For a plumber working as an employee of a Chicago-licensed plumbing contractor, no: Chicago accepts plumbers and apprentice plumbers licensed by either the City of Chicago or the State of Illinois.
For the business, yes: a state-registered plumbing contractor must also hold a City of Chicago plumbing contractor license to work in the city — a separate license with its own applicant rule, bond and fee.
Illinois plumbing license vs. the City of Chicago license
Illinois licenses plumbers statewide through the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) under the Illinois Plumbing License Law (225 ILCS 320).
The Act requires plumbing to be performed by plumbers licensed under the Act or by licensed apprentice plumbers, with the exemption it writes for homeowners doing their own single-family residence.
Chicago sits on top of that state law rather than instead of it.
The Act lets any city with a population of 500,000 or more run its own board of plumbing examiners and issue plumber licenses under an ordinance substantially the same as the state Act — in practice, that city is Chicago.
The city licenses the trade level too: Chicago's trade-specific licenses cover drain layer, electrical, elevator, mason and plumbing contractors.
So two different questions hide inside "do I need a Chicago plumbing license."
For the worker, no separate license: Chicago lets plumbers or apprentices licensed by either the City of Chicago or the State of Illinois work as employees of a Chicago-licensed plumbing contractor.
For the business, yes: a state-registered plumbing contractor must also get a City of Chicago plumbing contractor license to work in the city — the city license this page explains.
The state license itself is the state's story, not this page's: our Illinois plumbing license guide walks that ladder rung by rung.
And if you are mapping the whole country before you commit to one city's rules, our plumbing license requirements guide explains the full ladder.
How to get a City of Chicago plumbing contractor license
The separate Chicago license is the contractor license — the business's, not the plumber's.
Chicago routes the applications through Continental Testing Services, which processes them on behalf of the Department of Buildings and the Board of Plumbing Examiners.
Two registrations are required: the state registration with IDPH, and the city license.
Hold the state registration
Anyone performing plumbing for another person in Illinois must register annually with IDPH as a plumbing contractor; registrations expire on the last day of September each year, and the registration requires the plumbing license of the sole proprietor, a partner, or a corporate officer. The state side also carries its own insurance minimums and its own bond — a $20,000 indemnification bond or letter of credit, a different instrument from the city's performance bond below. Our plumbing contractor license guide covers that business layer from the employer's side.Apply for the city license
Applications are processed by Continental Testing Services for the Department of Buildings and the Board of Plumbing Examiners, and the applicant must be a Chicago-licensed plumber — a plumber's license the City of Chicago issued.File the $20,000 bond and pay the fee
The business must file a $20,000 performance bond with the City Clerk — the city's performance bond, distinct from the state registration's indemnification bond. The City of Chicago plumbing contractor license fee for calendar year 2026 is $150 initial and $150 renewal.
For the plumber rather than the business, the worker-side rule the city states covers employees: Chicago accepts plumbers or apprentices licensed by either the city or the state as employees of a Chicago-licensed plumbing contractor.
If your working arrangement doesn't fit that shape, ask the Department of Buildings which licenses apply before you take work.
When you are far enough along to work under a license, the plumber jobs on our board show what contractors are hiring for.
Confirm the current rules with the city and IDPH
How to look up a City of Chicago plumbing license
Check the layer you are hiring or working under.
For the business, the license to verify is the City of Chicago plumbing contractor license — the license whose applications the Department of Buildings and Board of Plumbing Examiners handle through Continental Testing Services.
Our research notes the city's licensed-contractor search at webapps1.chicago.gov/licensedcontractors; we did not verify that page as part of our fact pass, so confirm the current address — and any license record — with the Department of Buildings before you rely on it.
For the worker, remember the license can sit at either level: a plumber on a Chicago job may hold the city's license or the state's, because Chicago accepts both as employees of a Chicago-licensed plumbing contractor.
The state licenses come from IDPH, whose plumbing program page is the official source for license information — our research did not capture a separate public IDPH lookup page, so start there and follow its license links.
For the other states' official portals, and the worker-side how-to, our plumbing license lookup directory walks through them.
Career information, not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; confirm the current City of Chicago and IDPH plumbing licensing requirements with the Chicago Department of Buildings and the Illinois Department of Public Health before you apply for or rely on a license.