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

Yes — statewide.

The State Plumbing Commission, which sits within the Department of Labor and Regulation, licenses plumbing contractors alongside plumbers (journeymen) and plumber's apprentices, plus the specialty categories.

The contractor license matters beyond the person or firm that holds it: South Dakota plumbers work as employees of, or under the direction of, a licensed plumbing contractor, and apprentices must be employed by one — so the business's license is what a crew of licensed plumbers and apprentices works under.

Individual licensing is its own process with its own experience rules; our South Dakota plumbing license page covers the worker side.

The issuer is the State Plumbing Commission, within the Department of Labor and Regulation.

Our research found a single plumbing contractor license, not a tiered class system: the statute's list is plumbing contractor, plumber (journeyman) and plumber's apprentice, plus the statute's specialty licenses — water conditioning, appliance, sewer and water, manufactured and mobile home, underground irrigation and on-site wastewater.

Separately, the commission may issue restricted licenses for rural areas and towns under 1,500 people, after a laws-and-rules exam; holders may only perform plumbing in such areas.

That statutory list is the class structure our research confirmed; ask the commission whether any other classification applies to the work you bid.

South Dakota's rule attaches the experience to the applicant: six years' experience as a plumbing contractor, plumber or plumber's apprentice, at 1,900 or more hours per year, including at least two of those years as a plumbing contractor or plumber.

Those years can be built on the rungs below: a plumber license itself takes four years as an apprentice plumber with at least 1,900 hours per year.

Our research did not find a South Dakota rule that names a separate qualifying agent — a licensed individual who qualifies the business — or one that says whose experience counts when the applicant is a corporation; ask the commission how it reads the rule for your business structure.

The supervision structure underneath is settled: plumbers work as employees of, or under the direction of, a licensed plumbing contractor, and apprentices must be employed by one.

Our guide to the license qualifier explains the qualifying-agent model.

The trade exam is the commission's own — no testing vendor appears in our research.

It has three parts: open-book code questions, closed-book code questions and pipe-sizing drawings.

The passing grade for plumbing contractors is 80% (plumbers pass at 70%), and there is a three-month wait between attempts.

The exam fee is $100 for the plumber, installer or contractor exam.

On business and law: the exam structure our research confirmed is the trade exam only, so we cannot name a separate business-and-law requirement — confirm the current exam outline with the commission before you schedule.

For the code itself, the commission's standard is the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code (IAPMO), as adopted by the commission.

Our research did not find a South Dakota rule setting a bond or insurance minimum for plumbing contractors: the statute and fee rules we read name no bond amount and no insurance limits.

That is a gap in our research, not a finding that no bond exists — ask the State Plumbing Commission what proof of bonding or insurance it collects when you apply, and ask each city you work in whether it adds its own.

Our guide to contractor license bonds and insurance explains how surety bonds and general liability policies work where a state or city does require them.

Under the fee schedule effective July 2, 2025, the plumbing contractor license is $275 a year to license and renew, and the exam (plumber, installer or contractor) is $100; the same schedule lists a temporary license at $50.

Licenses expire annually on December 31 and can be renewed up to six months after expiry.

Renewal is more than the fee: plumbing contractors must complete at least four hours of plumbing continuing education in each license period to renew.

One cost question our research could not answer: whether a contracting firm also needs the Department of Revenue's contractor's excise tax license — a question our research opened on the mechanical side and never researched, so it cannot answer it for plumbing; ask the department before you contract.

South Dakota's own rule points outward: the commission may license, without its exam, nonresidents who are registered in states whose plumbing regulation South Dakota deems substantially equivalent.

Our research did not confirm which states South Dakota has deemed substantially equivalent, so ask the commission before you rely on it for your own state.

The agreement that is documented comes from North Dakota's side: North Dakota's board confirms a written agreement with South Dakota in which a South Dakota contractor license maps to a North Dakota master license, and puts its journeyman rule plainly.

Because it is North Dakota's board that publishes the agreement, confirm scope and residency conditions with both boards before you bid across the line.

Our research did not find a South Dakota rule setting a deadline to replace the experienced person behind a contractor license, or describing what happens to the license when they leave.

The exposure is structural: South Dakota plumbers work as employees of, or under the direction of, a licensed plumbing contractor, so a business whose contractor license lapses is no longer the licensed plumbing contractor its crew works under.

Treat the question as one for the commission: before a departure or reorganization, ask how a change in the license holder or the experience behind it is reported and what the license needs to stay active.

Two scope rules tell you when the state layer applies.

First, the license: a South Dakota plumbing license is required for licensed plumbing work on any property connected to a public water or sewer system, with two exemptions written in — homeowners working on their own residence, and employees doing repairs at their workplace.

Second, permits: the state plumbing permit fee may not exceed $125 for a single-family dwelling or $325 for multi-family and public buildings, plus an installation certificate fee of up to $25 — and no state permit is needed where a local permit was issued.

Statewide licensing is the floor, not the ceiling: South Dakota municipalities may set their own plumbing ordinances and licenses, as long as they meet state minimums.

The transition rule is written into the statute — a person registered by the commission may do plumbing work in a municipality for six months after applying for that municipality's permit or license.

Practically, that means before your first job in a new city, check whether the city requires its own plumbing license or permit, and get that application in before the work starts rather than after.