Illinois · Plumbing licensing · official-source guide
Illinois licenses plumbers through the Illinois Department of Public Health, not a contractors board, and licenses the person and registers the business separately. Expect four years and 5,600 hours as a licensed apprentice, a three part exam needing a 75 average and 61 on each part, a $150 annual contractor registration, a $20,000 bond and your license number in every advertisement. Chicago runs its own board.
State-level license
Yes
Public lookup
Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-09-11. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Illinois does not run plumbing through a contractors board. The Illinois Department of Public Health licenses plumbers under the Illinois Plumbing License Law, 225 ILCS 320, and the rules at 68 Ill. Adm. Code 750. IDPH is advised by the State Board of Plumbing Examiners, whose organization and duties sit at Sections 750.200 and 750.210. Examination applications go to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 525 West Jefferson Street, 3rd Floor, Springfield, Illinois 62761, the address written into Section 750.300(a)(2). The Department reports licensing roughly 8,900 plumbers and 2,000 apprentice plumbers, plus more than 200 irrigation contractors, on its plumbing program page. Two separate rule sets govern the trade. Individual plumbers and apprentices fall under 68 Ill. Adm. Code 750. The business that sells the work falls under a different title entirely, the Plumbing Contractor Registration Code at 77 Ill. Adm. Code 894. A company can be fully insured and bonded and still be illegal if the person holding the wrench has no plumber's license, and a licensed plumber working for himself is still breaking the registration rule if the business never registered. Section 18 of the Act also bars a city, town, village, township or county from issuing a plumbing permit without verifying that the applicant holds a valid plumbing license, or is the owner occupant of the single family residence named on the permit. That verification step is where most out of state contractors first discover Illinois treats plumbing as a public health matter.
Illinois licenses the individual by grade and registers the contracting business separately, and you need both to run a plumbing company. The individual credentials are apprentice plumber, licensed plumber, retired plumber and certified plumbing inspector. The business credential is plumbing contractor registration. Section 13.1(1) of the Act says every person or corporation that wants to engage in the business of plumbing contractor has had to register since May 1, 2002, with one carve out: an entity that maintains an audited net worth of shareholders' equity equal to or exceeding $100,000,000 is excused from registering. Section 13.1(6) closes the loop by requiring that all employees of a registered plumbing contractor who do plumbing work be licensed plumbers or licensed apprentice plumbers. Section 750.600 adds the ownership rule. At least one member of every firm, association or partnership doing plumbing work, and at least one corporate officer of every corporation doing plumbing work, must be a licensed plumber, and the licensed plumber who is a corporate officer is individually responsible for all plumbing work performed by employees of the corporation, documented by payroll records, time sheets or W-2 forms. To prove it, corporations file board minutes appointing the plumber to a corporate office, partnerships file the partnership agreement, and sole proprietorships file a letter describing the business. Buying a plumbing company in Illinois therefore means transferring or replacing a named individual, not just the entity.
Sourcesilga.gov 1ilga.gov 2
Illinois requires the apprentice to be licensed, not merely employed. The apprentice plumber's license application carries a $100 fee payable to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and the form requires a named sponsor who is an Illinois licensed plumber. The Act defines the sponsor as an Illinois licensed plumber or an approved apprenticeship program that has accepted the individual for education and training, and the sponsor's name and license number or apprenticeship program number must appear on the apprentice's application. IDPH sets the minimum age at 16 and caps the apprenticeship at six years. Section 14 of the Act says licensed apprentice plumbers shall not accumulate more than six years as a licensed apprentice plumber. Supervision is defined tightly. Except for maintenance and repair work on existing plumbing systems by second year apprentices who have completed the annual classroom hours recommended by the federal apprenticeship program, any plumbing done by an apprentice must be inspected daily, after initial rough-in and after completion, by the sponsor or an agent who is also an Illinois licensed plumber. Repair and maintenance work on an existing system must be approved by that same sponsor or agent. An apprentice license also expires the day the sponsor severs the sponsorship, and the sponsor must notify the Department immediately. Reinstating it takes a new application and a new fee. For a contractor, that means an apprentice who quits does not carry a live license to the next employer.
