In the states whose permit rules our research verified — Montana, Texas and Wisconsin — the permit is not pulled on a journeyman license, but on the master-level one.
Philadelphia's verified rules say who must do the work (a licensed master plumber), not who pulls the permit, and North Dakota lets a journeyman run the business in small cities and rural areas, with permit authority unconfirmed.
Our research did not verify a national rule; confirm with the office that issues the permit.
The general rule: who can pull a plumbing permit
Our research did not verify a national rule for who may pull a plumbing permit.
What it verified is the set of jurisdictions below, and the note on those facts is that most permit rules are local — confirm with the office that issues the permit where you work.
What follows are the rules themselves, jurisdiction by jurisdiction — five plumbing rules and three HVAC rules that bear on the same question.
In three of the jurisdictions in that verified set — Montana, Texas and Wisconsin — the pattern is the same: the permit belongs to the master rung, not the journeyman card.
(North Dakota's difference — on running the business — is item by item in the next section.)
Montana's Board of Plumbers states it flatly — only master plumbers are authorized to apply for and obtain permits.
Texas puts the permit duty on the Responsible Master Plumber (RMP), who is responsible for the general supervision and management of all plumbing performed under contracts secured under his or her license, permits and inspections included, whether the individuals performing the work are employees or subcontractors.
Wisconsin blocks the runaround: a person offering plumbing services may not advertise as a plumbing contractor, master plumber or plumber unless they are, or employ, a licensed master plumber — and a master may not lend a license to others to pull permits.
Philadelphia's verified rules cover who must do the work and business operation, not permits: the work must be done by a licensed master plumber, and the journeyman license does not allow operating a business.
The split is about responsibility.
Montana requires a master plumber's license to obtain plumbing permits, and Texas makes the RMP responsible for supervising the plumbing, the permits and the workers' licensing under contracts secured under their license.
The same pattern shows up in the HVAC rules our research verified.
New Jersey HVACR businesses operate through a bona fide representative — a licensed master HVACR contractor — and must hold a pressure seal to pull HVACR permits.
Kentucky gives a company whose master dies up to 180 continuous calendar days on the deceased master's license, bonding and insurance kept in force, before a new licensed master must be in place to pull the permits.
New Mexico's HVAC certificate rules are an employment rule rather than a permit rule: an HVAC journeyman may work only when employed by an entity licensed — or holding an annual permit — for that type of work.
(The state held a 2026 hearing on amending those rules — check the current version.)
The HVAC trade's permit question is its own topic with its own state rules; the plumbing rules below are what this page answers.
Where the ladder itself comes from — apprentice, journeyman, master, and the states that license locally — is our plumbing license requirements guide, and how the two rungs differ rung by rung is our journeyman plumber vs master plumber comparison.
State by state: who can pull a plumbing permit
Here is each rule this page rests on, stated as its jurisdiction writes it.
This is the verified set, not a complete map — our research did not verify a national rule, and the note on our sources is that most permit rules are local.
These are the states and cities our research confirmed.
- Montana — only master plumbers are authorized to apply for and obtain plumbing permits. A licensed journeyman plumber there may perform work only in the employment of a licensed master plumber, unless a board rule permits otherwise.
- Texas — the Responsible Master Plumber is responsible for supervising all plumbing performed under contracts secured under his or her license: the permits, the inspections, and making sure the workers — employees or subcontractors — are licensed or registered.
- Wisconsin — no one offering plumbing services may advertise as a plumbing contractor, master plumber or plumber unless they are, or employ, a licensed master plumber, and a master may not lend a license to others to pull permits.
- Philadelphia — plumbing work must be done by a licensed master plumber, one who carries $500,000 in general liability insurance, $300,000 in auto liability and workers' compensation. The city's journeyman license — at least four years registered as a Philadelphia apprentice plumber (or equivalent out-of-area authorization), plus a pass on the Journeyman Plumber Examination administered by the International Code Council — does not allow operating a business.
- North Dakota — the verified difference, on running the business. The state has no separate plumbing contractor license: a business installing plumbing where there is a public water or sewer system must have a licensed master plumber in charge of the work at all times, but in cities of less than 1,000 population and in all rural areas, a licensed journeyman plumber may engage in the business of installing plumbing.
Verify with the office that issues the permit
What it means for side work
Side work is where the rung stops being a formality.
Take a weekend bathroom re-pipe: if it needs a permit where you live, it is a job with a permit, an inspection and a customer — the same license layers a weekday job has.
In the states with verified permit rules, the journeyman card alone does not reach the permit.
Montana draws the line twice.
A licensed journeyman plumber may perform work only in the employment of a licensed master plumber unless board rule permits otherwise, and a journeyman license does not authorize running or advertising a plumbing business.
Owning a plumbing company there without being a plumber at all is allowed — Montana confirms a non-plumber may own the business — but the permits still take a master.
Wisconsin closes one workaround directly: borrowing a master's license to pull the permit.
The rule we verified says a master plumber may not lend a license to others to pull permits — the ban is on the master's side.
Texas shows what the responsibility looks like from the top.
If side work runs through a contractor — you take jobs as a subcontractor, for instance — the Responsible Master Plumber under whose license the contract was secured is responsible for supervising that plumbing, permits and inspections included, whether the people doing the work are employees or subcontractors.
Philadelphia shows the same wall from the city side: the journeyman license does not allow operating a business, and the city requires the plumbing work itself to be done by a licensed master plumber carrying $500,000 in general liability, $300,000 in auto liability and workers' compensation insurance.
The difference we verified runs through small-town North Dakota: in cities of less than 1,000 population and in all rural areas, a licensed journeyman plumber may engage in the business of installing plumbing.
Our research found no comparable journeyman business authority in the other jurisdictions we verified.
For a journeyman who wants to pull their own permits, the path the ladder already draws is the master license.
Our journeyman plumber vs master plumber comparison lays out what changes at that rung, and our guide to starting your own plumbing business covers the money side of the move.
Browse plumber jobs to see what contractors are hiring for right now.
Career information, not legal advice. Permit authority is set jurisdiction by jurisdiction; confirm who may pull a plumbing permit with your state plumbing board — or the city or county office where you work.