Connecticut · Plumbing licensing · official-source guide
Connecticut licenses plumbing through the Department of Consumer Protection under Chapter 393, using codes such as P-1 for the unlimited contractor and P-2 for the unlimited journeyperson. Only individuals can apply, because company applications are not accepted and the mechanical contractor registration was repealed in 2025. A P-2 needs 8,000 on the job hours plus 576 classroom hours.
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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.
Connecticut runs plumbing through the Department of Consumer Protection, at 450 Columbus Blvd., Suite 901, Hartford CT 06103. Inside DCP the Occupational and Professional Division sets the standards and the License Services Division processes the applications, with the Connecticut Examining Board for Plumbing and Piping Work approving continuing education courses. DCP holds the statutory power to make all necessary regulations for the practice and standards of occupations and to establish the amount and type of experience and training required to qualify for a license. The governing statute is Chapter 393 of the General Statutes, which covers electricians, plumbers, solar, heating, piping and cooling contractors and journeymen along with several other trades. The implementing regulations sit at RCSA 20-332-1 through 20-332-21a. Two structural facts shape everything else. First, Connecticut issues licenses by letter and number code rather than by a generic title, so the license itself states the exact scope of work, and a license whose code does not cover the work is the same as no license. Second, DCP states plainly that only individuals can apply and that company applications are not accepted. There is no state plumbing company license in Connecticut. A plumbing business operates on the licenses its people hold, and the contractor grade licensee is the one who can acquire building permits and who is responsible for and will directly supervise the work performed under that permit. Apprentices register separately with the Connecticut Department of Labor Apprentice Training Division rather than with DCP.
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DCP publishes the plumbing codes with their scopes, and the letters carry real meaning. Odd numbers on the P series are contractor licenses and even numbers are journeyperson licenses. P-1 is the unlimited plumbing contractor and may do all plumbing and piping work as defined in section 20-330 of the General Statutes. P-2 is the unlimited journeyperson plumber and may do all plumbing and piping work, but only in the employ of a licensed contractor. P-7 is the limited sewer, storm and water contractor, covering installation, repair, replacement, alteration or maintenance of piping limited to water, sewer and storm lines, with P-6 as its journeyperson counterpart. P-9 is the limited gasoline tank, piping and pump contractor, covering piping for petroleum tanks and pumps, with P-8 as its journeyperson. The J series is separate. J-1 is a limited contractor restricted to domestic water pumps and water conditioning, with J-2 as the journeyperson for well pumps and piping. J-3 is the limited lawn sprinkler contractor and J-4 its journeyperson. PP-1 is the limited process piping contractor, restricted to piping used directly in the production of a chemical or a product for human consumption, with PP-2 as journeyperson. SP-1 is the limited spa and pool contractor covering swimming pool maintenance and repair work including the plumbing and heating in it, with SP-2 as journeyperson. Before you bid, match the work to the code. A P-6 holder quoting a water heater replacement is outside scope, and the regulations state that no one shall perform any work beyond the limitations stated on his license.
This is the single biggest structural difference between Connecticut and states like Texas or Florida, and it changes how a plumbing business is built here. DCP's plumbing and pipefitting licensing page states that only individuals can apply and that company applications are not accepted. There is no state issued plumbing contractor company license, no company license number to advertise, and no company license to renew. What exists is a contractor grade individual license, the P-1 or one of the limited contractor codes, held by a named person. The regulations attach the consequences to that person. Licensed contractors alone shall be permitted to acquire building permits, and in taking out the permit the contractor is attesting to the fact that he is responsible for and will directly supervise the work being performed under said permit. All licensed contractors shall keep a record of all employees they employ and exhibit such records to the Commissioner or her agents upon request. A journeyperson who performs work without being in the direct and regular employ of a properly licensed contractor is subject to disciplinary action, which closes the side door of a P-2 taking private jobs. One more rule shapes how the business presents itself. No licensee shall engage in or offer to engage in business under any name other than that stated on his application. If the company rebrands, changes its trade name, or spins up a second brand for a new service line, the name on file with DCP has to be updated first. Advertising under an unregistered name is a prohibited act.
