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

Georgia is a federal Office of Apprenticeship state: registered apprenticeship programs there are registered by the U.S. Department of Labor, not by a state apprenticeship agency.

Nationally, programs are registered either by the Office of Apprenticeship, through its state field offices where no recognized state apprenticeship agency exists, or by a recognized state agency acting for the department — Georgia sits on the federal side of that split.

The plumbing sponsor our research verified in Georgia is UA Local 72 in Atlanta, which trains plumbers through the Mechanical Trades Institute (MTI).

Our research did not survey every Georgia sponsor or market, so also search apprenticeship.gov and ask local contractors who runs registered programs where you live.

Georgia licenses individual plumbers statewide at three levels — Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber Class I and Master Plumber Class II, through the State Construction Industry Licensing Board's Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers — and the statute lists no apprentice license among them.

Our research found no requirement that plumbing apprentices register with the Construction Industry Licensing Board; that reading comes from the statute text rather than an explicit statement, so confirm with the board before you count on it.

The journeyman rung is experience-based: 1 year of full-time plumbing experience under a licensed Master Plumber, an affidavit from that master, and a passing exam score of 70.

A journeyman works under the direction of a plumbing contractor and cannot contract independently.

Finishing an apprenticeship is not itself a license: a registered program's completion credential is a certificate from the registration agency.

The program our research verified also finishes with a Georgia journeyman license plus backflow and medical gas certifications.

The union sponsor our research verified in Georgia is UA Local 72 in Atlanta, whose plumbers train through the Mechanical Trades Institute (MTI): a five-year apprenticeship combining 8,000 on-the-jobsite training hours with 1,200 classroom hours, finishing with a Georgia journeyman license plus backflow and medical gas certifications.

Nationally, the United Association says its apprenticeships are registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, typically last five years, and cover plumbing, pipefitting, HVACR, welding and fire protection.

Georgia separately issues its own Statewide Medical Gas Piping Certification — a credential for licensed master or journeyman plumbers, not apprentices — which requires a 32-hour approved program with a written exam and braze test, and holders must braze at least once every 12 months.

Application windows and entry requirements change, so contact the institute directly about its current intake.

Our research did not verify registered apprenticeship programs run by the Georgia chapters of the national merit-shop associations, so treat them as places to ask rather than options we have confirmed.

Nationally, ABC describes itself as founded on the merit shop philosophy and reports more than 24,000 members, and PHCC offers apprenticeship content through its online learning academy — whether either runs a registered plumbing program in Georgia is chapter-level detail we did not verify.

The test for any program you find is the same: ask whether it is a registered apprenticeship, and confirm the registration with the U.S. Department of Labor, which is the registration authority in Georgia.

Registered apprenticeship pairs on-the-job learning with related technical instruction — the classroom side of the program.

Federal rules set the frame: an apprenticeable occupation must require at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning, program terms may be time-based, competency-based or a hybrid, and DOL recommends — but does not require — a minimum of 144 hours of related instruction for each year of apprenticeship.

The Georgia classroom data point our research verified is MTI's: 1,200 classroom hours across its five-year plumbing apprenticeship.

Beyond that, our research did not name the colleges or training centers delivering related instruction for other Georgia plumbing sponsors, and we did not verify an education credit toward the Georgia plumbing licenses — the journeyman license is counted in 1 year of full-time plumbing experience under a licensed master.

How any specific coursework converts is the division's call, so ask the sponsor and the division before you enroll.

Georgia has no state apprenticeship agency to apply through, so you apply to the program sponsor directly.

Start with the Mechanical Trades Institute (mti-jatt.org) on the union side, ask the Georgia chapters of PHCC and ABC what they currently run, and with any sponsor ask it to confirm its registration with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Expect the federal floor: registered apprentices must be at least 16 years old unless a higher minimum age is set by law, there is no federal maximum age, rules bar discrimination against apprentices and applicants aged 40 or older, sponsors set a numeric apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio in their standards, and a probationary period may not exceed 25% of the program length or 1 year, whichever is shorter.

Pay follows a progressively increasing schedule tied to skill, with no federally set percentage steps, and completion earns a certificate from the registration agency — not a license.

The license step after your hours is the journeyman exam: the board approves you first, then you register with PSI, the testing vendor its plumbing division's FAQ names.

Our guide to how to get a plumbing apprenticeship walks the application itself step by step.

Georgia rewrote its construction licensing law — O.C.G.A.

Title 43, Chapter 14 — through Senate Bill 553, effective July 1, 2026, and the plumbing provisions moved with it: content written to the older section numbering is out of date.

The board's rule text we read in September 2026 still carried pre-rewrite figures, so where an older Georgia plumbing page or rule disagrees with the current statute, confirm with the Division of Master Plumbers and Journeyman Plumbers before relying on either.