How to become a plumber in Pennsylvania

Every requirement on this page belongs to a license class the licensing authority names itself. Each one has its own experience requirements, fees and exam rules. There are four of them here, so read the one you are aiming at rather than the page as a whole.

Experience · Journeyman Plumber License (City of Philadelphia)The licensing authority states this rather than counting hours. Every class here has its own wording, and all of it is below.Read it in full under Apprenticeship and hours →

What Pennsylvania licenses

If you work for an employerCitiesPennsylvania doesn't license you individually. Cities and counties do, so the license that applies is the one where the job is, and it can change across a city line.

If you run the contracting businessCitiesPennsylvania doesn't license the business. Cities and counties do, so the license that applies is the one where the job is, and it can change across a city line.

Both answers come from the offices named below.

Requirements and steps

We use the licensing authority's published requirements throughout this page. If the licensing authority doesn't publish a requirement, we don't guess.

Figure out which license you need

Start from where you will actually be working rather than from where you live. Every license below is issued by a city or a county, and the office across the line can require something different. Then read the classes for that place: some are held by the worker and some by the business.

Choose the license class you're working toward

Each license class below has its own experience requirements, fees and exam rules. Start with the class you're working toward: everything below depends on it. We use the licensing authority's official license names, so you'll see the same terms on its forms.

Build the required experience

The experience requirements for each license are quoted below exactly as the licensing authority publishes them. The licensing authority decides whether your experience qualifies, so keep your own record from day one and make sure your employer can verify your hours.

Take the exam

If your license requires an exam, the exam name and its fee are listed under that license class. The licensing authority and the testing company are often different organizations, so the exam fee is often paid to the testing company. That's why the exam fee may appear in the candidate bulletin instead of the fee schedule.

Apply, pay, and keep it current

Each license class below lists the fees the licensing authority publishes for it. Renewal varies by class too, so check the renewal period and fee for the class you are working toward rather than for the trade as a whole.

If you want to do the work

This page is short because Pennsylvania is, not because nobody looked. The state licenses neither the worker nor the business, so there is no statewide license to list and no statewide fee schedule to print. What there is instead is city licenses. Each holds in its own city and nowhere else. The one that matters to you is where the job is, and it can change across a city line.

Two of Pennsylvania's licenses are held by the worker. Each is a separate license with its own experience requirements, fees and exam rules. The ones below come from Philadelphia and Allegheny County.

Not published for any class here: job hours. Pennsylvania does not publish a reciprocity list for these licenses.

Journeyman Plumber License (City of Philadelphia)³

Held by the worker · issued by Philadelphia

$25 to apply.³ $126 for the license itself.³ International Code Council administers the exam.³ You renew this every year, for $126. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.³

Worth knowingThat $25 is the first installment of the $126, not an extra charge. It is nonrefundable if the application fails.

Worth knowing$126 to issue, and $126 again at every renewal. It is the one Philadelphia license here whose price does not drop after the first year.

Journeyman Plumber License (City of Philadelphia)

To qualify, you must have been registered as an apprentice plumber in Philadelphia for a minimum of four years.³

The body that issues this class of license³City of Philadelphia, Department of Licenses and Inspections

Where that body publishes this class of license⁴https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/licenses/trade-licenses/

Philadelphia doesn't list classroom hours or an exam fee.

Journeyman Plumber license (Allegheny County Health Department)⁶

Held by the worker · issued by Allegheny County

576 hours in a classroom.⁶ $125 for the license itself.⁶ $133 to take the exam.⁶ You renew this every year, for $125. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.⁶

Worth knowingThe county prints 576 hours of school alongside four years working for a registered master plumber.

Worth knowing$125 is the only figure the county prints, and it covers the license and every renewal alike. No page we read prices a first issue separately.

Worth knowing$133 is charged per exam, so a retake costs the same again. The county runs it twice a year.

Journeyman Plumber license (Allegheny County Health Department)

After completing school (576 hours) and a period of employment (4 years) with a registered master plumber, journeyman candidates must submit an application through the Plumbing Program to take the Journeyman Plumbers Examination.⁶

The body that issues this class of license⁶Allegheny County Health Department, Plumbing Program

Where that body publishes this class of license⁶https://www.alleghenycounty.us/Services/Health-Department/Plumbing-Program/Licensing-Information

Allegheny County doesn't list who runs it or an application fee.

Apprenticeship and hours

Nothing on this page counts your time in hours. Where a board states the requirement in years instead, the years are in its own wording with each class, and turning them into hours would need a working week no board here publishes.

Not published for any class here: whether the hours can be earned online.

117 registered apprenticeships train Pennsylvania plumbers. People who finished one recently left at a median of $34.87 an hour.

See every program and what they pay

What it pays

Among the plumbers on a payroll in Pennsylvania, half earn more than $32.73 an hour and half earn less. The federal wage survey puts the annual figure at $68,080.²

$22.49The bottom tenth earn this or less²
$64.48The top tenth earn this or more²

These figures cover every experience level, from first-year apprentices to workers with decades on the job, so this is not what an apprentice earns. The survey counts 13,620 of these jobs. Self-employed workers are not included in the survey.²

The yearly figure assumes 2,080 paid hours, which is full time with no long gaps. Actual earnings can be lower where work is interrupted or seasonal.

Figures from the federal wage survey for May 2025, read 2026-08-16. The survey’s state file is a spreadsheet in a zip, not a web page.

If you want to run a plumbing business

These credentials apply if you plan to take work in your own name. Each is issued to the business itself rather than to any one person.

Master Plumber's License (City of Philadelphia)⁵

Held by the business · issued by Philadelphia

$50 to apply.⁵ $303 for the license itself.⁵ International Code Council administers the exam.⁵ You renew this every year, for $253. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.⁵

Worth knowingThat $50 is the nonrefundable first installment of the $303, not an extra charge.

