Plumbing Contractor License in Tennessee: Requirements, Qualifier, Bond and Exams
Yes: Tennessee requires a state contractor license for plumbing work when the job is $25,000 or more, materials and labor included — including work performed as a subcontractor.
The Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors issues it under the CMC mechanical classification, with CMC-A (Plumbing and Gas Piping) as the plumbing sub-class.
A Qualifying Agent takes the exams for the company, the application fee is $250 and renewal is $200, and an out-of-state license cannot be used in Tennessee.
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At a glance
Yes.
The state contractor license is required for plumbing work — including work performed as a subcontractor — when the job is $25,000 or more, materials and labor included.
The Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, part of the Department of Commerce & Insurance.
Mechanical Contracting (CMC) sub-classes, including CMC-A (Plumbing and Gas Piping) and CMC-C (HVAC, Refrigeration, Gas Piping), plus a full mechanical CMC exam listed as Full Mechanical Plumbing & HVAC.
A Qualifying Agent who takes the exams for the company: an owner, officer or full-time employee (non-owners complete a Power of Attorney form); up to two people may take each exam for one company.
The open-book Tennessee Business and Law exam plus the plumbing CMC-A trade exam, which needs Board pre-approval; from July 1, 2026, Prov administers the Board's exams.
Since July 1, 2026, a surety bond of at least 50% of the requested monetary limit may be filed instead of a CPA-reviewed or audited financial statement.
Insurance minimums were not confirmed in our research — ask the Board.
$250 application and initial license, $200 renewal every two years; an expired license has a 12-month grace period with a $20/month late fee.
None.
An out-of-state license cannot be used in Tennessee, but the Board has trade-exam waiver agreements — Ohio for plumbing and HVAC, Alabama for HVAC, and Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia for mechanical.
The Tennessee plumbing license ladder
- Limited Licensed Plumber(LLP)Specialty
Tennessee's only state-level plumber credential, issued to individuals: it covers plumbing work under $25,000 per project and is required only in municipalities that use the state Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections.
- Mechanical Contractor, CMC-A (Plumbing and Gas Piping)(CMC-A)Contractor
The Board's plumbing contracting sub-classification — the license a plumbing business contracts on when the state's rule requires one: plumbing work of $25,000 or more, materials and labor included, including work performed as a subcontractor.
- Mechanical Contractor, full CMC (mechanical plumbing and HVAC)(CMC)Contractor
The full mechanical route on the Board's trade exam list, where it is named Full Mechanical Plumbing & HVAC (CMC).
Does Tennessee license plumbing contractors statewide, or only locally?
Tennessee licenses plumbing contracting at the state level, and the body that does it is the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, part of the Department of Commerce & Insurance.
The trigger is job value: the Board's rules require a state contractor license to perform plumbing work — including as a subcontractor — when the amount is $25,000 or more, including materials and labor.
A state license also displaces local testing: no county or municipality may require the state licensee or its employees to pass a county or municipal test.
On the individual side, our research found no state-issued journeyman or master plumber license — an absence inferred from the Board's credential list — while the plumber certificates our research did verify are local, Nashville's being the example.
That worker-level picture, including the Limited Licensed Plumber, is covered in our Tennessee plumbing license guide for individuals.
“a subcontractor is required to be licensed in order to perform electrical, plumbing, heating ventilation, air conditioning, and roofing work when the amount is twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) or more”
Which agency issues the license, and what are the classes?
The Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors issues mechanical contractor licenses under the CMC (Mechanical Contracting) classification.
Its sub-classes include CMC-A (Plumbing and Gas Piping) and CMC-C (HVAC, Refrigeration, Gas Piping), and the trade exam list also names a full mechanical exam listed as Full Mechanical Plumbing & HVAC (CMC).
The Board's credential list reaches beyond this classification — contractors, home improvement contractors, Limited Licensed Electricians and Limited Licensed Plumbers — and our research found no journeyman or master plumber license on it; the master/journeyman/apprentice plumber certificates our research verified are local, issued by Metro Nashville's board, leaving the Limited Licensed Plumber as the one state-level plumber credential below the contractor line.
Who can be the qualifier, and what experience do they need?
Tennessee calls its qualifier the Qualifying Agent (QA), and the QA is the person who takes the exams for the company.
