Plumbing apprenticeship programs come in four kinds: union programs run by a United Association local's JATC, merit-shop training built around the PHCC and ABC associations, and programs plumbing employers register themselves.
To find one, BLS points apprenticeship seekers to state employment services, state apprenticeship agencies, local contractors, union-management committees and apprenticeship.gov.
This page explains what each type of program looks like and where to find one near you.
What types of plumbing apprenticeship programs exist?
An apprenticeship program for plumbing is defined by who runs it and who sponsors it.
Four kinds of program train plumbing apprentices, and they differ in who runs them, where the curriculum comes from and how raises are set — not in the federal rules that apply once a program is registered.
- UA (union) JATC programs — run by a United Association local's joint apprenticeship and training committee, typically lasting five years.
- PHCC programs — the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association's online Academy supplies plumbing apprenticeship training as related instruction, with the employer or the PHCC state chapter as the registered sponsor.
- ABC programs — the Associated Builders and Contractors' chapters give access to more than 450 government-registered apprenticeship programs in more than 20 trades, built on curricula from its educational affiliate NCCER.
- Employer-run programs — a plumbing contractor registers its own program and trains apprentices on its own crews.
What registration adds is the federal floor.
Registered programs are registered either by the Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship or by a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency acting for DOL, and registration brings the rules with it: on-the-job learning of at least 2,000 hours under the industry standard, terms that are time-based, competency-based or a hybrid of both, and a probationary period no longer than 25 percent of program length or 1 year, whichever is shorter.
Registered programs must also pay a progressively increasing wage schedule tied to skill.
If you are still working out what the apprenticeship itself involves — the pay, the classroom split, the term — start with what a plumbing apprenticeship is.
This page stays on the programs: who runs them and where to find them.
UA (union) JATC programs
The United Association trains plumbers among the pipe trades.
UA apprenticeships typically last five years, with tracks in plumbing, sprinkler fitting, pipefitting, HVACR, steamfitting and welding, and they are registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, combining paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction.
Each local runs its own intake through its joint apprenticeship and training committee — the JATC.
Application windows, aptitude screening and pay steps are set local by local; there is no national UA application process or step schedule to quote, so what applies to you is whatever your local's JATC publishes.
On scale: BLS does not publish a union-membership rate for plumbers specifically — its tables cover broad occupation groups.
In 2025, 16.4% of employed wage-and-salary workers in construction and extraction occupations were union members, and 12.5% in installation, maintenance and repair occupations.
Neither number is the plumbing trade's union rate.
To work the union route, contact the training center of a UA local near you and ask when its next apprentice intake opens.
PHCC and ABC merit-shop programs
The merit-shop route runs through two associations, and they work differently.
PHCC — the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association — is plumbing-specific.
Its Educational Foundation's PHCC Academy offers online plumbing and HVACR apprentice courses, and each course equals one year of related instruction at 156 hours.
PHCC says the courses are recognized by DOL's Office of Apprenticeship as a reasonable option for related technical instruction.
The Academy covers the classroom side only: the apprentice must still be registered with DOL, either in their employer's own registered program or through the PHCC state chapter's program.
ABC — the Associated Builders and Contractors — is a merit-shop association whose 67 chapters give access to more than 450 government-registered apprenticeship programs in more than 20 trades, with craft-training curricula built with its educational affiliate NCCER.
Which trades a chapter trains varies chapter by chapter, so ask the chapter near you whether it runs a plumbing program.
Both associations give non-union shops a route into the registered system, and in both cases availability is chapter-level.
The honest answer about your area comes from the chapter, not the national site.
Employer-run programs
The fourth kind of program is employer-run: the plumbing business itself is the sponsor.
An employer can register its own program with the Department of Labor or the state apprenticeship agency and train apprentices on its own crews — that is the arrangement PHCC describes when it says apprentices are registered either in their employer's own program or through a chapter's.
For you as an applicant, an employer-run program lives or dies on its paperwork.
Ask three things before you sign: whether the program is registered, and with whom — DOL's Office of Apprenticeship or the state agency; what the term is — time-based, competency-based or a hybrid; and what the wage schedule in the program's standards says.
Probation belongs in that conversation too: a registered program's probationary period may not exceed 25 percent of program length or 1 year, whichever is shorter, and it counts toward completion.
Local contractors are on BLS's list of where apprenticeship seekers should look, so apply to the plumbing shops near you like a job seeker — then ask about the program, not just the job.
How to search registered programs
Searching is a two-sided problem: find the sponsors, then verify the registration.
Work it in this order.
Search apprenticeship.gov
BLS points apprenticeship seekers to apprenticeship.gov, the Department of Labor's registered-apprenticeship site. Search it for plumbing apprenticeship opportunities near you. For the plumber occupation's hour standard, DOL's registered-occupation list sets 8,000 on-the-job hours, time-based — but the copy our research reviewed is dated, so confirm the current figure in the site's Occupation Finder.Confirm who registers programs in your state
Registered programs are registered either by DOL's Office of Apprenticeship, through its state field offices where no recognized state agency exists, or by a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency acting for DOL. Your state's labor or apprenticeship agency can tell you which applies where you live.Work the sponsor channels directly
Contact a UA local's training center, your PHCC state chapter, your ABC chapter, and the plumbing contractors in your area. Availability is local in every case, and the chapters know which shops are taking apprentices.Get the standards in writing
Ask for the program's registration agency and its standards: the term type, the on-the-job and classroom hour expectations, the probation terms and the wage schedule. DOL recommends a minimum of 144 hours of related technical instruction per year of apprenticeship — recommended, not required — so what your program actually mandates comes from its standards and, in some states, from state rule.
Verify before you sign
Plumbing apprenticeship programs by state
Where you live changes three things: who registers programs, what your state adds on top of the federal floors, and what happens after the program ends.
Registration first.
Programs are registered either by DOL's Office of Apprenticeship or by a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency, and which applies is a state-by-state matter — start with your state's labor or apprenticeship agency to learn who holds the registry where you are.
Some states add requirements of their own.
The federal 144-hour classroom figure is a recommendation, but some states mandate related instruction, so a program's real obligations are the federal floors plus state rules plus the sponsor's standards.
Third, the finish line.
Completing a registered program earns a completion certificate from the registration agency — and that certificate is not a plumbing licence.
Licensing is a separate layer, set by your state or by the city or county where licensing is local, so confirm with your licensing board how apprenticeship hours count toward it.
We're building the state-by-state layer of this series — plumbing apprenticeship programs in New York, Texas and the rest of the country, each pairing the sponsors near you with your state's registration route.
Until a state page ships, the search steps above plus your state apprenticeship agency are the fastest path to a real list.
This page is career information, not legal advice. Registered-program rules are set by the U.S. Department of Labor or your state apprenticeship agency, and licensing is set by your state board or local jurisdiction — confirm current requirements with them before you act.