Worth knowing$303 is the most expensive license on this page to get. Renewals drop to $253.

Master Plumber's License (City of Philadelphia)

To qualify, you must be registered as a Philadelphia Journeyman Plumber for a minimum of one year.⁵

The body that issues this class of license⁵City of Philadelphia, Department of Licenses and Inspections

Where that body publishes this class of license⁴https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/licenses/trade-licenses/

Philadelphia doesn't list classroom hours or an exam fee.

Master Plumber's License (Allegheny County Health Department)⁶

Held by the business · issued by Allegheny County

$375 for the license itself.⁶ $265 to take the exam.⁶ You renew this every year, for $375. The published renewal requirements do not list any additional hours requirement.⁶

Worth knowing$375 every year, not once. Philadelphia charges $253 a year for the same license.

Worth knowing$265 is charged per exam, so a retake costs the same again. It is offered twice a year.

Master Plumber's License (Allegheny County Health Department)

Journeymen wanting to take the Master Plumber Examination must complete two full years of work experience as a journeyman and make an application to the Plumbing Program.⁶

The body that issues this class of license⁶Allegheny County Health Department, Plumbing Program

Where that body publishes this class of license⁶https://www.alleghenycounty.us/Services/Health-Department/Plumbing-Program/Licensing-Information

Allegheny County doesn't list classroom hours, who runs it or an application fee.

The examination

International Code Council administers two of the four exams named on this page. No examiner is named for the others. The exam provider sets the exam content, publishes the study material and sets retake fees. Use the official exam names below when you look for study material, application instructions or retake information. Exam fees are listed with each class above.

Journeyman Plumber License (City of Philadelphia): Journeyman Plumber Examination³
Master Plumber's License (City of Philadelphia): Philadelphia Master Plumber Examination⁵
Journeyman Plumber license (Allegheny County Health Department): Journeyman Plumbers Examination⁶
Master Plumber's License (Allegheny County Health Department): Master Plumber Examination⁶

The licensing office, and how to reach it

Two different offices issue the licenses on this page, so check the class you are after for the office to contact.

The licensing authority doesn't list who certifies the worker, where that sits, who licenses the business, where that sits, the agency behind this trade or a page for that agency.

Bringing a license in, and taking one out

Reciprocity is an agreement between states, and every license on this page belongs to a city or a county. Philadelphia and Allegheny County do not speak for each other or for anywhere outside the state. Moving to Pennsylvania? Ask the office where the job is whether it will recognize your current license. Leaving? Contact the licensing authority in the state where you plan to work.

Questions people ask

Do you need a license to be a plumber in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania does not license individual plumbers. Cities and counties do. You still need a license; there is just no single statewide one, so the rules that apply are the ones where you will be working, and they change across a city line. Contractor licensing is not the state's either. Cities and counties issue it, so taking work in your own name means finding the rules where the job is.

How long does it take to become a licensed plumber in Pennsylvania?

Not as a number: Pennsylvania doesn't publish an hours figure for any license on this page. Several states on these pages state the requirement in years instead, and turning years into hours needs a working week nobody publishes. So this page prints what was published. The experience wording with each class is where the answer is.

How much do plumbers make in PA?

The middle half of the plumbers on a payroll in Pennsylvania earn between $27.83 and $44.15 an hour, and half of all of them earn more than $32.73. These are straight-time figures, before any overtime, at every experience level, counted by the federal wage survey in May 2025. Self-employed workers are not included in them.²

Do plumbers make 300k?

The top tenth of plumbers on a payroll in Pennsylvania earn above $64.48 an hour, which over a 2,080-hour year comes to more than $134,110. Those are straight-time figures: overtime pay is outside them, and so are self-employed workers. The federal wage survey counts what the top tenth earn above, not how many reach any figure past it.²

How much does a plumber license cost in Pennsylvania?

The licensing authority publishes these: $25 to apply for Journeyman Plumber License (City of Philadelphia), $50 to apply for Master Plumber's License (City of Philadelphia), $126 to be issued Journeyman Plumber License (City of Philadelphia), $303 to be issued Master Plumber's License (City of Philadelphia), $125 to be issued Journeyman Plumber license (Allegheny County Health Department) and $375 to be issued Master Plumber's License (Allegheny County Health Department). Each is per class, not per trade. None of them is the exam: where a vendor administers the exam, that fee is the vendor's and lives in its own bulletin.

Can I use a plumber license from another state in Pennsylvania?

Not as a published rule: Pennsylvania publishes no list of the states it recognizes. Bringing a license in and taking one out are two separate agreements, signed and published separately. Contact the licensing authority in the state where you plan to work and ask what it will recognize.

How long does it take to become a plumber?

There is no national answer. Any page that gives you one is averaging states whose requirements differ by thousands of hours. Licensing is set state by state, and in some states city by city, so the honest version of this question has a place in it. What is the same everywhere is the shape: you learn on the job, the hours that count are the ones somebody signs for, and the clock starts the day the work does.

Can you become a plumber with no experience?

Yes, and that is the ordinary way in. These trades are learned at work rather than before it, which is why boards mostly require time on the job. What you cannot skip is the paperwork: the hours that count are the ones somebody signs for, so the question to ask an employer is who signs, not whether they will train you.

Is 30 too late to become a plumber?

No. Boards set a minimum age, not a maximum. No board on these pages sets an upper limit, and where age shows up at all it is a floor. The real question at 30 is money: an apprenticeship pays you while you learn and school charges you while you learn. That difference usually decides it.

How hard is the plumber licensing exam?

None of the boards on these pages publishes a pass rate. The useful question is who administers the exam: that organization sells the reference material for it and sets what a retake costs.