The Board's exam page says the QA may be an owner, a full-time employee or an officer; a qualifying agent without ownership completes a Power of Attorney form.
Up to two people may take each exam for one company, and our research does not say whether a second person who has already passed can be appointed without sitting the exams again — ask the Board.
What the pages we read do not state is a separate years-of-experience minimum for the Qualifying Agent: the requirement our research confirms is that the QA passes the exams in the next section, so ask the Board what experience documentation it wants with the application.
“The QA may be an owner, full-time employee, or officer. Those without ownership will need to complete the Power of Attorney form”
Which exams must be passed: trade, and business and law?
Two exam tracks meet in a Tennessee plumbing application.
Every contractor applicant takes the open-book Tennessee Business and Law exam, and a trade exam is required for classifications that require one — for plumbing that is the CMC-A exam, and the list also names a full mechanical exam, Full Mechanical Plumbing & HVAC (CMC).
The CMC and CMC-A exams need Board pre-approval before a candidate may sit them, and the Board requires a $50 pre-approval request for the plumbing CMC-A or full mechanical CMC exam.
Exam results have a shelf life: the Board says exams are typically valid for two (2) years.
And a vendor note that matters if you are scheduling now: from July 1, 2026, Prov — not PSI — administers the exams for the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, and PSI keeps previously scheduled exams through September 2026.
The exam fee itself is set by the exam vendor.
“Beginning July 1, 2026, Prov will begin administering the exams for the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors.”
What bond and insurance are required?
Tennessee ties its financial requirements to the monetary limit the license requests.
Since July 1, 2026, a contractor may file a surety bond in an amount equal to at least 50% of the requested monetary limit instead of a CPA-reviewed or audited financial statement.
At renewal the financial statement scales with the limit: a renewal above $1.5 million needs a Compiled Financial Statement prepared by a licensed CPA, while below $1.5 million a self-prepared balance sheet is accepted.
Insurance is the open question: our research did not confirm Tennessee's general liability or workers' compensation minimums, though the Board's renewal page says a Certificate of Insurance accompanies renewals but states no amounts.
Treat the amounts as unconfirmed and ask the Board what proof it expects before you bid.
“The surety bond must be in an amount equal to at least 50% of the monetary limit requested.”
What does it cost, and how often is it renewed?
The Board's fees are set in rule: the application and initial license fee is $250 and renewal is $200, while the exam fee is set by the exam vendor.
Licenses renew every two years — confirm your license's exact renewal date with the Board — and an expired license has a 12-month grace period with a $20/month late fee inside it.
Continuing education is the surprise: the 8-hour CE requirement at renewal is written for BC-A and BC-A/r (residential building) contractors, and no CE requirement is stated for CMC mechanical contractors.
Confirm your renewal checklist with the Board rather than assuming the building-contractor CE applies to a CMC-A license.
“The application and initial license fee for a contractor's license shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).”
Does Tennessee have reciprocity with other states?
No. The Board's contractor page states that you cannot operate in Tennessee with a license from another state.
What Tennessee offers instead is a trade-exam waiver: the page names agreements with Alabama for HVAC, Ohio for plumbing and HVAC, and Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia for mechanical.
A waiver covers the trade exam only — a candidate still applies for the Tennessee license and passes the Business and Law exam.
The same page lists the NASCLA National Commercial exam among the exams it accepts, but our research ties that acceptance to Tennessee's commercial classifications, and NASCLA has no plumbing exam in use yet as of our research — ask the Board whether it bears on a CMC-A application.
“You cannot operate in Tennessee with a license from another state.”
What happens if your qualifier leaves?
A Qualifying Agent's departure starts a countdown the Board's rules put in writing: the Board must be notified within 10 days, and a new qualifying agent must take the examination and be appointed within three (3) months.
If not, the license becomes inactive until a new qualifying agent is appointed.
The replacement seat is exam-gated: the rule requires the new qualifying agent to take the examination, and our research does not say whether an exam already passed for the company counts toward that requirement — ask the Board before you name a successor.
The rule we read sets the appointment deadline; it does not describe your operating rights while the seat is empty, so confirm with the Board what the company may do in the gap.
“a new qualifying agent must take the examination and be appointed within three (3) months. If not, the license becomes inactive until a new qualifying agent is appointed.”
