Louisiana · Plumbing licensing · official-source guide
Louisiana licenses plumbing twice. The State Plumbing Board of Louisiana licenses the person, from registered apprentice through Residential Plumber Limited, Journeyman and Master Plumber. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors licenses the company, and Plumbing needs that license above $10,000. Expect 8,000 apprentice hours, $500,000 general liability, and license numbers on every truck and advertisement.
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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.
Louisiana splits plumbing regulation across two state bodies, and a contractor needs both answers. The State Plumbing Board of Louisiana licenses people. It sits at 11304 Cloverland Ave, Baton Rouge, on 225-756-3434, and it issues apprentice registrations, Residential Plumber Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber, natural gas fitter and medical gas credentials. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors licenses businesses to bid and contract. It sits at 600 North Street, Baton Rouge, on 225.765.2301, and Plumbing is one of its eleven major classifications under R.S. 37:2156.1(A). The two connect rather than overlap. On the contractor board's own classification list, Plumbing is classification code 7 and is marked Credential, not Trade Exam, and the board defines a Credential as a classification requiring a certification or license from an outside agency. The outside agency is the plumbing board. The contractors licensing law makes the same point directly for mechanical contractors: a mechanical contractor who performs plumbing work with a value over $10,000 must possess a master plumber license with the State Plumbing Board. So the sequence is person first, company second. You qualify as a master plumber with the State Plumbing Board, then that master license is what the contractor board accepts as the credential behind a Plumbing classification.
Sourcesspbla.com 1spbla.com 2lslbc.louisiana.gov 3lslbc.louisiana.gov 4lslbc.louisiana.gov 5lslbc.gov 6
Every person doing plumbing or gas fitting work in Louisiana starts at the bottom of a registered ladder. The board states that all persons performing the art of plumbing or gas fitting in the state must first register as an apprentice, be in the employ of a master company, and perform all work under direct, on-the-job supervision of a journeyman or master. A Residential Plumber licensed through the board is qualified to independently perform repairs of existing residential plumbing systems in one and two family dwellings, under the employment and at the direction of a licensed Louisiana Master Plumber. A Journeyman Plumber is qualified to perform installation, repairs and maintenance of new and existing plumbing systems under the direct or indirect supervision of a licensed Louisiana Master Plumber, and under LAC 46:LV.301(A) may repair existing plumbing independently and without master supervision. A Master Plumber is qualified to perform installation, repairs and maintenance of new and existing plumbing systems and to employ registered apprentices and licensed journeyman plumbers. Parallel licenses exist on the gas side, Journeyman Natural Gas Fitter and Master Natural Gas Fitter, and two endorsements sit alongside: the Water Supply Protection Specialist for backflow testing and the Medical Gas Installer and Verifier credentials. A Residential Plumber working under direct supervision is not counted in the apprentice to journeyman ratio.
Louisiana runs two apprentice tracks and the choice changes how long the clock runs. An indentured apprentice is enrolled in an approved training program through the Louisiana Workforce Commission and registers with the State Plumbing Board, and needs fewer on the job hours before examination. An unindentured apprentice simply works for a master company and registers with the board. Either way the registration application costs $20, processing takes up to two weeks, and the card renews every year by December 31. Apprentices do not need continuing professional education to renew and may renew online. The board tells apprentices to keep the registration on their person or carry a digital copy in the field. The first license above registration is the Residential Plumber Limited. An indentured apprentice qualifies after 3,000 hours of manual plumbing labor under the employment of a board licensed master plumber. An unindentured apprentice qualifies after 4,000 hours. The board notes that full time work is 2,080 hours a year, so most indentured apprentices reach the residential examination in about 1.5 years and most unindentured apprentices in about two years. Proof of hours must be official payroll documentation naming the company, the applicant and total hours, or W-2 forms from a licensed master company. A letter from the employer will not be accepted, and 1099 forms are not acceptable because everyone applying must be an employee.
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The journeyman examination is the real gate in Louisiana. A currently registered indentured apprentice qualifies after 7,000 hours of manual plumbing labor under the direct, constant, on the job supervision of a board licensed journeyman or master plumber. A currently registered unindentured apprentice qualifies after 8,000 hours. The board puts that at roughly 3.5 years for indentured and four years for unindentured apprentices at full time. The application must be notarized, complete, and submitted with a check or money order for $135, which the board breaks out as a $125 examination fee plus a $10 processing charge, no less than thirty days before the examination date. Examinations are held in Baton Rouge and Shreveport on a quarterly basis. The examination is a one part, 80 question, three hour written test based on the 2021 International Plumbing Code and the 2021 International Residential Code, plus a one hour practical covering a floor plan project, a screw pipe project and a copper project. Passing one part but not the other keeps the passing score alive for one year, and the candidate must retake the other part within that year. On passing, the initial journeyman license costs $50.00. A Temporary Work Permit costs $75.00, lets the applicant work as a journeyman until the examination date, and is limited to one per lifetime, with none issued after a failed examination.