Connecticut is an hours state and the hour counts are published per license code by DCP. For the P-2 unlimited journeyperson plumber the requirement is 8,000 on the job hours plus 576 classroom hours. The limited codes scale down from there. J-2, the limited well pumps and piping journeyperson, requires 4,000 on the job hours plus 288 classroom hours. P-6, the limited sewer, storm and water journeyperson, requires 2,000 on the job hours plus 180 classroom hours. P-8, the limited gasoline tank, piping and pump journeyperson, requires 2,000 on the job hours plus 144 classroom hours. J-4, the limited lawn sprinkler journeyperson, requires 2,000 on the job hours plus 144 classroom hours. The normal route is a registered apprenticeship through the Connecticut Department of Labor Apprentice Training Division, which issues the apprentice a card of registration. The regulations require that card before any apprentice performs work in an occupation covered by Chapter 393. For people who trained outside a Connecticut apprenticeship, DCP runs an equivalent experience and training path. The bar is strict: classroom hours must equal the same number of hours and have an equivalent curriculum and course content as the courses DCP lists for that license. Applicants submit transcripts, degrees and diplomas matching the equivalent curriculum, plus notarized letters from current or previous employers stating employment dates and detailed descriptions of the work performed. Out of state applicants submit completion certificates with apprenticeship hour documentation.
Connecticut does not let a new journeyperson jump straight to contractor. DCP's instruction is that if you have held the respective journeyperson license for more than two years, you apply for the contractor license. The word respective matters. The path runs inside a code family. A P-2 moves to P-1. A P-6 moves to P-7. A P-8 moves to P-9. A J-2 moves to J-1. Holding a journeyperson license in one family does not open the contractor license in another. Every individual applicant must take an exam, so the contractor step is an examination step and not a paperwork upgrade. What the contractor license buys is the right to run the business side. Under the regulations, licensed contractors alone may acquire building permits, and the permit carries a personal attestation of responsibility and direct supervision. Contractors also carry the employee record keeping obligation and are the ones the vehicle and advertising display rules name. Journeypersons do not pull permits and cannot work outside the direct and regular employ of a properly licensed contractor. For a plumbing business the planning point is the two year clock. If the company's only contractor licensee is approaching retirement or is a single point of failure, a P-2 on staff needs to have been licensed for two years before that person can sit for the P-1 and take over permits. That is a lead time to schedule, not a gap to discover.
DCP states that every individual applicant must take an exam, and that PSI Examination Services administers all exams for careers in the construction trades. Candidates reach PSI at psiexams.com or 800-733-9267. The regulations set the standard the exam has to meet and the score you have to hit. RCSA 20-332-12a provides that the examination shall be of such written, oral and practical units as the board may determine are necessary to determine the applicant's competency, which gives the Examining Board for Plumbing and Piping Work discretion over format rather than fixing it in rule. RCSA 20-332-10a sets the pass mark: the Department shall issue a license to any person who has attained a minimum grade of 70 percent. The sequence is application first, approval second, exam third. DCP reviews the apprenticeship or equivalency documentation, and the application fee is nonrefundable whether or not the file is approved, which is the argument for getting the hour documentation right before filing rather than after. Apprentices should note that the DOL registration card is a separate document from the DCP license and is required before any covered work is performed. A candidate who fails retests through PSI rather than through DCP. Because Connecticut licenses by code, the exam you sit is the exam for the code you applied for, and a P-1 candidate and a P-7 candidate do not take the same test. Confirm the exam code on the PSI bulletin before scheduling.
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Connecticut's plumbing fees are short and published on DCP's plumbing and pipefitting licensing page. The application fee for a contractor license is $150.00 and it is nonrefundable. The application fee for a journeyperson license is $90.00 and it is nonrefundable. On renewal, a contractor pays $150.00 and a journeyperson pays $120.00. Note that the journeyperson renewal is higher than the journeyperson application, which is the reverse of what most people assume and a common budgeting error. The fee figures line up with the statute. Chapter 393 sets a $90 application fee for certain limited licenses and a $150 application fee for unlimited contractor and journeyman licenses, and states that these fees are nonrefundable. Applications and renewals both run through the state's eLicense system at elicense.ct.gov, and DCP also publishes paper application forms for the contractor and journeyperson routes. Two cost items sit outside DCP. The examination is administered by PSI and carries its own charge, billed by PSI rather than by the Department. Continuing education courses are bought from Board approved providers. Neither of those charges appears in the DCP fee list, so budget for them separately. There is no state plumbing company license fee in Connecticut, because there is no company license. That is money a plumbing business in many other states has to spend and does not spend here, but it also means there is no company credential to point a customer at.
