprentices, and master drainlayers through the Section of Plumbing Regulations and Inspections in its Division of Building and Inspection (City Code Chapter 25.04). Plumbing work in the city must be done by masters, journeymen, and apprentices licensed by the city and employed by a company that employs a city-licensed master.

Missouri Plumbing License Fees at a Glance

No single Missouri source publishes this comparison, because no single Missouri agency runs all of it. Here is what each jurisdiction charges as of 2026, pulled directly from the issuing authority.

Every figure in this table is set by the issuing city and changes on its own schedule. Confirm current amounts before budgeting or applying.

The Part That Decides Whether You Can Actually Operate: Who Holds the License

Here is the structural fact that turns a Missouri licensing question into a staffing question.

In Missouri's municipal systems, the license that lets a company pull permits is tied to a person, and the jurisdictions are increasingly explicit that the person must be a real employee, not a name on a form.

Kansas City states it directly in § 18-335: every licensed contractor must employ a full-time supervisor who holds the matching certificate of qualification, which for a plumbing contractor is master plumber. The supervisor may be the owner, a partner, a responsible managing officer, or a responsible managing employee, must be "a full-time management employee of the licensed contractor," and the contractor license "shall be valid only as long as the named supervisor serves as the supervisor for only one contractor in an active, full-time capacity."

Springfield runs the same idea through its Master Registration and Master Resignation forms: the master certifies he is employed by the company full time as its qualifying supervisor and is not registered as a master with any other company, a thirty day written notice is required when the employment ends, and on resignation the master stops signing for the company's permits.

St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis each limit a master to pulling permits for a single company at a time and require the master to be registered as an officer or full-time employee of that company at least thirty days before using the license for it (SLCRO § 1103.P-164 and the parallel City Code provision). Jefferson City requires every person working for a contractor in the city to be licensed with the city.

Chapter 341 points the same direction at the state statutory level. The master plumber's statutory bond under § 341.200 is conditioned on employing licensed journeymen. The § 341.170 master standard is a supervisory standard, the ability to direct other persons.

Read together, every major jurisdiction in this guide ties a plumbing company's permitting authority to a specific, licensed individual, and Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis County, and the City of St. Louis expressly limit that individual to one company. That is the whole reason the qualifier model exists.

If you want the full explanation of how this works across states, start with what a qualifying agent is. For the Missouri-specific version of the rule, and why "only one company at a time" is the sentence that matters most, see our breakdown of Missouri's designated supervisor requirement. And when the person your company has relied on leaves, exclusivity means the company's permitting authority leaves with them, which is exactly the gap a full-time W-2 qualifying agent placed through HireAQualifyingAgent fills, whether you need someone in Kansas City, Springfield, Jefferson City, Columbia, or St. Louis County.

What these rules are emphatically not is permission to rent a license. Paying someone to lend you their name while they work elsewhere fails Kansas City's full-time managerial employee test on its face, and it is the fastest route to losing the license and the company's ability to pull permits. We covered why in is it legal to rent a contractor license. A qualifier placed through The Licensing Company is a W-2, full-time employee of your company, never a percentage arrangement, never a per-project fee, never a 1099.

The "Statewide Mechanical License" That Missouri Keeps Not Passing

If you have read in the last few months that Missouri is "transitioning to a statewide mechanical contractor license as of January 2026," that is wrong, and it matters for plumbers too because the same bills sweep in pipe fitting and gas work in some jurisdictions.

The bill is SB 957 (2026), sponsored by Senator Doug Beck, titled the Missouri Statewide Mechanical Contractors Licensing Act. As of this writing its status is "Second Read and Referred" to the Senate Emerging Issues and Professional Registration Committee. It did not receive a floor vote, and the 2026 regular session has adjourned. The "August 28, 2026" date attached to the bill is Missouri's default effective date for legislation that passes, not evidence that anything passed.

This is not a new idea that narrowly missed. By the Senate's own summary, SB 957 is substantially similar to SB 31 (2025), SB 392 (2025), SB 1116 (2024), SB 1498 (2024), and SS/SB 80 (2023), and similar to seventeen more going back to HB 2673 in 2018. Nine consecutive sessions, no statewide mechanical license. Plan around the law that exists.

We track this and other pending and enacted changes in our roundup of 2026 contractor license law changes by state.