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Only two things qualify a person to sit the Louisiana master plumber examination. The applicant must hold a current Journeyman Plumbing License, or hold a current license from the Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board registering them as a professional engineer, with a copy of the current license produced at application. The application is notarized and submitted with a check or money order for $110. The examination is three written parts. Part I runs three hours and 80 questions on the 2021 International Plumbing Code and the 2021 International Residential Code. Part II runs two hours and 25 questions on Title 51, Public Health Sanitary Code, Part XIII Sewage Disposal, December 2022 edition. Part III runs two hours and 40 questions on the NASCLA Louisiana Master Plumbers and Master Natural Gasfitters Guide to Business, Law, and Project Management, second edition. On passing, the applicant chooses status. An Active master license costs $190 and requires association with a current plumbing company or proof of insurance for a new company. An Inactive master license costs $40, and can be used either to work as a journeyman under a master company or to hold the credential while out of the trade. Under LAC 46:LV.301(J) an inactive master plumber may not designate an employing entity or knowingly allow one to hold itself out as employing him as a master plumber.
The board publishes its whole fee schedule on the back of the annual renewal form, with a $10.00 processing charge already included in the listed figures. Renewing by December 31 costs $190 for an Active Master Plumber, $40 for an Inactive Master Plumber, $50 for a Journeyman Plumber, $40 for a Residential Plumber Limited, $50 for a Natural Gas Fitter, $190 for an Active Master Natural Gas Fitter, $40 for a Medical Gas Installer and $210 for a Medical Gas Verifier. Miss December 31 and the first revival fee applies: $250 Active Master, $55 Inactive Master, $65 Journeyman, $55 Residential Plumber Limited, $50 Medical Gas Installer, $275 Medical Gas Verifier. Miss March 31 and the second revival fee applies: $310 Active Master, $70 Inactive Master, $80 Journeyman, $70 Residential Plumber Limited, $60 Medical Gas Installer, $340 Medical Gas Verifier. On the application side, apprentice registration is $20, residential and journeyman examination applications are $135 each, the master examination application is $110, initial residential licensure is $40.00 and initial journeyman licensure is $50.00. Temporary work permits cost $75.00. The Water Supply Protection Specialist endorsement costs $20, stated as a $10.00 fee plus a $10.00 processing charge, and requires a 40 hour tester certification with recertification every three years.
Louisiana puts the insurance duty on the master, and it is the largest general liability figure in this page. The board's 2026 renewal form states that all licensees responsible for company operations, meaning Responsible Masters or Journeymen as applicable, must submit current copies of the company's General Liability at $500,000, Vehicle, and Workers' Compensation insurance certificates with the form or before submitting it. A licensee exempt from carrying workers' compensation under R.S. 23:1044 completes a Workers' Compensation Affidavit instead. The board's signage and insurance page repeats the requirement for all active master plumbers and active master natural gas fitters, and adds two operating details. Certificates of insurance that do not state a termination of coverage date, for example those marked continuous or continuous until canceled, are accepted for the current license year only. A copy of the proof of insurance card for each service vehicle may be submitted instead of a certificate for vehicle liability coverage. A notarized workers' compensation affidavit expires on change of requirement status or on December 31 of the license year, whichever comes first, and a new affidavit is required each renewal year. Structurally, the board requires one designated Responsible Active Master Plumber for each company, though a company may have more than one active master. That designated master keeps insurance current with the board and keeps the employing entity in line with LA R.S. 37:1361 et seq.
Louisiana ties continuing professional education to the December 31 renewal date and varies the hours by license and by whether the licensee actually works. Active Master Plumbers must complete five hours of Continuing Professional Education before renewing. Journeyman Plumbers and Residential Plumber Limited holders must complete 3.5 hours each year before renewing. An inactive master plumber who is working as a journeyman must complete a minimum of 3.5 hours before renewing. An inactive master plumber who is not working in the trade is not required to complete CPE and may file the board's CPE exemption form at renewal, but the board warns plainly that claiming that exemption will not allow the licensee to work in the trade for that calendar year. Apprentices need no CPE at all. Courses must come from providers on the board's approved list, and the board publishes that list with contact names and numbers for each provider, including union training centres in Metairie, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles. Providers offer in house classes at their facility or correspondence courses completed at home. The board's instruction on late training is specific: any license holder who does not take CPE by December 31 of each year must contact the State Plumbing Board to complete a make-up course. The renewal form states that CPE must be completed before the renewal application is submitted.