Section 750.300 lists six routes to the exam, and every one of them is measured in hours. The standard route is four years as an Illinois licensed apprentice plumber, and the rule fixes the term of apprenticeship at not less than 1,400 hours per year, for a total of 5,600 hours in four years. A second route accepts two years as an Illinois licensed apprentice plus two years of Department approved plumbing courses, again totalling 5,600 hours, with classroom or laboratory training credited at two credit hours for each classroom hour and capped at 24 months of credit. A third route accepts the equivalent of four years as a licensed apprentice in another state or territory, credited hour for hour. A fourth accepts a Department approved course of study equivalent to an Illinois apprenticeship, which must total 2,800 hours of credit. A fifth covers plumbers licensed where no apprentice program exists, credited hour for hour toward the 1,400 hours per year requirement, and requires documentation that the licensing jurisdiction tested three areas: plumbing design knowledge, practical or working skill, and knowledge of plumbing standards in that jurisdiction. Every applicant must also have completed at least a two year course of study in a high school or equivalent, equal to 10 credit hours, and must be a United States citizen or have declared intent to become one. Applications, a face photograph at least 1.5 by 2.5 inches, proof of eligibility and the fee must be postmarked at least 30 days before the exam date.
Sourcesilga.gov 1dph.illinois.gov 2
Section 750.310 sets the structure. The Illinois plumber's license examination has three parts: a Knowledge Assessment of true and false, multiple choice or fill in the blank questions based on the Illinois Plumbing Code; a Construction Drawings or Plans part in which the applicant interprets drawings on paper or electronically and completes them or answers questions on fixtures, piping techniques and Code compliance; and a Practical Application Assessment in which the applicant builds projects from a drawing using materials selected from Appendix A, Table A of the Illinois Plumbing Code. The maximum grade value of each part is 100 points. An applicant must make an average of 75 or above on the examination and a grade of 61 or above on each part to pass. Two numbers, not one, and a strong average will not rescue a weak part. Applicants bring their own tools and materials, and are told in writing what to bring. Safety glasses are required at all times in the shop, and clothing bearing pictures, writing, inscriptions or logos of any kind is not admitted. Section 750.300(a)(3) limits each exam date to 50 applicants, and to 40 during winter months, with the exam scheduled at least once every three months. A failed applicant may sit a later scheduled exam after filing a retake application and fee. An applicant caught cheating is expelled, the exam is voided, and the Department may bar reapplication for not less than six months.
Sourcesilga.gov
Subpart K of 68 Ill. Adm. Code 750 prices the individual side. The plumber's license examination fee is $175 when the applicant is licensed as an Illinois apprentice plumber and $225 when the applicant is registered or licensed in a state other than Illinois. Re-examination is $175 either way. The plumber's license fee, initial or renewal, is $150. The apprentice plumber's license fee, initial or renewal, is $100. A late fee or reinstatement fee for any license renewal is $100 on top of all lapsed renewal fees. Restoration of an expired plumber's license is $175 and includes the fee for the first examination only. A duplicate license is $50. A retired plumber's annual license is $25. Reinstatement from retired status with fewer than five years out is $100 per year out; restoration after more than five years is $175 and includes the first examination. The plumbing inspector's examination is $175, the inspector's certification late fee is $100, and a Chicago licensed certified plumbing inspector pays $150. A dishonored check or insufficient payment costs $100. The business side is priced separately at Section 894.80: a non-refundable annual registration fee of $150 for each registered plumbing contractor, a $100 registration reinstatement fee, and a $200 fee for a dishonored negotiable instrument. All of these fees are non-refundable.
Sourcesilga.gov 1ilga.gov 2dph.illinois.gov 3dph.illinois.gov 4dph.illinois.gov 5
Section 13.1(4) of the Act and Section 894.20(a)(6) set identical insurance floors for a plumbing contractor registration. The applicant files an original certificate of insurance showing general liability insurance with a minimum of $100,000 per occurrence, a minimum of $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, property damage insurance with a minimum of $50,000 or a minimum of $300,000 combined single limit, and workers compensation insurance with a minimum of $500,000 employer's liability. No registration may be issued without that certificate, and the certificate must stay in force for the registration to remain valid. Sole proprietorships and partnerships with no employees are exempt from the workers compensation requirement and file an Affidavit of No Employees instead. On top of the insurance, Section 13.1(5) and Section 894.20(a)(7) require an indemnification bond in the amount of $20,000, on a Department form, or an irrevocable letter of credit in the same amount naming the Department as sole beneficiary, signed by an officer of the issuing financial institution and printed on its letterhead. IDPH publishes four separate bond forms, one each for corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and sole proprietors. Section 894.40 adds a rule that catches people: a registered plumbing contractor may not perform services excluded from the liability policy, and any lapse in coverage results in immediate termination of plumbing activities until a new certificate reaches the Department.