DCP states that all plumbing and pipefitting licenses expire annually on October 31st. That is one date for every plumbing code in the system, contractor and journeyperson alike, so a company with several licensed people has a single renewal week each year rather than a rolling calendar. Renewal fees are $150.00 for a contractor and $120.00 for a journeyperson, paid through eLicense. The continuing education attestation is part of the renewal process rather than a separate filing. Credential holders attest to completion of their required continuing education as part of the renewal, and must retain certificates of completion and other related records for at least four years. That four year retention is longer than the two year continuing education cycle, so a licensee who completes a course in one biennium still has to be able to produce the certificate two cycles later if DCP asks. The consequence of skipping it is stated by DCP: failure to complete the required continuing education requirements may subject the licensee to civil fines and the revocation or suspension of their license. Build the renewal into the business calendar in August, not October. The continuing education window for contractors closes July 31, three months before the October 31 renewal, so a contractor who waits until October to think about renewal has already missed the deadline for the hours that renewal attests to. Journeypersons run on the opposite year, which means a company with both grades on staff has course deadlines in consecutive years, not the same year.
Connecticut's plumbing continuing education is small and precisely allocated, and DCP publishes it by grade. Unlimited contractors and unlimited journeypersons need 5 credit hours every two years. Limited journeypersons need 3 credit hours every two years. Holders of P-6, P-7, PP-1 and PP-2 licenses have no continuing education requirement at present. The timing is split by grade and by the parity of the year. Contractors complete their hours between August 1 of an even numbered year and July 31 of the even numbered year two years later, which lands three months before renewal. Journeypersons complete theirs between August 1 of an odd numbered year and July 31 of the odd numbered year two years later. Courses must be approved by the Connecticut Plumbing Board, and providers submit their course applications through elicense.ct.gov, so a course that is not on the approved list does not count no matter how good it is. The requirement sits under RCSA 20-334d. The statute behind it caps the burden, providing for not more than a total of seven hours of accredited continuing professional education every two years, which is why the numbers DCP sets are five and three rather than the twenty four or thirty two hours common in other states. Questions go to dcp.continuingeducation@ct.gov. Keep the certificates for four years and attest honestly at renewal, because the attestation is the audit trail.
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DCP states it directly. Connecticut does not have reciprocal agreements with any other jurisdiction. There is no endorsement route, no list of partner states, and no waiver for a master plumber license held elsewhere. What exists instead is an equivalency review, and it is a documentation exercise rather than a negotiation. DCP defines an equivalent out of state license as one that required the same number of classroom hours, equivalent classroom curriculum, and on the job training hours as the Connecticut license type you are applying for. An applicant submits a copy of the license, a license verification from the issuing authority, the laws and regulations that include the requirements met to obtain that license, and the scope of work for that license. DCP adds a hard limit that trips people up: do not submit documents for more than one out of state license, because only one license will be reviewed for equivalency. So an applicant holding licenses in three states has to pick the strongest one and commit. The realistic read for an out of state plumbing contractor is that Connecticut treats your existing license as evidence of training hours, not as a credential it will honor. If your home state licensed you on years of experience without a documented classroom curriculum, the equivalency will be hard to prove, and the alternative path is the equivalent experience and training route with transcripts and notarized employer letters. Either way, every individual applicant must take an exam. Plan on testing.
Connecticut used to require a separate registration for mechanical contractor organizations, a business level credential that sat alongside the individual trade licenses and gave a plumbing company a registration number of its own. DCP has posted that this is over. Per Public Act 25-111, the law requiring registration for Mechanical Contractors has been repealed effective October 1, 2025. This matters for two reasons and both of them are current. First, guidance written before October 2025 still tells plumbing companies to register the organization with DCP and to display a certificate of registration. Following that advice now means chasing a registration that no longer exists. Second, the repeal removes the only business level credential Connecticut had for mechanical and plumbing firms, which leaves the state squarely in the individual licensing camp. A plumbing company in Connecticut today has no state issued company number to print on a truck or a website. What it has is the license number of the contractor grade licensee who pulls its permits, and that is the number the display rules name. If your marketing materials, invoices or proposal templates reference a mechanical contractor registration number, pull it. If your customer facing copy implies the company itself is state licensed, rewrite it to name the licensed contractor. Verify your own status through DCP before making changes, because a repeal date is not the same as an expiration date on a credential you already hold.
