Plumbing Apprenticeships in Connecticut: Programs, Requirements and How to Apply

Connecticut is a State Apprenticeship Agency (SAA) state, per the U.S. Department of Labor's list: trade apprenticeships run through the Connecticut Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Division, which registers programs acting for DOL.

An apprenticeable occupation must require at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning under the industry standard.

The union local our research confirmed by name is UA Local 777, whose listing covers the whole state; any other sponsor — union or employer — registers through the same state agency.

No merit-shop association program, employer program or college in Connecticut is named in our sources; the sections below say what that means for each.

Two different registrations are in play.

The apprenticeship itself is registered with the Connecticut Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Division, the state agency acting for DOL.

Whether Connecticut also requires plumbing apprentices to hold a separate state registration or apprentice card was not established in our research — the division's apprentice rules were not among the documents we read — so ask it before you start counting anything.

What the state does confirm is the license side: the Department of Consumer Protection licenses plumbers statewide, and its P-2 Unlimited Journeyperson Plumber license — the license a finished apprenticeship feeds — covers all plumbing and piping work only while the holder is employed by a licensed contractor.

Completing an apprenticeship with the Connecticut Department of Labor has its own application route at DCP.

Connecticut's plumbing and pipefitting licenses renew annually on October 31 — $120 for journeypersons, $150 for contractors — and a finished registered apprenticeship earns a certificate from the registration agency — here, the state — which is not itself the license.

UA Local 777 is the union local our research confirmed for Connecticut: the United Association's own find-a-local listing shows Local 777 covering the State of Connecticut, based in Meriden.

That listing confirms the local and its coverage; it does not describe the local's apprenticeship intake, wages or application windows, and our research did not read its apprenticeship pages, so contact the local about its program.

Nationally, the UA says its apprenticeships are registered with DOL, typically last five years, and cover plumbing, pipefitting, HVACR, welding and fire protection.

Because the listing puts the whole state in Local 777's coverage, the union route in Connecticut starts with asking that local.

Our research confirmed none by name: no PHCC chapter, ABC chapter or individual employer program in Connecticut appears in the sources we read.

Nationally, PHCC offers apprenticeship content through its online learning academy, and ABC describes itself as founded on the merit shop philosophy and reports more than 24,000 members, but which chapters run registered plumbing programs is decided chapter by chapter and was not verified for Connecticut.

If an employer offers to train you, the test is registration: Connecticut is a State Apprenticeship Agency state, so a program only becomes a registered apprenticeship when the Connecticut Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Division registers it.

Ask which agency registered the program — if the answer is not the state's Apprenticeship Division, ask more questions before you sign on.

Our research did not name the Connecticut colleges or training centers that deliver classroom hours for plumbing apprenticeship programs, so confirm the classroom side with your sponsor.

Federally, DOL recommends — but does not require — a minimum of 144 hours of related technical instruction per year of apprenticeship; whether Connecticut adds a mandate of its own is not established in our research, so ask the Apprenticeship Division and read your program's registered standards.

What the classroom route is worth is confirmed on the license end: completing an apprenticeship with the Connecticut Department of Labor gives you a dedicated journeyperson application route at the Department of Consumer Protection.

Pick a sponsor first.

UA Local 777 in Meriden is the union local our research confirmed, and its listing covers the whole state, so start there on the union route; our research confirmed no merit-shop or employer program by name, so if you go that route, ask the Connecticut Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Division whether the program you are considering is registered.

Program terms vary — federally they may be time-based (at least 2,000 on-the-job hours), competency-based, or a hybrid of both — and our research did not capture Local 777's standards, so ask the local what it requires this year.

Federally, a registered apprentice must be at least 16 unless a higher minimum age is set by law; registered programs must pay a progressively increasing wage schedule tied to skill, and the entry wage may not be below the FLSA minimum wage where applicable; and a probationary period, if the program has one, may not exceed 25% of the program length or 1 year, whichever is shorter.

At completion you receive a certificate from the registration agency, and completing a CT Department of Labor apprenticeship has its own journeyperson application route at DCP.