Colorado · Plumbing licensing · official-source guide
Colorado licenses plumbers at state level through the State Plumbing Board, part of the Division of Professions and Occupations at DORA. Individuals hold residential, journeyworker or master licenses. The business holds a separate plumbing contractor registration and must be or employ a full-time master plumber. Cities may add their own contractor license on top, and Denver and Colorado Springs both do.
State-level license
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-09-11. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Colorado licenses plumbing at state level. The State Plumbing Board sits inside the Division of Professions and Occupations, which is part of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. The governing law is the Plumbers Practice Act at Colorado Revised Statutes Title 12, Article 155, which the Division posts on its own laws page. This is not a state that leaves plumbing to the cities. It is a state that licenses the person and registers the business, and then lets cities add a layer on top of that. The distinction matters because a contractor arriving from California or Texas will look for one license and find two different things. The board licenses individual plumbers by title: residential plumber, journeyworker plumber and master plumber. Separately it registers the business as a plumbing contractor. Neither substitutes for the other. A master plumber with no company registration cannot operate as a plumbing contractor. A company registration with no master plumber attached to it is not valid either. Apprentices are registered as well, which means every person in the trade in Colorado is on the board's records in some form. Section 12-155-121 then says any city, town, county, or city and county may provide for the licensing of plumbing contractors, and that contractors who obtain local licensing must also register with the board. The same section says a local government cannot write rules that would preclude the holder of a valid state license or registration from practicing the trade. Read together, that means local licensing is additive, never a replacement, and never a way around the state credential.
Sourcesdpo.colorado.gov 1dpo.colorado.gov 2drive.google.com 3
Colorado defines each license by statute, and the definitions set the scope of work rather than a fee tier. A residential plumber is a person with the qualifications, training, experience and technical knowledge specified by the board to install plumbing and equipment in one, two, three and four family dwellings, and those dwellings must not extend more than two stories aboveground. That ceiling is the whole boundary of the residential license. A three story townhome is outside it. A journeyworker plumber is any person, other than a master plumber, residential plumber or plumbing apprentice, who engages in the actual installation, alteration, repair and renovation of plumbing under the board's standards and rules. A master plumber is a person with the qualifications, training, experience and technical knowledge to properly plan, lay out, install and repair plumbing apparatus and equipment, including the supervision of that work. Only the master license carries supervision authority over a company. A plumbing apprentice is anyone employed in the plumbing trade who does not yet hold a license. The statute's definition of plumbing itself is worth reading before you bid. It covers items located within the building or extending five feet from the building foundation, excluding a service line extending from the first joint to the property line. It names potable water supply and distribution piping, fixtures and traps, drainage and vent piping, water conditioning appliances connected to the potable system, building drains with their joints, connections, devices, receptacles and appurtenances, and multipurpose residential fire sprinkler systems. That five foot line is where a lot of jurisdictional arguments start and end.
Sourcesdrive.google.com 1dpo.colorado.gov 2dpo.colorado.gov 3
Section 12-155-108(3) is the sentence a plumbing business owner in Colorado has to know by heart. A person shall not operate as a plumbing contractor until the contractor has obtained registration from the board. The board registers a plumbing contractor upon payment of the fee and presentation of evidence that the applicant has complied with the applicable workers compensation and unemployment compensation laws of the state. That is the insurance hook. Colorado does not set a bond amount or a general liability minimum in the Plumbers Practice Act. It ties registration to your workers compensation and unemployment compensation compliance instead. Then comes the staffing requirement. In order to act as a plumbing contractor, the person must either be, or employ full-time, a master plumber, who is in charge of the supervision of all plumbing work performed by the contractor. The statutory definition of plumbing contractor repeats the same rule. A master plumber cannot be spread across companies. The statute says a master plumber shall not be responsible for more than one plumbing contractor at a time. If that master leaves, the clock starts immediately. The master plumber must notify the board within fifteen days after termination as the master plumber for a plumbing contractor, and failure to give that notice may lead to suspension or revocation of the master plumber license. The master is also responsible for all plumbing work performed by the plumbing contractor, which is a real liability, not a formality. Losing your master and not replacing him is not a paperwork gap in Colorado. It is the end of your ability to operate as a registered plumbing contractor until you fix it.
