Mississippi · Plumbing licensing · official-source guide
Mississippi licenses plumbing through the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, and it licenses the contracting business rather than issuing journeyman or master grades. Residential plumbing subcontractors of any tier need a residential license no matter the dollar amount. Commercial plumbing needs a Certificate of Responsibility once a contract at any tier reaches Fifty Thousand Dollars.
Verified against agency sources on 2026-09-11. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Mississippi licenses plumbing at state level, through one board running two separate licensing schemes. The Mississippi State Board of Contractors sits at 2679 Crane Ridge Drive, Suite C, Jackson, MS 39216, with mail to P.O. Box 320279, Jackson, MS 39232-0279, on 601-354-6161 and 800-880-6161. The board is created in Miss. Code Ann. Section 31-3-3. Commercial work runs under Chapter 3 of Title 31 and produces a Certificate of Responsibility. Residential work runs under Chapter 59 of Title 73 and produces a residential license. The important structural point for a plumber is this: Mississippi does not issue apprentice, journeyman and master plumber grades at state level. The board licenses the contracting business and tests a qualifying party on its behalf. The residential and commercial applications both define the qualifying party as the individual who takes the required exams, who must be an owner, officer, member of the executive staff, or a responsible managing employee, and who must be regularly employed by the certificate holder. Proof of employment is required unless the applicant is applying in an individual name. A qualifying party may serve no more than three separate entities without appearing before the board and being granted special permission. On the commercial side, Rule 1.1(2)(l) gives the certificate holder 90 days to replace a qualifying party who leaves before the certificate is subject to suspension or revocation.
This is the single most misread point in Mississippi plumbing licensing, and the statute settles it. Miss. Code Ann. Section 73-59-1 sets two thresholds, but they define other people. A residential builder is a corporation, partnership or individual who constructs a building or structure for sale for use by another as a residence, or who for compensation undertakes or superintends the construction of a building not more than three floors in height to be used by another as a residence, when the total cost of the undertaking exceeds Fifty Thousand Dollars. A remodeler is one who for compensation undertakes or superintends the construction of improvements to an existing residence when the total cost of the improvements exceeds Ten Thousand Dollars. Those are general contractor thresholds. Section 73-59-3(1) then lists who must be licensed annually as an active or inactive licensee, and subsection (1)(d) reaches subcontractors directly: any subcontractor, of any tier, performing electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or heating, ventilation and air conditioning work on any residential construction or residential improvement project, no matter the dollar amount of the construction or improvements. The phrase no matter the dollar amount is in the statute. A plumbing subcontractor on a Mississippi residential job needs a residential license for a small repair and for a full re-pipe alike. The board states the same in its FAQ. Section 73-59-3(6) adds that a non-resident who wants to perform residential construction or residential improvement must be licensed under the chapter.
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Commercial work uses a different definition and a different document. Miss. Code Ann. Section 31-3-1 defines contractor as any person contracting or undertaking as prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of any tier to do any erection, building, construction, reconstruction, demolition, repair, maintenance or related work on any public or private project. It then excludes any contract or undertaking on a public or private project by a prime, sub or sub-subcontractor of any tier where the contract, subcontract or undertaking is less than Fifty Thousand Dollars. So on the commercial side the trigger is the value of your own contract, at whatever tier you sit. The board states in its FAQ that all contractors and subcontractors performing work on commercial jobs over $50,000, including equipment installation, are required to have a commercial license. Other exclusions in Section 31-3-1 matter to plumbers working the residential and light commercial edge: a residential project to be occupied by fifty or fewer families and not more than three stories in height, a residential subdivision where the contractor is developing single-family or multifamily lots, and a new commercial construction project not exceeding seventy-five hundred square feet and not more than two stories in height undertaken by an entity licensed under Section 73-59-1 et seq. Fire protection systems have their own lower thresholds: less than Five Thousand Dollars on a public project and less than Ten Thousand Dollars on a private project. Section 31-3-15 states that no contract for public or private projects shall be issued or awarded to a contractor who did not hold a current certificate of responsibility at the time of bid submission, and any contract issued in violation is null and void.