The State Plumbing Board of Louisiana is unusually direct about its limits here, and both halves matter. On the master side, the board states that it does not reciprocate master licenses, full stop. On the journeyman side, the board states that it reciprocates with the State of Arkansas and Texas, and publishes a Texas Reciprocal Journeyman Plumber and Natural Gas Application and an Arkansas Reciprocal Journeyman Plumber and Natural Gas Application on its license reciprocation page. Those two applications cover the journeyman plumber and natural gas fitter positions. Outside those two states there is still a usable path, but it is a qualification route rather than a license swap. The board states that if you hold a valid plumbing license in another state, you may use it to qualify to take the Louisiana Journeyman Plumber examination, submitting a copy of the out of state license with the application for approval, and that only licenses obtained with at least 8,000 hours will be approved. So an out of state journeyman from a third state still sits the Louisiana examination, and an out of state master still climbs the Louisiana ladder. R.S. 37:1369 adds a narrow temporary permit route for a journeyman plumber holding a state license from a state with like examinations where that state recognizes the Louisiana license, and states that temporary permits shall not be issued to master plumbers.
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors regulates who may bid and contract, and plumbing gets a lower threshold than general construction. The board's own classification entry reads: Plumbing, the construction, installation, maintenance, or repair of potable and non-potable tap water and/or sewer water systems within a building structure or house, and a license is required when the value exceeds $10,000. Plumbing is both a major classification, code 7, and a subclassification of Mechanical. Compare that with the general thresholds the board publishes: commercial projects at $50,000 or more, residential construction or home improvement at $50,000 or more or involving structural work, home improvement between $7,500 and $50,000, and hazardous materials work at one dollar or more. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing are called out as the exception requiring a license for projects exceeding $10,000. The Labor Only specialty carries the same split, applying above $50,000 generally but above $10,000 for electrical, mechanical or plumbing work. R.S. 37:2156(F)(1) bars a licensee from bidding or performing any type of work not included in the classification under which the license was issued, and R.S. 37:2156(F)(2) requires the licensee to bid, contract, transact business and perform work in the name exactly as it appears on the current license and the board's official records.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.louisiana.gov 2lslbc.louisiana.gov 3lslbc.gov 4lslbc.louisiana.gov 5
The financial test comes first. R.S. 37:2156.1(B)(1) requires an applicant to submit a financial statement on a board form, current to within twelve months of filing, prepared and signed by an accountant, bookkeeper or certified public accountant and signed by the applicant. Paragraph (B)(2) sets net worth at fifty thousand dollars or more for residential and commercial licenses, their subclassifications and all specialty classifications except labor only, and twenty-five thousand dollars or more for home improvement, mold remediation and labor only. An applicant short of that may satisfy it with an irrevocable letter of credit for the net worth requirement plus any negative net worth. The board's published requirements sheet adds completion of the Business and Law course and a passing score on the trade exam where applicable, and for plumbing the classification is credential based rather than trade exam based. R.S. 37:2156.1(C) requires the applicant, each principal and each designated qualifying party to pass a background investigation covering fiduciary and monetary matters including bankruptcy, judgment, insolvency or lien. R.S. 37:2156(C) caps the fees: examination fee $50.00, license fee $100.00, renewal fee $100.00, delinquent fee $50.00 and home improvement fee $50.00. R.S. 37:2156(D) allows an additional surcharge of not more than four hundred dollars for a contractor not domiciled in Louisiana. R.S. 37:2156(K)(1) adds an education dedication fee of one hundred dollars per year at renewal, with an optional election to opt out.
R.S. 37:2156(H)(1) sets the renewal rhythm. Licenses expire on the anniversary of the date the license was originally issued, and licensees elect one, two or three year renewal terms at renewal. The subsection then carries a sentence that matters for plumbing specifically: licenses dependent on insurance requirements or certifications shall not be eligible for multiple-year renewal. Plumbing is a credential classification, so a plumbing contractor should plan on renewing annually rather than buying three years at once. After expiry there is a fifteen day window to file a renewal application without a penalty, and an application after that window carries a delinquent fee not exceeding fifty dollars. R.S. 37:2156(H)(2) adds that licenses or classifications based on certifications or credentials expire when the underlying credential expires, which ties the contractor license to the master plumber license behind it. R.S. 37:2156(J) closes the door after a year: a license not renewed within one year of expiration is no longer eligible for renewal and the contractor applies afresh. Reciprocity changed on October 23, 2024. The executive director's notice states that if an applicant, licensee or registrant holds a classification requiring a test in any other state and has passed that test with no waivers, exemptions or grandfathering, the board will accept that passing exam for reciprocity for an equivalent classification, and that the change renders any previous agreements null and void.
