Plumbing Apprenticeships in South Dakota: Programs, Requirements and How to Apply

Two separate systems decide who offers plumbing apprenticeships in South Dakota.

The first is program registration.

South Dakota has no State Apprenticeship Agency, so registered apprenticeship is overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship.

Registered programs are run by their sponsors; on the union side, the United Association local our research confirmed for South Dakota is UA Local 300, based in Mandan, North Dakota, whose jurisdiction covers both Dakotas — our research did not confirm that the local runs a registered apprenticeship program.

Merit-shop and employer sponsors in the state were not confirmed by our research.

The second system is licensing: the State Plumbing Commission licenses plumber's apprentices, and that license is separate from whether a program is registered.

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

They need the license.

South Dakota licenses plumbers statewide through the State Plumbing Commission, and plumber's apprentice is one of the license types it issues, alongside plumbing contractor, plumber (journeyman) and several narrower trade licences.

The apprentice application names the supervising plumbing contractor, and apprentices must be employed by a plumbing contractor.

The license requirement itself covers plumbing work on any property connected to a public water or sewer system; homeowners working on their own residence and employees doing repairs at their workplace are exempt.

After passing a commission exam and 3,800 hours under a contractor, an apprentice may work without immediate and personal supervision on single-family dwellings, and a third-year apprentice licensed by exam must complete at least four hours of plumbing continuing education in each license period to renew.

Program registration is a separate track: a registered apprenticeship ends in a completion certificate from the registration agency — here the federal Office of Apprenticeship — not the trade license.

Our research did not confirm whether South Dakota's licensing rules cap how many apprentices one plumber may supervise; the federal rule requires a registered program's standards to state a numeric apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio without fixing the number.

The United Association local our research confirmed for South Dakota is UA Local 300, based in Mandan, North Dakota: the UA's own local finder lists LU 300 as covering North and South Dakota.

That is all our sources establish — our research did not confirm that the local runs a registered plumbing apprenticeship, a South Dakota training address, an application schedule, wages or entry requirements, so contact the local directly, ask whether it is registering apprentices, and get its current intake in writing.

Nationally — a UA statement, not a Local 300 program term — the UA says its apprenticeships are registered with the Department of Labor, typically last five years, and cover plumbing, pipefitting, HVACR, welding and fire protection.

Registered status is the thing to verify with any local: the completion certificate a registered program ends in is issued by the registration agency, not a state licensing board.

Our research did not confirm any registered union program for plumbing apprentices in South Dakota — UA Local 300's included.

This is the gap in our South Dakota research: we could not confirm an ABC, PHCC or ACCA apprenticeship program in the state, so we name no program here.

The national organizations are real starting points — ABC describes itself as founded on the merit shop philosophy, and PHCC offers apprenticeship content through an online learning academy — but both are national descriptions, not confirmed South Dakota chapters, and which chapters run plumbing programs is chapter-level detail we did not verify.

The question to take to any employer offering plumbing training is whether its program is registered, and with which agency.

In South Dakota the answer should be the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship, because the state has no State Apprenticeship Agency of its own.

A sponsor that cannot name its registration agency is not one you can verify.

The classroom half of a registered apprenticeship is related technical instruction, and the federal rule is a recommendation, not a quota: the Department of Labor recommends a minimum of 144 hours of it per year of apprenticeship, and each program's registered standards set what it actually asks of you.

Program terms can be time-based (at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning), competency-based, or a hybrid of both.

Which South Dakota community colleges, trade schools or union training centers deliver plumbing-related instruction was not established in our research — ask any sponsor where its apprentices take class and how those hours are documented before you sign.

Classroom hours are the program's side; the license requirements sit separately: South Dakota's plumbing code standard is the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code (IAPMO) as adopted by the commission, and the plumber (journeyman) license takes four years as an apprentice plumber with at least 1,900 hours of work each year.

Start with the employer, because the job and the license are linked: apprentices must be employed by a plumbing contractor, and the apprentice license application names the supervising plumbing contractor.

Then apply to the State Plumbing Commission for the plumber's apprentice license — the apprentice license costs $20 to $50 depending on the year of apprenticeship under the fee schedule effective July 2, 2025, and the third-year apprentice exam fee is $50.

For registered programs, the federal frame is: at least 16 years old unless a higher minimum age is set by law, a progressively increasing wage schedule tied to the skills you gain, and a probationary period no longer than 25% of the program length or 1 year, whichever is shorter.

Ask any sponsor whether its program is registered and with which agency — in South Dakota, that should be the federal Office of Apprenticeship.

How apprentice pay steps up over the years is its own topic; our plumbing apprentice pay guide covers how the rates work.

Confirm current fees and requirements with the commission before you apply, and check our guide on how to get a plumbing apprenticeship for the search and application step by step.

The fee figures on this page come from the commission's fee rules as they read effective July 2, 2025: the apprentice license at $20 to $50 by year, the third-year apprentice exam at $50, the plumber exam at $100 and the annual plumber license at $105.

South Dakota's plumbing code standard is the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code, the adoption in force when we read the sources in September 2026.

Fees and code adoptions both change, so confirm the current rules with the State Plumbing Commission before you rely on a figure.