The General Permitting and Inspection Sequence

Licensing gets a plumber or a plumbing contractor into the market. Pulling a permit and passing inspection is a separate, per-job process, and it runs roughly the same shape in every Missouri jurisdiction, even though the department names and exact forms differ:

1. Permit application, filed with the local building or plumbing inspection department before work starts, naming the licensed contractor of record.
2. Plan review, for larger or commercial scopes, where the department checks the proposed work against the adopted plumbing code before issuing the permit.
3. Rough-in inspection, after piping is run but before walls or floors close it in.
4. Pressure test, confirming the system holds pressure with no leaks before it is buried or enclosed.
5. Final inspection, once fixtures, water heaters, and connections are complete and the system is in service.
6. Certificate of occupancy or sign-off, where required, closing out the permit for the project.

Every jurisdiction in this guide, Kansas City, Springfield, Jefferson City, Columbia, and both St. Louis authorities, runs its own version of this sequence with its own inspector scheduling system. Confirm the exact steps and lead times with the specific department before you bid a timeline to a client.

How to Get Licensed as a Plumber in Missouri: The Realistic Sequence

1. Identify every jurisdiction you will actually work in. Not the state, the cities and counties. This determines everything downstream.
2. Contact each licensing authority for its current requirements. Ask specifically which exam vendor and exam code they accept, what experience documentation format they want, and whether they require notarized employer letters.
3. Document your experience the way the board wants it. Springfield's per-employer Applicant Experience Form is typical: detailed duties, exact start and end dates, notarized. Reconstructing ten years of employment history after the fact is the single biggest delay in these applications.
4. Sit the exam the jurisdiction recognizes. Missouri's local boards commonly accept ICC (delivered through Pearson VUE) or Prometric. Jefferson City names specific ICC exam codes; Kansas City requires the exam given by its own third-party testing agency.
5. Get the company licensed separately. In Kansas City that means a contractor license, insurance, and a cash deposit on top of the individual's certificate.
6. Designate your qualified supervisor, and make sure that person is genuinely on your payroll full time.
7. Calendar every renewal. Missouri's cycles are irregular: Kansas City runs quadrennial, Jefferson City's current cycle runs to June 30, 2028, Columbia and St. Louis County renew every three years, Springfield renews certificates annually, and Chapter 341's county track text still carries a one-year term with reexamination as the penalty for lapsing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Missouri require a plumbing license? Not at the state level. Missouri issues no statewide plumbing license. Whether you need one depends entirely on where you are working.

Under RSMo § 341.010, cities and towns of 15,000 or more inhabitants require master and journeyman plumbers to hold a certificate from the local board, and counties of the first classification operate their own licensing departments under §§ 341.090 to 341.220. In an unincorporated area with no local licensing program, there may be no plumbing license requirement at all, but there is still a permit and inspection requirement in most places.

How many hours do I need for a Missouri journeyman plumber license? There is no statewide hour requirement, and any site that gives you one is inventing it. Missouri's statute uses years, not hours, and only for first-classification counties: § 341.170(2) requires at least five years as an apprentice under a licensed master plumber. Municipalities set their own standards: Springfield, for example, requires four years under a master or six years' experience in the trade, while Columbia sets its journeyman requirement in hours, 8,000 hours of apprenticeship.

What does a Missouri plumbing license cost? It depends on the jurisdiction, and the spread is wide. Jefferson City charges $233 for a plumbing contractor license and $117 for a master or journeyman license. Kansas City charges $60 to apply for a contractor license plus a $181 license fee, with a separate $60 application fee for the individual's certificate of qualification and $181 quadrennial renewals. Columbia charges a $50 application fee plus $30 for a journeyman or $90 for a master certificate.

Add exam fees, ICC testing runs roughly $125 paid to Pearson VUE, plus bond and insurance premiums. All of these are set by the issuing authority and change; verify before budgeting.

Does Columbia, Missouri require a separate plumbing license? On paper, yes. Columbia's Board of Plumbing Examiners licenses Master, Journeyman, Residential Journeyman, Apprentice, and Maintenance plumbers with hour requirements from 4,000 to 8,000, exam options through Thomson Prometric or ICC, and fees running $30 to $90 for certificates. In practice, confirm current status first: the board's own page states it is currently inactive, so contact the City of Columbia's Community Development Department directly before assuming the standard process is running.

What is a drain layer (drainlayer) license in Missouri? A separate license from a plumbing license. Under RSMo § 341.170(5), any master or journeyman plumber who wants to engage in the business of drainlaying must secure a drainlayer's license first, and under § 341.200(2), a drainlayer license does not authorize plumbing work or the installation of any plumbing equipment inside a building. Chapter 341 creates it for first-class counties that adopt the county track, with its own age and experience minimums under § 341.170, and both St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis license master drainlayers under their own codes.

