A plumber apprenticeship is a paid job with training, and you don't need experience to start one. To start in Alabama, you need a registered apprenticeship program that accepts you and the $35 apprentice plumber/gas fitter registration from the Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board. Alabama has 12 registered plumber apprenticeship programs, with 564 apprentices in training at the latest federal count.
Hourly journeyman pay at UA Local 91 in Birmingham
$25.50 an hour
About $1,020 a week at 40 hours.
From journeymen at UA Local 91, the plumbers and steamfitters union program in Birmingham, where you reach journeyman pay once you complete the 5-year apprenticeship.
The federal data has too few plumber wage records in Alabama for a statewide median. The figures are for single programs instead, from what each program publishes.
How to get in
Pick 2 or 3 programs near you
Use the list below. Search each program's name with its city to find it.
Each program takes applications in its own way. Ask each program how and when it takes applications.
Get your apprentice plumber/gas fitter registration before you start work
Before you start work as an apprentice, you register with the Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board. You don't take an exam or need experience to register. The registration costs $35 and expires on December 31, so you renew it every year for $35.
No program matches. Pick another area or check the spelling.
Also trains other trades: these 5 sponsors train more than one trade, so their count includes apprentices in their other trades.A count of 0 means the federal data recorded no apprentices in training, and it doesn't always mean the program has closed.
How one program works: UA Local 91
Each program runs in its own way. This is how one of them takes apprentices and trains them, as its own pages describe it.
UA Local 91
1
Apply by appointment
Fill out the application form on UA Local 91's application page. Then call the Local 91 JA Center for an appointment and hand in your complete packet, with your documents and the $25 fee, at its school in Birmingham before the yearly deadline.
2
Take the aptitude test
Within about 4 weeks, you receive a certified letter, which you must sign for, that tells you how and where to take the aptitude test. The test is ACT WorkKeys, and it covers locating information, applied math, reading for information and applied technology.
3
Interview if you're invited
After the application deadline passes, a second certified letter tells you whether you have an interview. After the interviews, every applicant who interviewed receives a certified letter that says whether the program accepted them.
4
Start work and classes in September
Classes start the day after Labor Day, and you can work from the first day of class. The union hall finds you a job with one of its contractors, usually close to where you attend classes.
An hour for a journeyman at UA Local 91 in Birmingham
$25.50
UA Local 91 is the plumbers and steamfitters union program in Birmingham. You start at the first-year rate in its contract and get a raise every year until you reach journeyman pay, which is currently $25.50 an hour. You aren't paid for classroom hours, and the rates can change each September when the contract is negotiated.
Of the journeyworker wage to start at the North Alabama Craft Training Foundation
50%
The North Alabama Craft Training Foundation (NACTF) is the largest sponsor on the list, and its count includes the other trades it trains. Under its registered standards, the company that employs you pays you 50% of its journeyworker wage for your first 2,000 hours, then 60%, 70% and 90%, and the full wage once you complete the program. The standards set the journeyworker wage at no less than $16.00 an hour.
At the North Alabama Craft Training Foundation (NACTF), you must be employed to become an apprentice. NACTF's website lists the companies that take part. Its classes meet 1 night a week in Huntsville, Madison and Decatur, and registration for classes runs from May through mid-July each year.
To join the plumbing apprenticeship at Skilled Trades of West Alabama, you must already work in the plumbing trade. Skilled Trades of West Alabama is the second-largest sponsor on the list, and its count includes the other trades it trains. If you don't have a plumbing job yet, it sends you to its JumpStart pre-apprenticeship program instead.
The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship (AOA) registers apprenticeship programs in Alabama. The AOA's online dashboard lists the program sponsors it registers and the occupations each one trains.
UA Local 91 runs the largest union program on the list, the Jefferson County Joint Apprenticeship Committee in Birmingham. The 5-year program trains you in plumbing, pipefitting, HVAC and welding.
To apply to UA Local 91, you must be at least 18 years old by September and have a high school diploma or GED. You hand in copies of these documents with your application packet and a $25 check or money order made out to Local 91 JA Center.
your birth certificate
your driver's license or another state or government photo ID
your high school diploma or GED, and your official high school transcript or GED test scores
your Social Security card
your Military DD-214, if you served
As an apprentice, you work for a union contractor during the day and attend classes 2 nights a week from September through May. Classes meet on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday nights, from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm in Birmingham and from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm in Gadsden. You must be available for full-time work once the program accepts you.
Once you're in the program, you become a member of UA Local 91. Membership costs a one-time $125 initiation fee and dues of $29.50 a month, and the employers you work for pay the other costs of the training program.
Note: Don't quit your current job until UA Local 91 tells you to.
To work as a plumber in Alabama, you need your own certificate from the Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board, and a city or county can't require another certificate or exam. You start with the $35 apprentice plumber/gas fitter registration, and you work under a journeyman or master plumber who stays on the job site. Once you have 2 years of experience as a registered apprentice, you can take the exam for the journeyman plumber certificate, which allows you to install and repair plumbing systems for a company with a master plumber.
U.S. Department of Labor national apprenticeship data, extract of August 17, 2026: the programs, the apprentice counts and the program addresses
UA Local 91 application instructions, training center and frequently asked questions pages: the requirements, the documents, the $25 fee, the test, the interview, the 5-year program, the class schedule, the pay, the union fees and the start of classes, and the Local 91 JA Center address that the federal data gives for the Jefferson County Joint Apprenticeship Committee
Alabama Office of Apprenticeship registered programs dashboard, linked from alapprentice.org: who registers apprenticeship programs in Alabama
Code of Alabama 1975 sections 34-37-1, 34-37-6, 34-37-8 and 34-37-9 and Alabama Administrative Code rules 720-X-4-.01 and 720-X-11-.01, both on the Alabama Legislature's websites, and the Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board How Do I Become Licensed page: the $35 apprentice plumber/gas fitter registration, the supervision rule, the journeyman plumber certificate and the end of city and county plumbing licenses
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