Sourcesilga.gov 1ilga.gov 2dph.illinois.gov 3dph.illinois.gov 4
Plumber and apprentice licenses expire on April 30 following the date of issuance, and renew for one year from each succeeding May 1 on payment before May 1. A renewal received after May 1 must include the annual renewal fee plus the reinstatement fee, and for apprentices the application must arrive by November 1 of the same year. A plumber whose license has lapsed under five years pays all lapsed renewal fees plus the reinstatement fee. Past five years, the plumber applies for restoration, pays the restoration fee and must pass the Illinois plumber's examination again. A license that expires during active military service is reinstated without examination and without the lapsed renewal fee if the former licensee applies within two years of leaving service. Contractor registration is where the paperwork conflicts. Section 13.1(2) of the Act, as amended by Public Acts 103-26 and 103-605, says applications are filed each year on or before the last day of September and all plumbing contractor registrations expire on the last day of September. Section 894.20(b) of the rule, last amended in 2014, still says registrations expire April 30 and renew from May 1, and the letter of credit under Section 894.20(a)(7)(D) is still written to expire on April 30. Confirm your own renewal month with the Department rather than assuming either date.
Section 3 of the Act obliges each licensed plumber, as a condition of each annual license renewal after the first license, to provide proof of completion of four hours of continuing education. Section 750.500(a) repeats it and adds that the hours must come from courses offered by sponsors approved by the Department under Section 750.510. The statutory ceiling matters for planning: Section 14 says a continuing education requirement established by the Department for all licensed plumbers shall not exceed 15 hours per year, so four is the current setting, not the maximum the Department could set. Three exemptions and one penalty sit around it. A licensed plumber is not required to complete continuing education for the year in which the plumbing license was initially issued. A licensed retired plumber is exempt unless the retired plumber wants to restore the license to active status, in which case the Department decides how many hours are owed based on how long the plumber has been retired. Plumbers found to have committed repeated violations of the Illinois Plumbing Code must complete a minimum of two additional hours conducted by the Department, at a time and location the Department picks. Section 750.900 makes failure to complete the required continuing education a license violation in its own right. IDPH publishes the approved course listing as an open data set, and sponsors register their courses with the Department on a separate application.
Section 17 of the Act is the reciprocity provision, and it is conditional rather than a published list of partner states. A plumber registered or licensed in another state or municipality may be granted an Illinois plumber's license without examination if the applicant is at least 21 years of age and the Board finds that the other jurisdiction's requirements were, at the date of that license, substantially equal to Illinois requirements, and provided the same privilege of registration is accorded by that state or municipality to Illinois licensed plumbers. Subsection (b) covers the other case: a plumber licensed by a state whose requirements are substantially equal but which has no reciprocal agreement with Illinois may still be issued an Illinois license by passing the Illinois plumber's examination and paying the fees. That is why the examination application prices out of state applicants at $225 rather than $175. The one route IDPH documents in detail is Chicago. The Department publishes a Plumber's License Application for Reciprocity for the City of Chicago Licensees. It asks for proof of four years of licensed apprenticeship from the licensing agency, license copies rather than employer letters, a copy of the current Chicago plumber's license, proof of four hours of continuing education in the last year, a 1 by 1 inch passport style photograph and the child support certification. The fee for the plumber's license on that form is $150.
Sourcesilga.gov 1dph.illinois.gov 2dph.illinois.gov 3ilga.gov 4
Illinois stacks a criminal penalty and an administrative one. Section 29(1) makes any violation of the Act, its rules or the plumbing code a Class B misdemeanor with a fine of $500 for the first offense, and a Class A misdemeanor with a fine of $1,000 for a second or subsequent violation, with each day of violation a separate offense, prosecuted by the State's Attorney or the Attorney General. Section 29(2) lets the court enter a judgment perpetually enjoining a defendant from further plumbing, and treat a breach of that injunction as contempt. Section 29.5(a) adds a civil penalty payable to the Department of up to $5,000 for each offense for practicing, offering to practice, attempting to practice or holding out as a plumber or plumbing contractor without a license or registration. Section 750.1000 and Section 894.70 set the schedule the Department applies. For an unlicensed plumber or an unregistered contractor: $1,000 for a first offense with no plumbing code violations found, $3,000 for a first offense with code violations, reducible to $1,000 if the offender pays a licensed plumber acceptable to the customer to correct them, then $3,000 and $5,000 at the second offense, and $5,000 for a third. A licensed plumber or a registered contractor who directs or allows an unlicensed person to practice pays $5,000, must pay a licensed plumber to correct code violations, and has the license suspended on the first offense and revoked on the second.
