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

Statewide — but not through a plumbing-contractor license.

North Dakota's plumbing chapter requires any business installing plumbing in a location with a public water or sewer system to have a registered, licensed master plumber in charge of the work at all times, responsible for the proper installation; in cities of less than 1,000 population and in rural areas, a licensed journeyman may engage in the business of installing plumbing instead.

That continuous master-in-charge requirement is the closest thing to a plumbing-contractor license the state has, and it applies wherever the public water or sewer trigger is met.

The individual licensing beneath it reaches master, journeyman and apprentice work in any location with a public waterworks or sewerage system, with homeowners working on their own occupied residence and full-time maintenance employees doing repairs exempt unless a local ordinance says otherwise.

On top of the plumbing rules, a business whose jobs run over $4,000 also needs the Secretary of State contractor license — the same general license any contractor needs.

Two agencies, and neither issues a plumbing-contractor license.

The North Dakota State Plumbing Board licenses master plumbers, journeyman plumbers and plumber's apprentices statewide — the master license is the credential the business requirement hangs on.

The Secretary of State issues the contractor license, and only when the cost, value or price per job exceeds $4,000; the statute's own words make the trigger per job.

That license comes in four classes set by the value of a single project — Class A unlimited, Class B up to $500,000, Class C up to $300,000 and Class D up to $100,000 — and none of the four is a plumbing designation: it is a general license covering plumbing firms and other contractors alike, not a trade exam license.

The Secretary of State's FirstStop search is the public list of registered contractors.

The qualifier is a licensed master plumber — where a public water or sewer system serves the location, the statute puts a registered, licensed master who is responsible for the proper installation in charge of the work at all times, and in cities under 1,000 people and rural areas a licensed journeyman may fill that role instead.

Earning the master license takes age twenty-one plus two years (3,400 hours) of experience as a licensed journeyman plumber in North Dakota or another state with a state licensing law.

The journeyman license beneath it takes four years' experience as an apprentice plumber under a licensed master plumber, and the apprenticeship itself is four years of at least 1,900 hours a year — 7,600 hours in total, starting no earlier than age eighteen.

Advertising is part of the same scheme: a business may not advertise as a plumbing contractor unless it employs a licensed journeyman or is a licensed master, and any advertisement must contain the appropriate license number.

North Dakota reaches the qualifier idea through the master-in-charge rule; our guide to the HVAC contractor license qualifier explains how the role works where a state license names one.

The exam that matters for the business is the qualifier's.

The State Plumbing Board writes and gives its own exams — they are not PSI or ICC exams — and its master exam runs four parts, one closed book and three open book, with five hours allowed; you bring the 2018 North Dakota Plumbing Code and a calculator, and a failed exam means a six-month wait before retesting.

The passing grade is 80% for master plumbers and 70% for journeyman plumbers.

The Secretary of State contractor license is a different animal: the statute describes a general license, not a trade exam license, and our research did not confirm any business-and-law exam attached to it — ask the Secretary of State what its application currently requires before you file.

No state surety bond: the contractor-bond section of the statute was repealed in 1995, so the Secretary of State license carries no bond requirement as the chapter reads today.

What applicants file instead is a certificate of liability insurance naming the Secretary of State as certificate holder — the annual renewal asks for it too — and, if the business has North Dakota employees, proof of Workforce Safety & Insurance coverage.

The chapter our research read sets no minimum liability amount, so the coverage level to buy is a question for your insurer and the Secretary of State.

Any bond a customer or general contractor asks for on a job is separate from the state license, which sets none; our guide to contractor license bonds and insurance explains how those bonds work where a state does require one.

Two licenses, two clocks.

The qualifier's master license is $200, with a $50 application fee and $50 per exam, and the journeyman license beneath it is $100; every license the board issues is valid for one year and expires December 31 of the year issued.

The board's 2026 renewal-fee schedule lists the master renewal at $200 and the journeyman at $100, with apprentice renewals from $20 in the first year to $75 in the fifth, and the shop's master and journeyman license-holders need two to four credit hours of continuing education in each two-year period at a $40 board CE session fee.

The Secretary of State license runs on a contractor year instead: fees are $450 for Class A, $300 for B, $225 for C and $100 for D when first issued, annual renewals are $90, $60, $45 and $30, and the license must be renewed on or before March 1 of each year with the certificate of liability insurance.

Treat the statutory numbers as the floor — the Secretary of State may charge fees of its own, so confirm the total before you pay.

For the plumber licenses behind the business, the State Plumbing Board says it has written plumbing agreements with South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana, with conditions that differ by state and license level and a Certificate of Endorsement required — the board's own list is the authority on terms, so confirm the current conditions with the board before you rely on one.

The master license route also recognizes experience earned elsewhere: two years as a licensed journeyman plumber in another state with a state licensing law satisfies the experience requirement.

For the Secretary of State contractor license, no interstate agreement appears in the sources we read — ask the Secretary of State how an out-of-state contractor registration is treated before you bid work across the line.

The requirement does not pause: where a public water or sewer system serves the location, a registered, licensed master plumber must be in charge of the work at all times — so on the statute's face, a master who resigns leaves the business without the person the rule requires until another master takes over, or in cities under 1,000 people and rural areas a licensed journeyman.

No North Dakota rule we found limits how many companies one master plumber may qualify, and none sets a deadline for replacing a departed master; the statute only says a master must be in charge at all times.

Because that requirement runs continuously, the safe reading is that a replacement needs to be in place promptly — ask the State Plumbing Board how a change of master should be reported and whether any transition window exists rather than assuming one.

Before you sign a replacement, check their license on the board's public lookup, which covers license holders approved and certified by the board.

The board licenses beyond the master-journeyman-apprentice ladder.

Sewer and water installers and contractors, and water conditioning installers and contractors, hold separate board licenses, and the board lists certified backflow assembly testers — so if your shop is looking at sewer-and-water work, water conditioning or backflow testing, ask the board which of those licenses covers the work before you sell it.

Our research found no separate gas-fitter license at the board; if gas piping is part of what you sell, ask the board what applies to it.