We found no single national plumbing license cost: every fee schedule our research read is set by a state — or a city, where licensing is local — split between the licensing board and the exam vendor.
In the schedules we verified, a Texas journeyman plumber pays $40 for the exam and $40 for the licence (as of September 2026), while Montana's journeyman application alone was $270 by exam on the February 2023 checklist.
Application and exam fees, state by state
In the schedules below, a plumbing licence bill can include an application fee, an exam fee, and the licence or certificate fee once you pass.
New Hampshire's OPLC keeps it to one fee per rung — $88 as an apprentice, $198 as a journeyman, $330 as a master — charged at application and again at every renewal.
North Dakota keeps every line separate: $50 to apply, $50 per exam, then $100 for the journeyman licence or $200 for the master.
| Jurisdiction | Fees (journeyman unless noted) | Schedule dated |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | $40 exam · $40 initial licence · $40 renewal | Sept 2026 |
| Indiana | $30 application · $30 issuance in even years, $15 in odd years · $30 renewal (licences expire December 31 of odd years) | — |
| Arkansas | $75 application + $75 licence (journeyman) · $125 + $200 (master) · apprentice $25 per year; journeyman and master expire December 31 each year | Jan 2026 |
| Alaska | $50 application (non-refundable) + $200 certificate fee; renewal $200, with 16 hours of CE in the prior 24 months (at least 8 on Uniform Plumbing Code changes) | — |
| New Hampshire (OPLC) | $88 apprentice · $198 journeyman · $330 master — at application and again at each renewal | Sept 29, 2026 |
| Washington | $202.10 exam application, then $242.70 certification fee (journey level, residential or residential service); medical gas endorsement $74.30 + $166.90 | — |
| Maine | $200 licence fee + $21 criminal background check (journeyman and master); renewal $200 every two years; $50 late fee up to 90 days after expiry | — |
| West Virginia | $75 initial certification and renewal (master and journeyman) · Plumber in Training $25 · late fee $25 | — |
| Vermont | Set in statute: $120 master · $90 journeyman · $50 specialist — the same amounts at renewal | — |
| North Dakota | $50 application · $50 exam fee per exam · $100 journeyman licence · $200 master licence | — |
| South Dakota | $100 exam (plumber, installer or contractor) · $50 third-year apprentice exam · $105 annual licence/renewal (plumber) · $275 (plumbing contractor) · apprentice $20-$50 by year · temporary licence $50 | Eff. July 2, 2025 |
| Montana | $270 application by exam · $400 by out-of-state reciprocity · optional $100 temporary work permit while awaiting the exam; exam fee paid separately to IAPMO | Feb 9, 2023 |
What each rung requires — the hours, the exam content, who can sit — is the question our plumbing license requirements guide answers; this page is only the money.
One structural point to keep straight: the exam fee doesn't always go to the board.
Indiana's journeyman exam runs through the vendor Prov at $75 (plumbing contractor $100), Montana's board collects the $270 application while the exam fee is paid separately to IAPMO, and Philadelphia's journeyman plumber exam (ICC, via Pearson VUE) is $115 on the March 2026 bulletin.
In the schedules above that price master against journeyman separately, master is the dearer rung: Arkansas charges $125 to apply plus $200 for the master licence against $75 plus $75 at journeyman; New Hampshire's spread runs $198 to $330; North Dakota's licence fee is $100 to $200; Vermont's statute sets $90 journeyman and $120 master.
Maine and West Virginia break that pattern in the schedules above — Maine charges $200 plus a $21 background check for journeyman and master alike, and West Virginia bills $75 for either.
Confirm the current fees before you pay
Renewal fees: the cost of keeping the licence
The renewal is the recurring line, and the amounts we verified are: Texas's journeyman renewal fee is $40 (as of September 2026); Indiana's renewal is $30, next to an issuance fee that runs $30 in even years and $15 in odd years; Alaska's is $200, tied to 16 hours of continuing education within the preceding 24 months; Maine's is $200 every two years; West Virginia's is $75; South Dakota's plumber renewal is $105 a year; Vermont's statute applies the same amounts at renewal; and New Hampshire charges its full fee again at every renewal — $88 apprentice, $198 journeyman, $330 master.
Two kinds of riders show up in the schedules above, worth pricing before the date arrives.
Alaska's 16 CE hours within the prior 24 months must include at least 8 on significant changes or updates to the Uniform Plumbing Code — the fee schedules don't price those courses; what the hours cost depends on the provider.
And lateness is billed: Maine assesses a $50 late fee for licences renewed up to 90 days after expiry, and West Virginia's late fee is $25.
When your renewal falls due, what a late or lapsed licence costs, and how many CE hours your state wants are the plumbing license renewal guide's territory — this page stays on the amounts.
Arkansas runs on the calendar: journeyman and master licences expire December 31 each year.
Prep course costs
Between the application and the licence sits a cost category the fee schedules don't price: exam prep.
The verified price points here are thin.
The clearest is the exam vendor's own catalogue — Prov, which administers Indiana's journeyman exam, sells practice exams for $25 each.
Beyond that, our research verified no tuition figures for commercial prep classes, so this page won't quote one.
Where a board does require a course before you sit, that's a different line — required, not optional, and priced by whoever runs the course; which states require one is an exam-requirement question, covered in our plumbing license exam guide.
And if you're pricing the training itself — trade school versus earning while you learn — that's the school decision: see our plumbing school guide and its school-vs-apprenticeship comparison.
The free route exists too: our journeyman plumber practice test runs worked code questions split by UPC and IPC, so you can see where you stand before paying anyone.
Who pays: the board, the vendor and the extras
Three of the schedules above route the exam fee to a separate vendor: Indiana's goes to Prov, Montana's to IAPMO, and Philadelphia's to Pearson VUE on ICC's bulletin.
The other lines are simpler — an application fee before the licence is issued, the licence or certificate fee once you pass, and a renewal when the term ends.
The extras are billed when they apply to you: Maine's $21 criminal background check; Montana's optional $100 temporary work permit, which lets an exam candidate keep working while awaiting the exam; South Dakota's $50 temporary licence; Washington's medical gas endorsement — $74.30 to apply plus $166.90 — priced separately from the base certification.
Licences beside plumbing carry their own schedules, too — Minnesota's boiler licence table (September 2023) charges $50 to apply, exam included, with two-year licence fees of $20 (Special), $40 (Second and First Class) and $80 (Chief).
Whether an employer covers any of this is employer policy: none of the fee schedules above addresses reimbursement, and our research verified no figure for how often shops pay their techs' licence fees.
What the schedules do show is that the apprentice rung is the cheapest seat — $25 a year in Arkansas, $25 for West Virginia's Plumber in Training, $20-$50 by year in South Dakota, $88 in New Hampshire — against higher journeyman and master fees in the same schedules.
Pay the fees, pass the exam, and the licence is yours to work under — browse plumber jobs when you're ready.
Career information, not legal advice. Application, exam, licence and renewal fees are set by each state board — or the city or county where licensing is local. Confirm the current schedule with the board that issues your licence before you pay or apply.