Section 5 of the Act is the provision that decides whether your marketing is legal. Section 5(a) requires persons who advertise plumbing services to display, at their place of business, the licensed plumber's license of at least one member of the firm, partnership or officer of the corporation, and to maintain a register listing the names and license numbers of all licensed plumbers and all licensed apprentice plumbers currently employed. The same subsection carries the vehicle rule: the number of the license so displayed shall also be included with the plumbing identification on vehicles. Section 5(b) then bars any person who provides plumbing services from advertising those services unless the advertisement includes that license number, while excusing the publisher from verifying it. The Act sets no letter height and no prefix, so the enforceable test is that the number appears, is the right number, and belongs to the person named under subsection (a). Section 5(b.5) prices failure. Failing to display the number in all manners required, giving a publisher the wrong number, giving a false number or another person's number, or letting your number be used so someone else can get around the Section is a Class A misdemeanor with a fine of $1,000, and each day a person fails to display and each day an advertisement runs is a separate offense. IDPH states the same rule in plainer words on its plumbing page, adding that sharing license numbers can lead to suspension or revocation.
Sourcesilga.gov 1dph.illinois.gov 2
Section 5(b.10) gives IDPH a remedy that is unusual among state trade statutes and worth knowing before you buy directory or call tracking numbers. After notice and an opportunity for hearing, the Department may issue an Order of Correction to the telecommunications carrier furnishing service to any telephone number contained in a printed advertisement for plumbing services found to violate the Section. The Order is limited to that telephone number. It directs the carrier to disconnect the telephone service furnished to the number in the unlawful advertisement, and it directs that subsequent calls to that number not be referred by the carrier to any new number obtained by, or any existing number registered to, that person. The trigger is probable cause that the advertisement contains a false license number, contains a license number belonging to someone other than the person designated under Section 5(a), or was placed or circulated by a person not properly licensed. Notice goes by certified mail or personal service, sets out the reasons, and fixes a date not less than 20 days out by which the person must request a hearing in writing; missing that deadline waives the hearing. If the carrier does not comply within 20 days after the order is final, the Department informs the Illinois Commerce Commission, which then requires the carrier to disconnect. Service is restored only on a showing to the Department that the person is in compliance. Section 5 also sits alongside Sections 19 and 20, so the same conduct can cost the license as well as the phone number.
Sourcesilga.gov
Section 16(1) of the Act lets any city, village or incorporated town with a population of 500,000 or more adopt an ordinance substantially the same as the Act, with equivalent education or experience requirements, and run its own board of plumbing examiners to conduct examinations and to issue, suspend or revoke plumbers' licenses within that municipality. Chicago is the municipality that did it, and the Chicago Department of Buildings issues the licenses under Municipal Code of Chicago Chapter 4-332, Plumbers. Section 16(2) then makes the two credentials interchangeable for fieldwork: any person licensed as a plumber under such an ordinance, or licensed by the Department under the Act, may engage in plumbing anywhere in this State. The Chicago plumber license requires the applicant to be at least 21, to have worked at least four years as a plumber's apprentice or to have completed approved plumbing instruction at a trade school, college or university, and to pass a written examination before attempting the practical examination. Out of state licensed plumbers may qualify without examination. The city prices the examination at $149.00 per exam, the initial license at $30.00, annual renewal at $30.00, and reinstatement at $14.00 per year or fraction. Renewal requires at least four hours of continuing education in plumbing. The Chicago apprentice plumber license requires an applicant at least 16 years old and a letter from a licensed plumbing contractor or an approved apprenticeship program officer certifying direct supervision by a licensed plumber; it costs $100.00 to issue, $100.00 to renew annually and $100.00 per year to reinstate, with $50.00 for a duplicate.
Chicago licenses the business as well, under Municipal Code of Chicago Chapter 4-336, Plumbing Contractors. The license authorizes installing, altering, repairing and maintaining plumbing piping, systems and appliances across the city, and a holder may also perform work that would otherwise require a separate drain layer contractor license. Only a plumber licensed by the City of Chicago may file the application. A sole proprietor must be a Chicago licensed plumber, a partnership or association needs at least one licensed plumber member, and a corporation needs at least one licensed corporate officer. Applications are filed through Continental Testing Services, and only proprietors, members or corporate officers may submit them. The bond is separate from the state bond: a $20,000.00 performance bond payable to the City of Chicago, filed with the City Clerk. Effective January 2, 2025, the city charges $150.00 for the initial license, $150.00 for renewal and $100.00 per lapsed year to reinstate. The license runs one year from issuance and renews through the Department of Buildings web portal. It goes inactive automatically if the bond expires or the underlying plumber's license lapses. State law links the two systems. Section 13.1(9) of the Act makes an applicant whose plumber's license came from Chicago responsible for forwarding a renewed copy to IDPH each time, and if IDPH suspends or revokes the state contractor registration the Department notifies Chicago and the corresponding city license is suspended or revoked. Section 16(4) runs the notice the other way.
