Plumbing Contractor License in Alabama: Requirements, Qualifier, Bond and Exams

Statewide.

Every company doing plumbing or gas fitting in Alabama must register with the PGFB before bidding on or performing work, and every company must designate a Principal Master responsible for the work.

There is no separate plumbing contractor license exam for the business to pass: what a company holds is this registration.

The trades themselves are credentialed as individual ladders — apprentice, journeyman and master in each trade — and the individual cannot simply step into contracting: the board's FAQ says that, outside the exemptions it lists, a journeyman must be employed by a company that has a Principal Master and cannot act as their own contractor.

Alabama's structure ties the business to a master plumber rather than issuing the business its own exam-based class of license.

The Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board (PGFB) licenses the plumbing and gas fitting trades statewide, with apprentice, journeyman and master levels in each of the two trades.

For a business, the classes are the trades: one registration covers the company, but a company doing both plumbing and gas fitting must designate a separate Principal Master for each trade, and the registration is updated annually.

The pages we read describe no contractor class tiers to pick from — what a company declares is its trades and the masters who stand behind them.

What the individual side of that ladder requires is the plumbing-license series' own Alabama page; here it matters only as the qualifier's path.

The qualifier is the Principal Master, and the rules fix the employment relationship: at least one active employee of the legal entity must be a duly registered and certified master gas fitter or plumber, actively and continuously connected with the conduct of the business.

A company doing both plumbing and gas fitting needs one Principal Master for each trade.

The seat takes the master credential: a master plumber candidate must have been a certified journeyman plumber for at least one year, and journeyman certification takes a minimum of two years as a registered apprentice, or a board-approved apprentice training program combined with apprentice time equal to two years.

Two staffing rules ride along: one journeyman or master may supervise up to five apprentices on residential jobsites and up to three apprentices on non-residential jobs, and the board's medical gas piping endorsement requires a current third-party ASSE 6010 installer certification on top of a PGFB apprentice, journeyman or master credential.

The company registration carries no exam; the test burden sits on the individuals your business runs on.

Since January 1, 2023, PGFB exam applicants are tested on the 2021 International Plumbing Code or the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code.

Since January 1, 2026, every master-level applicant — the credential your Principal Master holds — must pass the plumbing or gas fitting exam and a business law exam; the board names the NASCLA Contractors Guide, 14th edition, plus an Alabama supplement as the reference.

After passing, the candidate has 90 calendar days to obtain certification or must retest.

Our research does not name the company that administers the PGFB exams — the board's exam bulletin was still to be posted when we read it — so check the board's exams page before scheduling.

This is the gap in the PGFB pages we read.

Those pages — the licensing page and the published fee schedule — state no bond or insurance minimum for a plumbing or gas fitting company's registration.

Read that as a report of what we found, not proof that no requirement exists: requirements can live in pages we did not review, so put the question to the board directly before you bid, and treat bonding and insurance as contract questions to settle with your insurance agent.

The registration is $25 to start and $25 a year, and companies are required by law to update the registration annually.

The people costs are the master's: the master written exam is $160 plus a $100 business law exam, the application is $50, and the master certificate is $175 a year — with a journeyman certificate at $75 a year and apprentice registration at $35 a year for the crew.

PGFB certificates renew annually in an October 1 through December 31 window, and continuing education — 4 hours a year for certified plumbers and gas fitters, with holders of two certifications taking 2 hours per certification — must be completed before November 1 to avoid a deficiency fee.

Run both calendars: the company's registration and the master's certificate behind it.

Not the automatic kind.

Out-of-state licensed plumbers are not granted an Alabama license outright: they may sit for the Alabama exam if their license was earned by examination with a minimum 70% score and is active and in good standing.

True reciprocation paths are rare and named: the PGFB lists them only with the Alabama LP Gas Board (master gas fitter) and with the Mississippi Board of Contractors — a Mississippi Board of Contractors plumbing license route into Alabama's Master Plumber credential.

If you are moving a licensed journeyman or master into Alabama from another state, plan on the exam, and confirm the current arrangements with the board before you rely on one.

Our research did not find a PGFB rule setting a replacement deadline when a Principal Master leaves — the pages we read do not state one, so ask the board before the situation arises rather than after.

What the rules do fix: the Principal Master must be an active employee of the company, actively and continuously connected with the business, and every company must update its registration annually.

Practically, that makes the master's seat a standing hiring risk: know who your next master is before the current one gives notice, and treat a resignation as the trigger to call the board that week.

Separately from the PGFB, Alabama's General Contractors Board licenses anyone undertaking a project costing $100,000 or more, labor and materials included — including subcontractors on such jobs.

The board's law page puts subcontractors under the same dollar floor with a lower carve-out for pools: a company bidding plumbing scope as a subcontract under a licensed prime contractor — minimum contracts of $100,000 or more, or $5,000 or more for swimming pools — must hold that license alongside the PGFB registration, so check both before you sign.

The truck is part of the compliance.

Alabama plumbing and gas companies must display the business name in a prominent location on both sides of the service or construction vehicle, in letters at least two inches high.

The board also runs an online lookup where the public can check individual and business registrations — worth knowing, because customers can check your company's standing there before they sign with you.