You get a New York City master plumber license — the Licensed Master Plumber, or LMP — from the city's Department of Buildings, not from New York State.
The standard route: 7 years of experience within the last 10 under a Licensed Master Plumber in the U.S. (at least 2 as a registered journeyman), then a closed-book written exam, a practical exam and an application through DOB NOW: Licensing.
Why NYC licenses plumbers and New York State doesn't
New York State does not issue a statewide plumber license.
State law — General City Law Article 4, "Plumbing and Drainage" — provides for examining boards of plumbers in cities, and licensing happens locally, city by city and county by county.
That is why the search for how to get a plumbing license in NYC ends at a city agency rather than a state board.
New York City runs a full local ladder.
The Department of Buildings (DOB) licenses master plumbers among its skilled trades — the same list carries electricians, riggers, welders and the Master Fire Suppression Piping Contractors — and the state's own law frames the role: an employing or master plumber is a person with a regular place of business who performs plumbing work personally or through journeymen in the plumber's employ.
Licensing is local elsewhere in New York too: Westchester County requires plumbers to hold a county trade license obtained by examination, through a county Plumbing Board.
The ladder works differently in every state — our plumbing license requirements guide explains the national picture.
This page stays on the city's own rules.
LMP eligibility: experience and alternative routes
The standard route to the license has two gates.
First, age: you must be at least 18.
Second, experience: 7 years within the 10 years before applying, earned under a Licensed Master Plumber in the U.S., including at least 2 years as a registered journeyman plumber.
Both limits bite: only the 10 years before you apply count, and the journeyman stretch is not optional on this route.
DOB lists alternative routes that trade education against experience:
- A bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering: 5 years of experience within the 7 years before applying, with at least 2 of those years in New York City.
- A New York–licensed Registered Architect or Professional Engineer: 3 years within the 5 years before applying, with at least 1 of those years in New York City.
The license is also the business license.
The applicant must be an officer, partner or sole proprietor of the plumbing business, and the business must have a New York City place of business in a zoning-compliant (commercial) location.
In a corporation, the licensee must hold at least 51% combined controlling interest.
The business side of that license — insurance and bonding — is covered in our plumbing contractor license guide, not here.
Confirm the current rules with NYC DOB
The DOB exams: written and practical
Two DOB exams stand between the experience requirement and the license.
The written exam is multiple-choice on the NYC Construction Codes, rules and regulations.
It is closed-book — no reference materials — the passing score is 70%, and the fee is $585.
Pass the written and you can sit the practical exam, which costs $530 and must be passed within 24 months of the written-exam notification.
DOB files its written license exams as LIC41 and its practicals as LIC42; the same fees also apply to the Master Fire Suppression Piping Contractor, Oil Burner Equipment Installer and High Pressure Boiler Operating Engineer exams, and to the written Gas Work Qualification exam.
Passing the practical starts the clock on the paperwork.
Master plumber applications go through DOB NOW: Licensing — mandatory since February 23, 2026 — and include a background investigation, and you have 1 year from the practical-exam notification to submit.
The license itself costs $200 plus a $50 seal fee and runs on a 3-year term.
Journeyman registration
The rung below the LMP is a registration rather than a license, and it is where 2 of your 7 qualifying years have to come from.
NYC Journeyman Plumber registration with DOB requires 5 years of full-time plumbing experience under a Licensed Master Plumber — at least 1 of them in New York City — or completion of a New York State registered training program plus 1 year of NYC experience.
The registration fee is $50.
The training-program route is how registered apprenticeship feeds the ladder: completing a NYS registered plumbing training program plus 1 year of NYC experience qualifies you for journeyman registration, and enrolling in a NYS DOL-approved plumbing apprenticeship pairs with 6 months under an LMP for a Limited Gas Work Qualification.
Gas work carries its own credential, and in New York City it is plumbing work: gas piping, including piping for HVAC equipment, falls under the Licensed Master Plumber.
A Full Gas Work Qualification requires passing a DOB gas work exam while being a registered journeyman plumber, or a NYS registered training program plus 1 year of NYC experience, or 5 years under a Master Plumber (1 in NYC).
The Limited version takes 6 months under an LMP plus a 16-hour DOB-approved gas course or enrollment in a NYS DOL-approved plumbing apprenticeship.
Two boundaries keep the paperwork straight.
Plumbing experience cannot be applied to the Journeyman Fire Suppression registration, and vice versa.
And the Master Fire Suppression Piping Contractor license — Class A, B or C — covers fire suppression piping only; its work excludes plumbing, domestic water and gas piping.
The national version of this rung — hours, exams and the states without one — is in our journeyman plumber license guide.
How to look up a NYC master plumber license
DOB publishes its licensees, so you can check a master plumber — yours, or one you are about to hire — before work starts.
The city's Check License Status lookup on nyc.gov/buildings covers DOB licenses, the Licensed Master Plumber among them.
And because the license is also what qualifies the business, the lookup confirms the license the business operates under.
Outside the city, Westchester County runs its own Trade Licenses Search for the plumbers it licenses by examination.
For every other state's official lookup portals — and the worker-side how-to — our plumbing license lookup directory walks through them.
If you are banking the years toward your own LMP, the plumber jobs on our board show what contractors are hiring for.
Career information, not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; confirm the current master plumber requirements with the New York City Department of Buildings before you apply for an exam or a license.