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The board publishes classifications on both sides. On the residential side the application lists Residential Building, Residential Remodeling, Residential Roofing, Construction Manager, Residential Solar, Residential Mechanical, Residential HVAC, Residential Plumbing and Residential Electrical. Residential Plumbing includes residential plumbing only and requires the Residential Plumbing exam. Residential Mechanical includes HVAC and plumbing work and requires both the Residential HVAC and Residential Plumbing exams, so a company that wants both trades under one classification tests twice. On the commercial side the board offers six major classifications: Building Construction, Electrical, Highway Street and Bridge Construction, Heavy Construction, Mechanical, and Municipal and Public Works. Plumbing is a specialty classification under the Mechanical major classification. The board defines the commercial plumbing classification as involving installation, maintenance and repair of commercial and residential plumbing systems, with a scope of work covering sanitary drainage or storm drainage facilities, venting systems, public or private water supply systems, septic tanks, drainage and supply wells, swimming pool piping and irrigation systems. The classification also covers medical gas systems, fire sprinklers, fuel oil piping and pneumatic control piping, and excludes fuel gas and boiler systems. The distinction between major and specialty is not cosmetic, because it sets the net worth an applicant has to prove. Applicants for a major classification must demonstrate a net worth of at least Fifty Thousand Dollars. All other applicants, which includes a Plumbing specialty applicant, must demonstrate a net worth of at least Twenty Thousand Dollars.
The residential application fee is $50, which includes one trade classification, with $100 added for each additional trade classification requested. The board notes that Mississippi Law and Business Management is not a trade classification but a required exam. Fees are non-refundable, payment must be by check or money order, and cash is not accepted. Applications must be completed within 180 days or the incomplete file is destroyed. The applicant must furnish a Mississippi Income Tax I.D. Number, Federal Tax I.D. Number or Social Security Number. A corporation or LLC must be registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State and provide proof of good standing, with the application name matching Secretary of State records exactly. The applicant must provide a certificate of general liability insurance showing current coverage, listing MSBOC as certificate holder so the board is notified if coverage is cancelled, with the insured name matching the name applied for exactly. The board states there is no minimum coverage amount required for residential applicants, just proof of coverage. A certificate of current workers compensation coverage is required if the applicant has five or more employees. Three reference letters are required, one of which must be from the bank, and all three are required even if the applicant has previously passed an exam. The applicant must show experience in the classification requested by listing at least three completed jobs in that classification. Proof of employment of the qualifying party is required unless applying in an individual name.
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The commercial application fee is $400, which includes one trade classification, with $100 added for each additional trade classification. The financial bar is the one that stops applicants. The applicant must provide a reviewed or audited financial statement prepared and signed by a certified public accountant, completed within the last twelve months. A compilation will not be accepted. The board states it only offers an unlimited license and therefore the applicant must demonstrate the required net worth, that this is a requirement and cannot be waived or substituted. Applicants for a major classification must show net worth of at least Fifty Thousand Dollars, and all other applicants, including Plumbing specialty applicants, at least Twenty Thousand Dollars. Rule 1.1(2)(i) explains the purpose: the statement is used by the board to determine the financial responsibility of the applicant to perform work in the amount of Fifty Thousand Dollars or more, and applicants for renewal certificates furnish a balance sheet prepared under generally accepted accounting principles. Insurance is specified rather than left open. Rule 1.1(2)(j) requires a certificate of insurance evidencing current minimum coverage of Three Hundred Thousand Dollars per occurrence and Six Hundred Thousand Dollars aggregate for general liability, naming MSBOC as certificate holder, with the insured name matching the license name exactly, plus workers compensation coverage if required by state law. The applicant must also furnish a Mississippi sales tax or use tax number, three reference letters including one from a bank, and three completed jobs in the classification requested.
Mississippi tests the qualifying party, not every plumber on the payroll. All applicants, residential and commercial, are required to take a Mississippi Law and Business Management exam. In addition, applicants take a trade exam where the classification requires one. All exams are open book. Eligibility depends on completing the qualifying party information portion of the application for each person to be tested, and the board furnishes a PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and exam registration instructions on receipt of an application. All exams are administered by PSI. The board notifies PSI of eligibility and PSI emails a confirmation notice, and scheduling is not allowed until that confirmation arrives. The bulletin carries exam locations, reference materials and content outlines. For residential plumbing the trade exam is the Residential Plumbing exam. For Residential Mechanical both the Residential HVAC and Residential Plumbing exams are required. On the commercial side the board notes two alternatives that do not reach plumbing: applicants for the major classifications of building construction or electrical may choose the Mississippi state exam or the NASCLA national accredited exam, and Fire Sprinkler qualifiers must hold NICET Level III certification. A request for waiver of exam carries a $50 fee, and a request for oral examination carries a $50 fee on the board's own rule-level fee schedule. Each qualifying party who sits for an exam must supply a Social Security Number and a valid email address for testing purposes.
