Does Florida Require a Plumbing License? Who Licenses Plumbers Instead

Not for journeyman plumbers.

Florida issues no statewide journeyman plumber licence; state law instead authorizes each county and municipality to issue journeyman licences in the plumbing, pipe fitting, mechanical and HVAC trades, and every Florida locality must recognize a journeyman card that another Florida locality issued.

The state's own credential sits above the worker level: the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) licenses plumbing contractors, certified for statewide work or registered locally.

Whether the work you do requires a local card is decided where you work, so ask the county or city before you take paid plumbing jobs.

The ladder runs from a local journeyman card to the state contractor licence.

A journeyman plumber licence is issued by a county or municipality, and once any Florida locality has issued yours, all the others must recognize it, so the card travels statewide.

The Certified Plumbing Contractor licence is unlimited in the plumbing trade and valid anywhere in Florida.

The Registered Plumbing Contractor licence is the local version: it lets you contract only in the jurisdictions where you hold a local competency licence, and the state requires no exam for registration.

Florida has no state master plumber licence for workers.

For a local journeyman card, state law requires a registered, state-approved apprenticeship or at least 12,000 hours of on-the-job training in the trade, plus at least 75% on a proctored journeyman exam.

Registered apprenticeships in Florida are registered under Chapter 446, F.S., by the Florida Department of Education.

Each county and city sets its own application steps, fees and exam arrangements, which our research did not collect — get them from the licensing office where you work.

To sit for Florida certification, an applicant must be at least 18 and document, for example, 4 years of active experience as a skilled worker (journeyman level) or foreman, of which at least 1 year must be as a foreman; 2,000 person-hours count as one year, and college credit or a relevant bachelor's degree can substitute for part of the experience.

The registered path instead rests on a local competency licence, with no state exam, and CILB applicants of either kind must show financial responsibility as well.

There are two different exams, because there are two different credentials.

The local journeyman exam is proctored, and state law names Block and Associates or another examination the board approves; the passing score is at least 75%.

For CILB certification you take trade-knowledge and business-and-finance exams: Professional Testing, Inc. handles applications and Pearson VUE delivers the exams on computer, except the plumbing trade-knowledge exam, which is paper-based and offered multiple times per year at scheduled sessions.

Every CILB exam is open book and multiple choice.

The state's continuing-education rule is written for contractor licences: Florida plumbing contractors renew every 2 years and must complete 14 hours of continuing education per biennium.

Certified plumbing contractors renew by August 31 of even-numbered years and registered contractors in odd-numbered years, and the DBPR lists the renewal fee as $205 plus $50 per qualified business.

A plumbing contractor who works on medical gas piping must also complete an approved course of at least 6 hours, based on NFPA 99C and brazing, at least once while holding the licence.

Local journeyman renewal cycles and CE are set county by county and were not covered by our research — ask the office that issued your card.

Inside Florida, portability is guaranteed: every county and municipality must recognize a journeyman plumbing licence that another Florida locality issued.

Out of state, the picture is narrower.

The CILB's reciprocal licensing agreements cover only the general, building and residential contractor classifications — Louisiana, North Carolina and Mississippi — and none for air-conditioning, mechanical or plumbing licences.

Florida instead offers licensure by endorsement for applicants who passed a substantially equivalent exam elsewhere, hold a substantially equivalent out-of-state licence, or have held another state's contracting licence for at least 10 years; confirm the route that fits you with the DBPR before you apply.

State contractor licences verify through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's portal at myfloridalicense.com, under Verify a Licensee.

The portal covers DBPR-issued licences, so use it before you hire a plumbing contractor or take a job from one.

A county or city journeyman card is not a state licence, so for those ask the issuing locality — the county or city that issued the card keeps its own records.

The worker credential is local.

Under s.

489.1455, F.S., Florida counties and municipalities are authorized to issue journeyman licences in the plumbing, pipe fitting, mechanical and HVAC trades, and a card issued by any one of them is honored statewide.

Which locality issues your card depends on where the work is done; our research did not compile the list of issuing counties and cities, their fees or their exam arrangements, so contact the building or licensing department where you plan to work.

The specialty credential Florida law names for plumbing contractors is medical gas: a plumbing contractor who works on medical gas piping must take an approved course of at least 6 hours, based on NFPA 99C and brazing, at least once while holding the licence, and the statute makes it part of the contractor's continuing-education requirement.

Our research did not surface a separate statewide backflow credential for plumbers, so check with the CILB and the local jurisdiction for any certification a specific project requires.