Sourceslslbc.louisiana.gov 1lslbc.gov 2lslbc.louisiana.gov 3
Louisiana is one of the most prescriptive states in the country here, and the rule is LAC Title 46, Part LV, Section 301(F). Every employing entity must maintain an established place of business with facilities for receiving complaints, calls and notices during normal business hours. It must display a sign plainly visible from the street at every place where it and its employees are performing plumbing work. A sole employing entity on a multi-site project may post one sign at the entrance instead. Every posted sign must designate the employing entity's full name, physical address, telephone number and the master plumber license number issued by the board to the designated active master plumber in its employ. A single site sign uses legible lettering at least two inches high with the words Louisiana Licensed Master Plumber, abbreviated as LA Lic. Master Plumber or LMP followed by the number. A single sign on a multi-site project must use lettering at least four inches high. Service vehicles carry permanent signs or lettering on both sides with the same information in at least two inch lettering. Then the reach: all public advertising, solicitations, customer invoices and business correspondence issued by or on behalf of an employing entity must set forth the same information. The board abbreviates the gas equivalent as LMNGF. Section 301(K) prices non-compliance at up to $10 a day, capped in the aggregate at $500, on top of license fees and any other penalty.
Both boards can act, and the numbers differ sharply. On the plumbing board side, R.S. 37:1374(A) provides that whoever violates the Chapter shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned for not more than ninety days, or both. R.S. 37:1374(B)(1) adds an administrative route: on receipt of a complaint from a consumer for whom the work was performed, the board may fine any person or employing entity performing plumbing work or engaging in the business of plumbing without a board license or endorsement an amount not more than five thousand dollars, subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. R.S. 37:1378 lists the grounds for revoking, suspending or refusing to renew a license, including conviction of a felony and falsification of any material portion of an application or other submission including insurance, work, training or experience verifications. On the contractor board side, R.S. 37:2163(A)(1) makes it unlawful to engage in the business of contracting without an active license, and R.S. 37:2163(C)(1) makes that a misdemeanor carrying a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars per day of violation, or three months in prison, or both. Where an unlicensed person causes harm or damage exceeding three hundred dollars, R.S. 37:2163(C)(2) raises it to a fine of five hundred to five thousand dollars, or imprisonment with or without hard labor for six months to five years, or both. R.S. 37:2164(A) adds a civil fine of up to ten percent of the total contract or the value of the work bid.
New Orleans adds a genuine local layer that catches contractors from elsewhere in the state. Plumbing permits in Orleans Parish are issued by the Sewerage and Water Board, not by the Department of Safety and Permits, and the city's own building permit guidance says so plainly, adding that only your Orleans Parish licensed master plumber may apply for that permit. The Sewerage and Water Board states that a Licensed Master Plumber registered with the Sewerage and Water Board is required to file a plumbing permit to install, construct, reconstruct, alter or repair any plumbing system or do any work in connection with the public sewers and water mains under its control, citing S&WB Plumbing Code 2.2.1, and that no property owner may permit work without a permit first issued by its Plumbing Department under 2.2.4. Its Plumbing Department sits at 625 St. Joseph Street, Room 255, permits run through the City of New Orleans One Stop, and the Backflow Section of the Environmental Affairs Department inspects backflow assemblies. Baton Rouge runs a conventional permit office. The city-parish Permits and Inspections Division at 300 N Tenth Street, on 225-389-3205, handles code inspections and code enforcement for zoning, building, occupancy, mechanical, plumbing and electrical construction, with permits through permits.brla.gov. Statewide, R.S. 37:2160(B) bars any local building department from issuing a building permit to a person without an active license in the appropriate classification, and R.S. 37:2160(D) preempts local examination authority while letting a local government set requirements not less stringent than the state's.
Louisiana gives the public two separate lookups, and a careful customer uses both. The State Plumbing Board runs a public license portal at public.spbla.com, reached from the board's Rosters page under Find a Licensed Plumber, and that is where the master plumber, journeyman, residential plumber and gas fitter records live. The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans points Orleans Parish customers straight at it, describing the State Plumbing Board site as the searchable list of licensed plumbers in Orleans Parish. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors runs a separate contractor search with seven entry points: by contractor name, by contractor license number, by city or town, by parish, by type of contractor, by qualifying party, and an advanced search. That qualifying party search is the useful one, because it shows which named person stands behind a company's classification. Two pieces of paperwork also carry the number by law. R.S. 37:2159(A)(2) requires every agreement to perform contracting services requiring licensure to include the full names, addresses and the license number of the contractor. R.S. 37:2165(A)(1) requires a bidder to display the license number on the bid envelope, and a bid without it is automatically rejected, returned marked Rejected and not read aloud. R.S. 37:2165(A)(3) adds that on a project classified before bid as a plumbing project, bids may be accepted only from those whose qualifying party has complied with R.S. 37:1361 et seq.