Colorado states experience in hours, not just years, and the board publishes the hour counts alongside the applications. A residential plumber license requires two years, which the Division states as 3,400 hours of practical experience. A journeyworker plumber license runs to four years, stated as 6,800 hours. A master plumber license requires five full-time years, stated as 8,500 hours. The Division also publishes the conversion it uses: one month of full-time experience is equivalent to 163 hours. The statute sets these as ceilings on what the board may demand. Section 12-155-110 says the maximum experience the board may require to qualify to test is 3,400 hours for a residential license, 6,800 hours for a journeyworker license and 8,500 hours for a master license. Academic training substitutes for part of it. An applicant may substitute evidence of academic training in the plumbing field. A graduate of a community college or trade school plumbing program approved by the board receives one year of work experience credit. Academic training that is not sufficient to qualify under that provision, including military training, earns work experience credit according to a uniform ratio the board establishes by rule. Out of state hours count. Section 12-155-111 says for all applicants seeking work experience credit for plumbing work received outside Colorado, the board shall give credit if the applicant can show the experience is adequate to comply with the requirements of the article. So a plumber relocating with ten years of field time does not restart. They document it and file an affidavit of experience, which the Division publishes as a downloadable form.
Sourcesdpo.colorado.gov 1drive.google.com 2dpo.colorado.gov 3
Colorado tests every license level. Section 12-155-110 directs the board to issue licenses to persons who have, by examination and experience, shown themselves competent and qualified. The board determines exam content and the exam is administered by the board or its authorized agent. Examinations are held at least four times each calendar year, and at other times when the number of applicants warrants it. The statute requires each exam to be designed and given in a manner that fairly tests the applicant's knowledge of plumbing and of the rules governing plumbing, and it requires the board to review, revise and update the examinations annually. Exams may include written tests and applied tests of the practices the license will qualify the applicant to perform. The passing marks are not the same across levels. The Division states that an overall score of 70 percent is required to pass the written portion for residential and journeyworker examinees, and 75 percent for the master examinee. That five point gap is the single most useful number for anyone planning their sequence, because a plumber who scrapes a low pass at journeyworker should not assume the same preparation carries the master exam. No license issues until the applicant has paid the license fee set by the board. The application is filed on forms prepared and furnished by the board together with the examination fee, and the board designates the time and place of examination in advance. Applications for initial licensure by examination or by endorsement are filed through the Division's online licensing system.
Sourcesdpo.colorado.gov 1drive.google.com 2dpo.colorado.gov 3
Colorado registers apprentices and then polices how many of them one licensed plumber may supervise. The Division states that any individual employed in the plumbing trade is considered an apprentice and must be registered until the individual has obtained a Colorado plumber's license. Registration is the employer's job. Section 12-155-108(2) requires all plumbing apprentices working for plumbing contractors to be registered with the board within thirty days after the date of initial employment, and it makes the employer responsible for that registration. No apprentice is registered until the registration or renewal fee has been paid. The Division notes that the apprentice keeps the same registration number through changes of employer, and that there is no fee for notifying the board that an apprentice has been terminated. The supervision rule is a hard number. Section 12-155-124 says an apprentice shall not do any plumbing work for which a license is required except under the supervision of a licensed plumber, and that supervision requires a licensed plumber to supervise apprentices at the job site. One licensed journeyworker plumber, master plumber or residential plumber shall not supervise more than three plumbing apprentices at the same job site. The supervising plumber is responsible for the work the apprentice performs, and that plumber's license may be revoked, suspended or denied for improper work performed by an apprentice under their supervision. There is also an annual filing. By July 1 each year, a registered plumbing contractor must report to the board the name and contact information of each plumbing apprentice and the cumulative practical training hours each has completed toward licensure.
Sourcesdpo.colorado.gov 1drive.google.com 2dpo.colorado.gov 3
All Colorado plumbing licenses expire on the final day of February of odd-numbered years and must be renewed to continue practicing. That common expiration date means the whole trade renews at once, so do not wait for a reminder in a month when the board is processing the entire state. The cycle is changing. Section 12-155-112 provides that beginning with the plumbing license cycle that begins on March 1, 2027, and each subsequent cycle after that, the board shall issue and renew plumbing licenses for a period of three years unless otherwise determined by the director. The Division describes the same change as the renewal period being extended from a two year to a three year period beginning March 1, 2027, with a new expiration date of 2030. Continuing education is mandatory and it is annual rather than per cycle. The statute says that on or after May 1, 2021, the board shall not renew or reinstate a license unless the applicant has completed eight hours of continuing education for every twelve months that have passed since the later of the last renewal or reinstatement. The Division states the same rule directly: all residential, journeyworker and master plumbers with an active Colorado license must complete at least eight hours of continuing education each year. There is one carve out. The requirement does not apply to the first renewal of a license for which the applicant successfully completed a licensing examination as a condition of issuance. Reinstatement after two or more years of expiration requires proof of competency, which the statute defines as verification of a license in good standing from another state plus proof of active practice there for the previous year, passing the state plumbing examination, or another means approved by the board.