The board publishes a Schedule of Fees effective January 1, 2016 and a rule-level fee schedule in its commercial rules, and they agree on almost everything. Both list Commercial Application at $400.00, Commercial License Additional Classification at $100.00, Commercial License Renewal Late Fee at $50.00, Commercial License Name Change at $50.00, Reciprocity and Verification of License at $25.00, Residential Application at $50.00, Residential License Renewal at $100.00, Residential License Renewal Late Fee at $10.00, transfer to inactive status at $25.00, transfer to active status at $25.00, Request for Waiver of Exam at $50.00, Request for Change in Qualifying Party at $25.00, copying records at $0.50 per page, administrative time with shipping and handling at $25.00, a mailing list of all active contractors at $500.00, duplicate commercial and residential license at $50.00 each, and a returned check fee at $40.00. The rule schedule adds Request for Oral Examination at $50.00. The two sources conflict on one line. The posted Schedule of Fees lists Commercial License Renewal at $400.00. Rule 3.4 of the board's commercial rules lists Commercial License Renewal at $200.00. Both are published by the board, and this page reports both rather than choosing. Separately, Section 31-3-17 levies a special privilege license tax of Two Hundred Dollars on each contractor applying for a certificate of responsibility, plus up to One Hundred Dollars for each additional classification, and Section 31-3-14 adds a Two Hundred Dollar Construction Education Fund fee at application or renewal.
Both licenses are annual. The board states in its FAQ that a license is valid for one year and must be renewed annually by the contractor. On the residential side Section 73-59-3(5) says the license expires on the last day of the twelfth month following its issuance or renewal and becomes invalid unless renewed, and that failure to renew in that twelfth month does not destroy the right of renewal provided renewal happens within one hundred eighty days after the expiration date, by paying the license fee plus a penalty of ten percent of the license fee. A replacement license for a revoked, lost, mutilated or destroyed license may be issued for a charge of not more than Fifty Dollars. On the commercial side Rule 1.1(2)(h) states the privilege tax is an annual tax, the certificate holder has a duty to renew annually, and failure of the board to send an expiration notice does not excuse it. Rule 1.1(2)(m) requires an applicant for renewal of a certificate expired at least one hundred eighty days to submit a new application with everything required for a new certificate. Continuing education applies to the residential side. Section 73-59-11(g) permits the board to require it, exempts anyone who held a valid license before July 1, 2015, and caps it at no more than two hours per year. The board's residential rule 1.4 requires two credit hours per year from a board-approved provider or instructor for residential licenses issued on or after July 1, 2015, with each qualifying party submitting proof of compliance to renew. A continuing education credit equals a fifty minute credit hour.
The board is explicit that reciprocity in Mississippi waives a trade examination only. All applicants still take the Mississippi Law and Business Management examination, complete an application and meet every other board requirement before a Certificate of Responsibility or license number issues. There is a $50 fee for each exam waived, and fees are non-refundable. The applicant submits a Reciprocity Verification Form completed by the board or agency being reciprocated from, must show proof of current licensure, and must have held the license free of disciplinary action for the period specified in the agreement. The board lists exam waiver agreements with the Alabama General Contractors Board, the Alabama Board of Heating and Air Conditioning Contractors, the Alabama Electrical Board, the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board, the Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board, the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, the California Contractors State License Board, the Florida Construction Industries Licensing Board, the Georgia Board of Residential and General Contractors, the Louisiana Licensing Board for Contractors, the North Carolina Electrical Contractors Board, the North Carolina State Licensing Board for General Contractors, the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, the South Carolina Contractors Licensing Board, the South Carolina Residential Builders Commission, and the Tennessee Board for Licensing General Contractors. For plumbers the detail is where the exclusions fall. Alabama General Contractors and Louisiana both exclude Mechanical and Plumbing. Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters waives master plumber and commercial plumbing only. Ohio waives Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing and Refrigeration. South Carolina Residential Builders waives Residential Plumbing. The board states that Tennessee is the only state that waives Mechanical and Plumbing across the board.
The two chapters carry different penalties, and a plumber can be exposed under either. On the residential side, Section 73-59-9(1) says any person or entity required to have a license under Section 73-59-3(1) who undertakes or attempts to undertake the business of residential construction without a valid license, or who knowingly presents or files false information to obtain a license, is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars and not more than Five Thousand Dollars, or imprisoned not less than thirty nor more than sixty days in the county jail, or both. Subsection (2) is the commercial exposure that hurts more: an unlicensed party may not bring any action at law or in equity to enforce a contract for residential building or remodeling, or to enforce a sales contract, and may recover only actual documented expenses for labor, materials or both, and only those shown by clear and convincing evidence. Subsection (3) lets the board issue a citation and stop work. On the commercial side, Section 31-3-21(1) makes it unlawful for a person without a certificate of responsibility to submit a bid, enter into a contract, or otherwise engage in the business of a contractor, and knowingly and willfully bidding without one is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Section 31-3-21(4) allows an order of abatement plus a civil penalty of not more than three percent of the total contract being performed.
