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

Registered apprenticeships in Vermont are registered by the state's recognized State Apprenticeship Agency acting for the U.S. Department of Labor — Vermont appears on the Department's list of State Apprenticeship Agency states.

That registration is a different arrangement from plumbing licensing: 26 V.S.A. ch. 39 routes journeyman exam eligibility through a plumbing apprenticeship verified by the Vermont Apprenticeship Council, or through equivalent training and experience acceptable to the Board.

Our research confirmed Vermont's SAA status but captured no Vermont sponsor list, so apprenticeship.gov's state-offices page and the state agency are where to confirm which registered plumbing programs currently operate.

The one union name our research confirmed for Vermont is UA Local 693 in Barre, covered below.

Vermont does license plumbing work statewide through the Division of Fire Safety's Plumber's Examining Board, whose license levels are Plumbing Master (PM), Plumbing Journeyman (PJ) and the specialist licenses P1 Water Heater, P2 Heating System and P3 Water Treatment.

What our research did not find is an apprentice-level license or a separate apprentice registration: the license ledger we read lists those levels and no apprentice rung, so ask the Division of Fire Safety what an apprentice may legally do and whether any registration applies before you take plumbing work.

What the statute does tie to apprenticeship is eligibility: a journeyman exam candidate documents a plumbing apprenticeship verified by the Vermont Apprenticeship Council, or equivalent training and experience acceptable to the Board.

The statute's specialists may work only in their licensed specialty — the P2 Heating System Specialist covers hydronic space-heating systems, with steam limited to 15 PSIG — and owners doing plumbing in their own owner-occupied, freestanding single-family dwelling are exempt from the license requirement.

Vermont publishes a master list of trade license and certification holders on data.vermont.gov (the DFS Licensing MasterList), so a license claim can be checked before you rely on it.

The United Association describes its registered apprenticeships as typically five years long, covering plumbing, pipefitting, HVACR, welding and fire protection.

The local the UA's own location directory lists for Vermont is UA Local 693 in Barre.

That listing confirms the local's existence and location, not the details of any program it runs, so contact the local directly about its apprenticeship intake, entry requirements and where its related instruction takes place.

No other Vermont plumbing local or joint apprenticeship committee appears in our research.

Nationally, Associated Builders and Contractors describes itself as founded on the merit shop philosophy and reports more than 24,000 members, and PHCC (Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association) offers apprenticeship content through an online learning academy.

The Vermont layer is not established in our research: we confirmed no Vermont ABC or PHCC chapter, and no individual employer, as a registered plumbing apprenticeship sponsor.

Ask the associations and the contractors you know what currently operates in Vermont, and test any program against registration: in an SAA state, the recognized state agency registers programs for the U.S. Department of Labor, so ask which agency registered a program and confirm it before you commit.

The statute describes the apprenticeship that counts for the journeyman exam as including both instruction and practice in work processes — classroom plus hands-on — as verified by the Vermont Apprenticeship Council.

Federally, that classroom piece is related technical instruction: the Department of Labor recommends a minimum of 144 hours for each year of apprenticeship but does not require it, and program terms can be time-based (at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning), competency-based or a hybrid, so each program's registered standards set what its apprentices actually take.

Which Vermont schools and colleges teach that classroom work was not established in our research; ask each sponsor where its apprentices take class and how the hours are documented.

Two license-side rules give Vermont plumbing classroom work a shape after the apprenticeship too: renewing a plumbing license takes 8 hours of Board-approved training within the previous 24 months, and every new or renewing Vermont trade license or certification — plumbing, electrical, gas, oil — since July 1, 2021 requires the Vermont Energy Goals education module.

On the code side, Vermont currently adopts the 2021 International Plumbing Code, with the Vermont Plumbing Rules, 2025 edition.

Our research captured no Vermont program list or application portal, so start with employment and ask sponsors directly.

Federally, a registered apprentice must be at least 16 unless a higher minimum age is set by law; there is no federal maximum age, and 29 CFR part 30 bars discrimination against apprentices and applicants 40 or older in registered programs.

Sponsors can set their own qualifications on top, and programs must pay a progressively increasing wage schedule tied to skill, with the entry wage not below the FLSA minimum wage where it applies — ask for the written schedule before signing; the steps sit in each program's standards.

Union: UA Local 693 in Barre, the UA local listed for Vermont; merit shop: ask contractors whether they sponsor a registered program and which agency registered it.

26 V.S.A. ch. 39 has two routes around the apprenticeship track: endorsement for people licensed in good standing in another US jurisdiction for at least three years, and an exam-free journeyman license for service members and veterans with the 12K Plumber designation, 8,000 hours and four years of active-duty field work.

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