Sourcesdpo.colorado.gov 1dpo.colorado.gov 2drive.google.com 3dpo.colorado.gov 4
Colorado does not publish a fixed list of reciprocal states the way some boards do. It uses endorsement. Section 12-155-116 says the board may issue a plumber's license by endorsement to any person who is licensed to practice in another jurisdiction, if the person presents proof satisfactory to the board that at the time of application the person possesses credentials and qualifications substantially equivalent to Colorado's requirements for licensure by examination. The board may specify by rule what constitutes substantially equivalent credentials, and it may require a waiting period of six months after the issuance of a license in another state before issuing a Colorado license. Two practical consequences follow. First, endorsement is discretionary and evidence driven, so the quality of your documentation matters more than the name of the state you came from. The Division publishes a verification of state licensure form for exactly this purpose, and a Spanish language approval and reciprocity application. Second, endorsement addresses the individual plumber license only. It does nothing about the business side. A plumbing contractor moving into Colorado still registers the company with the board, still shows compliance with Colorado workers compensation and unemployment compensation law, and still must be or employ a full-time master plumber. If the owner's out of state master credential is endorsed into a Colorado master license, that person can serve as the company's master. If it is not, the company needs to hire one, full-time, and that master cannot be shared with another plumbing contractor. Temporary permits exist under section 12-155-117 for applicants who have the required experience and have applied for examination, but they cover journeyworker and residential work, not the contractor registration.
Sourcesdrive.google.com 1dpo.colorado.gov 2dpo.colorado.gov 3
Colorado's permit map is split, and knowing which side of the line your job sits on saves a week. The Division states that a homeowner or plumbing contractor may obtain plumbing permits online, and that a plumbing contractor is required to obtain permits for the work done by the company. That is a direct obligation on the company, not on the homeowner. Plumbing permits for all state inspected areas, public schools and state buildings are issued and inspected by the State Plumbing Board. The state currently employs inspectors who inspect in 27 counties throughout Colorado. The state does not inspect in local jurisdictions that operate their own inspection program. The Division publishes the list of jurisdictions that handle their own plumbing permitting, and it includes Denver, El Paso, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Delta, Douglas, Eagle, Elbert, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Jefferson, La Plata, Lake, Larimer, Mesa, Moffat, Pitkin, Prowers, Pueblo, Routt, Summit, Teller and Weld, with named exceptions inside several of them. If your job site falls in one of those, you go to the local jurisdiction rather than to the state. Colorado has adopted the International Plumbing Code, the International Residential Code and the International Fuel Gas Code. The Division also states that it is a violation of state law for an individual other than the homeowner who is not a registered plumbing contractor to install a plumbing project on a property, which is the enforcement edge behind the permit requirement.
Section 12-155-121 is the answer to the question every contractor asks about Colorado. Any city, town, county, or city and county of this state may provide for the licensing of plumbing contractors or water conditioning contractors. Contractors who obtain local licensing must also register with the board in accordance with section 12-155-108. So local licensing exists, it is optional for the municipality, and it never displaces the state registration. The second half of the section is the protection. A local government agency shall not promulgate rules or regulations or provide for licenses that would preclude the holder of a valid license or registration issued under this article from practicing the holder's trade. A city can require you to hold its license, carry insurance at a level it sets, and register your master plumber with it. A city cannot write a rule whose effect is to shut a validly licensed Colorado plumber out of the trade. In practice this produces a two step sequence for anyone building a Front Range plumbing business. Step one is the state: the individual license, then the plumbing contractor registration tied to a full-time master plumber. Step two is every jurisdiction you intend to sell into. There is no single statewide contractor license that covers the local layer, and there is no reciprocity between the local layers either. A Denver license does not work in Colorado Springs, and a Pikes Peak regional license does not work in Denver. Budget the time and the insurance certificates for each market you open.
Denver runs its own contractor licensing through Community Planning and Development, and plumbing has its own class. Denver's contractor license application states that plumbing contractors must present a current State of Colorado Plumbing Contractor card with their application. It also states that the company name listed on the state contractor card must match exactly the company name filed with the Secretary of State. That exact match requirement catches companies that trade under a shortened name, and it is worth fixing at the Secretary of State before you apply rather than after Denver rejects the packet. Denver's plumbing contractor license fee is $160 and the license is valid for two years. Denver treats the state credential as satisfying its supervisor requirement. The city states that a Colorado plumbing license will substitute for a supervisor certificate, which spares plumbing contractors a separate Denver supervisor examination that other trades sit. Renewal is chained to the state. Denver states that you must renew your plumbing state contractor card and master plumber card with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies before you can renew your Denver plumbing contractor license. That ordering matters in practice, because Colorado plumbing licenses all expire on the last day of February in odd numbered years. If your Denver renewal falls near that date, the state renewal has to clear first. Denver also appears on the Division's list of jurisdictions that run their own plumbing permitting and inspection, so permits for Denver work go to the city, not to the State Plumbing Board.
