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

Statewide, yes — but not through a contractor license: Texas has no separate plumbing-contractor license.

The statute instead requires any person that advertises or otherwise offers to perform or provide plumbing to secure the services of a responsible master plumber.

TSBPE licenses plumbers statewide, and TSBPE administers the RMP designation too.

And the RMP is not a fifth class: TSBPE's four licenses are Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber and Plumbing Inspector, and the business credential is a designation a Master Plumber attaches to their license.

The issuing agency is the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE), whose license list carries the four entries above.

There are no contractor classes to choose between because there is no contractor license: the business layer is the RMP designation, which a Master Plumber holds on top of their license and may let one plumbing company use.

Plumbing also stays with TSBPE — the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) lists no plumbing program, so a plumbing license question is not a TDLR question.

Once the business operates, its paperwork must carry the qualifier's name: proposals, invoices and contracts must show the RMP's name and license number plus the board's name, mailing address and telephone number.

The qualifier is the Responsible Master Plumber: a business that offers plumbing must secure an RMP, and an RMP may let only one plumbing company use their master license.

TSBPE's RMP requirements are a current Texas Master Plumber license, good standing with the board, and proof of at least $300,000 of commercial liability insurance; Plumbing Inspector license holders cannot serve as RMPs.

The experience lives in the master license: an applicant must have held a journeyman license — Texas or another state — for at least 2 years, or 1 year plus completion of a U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship training program.

Under that sits the journeyman gate: 8,000 hours of plumbing experience plus a TSBPE-approved 48-hour course or DOL Office of Apprenticeship enrolment or completion, with hours counting only from Plumber's Apprentice registration.

Whoever takes the role takes the duty: an RMP is responsible for supervising all plumbing done under contracts secured under their license, including permits, inspections and making sure workers are licensed or registered, employee or subcontractor.

Check a candidate's license in TSBPE's public Find a License / Registration search before you engage them.

The RMP requirements TSBPE lists — a current Texas Master Plumber license, good standing with the board, and proof of insurance — include no exam of their own, so the exam gate sits on the qualifier's Master Plumber license.

Master Plumber exam fees are a $25 exam processing fee payable to TSBPE and a $128.50 exam fee payable to Pearson VUE on the day of the exam.

TSBPE's written exams are delivered by Pearson VUE, and a hands-on practical at the board's Austin or Waco exam centres applies to journeyman and tradesman candidates coming from the apprentice route and to medical gas candidates; our research does not describe the master exam's content, so get the current candidate information from the board.

A written-exam authorization allows up to five attempts within one year, with waits of 30 days after a first failure, 60 days after a second, and 90 days on each failure thereafter.

All applicants and examinees must also submit fingerprint data to TSBPE once.

The financial requirement our research confirmed is insurance: the RMP must prove at least $300,000 of commercial liability insurance coverage.

Our research found no surety bond requirement for Texas RMPs, but that is an absence in the pages we read, not a board statement, so ask TSBPE whether anything beyond this insurance applies to your company before you bid.

The RMP designation costs $225 for the initial application and $300 for each annual renewal, as of September 2026.

The Master Plumber license underneath carries its own fees: $75 for the initial license and $75 for each annual renewal.

Renewal also takes continuing education — every Texas plumbing licensee must complete 6 hours of continuing professional education to be eligible to renew, so the qualifier's master license carries that each year.

And lapsing has a cliff: a license, registration or endorsement expired more than two years cannot be renewed; the person must start over as a registered apprentice and re-pass exams.

Our research found no license-for-license reciprocity agreement for Texas plumbing, and bills in the 2025 Legislature that would have recognized out-of-state licenses (HB 710 and SB 716) did not pass — the board's legislative summary is the place to re-check both.

What we did confirm: Master Plumber eligibility counts a journeyman license from Texas or another state, held at least 2 years, or 1 year plus a completed DOL Office of Apprenticeship program.

The board pages we read also indicate out-of-state journeyman and master licensees can sit the Texas exams without the TSBPE-approved 24- or 48-hour course; we did not find a named rule for it on the pages we read, so verify your situation with TSBPE.

Losing the RMP removes the credential the business's plumbing offering rests on, because the statute requires an offering business to secure an RMP and one RMP designation can serve only one company.

An RMP who stops acting in that role must file a signed and notarized Request to Relinquish RMP Designation form with TSBPE, along with a $10 fee.

Our research did not find a deadline for the company to name a replacement RMP, so ask TSBPE how long you can operate without one — and line up the next qualifier before the current one steps down.

HB 3214 (2025), relating to eligibility for a master plumber license, was signed by the Governor and took effect September 1, 2025.

Our research records the bill's subject and effective date, not what it changed, so read the board's legislative summary before relying on older descriptions of master-plumber eligibility — the eligibility chain your qualifier's RMP designation hangs on.