How much does it cost to have a qualifying agent qualify my company for a Missouri plumbing license? There is no single number, because the cost depends on how many jurisdictions you need covered, which trades, the scope and risk of the work, the volume you are running, and how long the engagement lasts. A single Kansas City plumbing certificate is a very different engagement from covering Kansas City, Springfield, and St. Louis County simultaneously. We quote it per situation, tell us what you are trying to cover and we will scope it.

Can one person be the qualifier for two Missouri companies? Not in Kansas City. Under § 18-335, a contractor license "shall be valid only as long as the named supervisor serves as the supervisor for only one contractor in an active, full-time capacity." Springfield, St. Louis County, and the City of St. Louis apply the same exclusivity through their master registration rules. Assume one person, one company, per jurisdiction, unless the specific authority tells you otherwise in writing.

Is a Missouri plumbing license good statewide? No. Because the license is issued by a city or county, its authority stops at that jurisdiction's boundary. This is the single biggest operational difference between Missouri and a state like Wisconsin, where the state licenses plumbers, or Minnesota, where the Department of Labor and Industry licenses plumbers directly. We explain the general pattern in state versus local contractor licensing.

Where This Leaves a Missouri Plumbing Company

Missouri's fragmentation cuts both ways. It is a low barrier to entry in one market and a compounding problem in four or five. Every new city is a new board, a new exam acceptance policy, a new fee schedule, a new renewal date, and, critically, in most of them a requirement that a qualified person be a full-time employee of your company, tied to your company alone.

That last constraint is what usually stalls expansion. Companies discover that the master they were counting on is already registered to another company, or that the person who held Kansas City left and took the company's permit authority with him. Planning for that in advance is the difference between a growth plan and an emergency, see what happens when your qualifier leaves.

If you need a licensed qualifier on staff to qualify your company for a Missouri plumbing or mechanical license, we place them as full-time W-2 employees of your company. Tell us which Missouri jurisdictions you need covered, or review the broader Missouri contractor licensing overview and the general contractor license pillar guide. If you are a licensed master plumber interested in being placed, see becoming a qualifying agent. For questions or to talk through your situation, call 615-219-2110.

Sources

• Missouri Revisor of Statutes, RSMo § 341.010 to § 341.220, revisor.mo.gov, retrieved 2026-09-23
• Missouri Revisor of Statutes, RSMo § 341.170, revisor.mo.gov/main/PageSelect.aspx?section=341.170&bid=18353, retrieved 2026-09-23
• Missouri Revisor of Statutes, RSMo § 341.180, revisor.mo.gov, retrieved 2026-09-23
• Missouri Revised Statutes §§ 324.900 to 324.945, statewide electrical contractor license
• City of Kansas City, Missouri, Code of Ordinances Chapter 18, §§ 18-20 and 18-324 to 18-343 (Supplement 139), library.municode.com/mo/kansas_city, retrieved 2026-09-23
• City of Kansas City, Missouri, Contractor Licensing, kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/city-planning-development/contractor-licensing
• City of Springfield, Missouri, Trade Certifications, springfieldmo.gov/263/Trade-Certifications, retrieved 2026-09-23
• City of Springfield, Craft and Trade Certification Fee Schedule and Master Registration form, springfieldmo.gov/DocumentCenter/View/916 and /76737, retrieved 2026-09-23
• City of Jefferson City, Missouri, Plumbing Licensing Requirements, jeffersoncitymo.gov/government/building_regulations/contractor_licensing/plumbing.php, retrieved 2026-09-23
• City of Columbia, Missouri, Board of Plumbing Examiners, como.gov/boards/board-of-plumbing-examiners, retrieved 2026-09-23
• St. Louis County Revised Ordinances Chapter 1103, §§ 1103.P-030 to 1103.P-170, library.municode.com/mo/st._louis_county, retrieved 2026-09-23
• City of St. Louis Revised Code Chapter 25.04, Plumbing Code, library.municode.com/mo/st._louis, retrieved 2026-09-23
• Missouri Revisor of Statutes, RSMo §§ 341.040 (annotation, State ex rel. Sprague v. City of St. Joseph), 341.050, and 341.100, revisor.mo.gov, retrieved 2026-09-23
• Missouri Senate, SB 957 (2026) Bill Information, senate.mo.gov/BillTracking/Bills/BillInformation?year=2026&billid=91, retrieved 2026-09-23

Requirements, fees, exam vendors, and municipal codes described here were verified against RSMo Chapter 341 and §§ 324.900 to 324.945, Missouri Senate bill records for SB 957 (2026), the county and city codes of St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis, and the published licensing pages and codes of Kansas City, Springfield, Jefferson City, and Columbia as of September 2026. Fees and requirements are set by the issuing city, county, or testing vendor and are subject to change, verify current requirements with the authority you are applying to before relying on any figure here.