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Mississippi puts three display duties on a licensed contractor and all three are checkable by a customer or a competitor. First, the job site sign. Board rule 1.2 on the residential side states that once a building permit is issued to a residential builder or remodeler, or to the holder of a certificate of responsibility, by a municipal or county building official or other permitting authority, the licensee shall exhibit a sign at the permitted job site which includes, prominently displayed in lettering at least two inches high and twelve inches wide, the license or certificate of responsibility number and the State issuing it. The rule cites Miss. Code Ann. Section 73-59-11(f). Second, the bid envelope. Section 31-3-21(2) requires all bids submitted for public or private projects in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars to carry the contractor's current certificate number on the outside or exterior of the envelope or container, and no bid shall be opened or considered without it, or without a statement on the exterior that the enclosed bid did not exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars. Violating that subsection is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Third, the insurance disclosure. Section 73-59-11 and board rule 1.3 require the licensee to disclose in writing at the signing of the contract whether general liability insurance is carried, placed immediately before the space reserved for the purchaser's signature, in boldfaced and conspicuous type larger than the rest of the contract, naming the insurer and policy number.
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Mississippi ties advertising and contracting to the exact licensed name, which is a narrower rule than most states run and it is worth reading before ordering signage. The residential application instructs the applicant to print the name of the company or individual as it should appear on the certificate of licensure, and if applying as a corporation, LLC or LLP to state the exact name as registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State, with all attachments matching that name. It then states that the applicant must conduct business, which it defines to include writing estimates, writing contracts and pulling permits, under the exact name in which the applicant is applying to appear on the certificate of licensure, and that conducting business in any other name could subject the applicant to disciplinary action. The insurance certificate is held to the same standard on both applications: the name listed as insured must match exactly the name applied for. Commercial rule 1.1(2)(n) requires any entity holding a valid Certificate of Responsibility to notify the board immediately of a change of name or address by filing the change form with a $50.00 fee, and states that a change in entity type, such as sole proprietor to LLC or LLC to incorporated, requires completion of a new application. For a plumbing company trading under a marketing name, a d/b/a on the truck that does not match the certificate is a licensing problem before it is a branding decision.
Mississippi cities layer on top of the state license, and the layer is not identical across the state. Gulfport, through the Department of Urban Development, Building Code Services at 1410 24th Avenue, requires an Application for Contractor's License. The application requires completion in full with notarization in the name of the qualifying party who was tested for the company, submission of a current license with the Mississippi State Board of Contractors with registration numbers, a copy of a current business privilege license from the municipal or county jurisdiction where the corporate headquarters is located, valid photo identification of the qualifying party, and a Certificate of Insurance with public liability insurance of $100,000 single occurrence and $300,000 aggregate with completed operations coverage, naming the City of Gulfport as certificate holder. Payment of a $100.00 contractor's licensing fee is required, and the city states the applicant is exempt from that fee if the applicant holds a Certificate of Responsibility from the Mississippi State Board of Contractors. Five reference letters addressed to the Building Official are required, and are not required if the applicant holds a license from the State Board of Contractors. Gulfport's published Plumbing Permit Fee Schedule sets a base permit fee of $30.00 for issuing each permit plus per-fixture fees, including $5.00 each for a water closet, sink, bath tub, lavatory, urinal and laundry tub, and $7.00 for a grease trap. Jackson requires a permit whenever an owner or the owner's authorized agent proposes plumbing work, and enforces the 2018 International Plumbing Code.
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The board publishes a public contractor search and links it from its own contractors page at search.msboc.us. That is the first check. The second is structural and specific to Mississippi: because the state licenses the business and tests a qualifying party rather than issuing individual plumber grades, a customer verifying a Mississippi plumber is verifying a company name and a classification, not a personal card. Three things are worth confirming together. The exact licensed name, because the residential application requires the contractor to write estimates, write contracts and pull permits under the name on the certificate. The classification, because Residential Plumbing covers residential plumbing only, while the commercial Plumbing specialty covers commercial and residential plumbing systems with a much wider published scope. And the status, because Section 73-59-3(1) requires annual licensure as an active or inactive licensee and an inactive licensee is not engaged in building or remodeling. Section 73-59-11 backs the search with a paper trail: the board must maintain a list of residential builders and remodelers to whom licenses are issued, refused, revoked or suspended, available to any interested person, and must prepare annually a complete roster showing all names and places of business of licensed residential builders and remodelers, forward a copy to each municipality and county in the state, and file the roster with the Secretary of State. Section 73-59-17 covers the other side, permit denial to unlicensed builders and reporting of violations.