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This is the rule most Connecticut plumbing contractors either do not know or do not follow, and it is written with a penalty attached. Under Sec. 20-334 of the General Statutes, contractors that fail to display their state license number on all commercial vehicles used in their business and in a conspicuous manner on all advertisements, bid proposals, contracts, invoices and on all stationery used in their business may be fined not more than five hundred dollars per violation, but shall not be fined for the first violation. Read the list. Not just the truck. Advertisements, bid proposals, contracts, invoices and stationery are all named. A website is an advertisement. A written estimate is a bid proposal. An emailed invoice is an invoice. The regulations then add the measurement the statute leaves out. RCSA 20-332-16(g) provides that the lettering of the state license numbers required to be displayed on all commercial vehicles used in the contractor's business shall be at least one inch high and legible. One inch is the floor on the vehicle. Conspicuous is the standard everywhere else. The statute also requires the holder of a license to carry it on his person while engaging in such work and to show it on request, so the physical card belongs in the van, not in a drawer at the office. The first violation is free. The second is up to five hundred dollars, and each subsequent one is priced the same way. Put the number in the website footer, on the estimate template, on the invoice template and on both sides of every truck, and the exposure goes to zero.
The Connecticut regulations contain a short list of prohibited acts that read like licensing detail but function as advertising rules, and RCSA 20-332-16 is where they live. Subsection (c) provides that no licensee shall engage in or offer to engage in business under any name other than that stated on his application. Offer to engage is the operative phrase, because it reaches marketing, not only contracting. A doing business as name, a second brand for drain cleaning, a franchise name layered over the legal entity, or a rebrand after an acquisition all need the DCP record updated first. Subsection (f) provides that no one shall perform any work beyond the limitations stated on his license. Paired with the code based license structure, that governs service pages. A J-1 limited contractor whose scope is domestic water pumps and water conditioning cannot advertise sewer line replacement. A P-7 limited sewer, storm and water contractor cannot advertise fixture and water heater work. Subsection (d) makes a journeyperson who performs work outside the direct and regular employ of a properly licensed contractor subject to disciplinary action, so a P-2 should not be running ads at all. Subsection (b) reserves building permits to licensed contractors and ties the permit to a personal attestation of responsibility and direct supervision, which means the person named on the permit is the person accountable for the job. Subsection (e) requires contractors to keep a record of all employees and to produce it on request from the Commissioner or her agents.
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Connecticut treats plumbing as a licensed occupation with no homeowner style workaround for hired work, and the enforcement sits with DCP. The statutory structure makes several distinct things violations. Performing covered plumbing and piping work without a license is one. Performing work beyond the limits stated on a license is another, under RCSA 20-332-16(f). Working as a journeyperson outside the direct and regular employ of a properly licensed contractor is a third, under subsection (d). Operating under a business name other than the one on file with DCP is a fourth, under subsection (c). Failing to display the state license number on commercial vehicles, advertisements, bid proposals, contracts, invoices and stationery carries its own penalty of not more than five hundred dollars per violation after the first, under Sec. 20-334. Continuing education failures carry their own exposure, and DCP states that failure to complete the required continuing education may subject the licensee to civil fines and the revocation or suspension of their license. The practical pattern for a contractor is that most Connecticut enforcement risk is administrative rather than criminal, and most of it is avoidable with paperwork. Keep the license current, keep the trade name on file matching the trade name on the truck, keep the work inside the code, keep the employee records, and keep the number visible. Consumers and competitors both report through DCP, and the public license lookup makes a mismatch between what you advertise and what you hold easy for anyone to find.