What about plumbing jobs under $25,000?
The state rule sets its line at $25,000 per job, and what applies below it is set closer to home.
The state's one plumber credential below the line is the Limited Licensed Plumber, required only for plumbers working in municipalities that use the state Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections and covering work under $25,000 per project; general maintenance plumbing under $500 is exempt from it, and Tennessee's trade-exam waiver agreements do not apply to the LLP.
In nine Tennessee counties — Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Haywood, Knox, Marion, Robertson, Rutherford and Shelby — a Home Improvement license is required for residential remodeling projects from $3,000 to $24,999; it carries a $250 fee, a $10,000 surety bond, and liability and workers' compensation insurance, so ask the Board whether it reaches plumbing work inside a remodel.
A city can also run its own plumber credentials — Metro Nashville's board issues master, journeyman and apprentice plumber certificates — and the Board's advice is to check whether your city accepts the LLP or has its own local licensing requirement for permits and inspections.
Our Tennessee plumbing license guide for individuals covers that tier.
“The Limited Licensed Plumber (LLP) license is only required by plumbers performing work in a municipality utilizing the Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections and covers work less than $25,000 per project.”
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Tennessee board pages, statutes, rules and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state plumbing contractor licensing series, current as of September 2026.
It is not a substitute for the instructions the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors (part of the Department of Commerce & Insurance) publishes.
For the rest of the picture in Tennessee, see HVAC contractor licensing in Tennessee and plumbing licensing in Tennessee.
The Plumber Hiring Market in Tennessee Right Now
The plumber openings you are competing with, from the 24 active listings on HVACHires as of October 7, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
Pay employers post
- 54% of plumber listings in Tennessee state any pay at all, so posting a range helps yours stand out.
Benefits listings name
- PTO / Paid Time Offnamed in 92%
- 401k Matchnamed in 71%
- Dental & Visionnamed in 63%
- Health Insurancenamed in 54%
- Company Vehiclenamed in 38%
Source: active plumber listings on HVACHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range), hourly and yearly counted separately. Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
See the listings →Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a Tennessee plumbing contractor license for jobs under $25,000?
The state contractor license rule is written at $25,000 or more per job, materials and labor included.
Below that line the only state-level plumber credential is the Limited Licensed Plumber, which applies only in municipalities that use the state Division of Fire Prevention for permits or inspections, and general maintenance plumbing under $500 is exempt from it.
Cities and counties add their own rules, so confirm with the jurisdiction where the work is performed.
Who takes the exams for a Tennessee plumbing contractor license?
The company's Qualifying Agent: an owner, an officer or a full-time employee.
A qualifying agent who is not an owner completes a Power of Attorney form, and up to two people may take each exam for one company.
Every contractor applicant passes the open-book Tennessee Business and Law exam, and plumbing candidates add the CMC-A trade exam, which needs Board pre-approval before you can sit it.
Can I use an out-of-state plumbing license in Tennessee?
No. The Board's contractor page states that you cannot operate in Tennessee with a license from another state.
Tennessee does have trade-exam waiver agreements — Ohio for plumbing and HVAC, Alabama for HVAC, and Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia for mechanical — but a waiver covers the trade exam only: you still apply for the Tennessee license and pass the Business and Law exam.
How do I look up a Tennessee plumbing contractor license?
The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance site carries a Verify a License page for license lookup.
Our research confirmed the link from the Board's site navigation but did not exercise the search tool itself, so if a record does not come back the way you expect, contact the Board directly.
Do Tennessee CMC plumbing contractors need continuing education?
No CE requirement is stated for CMC mechanical contractors on the Board's renewal page; the 8-hour continuing-education rule at renewal is written for BC-A and BC-A/r residential building contractors.
Confirm your renewal checklist with the Board rather than assuming the building-contractor rule carries over to a CMC-A license.
More Tennessee Resources
Sources
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors — rules ch. 0680-01 (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors (home) (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors: apply for a contractor license (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors: exam information (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors: license renewal (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors: Home Improvement license (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors: Limited Licensed Plumber (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- Metro Nashville Board of Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical Examiners and Appeals (retrieved 2026-09-29)
Sourced from the documents listed above.
Verified September 2026.
This is career information, not legal advice.
Confirm current rules with the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors (part of the Department of Commerce & Insurance).