How Do You Get a Plumbing License in Kentucky?

Yes.

Kentucky licenses plumbers statewide through DHBC's Division of Plumbing, and the statute is direct: no person may engage in plumbing or engage in or work at the trade of plumbing without an active master or journeyman plumber license.

The license requirement names two levels, journeyman and master plumber, and both are individual credentials.

Kentucky has no separate plumbing contractor license — what that means for a business is covered in the next section.

Kentucky's plumbing license requirement names two individual licenses: journeyman plumber and master plumber.

Either active license satisfies the statewide requirement to work at the trade.

The master license is also the business credential: Kentucky has no separate plumbing contractor license, so a plumbing business operates under an active master plumber license, and the business must carry at least $250,000 in general liability insurance plus workers' compensation and unemployment insurance compliance.

If the master plumber representing a company dies, the company must notify DHBC within 10 days; it may use the license for a 180-day interim period, and then it must have a replacement master.

The journeyman license takes 2 consecutive years of experience as an apprentice plumber, or 1 year plus a department-approved course.

You pass the journeyman exam with at least 75% on each portion and pay a $60 license fee.

The master license takes 2 years as a licensed journeyman within the past 5 years, working under a master; in place of that experience, DHBC accepts equivalent out-of-state licensing or experience, or a Kentucky engineer license.

Master applicants score at least 80% on each portion of the master exam and pay a $250 license fee.

DHBC's plumbing rules set the exam itself: both levels take a written exam plus a pipe-sizing drawing, and the journeyman exam adds a practical section for which the applicant supplies the materials.

Exam fees are $50 for the journeyman exam and $150 for the master exam, on top of the license fees above.

Our research did not identify who administers the Kentucky plumbing exam, so ask DHBC's Division of Plumbing how and where to schedule before you file.

Kentucky plumber licenses expire every year on the last day of the licensee's birth month, and renewal costs $60 for a journeyman or $250 for a master.

Before each renewal you must complete at least 6 hours of approved continuing education in the 12 months before renewing, in the subjects DHBC's rules list as business, job safety, codes and trade subjects, and up to 12 excess hours may be carried forward.

The rule is written for HVAC and plumbing licensees together, so it applies to a plumbing license the same way.

Only on Kentucky's terms.

Kentucky may license a plumber from another state when three conditions all hold: the other state has a statewide plumbing code, its examination is at least equal to Kentucky's, and the other state agrees to reciprocate with Kentucky.

The statute states the conditions without naming partner states, and our research did not confirm a list of reciprocal states, so ask DHBC's Division of Plumbing whether your state qualifies before you count on it.

There is a second door at the master level: equivalent out-of-state licensing or experience can stand in for the journeyman experience requirement.

DHBC's site carries a License Search and Verification link on dhbc.ky.gov.

Our research recorded the link from the department's site navigation rather than by opening the search page itself, so start from dhbc.ky.gov and follow License Search and Verification rather than trusting a third-party copy of the address.

Search it before you take a job with a shop that claims licensed status, and ask DHBC's Division of Plumbing if a license you are checking does not appear.