Sourcespublic.spbla.com 1spbla.com 2swbno.org 3arlspublic.lslbc.louisiana.gov 4arlspublic.lslbc.louisiana.gov 5lslbc.louisiana.gov 6
These are common details other guides publish about Louisiana, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes, and twice over. The State Plumbing Board of Louisiana licenses the individual, issuing apprentice registrations plus Residential Plumber Limited, Journeyman Plumber and Master Plumber licenses. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors licenses the contracting business, with Plumbing as one of eleven major classifications.
Both, through different boards. The State Plumbing Board licenses people by grade. The State Licensing Board for Contractors licenses companies by classification. On the contractor board's list, Plumbing is classification 7 and is marked Credential rather than Trade Exam, meaning it is backed by the plumbing board's master license rather than a separate contractor plumbing exam.
When the project value exceeds $10,000. That is lower than the general $50,000 commercial and residential thresholds the contractor board publishes, and electrical, mechanical and plumbing are named as the exception. Hazardous materials work needs a license at one dollar or more.
7,000 hours of manual plumbing labor if you are a registered indentured apprentice in an approved Louisiana Workforce Commission program, or 8,000 hours if you are unindentured. The board puts that at roughly 3.5 years and four years respectively at full time. Hours are proved with payroll documentation or W-2 forms, not an employer letter and not 1099 forms.
Three written parts. Part I is three hours and 80 questions on the 2021 International Plumbing Code and 2021 International Residential Code. Part II is two hours and 25 questions on Title 51 Sanitary Code Part XIII Sewage Disposal, December 2022 edition. Part III is two hours and 40 questions on the NASCLA Louisiana Master Plumbers and Master Natural Gasfitters Guide to Business, Law, and Project Management, second edition.
The master examination application is $110 and the initial active master license is $190, or $40 inactive. The journeyman examination application is $135 and the initial journeyman license is $50.00. Apprentice registration is $20. Annual renewal by December 31 runs $190 active master, $50 journeyman, $40 residential plumber limited and $40 inactive master, with a $10.00 processing charge already included.
The 2026 renewal form requires licensees responsible for company operations to file current certificates for General Liability at $500,000, Vehicle and Workers' Compensation. A licensee exempt from workers' compensation under R.S. 23:1044 files a notarized affidavit instead, which expires on December 31 of the license year or on a change of status, whichever comes first.
Five hours a year for an Active Master Plumber. Three and a half hours a year for a Journeyman Plumber, a Residential Plumber Limited holder, or an inactive master working as a journeyman. None for apprentices, and none for an inactive master out of the trade who files the exemption form, though that exemption bars working in the trade that calendar year. Everything is due before the December 31 renewal.
Only narrowly. The State Plumbing Board reciprocates journeyman plumber and natural gas fitter licenses with Arkansas and Texas, and states it does not reciprocate master licenses. A license from another state can instead qualify you to sit the Louisiana journeyman exam, but only if it was obtained with at least 8,000 hours. The contractor board separately accepts an equivalent passing exam from another state since October 23, 2024.
Under LAC 46:LV.301(F), both sides of every service vehicle carry permanent signs or lettering at least two inches high with the employing entity's full name, physical address, telephone number and master plumber license number. Job site signs carry the same at two inches, or four inches where one sign covers a multi-site project. The words Louisiana Licensed Master Plumber may be abbreviated LMP followed by the number.
Yes. LAC 46:LV.301(F) requires all public advertising, solicitations, customer invoices and business correspondence issued by or on behalf of an employing entity to set forth the full name, physical address, telephone number and master plumber license number. R.S. 37:2159(A)(2) separately requires the contractor's license number in every agreement to perform contracting services requiring licensure.
Under R.S. 37:1374(A) the fine runs from five hundred to five thousand dollars, or up to ninety days imprisonment, or both, and the plumbing board can separately fine up to five thousand dollars on a consumer complaint. Under R.S. 37:2163(C)(1) unlicensed contracting is a misdemeanor carrying up to five hundred dollars per day of violation, or three months in prison, or both. Signage violations cost up to $10 a day, capped at $500.
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