How Do You Get a Plumbing License in Virginia?

Yes.

Virginia licenses plumbing at both levels the state regulates: the Board for Contractors at DPOR licenses contractor firms, and it also licenses individual tradesmen — plumbing, HVAC, gas fitting, electrical and backflow — statewide.

The tradesman levels for plumbing are residential plumber tradesman, journeyman and master, per the tradesman regulation as amended effective April 1, 2025.

Because the rules were amended that year, an older guide may cite section numbers that have since changed; check any requirement you rely on against DPOR's current text.

Virginia's plumber tradesman levels are residential plumber tradesman, journeyman and master.

The regulation names each level and sets how you qualify for its exam; what each level's scope of work covers beyond the name — whether a residential tradesman may take commercial work, for instance — is not established in our research, so confirm scope with DPOR before you take a job.

The master level carries the legal weight in contracting: Virginia requires plumbing contractors (PLB) to name a qualified individual who holds the Master plumber tradesman license issued by the Board for Contractors.

Gas fitting and backflow prevention are credentialed separately from plumbing — see the section below.

Every Virginia tradesman applicant must be at least 18.

The requirements are set as exam eligibility: to sit a tradesman exam, you furnish evidence of experience and formal vocational training, trading training hours against years in the trade — and apprenticeship-related instruction counts as that training.

For the residential plumber tradesman exam, qualifying combinations include 2 years of practical experience plus 160 hours of vocational training, or 6 years of experience with no formal training.

For the journeyman exam, examples include 4 years of experience plus 240 hours of vocational training, 2 years plus an associate degree or 2-year program, or 8 years of experience with no formal training.

The master exam requires at least 1 year as a licensed journeyman in the trade, or 3 years as a residential tradesman, or 9 years of practical experience.

The tradesman license fee is $150, whether you qualify by examination or without one; adding a tradesman designation costs $105, and exchanging a locality-issued card for the state license costs $110.

The eligibility rules above are the exam's gate: you document your experience and vocational training when you apply to test.

Which vendor delivers the plumber tradesman exams was not confirmed in our research; the vendor our sources do name is PSI, for DPOR's contractor and qualifier exams, whose exam fees are paid directly to PSI rather than to the board — $40 for one portion, $72 for two and $85 for three.

Our research also does not describe what the plumbing tradesman exams cover, so use the candidate information DPOR publishes for the current outline.

Virginia tradesman licenses run on two-year terms, and each term brings 3 hours of continuing education for plumbers.

The course must cover the current International Plumbing Code — HVAC tradesmen take a course covering the International Mechanical Code, gas fitters owe 1 hour, and backflow prevention device workers are exempt from the continuing-education requirement.

There is no inactive or retired status to park a license in, and the board allows a 30-day grace period after expiry, during which you may not work.

Our research did not record the renewal fee, so confirm the current amount with DPOR before you renew.

Our research did not confirm any reciprocity agreement or exam waiver for Virginia plumber tradesman licenses, so how Virginia treats a plumbing license from another state is not established in our research.

If you hold a journeyman or master license elsewhere, ask DPOR whether any agreement or waiver applies before you apply, and be ready to document your experience and training against Virginia's exam-eligibility rules if no waiver applies.

Gas fitting and backflow are credentialed separately from plumbing in Virginia.

The state issues gas fitter tradesman designations of their own — journeyman and master gas fitter, liquefied petroleum gas fitter, and natural gas fitter provider — and gas fitters renew under their own continuing-education rule, 1 hour per two-year term against the 3 hours plumbers owe.

Backflow prevention device workers are certified separately too: the certification takes 4 years of practical experience in water distribution systems plus a minimum of 32 hours of formal vocational training in a board-approved school, or 7 or more years of experience plus 16 hours, with ASSE testing standards applying and training required to include a wet lab.