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Connecticut cities do not issue their own plumbing licenses. They issue permits, and they check the state license at the counter. Bridgeport states the rule most clearly. A plumbing permit may be taken out by any person holding a valid Connecticut license to do plumbing work or an authorized agent for the holder, and by a property owner of a single family residence who permanently resides at the property. The application must include a copy of the contractor's current Connecticut license card, a detailed written scope of work, construction drawings and specifications, manufacturer material data sheets, and any applicable federal or state pre approvals. Applications go through the Park City Portal, and the Building Department will not issue any permit if there are delinquent property taxes or WPCA sewer user fees against the property, which is a trap on rental and investor work. Hartford's Development Services department asks applicants to bring a current workers compensation insurance certificate listing the City of Hartford as the certificate holder, a current contractor's license if a contractor is doing the work, and a contractor's authorization letter if someone is applying on behalf of the contractor. New Haven has moved entirely online through its permit and licensing portal and states that paper applications will not be accepted, with a certificate of approval fee of $30.00 where the plumbing permit is not covered by a related building permit. The pattern across all three is the same. Carry the license card, carry the insurance certificate, and expect an authorization letter if an office administrator files for you.
Connecticut runs one public lookup for every credential DCP issues, at elicense.ct.gov/Lookup/LicenseLookup.aspx. DCP describes eLicense as a public portal that allows users to efficiently search for licenses, permits, and registrations for individuals and businesses, and the search accepts an individual's name or a business name. Both active and inactive licenses appear, which is the part that matters to a customer. An expired or inactive plumbing license shows up rather than disappearing, so a contractor who let a license lapse cannot rely on a blank result. DCP publishes step by step instructions and a short video for people who do not use the system often. Because Connecticut licenses individuals and not companies, a homeowner searching your company name may find nothing at all even when everyone on the crew is properly licensed. That is a conversion problem as much as a compliance one. The fix is to put the licensed contractor's name and license number on the estimate and on the website, so the customer has something that actually resolves in the lookup. That also satisfies Sec. 20-334, which already requires the state license number on advertisements, bid proposals, contracts and invoices. Do both at once. Name the licensee, print the number, link the lookup. A customer who can verify in one click stops shopping, and a competitor who cannot be verified looks worse by comparison without you saying anything about them.
These are common details other guides publish about Connecticut, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Department of Consumer Protection licenses plumbing and piping work statewide under Chapter 393 of the General Statutes, using letter and number codes such as P-1 and P-2 that state the exact scope of work.
The individual only. DCP states that only individuals can apply and that company applications are not accepted. The separate mechanical contractor organization registration was repealed effective October 1, 2025 under Public Act 25-111.
P-1 is the unlimited plumbing contractor and may do all plumbing and piping work as defined in section 20-330. P-2 is the unlimited journeyperson and may do the same work, but only in the employ of a licensed contractor.
8,000 on the job hours plus 576 classroom hours. Limited codes are lower: J-2 is 4,000 plus 288, and P-6, P-8 and J-4 are each 2,000 on the job hours with 180 or 144 classroom hours.
More than two years in the respective journeyperson license. The path stays inside a code family, so a P-2 moves to P-1 and a P-6 moves to P-7.
PSI Examination Services administers all construction trade exams for DCP. The regulations set the pass mark at a minimum grade of 70 percent under RCSA 20-332-10a.
Application is $150.00 for a contractor and $90.00 for a journeyperson, both nonrefundable. Renewal is $150.00 for a contractor and $120.00 for a journeyperson.
All plumbing and pipefitting licenses expire annually on October 31st, contractor and journeyperson alike.
Unlimited contractors and unlimited journeypersons need 5 credit hours every two years. Limited journeypersons need 3. P-6, P-7, PP-1 and PP-2 have no requirement at present. The statute caps it at not more than seven hours every two years.
No. DCP states that Connecticut does not have reciprocal agreements with any other jurisdiction. Out of state applicants go through an equivalency review of classroom hours, curriculum and on the job hours, and still have to take an exam.
Under Sec. 20-334, on all commercial vehicles used in the business and conspicuously on all advertisements, bid proposals, contracts, invoices and stationery. Vehicle lettering must be at least one inch high and legible under RCSA 20-332-16(g).
A fine of not more than five hundred dollars per violation, with no fine for the first violation, under Sec. 20-334.
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