Sourcesdenvergov.org 1denvergov.org 2dpo.colorado.gov 3dpo.colorado.gov 4
Colorado Springs does not run its own contractor licensing department. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department does it for the region. PPRBD states that it serves Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Fountain, Woodland Park, Manitou Springs, Monument, Green Mountain Falls, Palmer Lake and Calhan. One license therefore covers a much wider footprint than a single city license would, which is a genuine advantage for a plumbing company working the southern Front Range. PPRBD licenses plumbing as one of its classifications, alongside building, conveyance, electrical, fire alarm, fire suppression, heating mechanic, manufactured building installer and mechanical. The department states that State of Colorado licensees must register with the Department immediately, and it names electrical, plumbing, elevators and escalators, and manufactured building installers in that instruction. So the state credential is the entry ticket and PPRBD registration is the local step. A non-refundable $50 application and processing fee is due at the time the application is submitted. PPRBD sets a general liability insurance minimum of $1,000,000 each occurrence and $2,000,000 general aggregate, and requires workers compensation if the contractor has employees. It applies the same name matching discipline Denver does: the business name on your insurance certificate and in your license application must match Colorado Secretary of State records exactly. PPRBD states that its licensing process takes approximately six to eight weeks depending on the date of submittal, so treat the local step as a lead time item rather than a formality you handle the week before a job starts.
This is the rule that separates a compliant Colorado plumbing contractor from one waiting for a complaint, and it is new. Section 12-155-125 says that on and after July 1, 2025, a plumbing contractor shall display two things on the plumbing contractor's vehicle or vehicles, billing materials, bid sheets, and website: the plumbing contractor's Colorado registration identification number, and the Colorado registration identification number for the master plumber attached to the plumbing contractor. Two numbers, not one. Your company registration number alone does not satisfy it. Four surfaces, not one. The website is named in the statute, which means a Colorado plumbing website without both numbers on it is out of compliance on its face. The Division's own guidance goes further on format. It states that after June 30, 2025, contractors must display the plumbing contractor registration number and the license number of the contractor's responsible master plumber on vehicles, billing materials, bid sheets and websites, that the numbers must be shown in at least two locations on company vehicles with lettering at least two inches high, and that they must be prominently featured on websites including the contact and about pages. The section was added by House Bill 24-1344. Audit the four surfaces in order, because three of them are usually someone else's file: the wrap shop's artwork, the invoicing template inside your field service software, the estimate template, and the footer and contact page of the site your marketing company built.
Sourcesdrive.google.com 1dpo.colorado.gov 2dpo.colorado.gov 3
Colorado protects the titles themselves. Section 12-155-109 says a person shall not advertise in any manner, or use the title or designation of master plumber, journeyworker plumber, or residential plumber, unless the person is qualified and licensed under the article. It also says no person shall advertise in any manner that the person is a plumbing contractor, or use the title or designation plumbing contractor, unless the person meets the statutory definition of plumbing contractor. That definition requires the company to be or to employ a full-time master plumber. So the phrase plumbing contractor is not generic marketing language in Colorado. It is a claim about your registration and your staffing, and making it without both is an advertising violation independent of any work performed. A parallel rule covers water conditioning. A person shall not advertise as a water conditioning contractor, installer or principal unless registered as such, though a licensed residential, journeyworker or master plumber, a plumbing apprentice, or a registered plumbing contractor may advertise water conditioning appliance services within their own practice area. Section 12-155-126 adds a field obligation. On and after July 1, 2025, a licensed plumber who installs, tests, inspects, repairs or reinstalls a backflow prevention device must affix a tag on the device showing the name and contact information of the affiliated business, the plumbing contractor's registration number or the master plumber's license number, the date the service was provided, and a description of the service. Multiple services may be documented on one tag.