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Two statutes set the outer limits on how a Mississippi plumbing contractor presents itself. Section 31-3-21(1) makes it unlawful for a person who does not hold a certificate of responsibility to submit a bid, enter into a contract, or otherwise engage in or continue in this state in the business of a contractor as defined in the chapter. Offering to contract above the commercial threshold without the certificate is therefore already unlawful before any work starts. On the residential side, Section 73-59-3(1)(d) requires the license for any plumbing subcontractor of any tier on a residential project regardless of dollar amount, which means advertising residential plumbing service in Mississippi without the residential license is advertising work the advertiser cannot lawfully undertake. Classification language is the second limit. Residential Plumbing includes residential plumbing only. The commercial Plumbing specialty classification, sitting under the Mechanical major classification, is defined by the board as commercial and residential plumbing systems and expressly excludes fuel gas and boiler systems, so a Plumbing certificate holder advertising boiler work is advertising outside the classification. Section 73-59-13 lists grounds for disciplinary action including engaging in work of residential building or residential improvement on an expired license or while under suspension or revocation. And the qualifying party rules limit multi-brand operators: the qualifying party must be regularly employed by the certificate holder and actively engaged in the classification, and may serve no more than three separate entities without appearing before the board and receiving special permission.
These are common details other guides publish about Mississippi, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Mississippi State Board of Contractors, created in Miss. Code Ann. Section 31-3-3, licenses plumbing contractors under two schemes: residential licensing under Chapter 59 of Title 73 and commercial Certificates of Responsibility under Chapter 3 of Title 31.
The business. Mississippi does not issue apprentice, journeyman or master plumber grades at state level. The board licenses the contracting entity and tests a qualifying party on its behalf, who must be an owner, officer, member of the executive staff, or a responsible managing employee regularly employed by the licensee.
On residential work, none. Section 73-59-3(1)(d)(ii) requires any subcontractor of any tier performing plumbing on a residential construction or residential improvement project to be licensed, no matter the dollar amount. On commercial work, Section 31-3-1 excludes contracts of any tier that are less than Fifty Thousand Dollars.
They define other roles, not the plumbing sub. Section 73-59-1 defines a residential builder by an undertaking whose total cost exceeds Fifty Thousand Dollars, and a remodeler by improvements to an existing residence whose total cost exceeds Ten Thousand Dollars.
The residential application fee is $50 including one trade classification, with $100 for each additional classification, and residential renewal is $100. The commercial application fee is $400 including one classification, with $100 for each additional. Section 31-3-17 also levies a $200 special privilege license tax and Section 31-3-14 adds a $200 Construction Education Fund fee.
Commercial applicants must show general liability of $300,000 per occurrence and $600,000 aggregate under Rule 1.1(2)(j), with MSBOC as certificate holder. Residential applicants must show a current general liability certificate, and the board states there is no minimum coverage amount for residential applicants, just proof of coverage. Workers compensation is required with five or more employees.
No surety bond amount appears in the board's residential or commercial application requirements or in its published rules for licensure. What the commercial side requires instead is a reviewed or audited CPA financial statement showing net worth of at least Fifty Thousand Dollars for a major classification or Twenty Thousand Dollars for a specialty classification such as Plumbing.
All applicants take the Mississippi Law and Business Management exam. A Residential Plumbing applicant also takes the Residential Plumbing trade exam, and a Residential Mechanical applicant takes both the Residential HVAC and Residential Plumbing exams. All exams are open book and administered by PSI.
On the residential side, yes. Board rule 1.4 requires two credit hours per year from an approved provider for residential licenses issued on or after July 1, 2015, and each qualifying party must submit proof to renew. Section 73-59-11(g) exempts anyone who held a valid license before July 1, 2015 and caps the requirement at two hours a year.
Reciprocity waives a trade exam only, for $50 per exam waived. For plumbing specifically, the board states Tennessee is the only state that waives Mechanical and Plumbing, Ohio waives Plumbing, Alabama Plumbers and Gas Fitters waives master plumber and commercial plumbing only, and South Carolina Residential Builders waives Residential Plumbing.
Board rule 1.2 requires a sign at the permitted job site showing, in lettering at least two inches high and twelve inches wide, the license or certificate of responsibility number and the State issuing it, once a building permit has been issued.
On residential work, Section 73-59-9 makes it a misdemeanor carrying a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars and not more than Five Thousand Dollars, or thirty to sixty days in county jail, or both, and bars any action to enforce the contract beyond actual documented expenses proved by clear and convincing evidence.
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