Sourceschicago.gov 1ilga.gov 2
IDPH runs a public verification page for plumbers. It searches on last name, business name, license number, street, city, state or county, accepts a minimum of three letters followed by an asterisk for partial matches, and returns only current plumbers with an active license. That last filter is worth knowing in both directions: a plumber who renewed late and is between reinstatement steps can disappear from the search that a homeowner runs before signing. IDPH also runs separate online renewal portals, one for plumbers, apprentices, certified inspectors and retired plumbers, and another for plumbing contractors. For work inside Chicago, the city publishes its own list of licensed plumbing contractors showing license number, name, address, phone, license expiration date, bond expiration date and whether the license is inactive, and it timestamps the data. A customer checking a Chicago job can therefore see the bond expiration, which the state search does not show. Section 5(a) gives a customer a third check that needs no website: the register of names and license numbers of every licensed plumber and licensed apprentice plumber the firm employs, which must be maintained at the place of business. The Department may examine the payroll records of a person subject to Section 5 to test compliance, and that right is limited to those records and does not extend to other business records. Contractors who keep their register current and their advertised number correct clear the two checks Illinois actually enforces.
Sourcesildohplmprod.glsuite.us 1webapps1.chicago.gov 2dph.illinois.gov 3ilga.gov 4
These are common details other guides publish about Illinois, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
The state licenses plumbers. The Illinois Department of Public Health issues the plumber's license under 225 ILCS 320 and 68 Ill. Adm. Code 750. A city, village or incorporated town with a population of 500,000 or more may run its own board under Section 16 of the Act, and Chicago does. A license from either IDPH or Chicago lets the holder work anywhere in the state.
Yes. Section 13.1 of the Act requires anyone who wants to engage in the business of plumbing contractor to register with IDPH, separately from the individual plumber's license. The only exception in the statute is an entity that maintains an audited net worth of shareholders' equity equal to or exceeding $100,000,000.
Section 13.1(4) of the Act requires general liability insurance with a minimum of $100,000 per occurrence, a minimum of $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, property damage insurance with a minimum of $50,000 or a minimum of $300,000 combined single limit, and workers compensation insurance with a minimum of $500,000 employer's liability. No registration issues without the certificate.
Yes. Section 13.1(5) of the Act and Section 894.20(a)(7) require an indemnification bond of $20,000 on a Department form, or an irrevocable letter of credit in the same amount naming the Department as sole beneficiary. IDPH publishes separate bond forms for corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and sole proprietors.
Four years as an Illinois licensed apprentice plumber, and Section 750.300(e)(1)(C) fixes the term at not less than 1,400 hours per year, for a total of 5,600 hours. Two years as an apprentice plus two years of Department approved plumbing courses also reaches 5,600 hours, and a Department approved course of study equivalent to the apprenticeship must total 2,800 hours of credit.
An average of 75 or above across the examination and a grade of 61 or above on each part. The three parts are the Knowledge Assessment, the Construction Drawings or Plans part, and the Practical Application Assessment, each worth a maximum of 100 points under Section 750.310(f).
Four hours, as a condition of each annual license renewal after the first license, from a sponsor approved by IDPH under Section 750.510. The statutory ceiling in Section 14 is 15 hours per year. Plumbers found to have committed repeated Illinois Plumbing Code violations must complete two extra hours conducted by the Department.
Yes, where the truck carries plumbing identification. Section 5(a) says the number of the license displayed at the place of business shall also be included with the plumbing identification on vehicles. The Act sets no letter height and no prefix, so the test is that the correct number appears.
Section 5(b.5) makes it a Class A misdemeanor with a fine of $1,000, and each day the advertisement runs is a separate offense. The same subsection covers giving a publisher a false number or another person's number. The licensee is also exposed to suspension or revocation under Section 19.
Section 5(b.10) allows it. After notice and an opportunity for hearing, the Department may issue an Order of Correction to the telecommunications carrier serving a telephone number in a printed plumbing advertisement found to violate Section 5, directing disconnection and barring the carrier from referring calls to a new number. The Illinois Commerce Commission enforces it if the carrier does not comply.
Effective January 2, 2025 the city charges $150.00 to issue, $150.00 to renew and $100.00 per lapsed year to reinstate. The bond is a $20,000.00 performance bond payable to the City of Chicago, filed with the City Clerk. The license goes inactive if the bond expires or the plumber's license behind it lapses.
IDPH runs a public plumber license verification page that searches by last name, business name, license number or address and returns only current plumbers with an active license. For work in Chicago, the city publishes a licensed plumbing contractors list that also shows the license expiration date and the bond expiration date.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.