Working without the credential is penalized under section 12-155-122. A person who engages in, works at, offers, or attempts to engage in or work at the business, trade or calling of a residential, journeyworker or master plumber or plumbing apprentice without an active license, permit or registration issued under the article is subject to penalties under section 12-20-407(1)(a). The same applies to unregistered water conditioning contractors, installers and principals. Discipline against people who are licensed runs through a citation and fine schedule. Section 12-155-123 directs the board to adopt a schedule of fines and sets the ceilings: a first offense may carry a fine of up to one thousand dollars, a second offense up to two thousand dollars, and any subsequent offense up to two thousand dollars for each day the provision is violated. Citations must be issued within six months following the violation, and a recipient who does not contest within ten working days sees the citation become a final order. Half of any fine collected goes to the general fund and half is shared with the appropriate city, town, county, or city and county. The exemptions in section 12-155-118 are narrower than word of mouth suggests. An individual may perform plumbing work on their own property or residence, but if the property is intended for sale or resale by someone in the business of constructing or remodeling, or is rental property occupied by tenants, or is a commercial or industrial building, the owner is responsible and the property is subject to licensing. Routine repair and replacement of sinks, faucets, drains, showers, tubs and toilets is exempt from licensure, which is why handyman work at that level is legal.
The Division of Professions and Occupations runs a public license verification tool and links it from every plumbing page as Verify a License. It sits at apps2.colorado.gov and covers every DPO regulated profession, plumbing included. A homeowner can check whether the individual plumber holds an active residential, journeyworker or master license, whether the company holds an active plumbing contractor registration, and whether there is discipline on record. The Division also maintains licensee discipline records and publishes them. This matters more in Colorado than in states with a single license, because there are two things to check and a customer who checks only one is checking the wrong half. A company registration without a valid master plumber attached is not a lawful plumbing contractor, and an individual master license does not authorize the company to contract. The 2025 display rule makes verification easier by design. Because the contractor registration number and the master plumber's number must appear on the vehicle, on billing materials, on bid sheets and on the website, a customer holding an estimate has both numbers in front of them and can run both. Treat that as a sales asset rather than a compliance chore. Put both numbers on the contact page and the about page as the Division instructs, and a prospect comparing three bids can confirm you in under a minute while the competitor who left the numbers off looks like the risk. Denver and Pikes Peak licenses are verified separately through those jurisdictions.
Sourcesapps2.colorado.gov 1dpo.colorado.gov 2dpo.colorado.gov 3dpo.colorado.gov 4drive.google.com 5
These are common details other guides publish about Colorado, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The State Plumbing Board, part of the Division of Professions and Occupations at the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, licenses residential, journeyworker and master plumbers and registers plumbing apprentices and plumbing contractors under Colorado Revised Statutes Title 12, Article 155.
No. Registration is with the state board. Section 12-155-121 lets any city, town, county, or city and county also license plumbing contractors, but contractors who obtain local licensing must also register with the board. Local licensing is additive, never a substitute.
A plumbing contractor registration from the board, evidence of compliance with Colorado workers compensation and unemployment compensation law, and either being or employing full-time a master plumber who supervises all plumbing work performed by the contractor.
No. The statute says a master plumber shall not be responsible for more than one plumbing contractor at a time, and must notify the board within fifteen days after termination as a contractor's master plumber. Failure to notify may lead to suspension or revocation of the master license.
The Division states two years or 3,400 hours for residential, four years or 6,800 hours for journeyworker, and five full-time years or 8,500 hours for master. One month of full-time experience equals 163 hours. Trade school graduation earns one year of credit.
An overall score of 70 percent passes the written portion for residential and journeyworker examinees. Master examinees need 75 percent. The statute requires exams to be held at least four times each calendar year.
Three. One licensed journeyworker, master or residential plumber shall not supervise more than three plumbing apprentices at the same job site, and supervision requires the licensed plumber to be at the job site.
On the final day of February of odd-numbered years. Beginning with the cycle that starts March 1, 2027, the board will issue and renew plumbing licenses for three year periods, with a new expiration date of 2030.
Yes. Eight hours of continuing education for every twelve months since the last renewal or reinstatement. The requirement does not apply to the first renewal of a license issued on the basis of passing the licensing examination.
Since July 1, 2025, the contractor's Colorado registration identification number and the registration number of the attached master plumber, on vehicles, billing materials, bid sheets and the website. The Division adds at least two locations on vehicles with two inch lettering, and the contact and about pages online.
A Denver plumbing contractor license from Community Planning and Development. Denver requires a current State of Colorado Plumbing Contractor card with the application, and the company name on it must match Secretary of State records exactly. The fee is $160 for a two year license.
A license from the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, which serves Colorado Springs, El Paso County and several neighboring towns. State licensees must register with the department, the application fee is $50, and general liability must be at least $1,000,000 each occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate.
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