How Do You Get a Plumbing License in North Dakota?

Yes.

North Dakota licenses plumbers statewide through the North Dakota State Plumbing Board, which licenses master plumbers, journeyman plumbers and plumber's apprentices.

State law bars any person, firm, corporation or limited liability company from engaging in the business of master plumber, journeyman plumber or plumber's apprentice in any location of the state having a public system of waterworks or sewerage unless the board has registered and licensed them.

Two exemptions apply: homeowners working on their own occupied residence, and full-time maintenance employees doing repairs, are exempt unless a local ordinance says otherwise.

State law recognizes three classifications: plumber's apprentice, journeyman plumber and master plumber.

Apprentices work under supervision: a supervising master or journeyman plumber may have no more than five apprentices on a project, first- to third-year apprentices need direct supervision, and after 5,700 hours (three years) an apprentice working for a master plumber may work alone in the fourth year.

A business installing plumbing where there is a public water or sewer system must have a registered and licensed master plumber in charge of the work at all times; the exception is cities of less than 1,000 population and rural areas, where a licensed journeyman may run the business.

That master-in-charge rule is how North Dakota ties a plumbing business to a licensed worker rather than issuing a separate plumbing contractor license.

Advertising carries its own rule: a plumbing business may not advertise as a plumbing contractor unless it employs a licensed journeyman or is a licensed master plumber, and any advertisement must contain the appropriate license number.

Apprentice: you must be at least 18, register with the board within 30 days of starting — hours worked after those 30 days without being registered will not count toward your term — and serve four years of at least 1,900 hours a year, 7,600 in total.

Graduates of a 9-month (1,020-hour) accredited plumbing course can earn hour credit toward that term, weighted by grade average (A earns 2 hours of credit per course hour, down to D at 1).

Journeyman: four years' experience as an apprentice under a licensed master plumber is the experience the board requires for the journeyman exam.

Master: at least 21, with two years (3,400 hours) as a licensed journeyman plumber in North Dakota or another state with a state licensing law.

Fees: the application fee is $50 and the exam fee is $50 per exam; the journeyman license is $100 and the master license $200, and the board's 2026 renewal schedule is $200 for a master, $100 for a journeyman and $20 for a first-year apprentice rising to $75 by the fifth year.

The State Plumbing Board administers its own exams — our research found no third-party testing vendor such as PSI or ICC behind them.

The journeyman exam has five parts (two closed book, three open book) and the master exam has four parts (one closed book, three open book), and both allow five hours.

You bring your own 2018 North Dakota Plumbing Code and a calculator.

The passing grade is 80% for master plumbers and 70% for journeyman plumbers, and a failed exam means a six-month wait before you can retest.

The exam fee is $50 per exam, on top of the $50 application fee.

A North Dakota plumbing license is valid for only one year and expires on December 31 of the year it was issued, so renewal comes due every year.

The board's 2026 renewal schedule is $200 for a master plumber, $100 for a journeyman, and $20 to $75 for apprentices depending on the year ($20 for a first-year apprentice, $75 by the fifth year).

Master and journeyman plumbers must complete two to four credit hours of continuing education in each two-year period, and the board's CE session fee is $40.

The North Dakota board says it has written plumbing reciprocity agreements with South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana.

Conditions differ by state and by license level, and a Certificate of Endorsement is required, so confirm the terms for your state and level with the board before you rely on one.

Separately from reciprocity, the master-plumber experience rule lets you count two years (3,400 hours) as a licensed journeyman in North Dakota or in another state with a state licensing law.

The board publishes a public license lookup at ndplumbingboard.gov under Licensing > License Lookup, covering license holders approved and certified by the North Dakota State Plumbing Board.

Search it before you hire anyone who claims to be licensed, before you go to work for a plumbing business — to confirm the license of the master plumber in charge of its work, or the journeyman who may run it in cities of less than 1,000 and rural areas — and after you apply, to check that your own license shows up once the board issues it.

The board's reach extends past the apprentice-journeyman-master ladder.

It issues separate board licenses for sewer and water installers and contractors and for water conditioning installers and contractors, and it lists certified backflow assembly testers.

Those are separate credentials, so check with the board what each one covers before you take that work.

Our research found no separate state gas-fitter or medical gas license at the Plumbing Board; confirm with the board where gas piping or medical gas work fits before you take that work.