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

Michigan is a federal Office of Apprenticeship (OA) state: registered apprenticeship there is administered by the US Department of Labor, not a State Apprenticeship Agency.

Nationally, a program becomes a registered apprenticeship when it is registered either by DOL's Office of Apprenticeship or by a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency acting for DOL; in Michigan, that registering body is the OA.

The sponsor our research confirmed by name is a joint union program: Plumbers Local 98 (UA) and MCA Detroit run their plumbing apprenticeship together in Metro Detroit.

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

Two registrations are in play.

LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes licenses plumbers statewide at four levels — Apprentice Plumber (a registration), Journey Plumber, Master Plumber and Plumbing Contractor — and a Michigan plumbing apprentice must hold the Apprentice Plumber registration regardless of program, union or otherwise.

You may not be on a job site without an active registration, and any time without one does not count toward your hours; the registration renews yearly by April 30 for $15, with a $20 late fee.

Since April 2, 2025, Michigan law (MCL 339.6117a) has also capped direct on-site supervision at 1 journey or master plumber per 2 registered plumbing apprentices on all plumbing work.

The certificate for finishing a registered apprenticeship comes from the registration agency — here the federal Office of Apprenticeship — and it is not a plumbing license.

What the LARA registration feeds is the Journey Plumber license: at least 6,000 hours over at least 3 years as an actively registered plumbing apprentice.

One program is confirmed by name: Plumbers Local 98, the United Association local in Metro Detroit, founded in 1893, runs its plumbing apprenticeship jointly with MCA Detroit.

Its entry requirements are specific: you must be at least 18 at the time of starting class, hold a high school diploma or GED, and score WorkKeys level 5 plus a Wiesen mechanical aptitude raw score of 48.

When we read the training center's page in September 2026, applications were open until December 18, 2026 or 200 applicants — a window the local sets, so check its current dates before you plan around ours.

For Grand Rapids and Michigan's other metros, our research verified no program by name: the other Michigan locals' apprenticeship pages were unreachable when we read them, so we do not describe their intake.

Contact the UA local where you live, or the Office of Apprenticeship, about programs near you.

Our research confirmed none by name: no PHCC chapter, ABC chapter or individual employer program in Michigan 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 chapter-level program availability is decided chapter by chapter and was not verified for Michigan.

If a Michigan contractor offers to train you, the test is registration: Michigan has no state apprenticeship agency, so a program only becomes a registered apprenticeship when the US Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship registers it.

Ask for proof of registration before you sign on.

Registered apprenticeship pairs on-the-job learning with related technical instruction.

Federally, the Department of Labor recommends a minimum of 144 hours of related technical instruction per year of apprenticeship — a recommendation, not a requirement — and our research did not establish whether Michigan adds a mandate of its own, so read a program's registered standards before you sign.

On delivery, the confirmed program is the joint Local 98 and MCA Detroit apprenticeship, based at Plumbers Local 98's training center.

Our research did not name community colleges or other schools delivering classroom hours for Michigan plumbing programs, so confirm the classroom side with the sponsor you apply to.

Apply to a sponsor's program directly; the confirmed one is the Plumbers Local 98 and MCA Detroit apprenticeship, which requires you to be at least 18 by the start of class, hold a high school diploma or GED, and score WorkKeys level 5 and a Wiesen mechanical aptitude raw score of 48.

Federally, a registered apprentice must be at least 16 unless a law sets a higher minimum, a program's probationary period may not exceed 25% of its length or 1 year (whichever is shorter), and pay must follow a progressively increasing wage schedule tied to skill — the federal rule sets no percentages, so each program's registered standards set the steps.

Once you are accepted and working, register with LARA as an Apprentice Plumber before you go on a job site: time without an active registration does not count toward your hours, and the registration renews yearly by April 30 for $15.

At completion, the Office of Apprenticeship issues the certificate.