Plumbing Contractor License in North Carolina: Requirements, Qualifier, Bond and Exams

Statewide.

The State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating & Fire Sprinkler Contractors licenses plumbing contracting across North Carolina under G.S. Chapter 87, Article 2, and a license is required before engaging in the business of plumbing contracting.

The structure is contractor-centric: North Carolina issues no statewide journeyman or apprentice plumber license, and not everyone in a licensed firm needs a license — licensed work may be performed by the firm's bona fide W-2 employees under a listed qualified licensee.

That listed individual is your qualifier, and the rest of this page is what the Board requires of the business and of that person.

The issuing agency is the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating & Fire Sprinkler Contractors (nclicensing.org).

Its plumbing contractor classes: P-I (Plumbing Class I) covers potable water and drain/waste/vent piping in any building, and P-II (Plumbing Class II) is limited to single-family detached dwellings.

The Board also issues a Restricted Limited Plumbing (RLP) license for exterior building sewer, exterior water service piping 2 inches or less, exterior backflow preventers on piping 2 inches or less, and water filtration systems, and a Limited Plumbing Water Heater Replacement (LWH) license for same-location water heater replacement in single-family detached dwellings.

A standalone Fuel Piping contractor license exists, but fuel piping privileges are already included in the plumbing licenses.

Our research found no separate medical-gas or backflow-tester license from the Board — exterior backflow preventer work within the RLP scope is what we confirmed — so ask the Board before bidding beyond it.

The same board licenses fire sprinkler contracting, and limited electrical work incidental to plumbing falls under the separate SP-PH license issued by the NC State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors.

A company license is issued in the name of a corporation, partnership or trade name only if an officer, general partner or full-time employee empowered to act for the firm holds the license and exercises general supervision — that person is your qualifier.

Plumbing contractor applicants need 2 years (4,000 hours) of on-site full-time experience in the category; up to half (2,000 hours; 45 quarter or 30 semester hours) may be academic or technical training.

Restricted Limited Plumbing applicants need 9 months (1,500 hours) and sit a 2-hour technical exam rather than the 4-hour one.

Applicants must be at least 18.

A plumbing technician license is not a contracting license, so your crew's PT-I and PT-II holders cannot qualify the firm — the qualifier needs the contractor classification.

The qualifier must also be on duty: each business location needs a listed license holder in the required classification on duty — the lesser of 1,500 hours a year or all hours of licensed activity — with authority over contracts and general supervision of the work.

And a licensee may be listed on only one contractor license at a time.

Contractor candidates take a 4-hour technical exam plus a 1.5-hour Business and Law exam.

The business exam is waived for applicants holding a currently active contractor license with the Board who passed its Business and Law exam after August 2003.

A technician who already passed the technical exam upgrades in the same category by passing only the business portion; a contractor candidate who fails only the business portion can request a technician license.

Fail a part and the wait is 90 days before retesting, on a Re-Examination Application and a new fee; a failed portion can be retaken within six months without retaking the portion passed.

All board exams are computer-based at PSI Services LLC testing centers in Asheville, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem, and open-book: bring your own approved references.

Plumbing exam references are the 2018 NC Plumbing, Fuel Gas, Administration, Energy Conservation and Residential Codes; as of June 1, 2026 the exams remain on the 2018 codes — the 2024 code's effective date is postponed (earliest possible May 1, 2027).

Business and law references are the Board's Laws & Rules book (2025 or 2026 edition) and Business & Project Management for Contractors.

Our research did not find a surety bond or minimum insurance requirement for North Carolina plumbing or heating contractor licenses in G.S. Chapter 87, Article 2, in the Board's Chapter 50 rules, or on the Board's applicant pages.

Treat that as a gap in our research, not as a rule that no requirement exists — confirm bond and insurance expectations with the Board before you contract.

The application-and-examination fee is $150 per exam and is non-refundable; 21 NCAC 50 .1101 sets it as a $75 application fee plus a $75 exam fee.

The annual license fee for plumbing contractor licenses is $150, and a second or subsequent qualifier listed on the same firm license pays $75.

Every license the Board issues expires December 31 each year and must be renewed annually — there is no grace period after expiration.

A renewal received late (after January) carries a $25 late processing fee, and a license not renewed within three years of expiration requires re-examination.

There has been no mandatory continuing education for renewal since December 31, 2012; the Board replaced it with Disciplinary Education imposed after complaints.

No. The Board states there are no license reciprocity agreements with any other state.

The only out-of-state accommodation its exam application names is a technical examination waiver agreement with South Carolina for plumbing and HVAC contractors — the waiver covers the technical exam only, and the North Carolina Business and Law exam is still required.

North Carolina also has the Neighbor State License Recognition Act pathway for North Carolina residents licensed in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia or West Virginia; our research did not establish how the Board applies it, so ask the Board before counting on it.

NASCLA acceptance is not mentioned in the Board's exam-application materials, so treat any assumption that a NASCLA license satisfies the North Carolina exams as unconfirmed.

All contracting activity stops.

If the firm's license holder leaves — or is ill, dies or is otherwise removed — quoting, bidding, contracting, obtaining permits and performing work, including work in progress, must cease until another licensee is in place as the firm's qualifier; the Board gives no grace period.

Both the firm and the departing licensee must notify the Board within 30 days.

Plan ahead: because a licensee can be listed on only one contractor license at a time, your replacement cannot already be qualifying another firm, and each business location must have a qualified license holder on duty.

No. The statute reaches anyone who, for a valuable consideration, verifies, inspects, evaluates, tests, installs, alters or restores plumbing or heating systems — there is no dollar threshold — and it also reaches anyone installing plumbing in property built for sale or rent, even without payment.

The exemption is narrow: minor repairs and part replacements that do not change the energy source, fuel type, or routing or sizing of venting or piping — parts including a compressor, coil, contactor, motor or capacitor — do not require the license, but installing or replacing condensing units, air handlers, gas furnaces, package units, boilers or water heaters does.

The separate general contractor licensing system was outside our research; if your work may fall there too, check with that board.

Apply to the Board with a nationwide criminal background report from Disahealthcare.com; the Board says application processing is currently averaging six weeks.

After passing, submit the License Activation Form and fee within 45 days or you will have to retest.

Military veterans may seek licensure without examination under G.S. 93B-15.1, with a $30 application fee and the $150 annual license fee.

Once licensed, the firm's contractor license number and qualification must be displayed on contracts, proposals, permit applications and yellow-page advertising.

Anyone can verify a plumbing contractor license on the Board's public lookup at public.nclicensing.org.