New York · Plumbing licensing · official-source guide
New York licenses no plumbers at state level. The Department of State says contractor licensing is not its Division's business and that every city, town, village and county enforces the code locally. The real license is municipal. In New York City the Department of Buildings issues the Licensed Master Plumber license, and only that licensee may take out a plumbing permit.
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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.
This is the fact the whole page turns on, and it is checkable against state sources rather than assumed. The New York Department of State runs the Division of Building Standards and Codes, which writes and interprets the Uniform Code including the Plumbing Code of New York State. Its own frequently asked questions page states that issues regarding local laws, zoning, and licensing of contractors or electricians are not handled by this Division, and that every city, town, village, and county is charged with administering and enforcing the Uniform Code and Energy Code within its jurisdiction. The Department of State's Division of Licensing Services publishes its full catalogue of license types, and plumbing does not appear in it. The state's own dataset, Occupations Licensed or Certified by New York State, lists what each state agency licenses, from the Department of Labor and the Education Department through Health, State, Financial Services, Environmental Conservation, the Gaming Commission and Motor Vehicles, and plumber does not appear anywhere in it. So there is no New York plumbing license to apply for, no state plumbing board, no state reciprocity page and no state continuing education requirement. Authority sits with the locality. For most contractors in this state, that means one city: New York City, where the Department of Buildings licenses master plumbers and controls who may take out a plumbing permit.
Because licensing is municipal, a New York plumbing contractor is licensed jurisdiction by jurisdiction rather than once. Your license is not portable across the state the way a state issued license would be. A Buffalo master plumber license does not authorize plumbing work in Manhattan, and a New York City license does not authorize it in Buffalo. There is no state level clearing house that recognizes one for the other. What travels with you instead is experience, which the receiving city will accept as proof, and in some cases a license from another municipality, which Buffalo's master plumber application accepts as evidence of qualifying hours. Three practical consequences follow. First, work out which jurisdictions you actually want to sell into before you start collecting credentials, because each one has its own hours requirement, its own exam and its own fees. Second, the code you build to is statewide but the permission to build is local, so the Plumbing Code of New York State applies broadly while the right to pull the permit does not. Third, New York City is a code of its own: the NYC Construction Codes replace the state code inside the five boroughs, and the licensing chapter behind them is Chapter 4 of Title 28 of the NYC Administrative Code. The rest of this page is mostly about that city, because that is where the substance is.
Inside the five boroughs the Department of Buildings issues the Licensed Master Plumber license, and it is the license that carries the work. Section 28-408.1 of the NYC Administrative Code makes it unlawful for any person to perform plumbing work unless such person is a licensed master plumber or working under the direct and continuing supervision of a licensed master plumber, with a narrow exception for a city employee holding a master plumber license performing work on existing buildings in the course of employment. Section 28-408.6 goes further and reaches the business itself: no individual, corporation, partnership or other business association may conduct a plumbing contractor business in the city of New York, or employ the name plumber or plumbing, without meeting its requirements, which include at least 51 percent ownership by licensed master plumbers, all work performed under their direct supervision, and a licensed master plumber as the person in charge. That combination is unusual. New York City does not simply license a trade, it licenses who may own and name a plumbing business. The department's own guidance adds a physical condition: a master plumber business must maintain a place of business in New York City, not a home office, at an address that complies with the Zoning Code as a commercial location, evidenced by a telephone bill in the business name.
Sourcescodelibrary.amlegal.com 1codelibrary.amlegal.com 2nyc.gov 3nyc.gov 4
The Department of Buildings publishes four routes to Licensed Master Plumber and an applicant must satisfy one of them. The standard route is at least seven years of total experience within the ten years prior to application under a licensed master plumber, with a minimum of two years as a Department registered journeyman plumber. That registered journeyman condition dates from July 1, 2011 and it is the one that catches experienced people out, because informal years on the tools do not count toward it unless the registration existed. The degree route is a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or engineering technology from a New York State registered institution plus five years of experience within the seven years prior, under a master plumber, with a minimum of two years in New York City. The licensed professional route is for a New York State licensed Registered Architect or Professional Engineer, requiring three or more years of experience within the five years prior, with a minimum of one year in New York City. The fourth route covers government and inspection work: seven years total within ten, with a minimum of two years under a master plumber, and inspection or compliance duties credited at 50 percent. The candidate bulletin caps that inspection credit at 2.5 years. Experience is proved with an Experience Verification Form signed by every supervisor for the years claimed, plus a Social Security history of earnings and pay records.
New York City runs the Master Plumber license as a two exam process and the sequence is fixed. The written examination comes first. It is multiple choice, it covers the NYC Construction Codes and the rules and regulations made under them, reference materials are prohibited, and the passing score is 70 percent. Results are given at the test site and the candidate receives a printed score report immediately. Only after passing the written exam may a candidate apply for the practical examination, and the department allows 24 months from the written exam notification date to pass the practical. Practical results are not immediate: the department mails official results roughly three to four weeks after the practical exam date. After the practical, the clock keeps running. The applicant has one year from the date of the practical examination notification to submit the license application for background investigation, and one year from the date of approval in DOB NOW to collect the license card. A denial can be challenged, but reconsideration requests must be filed within 60 days from the date of the license denial notification. Applications are electronic only. The department states that as of February 23, 2026 no paper applications are accepted and everything files through DOB NOW: Licensing. The Licensing and Exams Unit takes questions on (212) 393-2259.
Two Department of Buildings publications give different figures, so both are set out here rather than one being chosen silently. The department's current Obtain a Master Plumber License page states a written exam fee of $585.00 and a practical exam fee of $530.00, payable by eCheck or credit card. The department's Master Plumber license examination bulletin, a PDF on the same nyc.gov domain, lists a written exam application at $525.00, a practical exam application at $350.00 payable by money order only, a background investigation fee of $500.00, license issuance at $200.00, a license plate at $75.00 and a license seal at $50.00, totalling $1,700.00. The written and practical figures cannot both be current, and the higher pair on the live web page is the more recent of the two. What the bulletin adds that the web page does not is the back end of the process: the background investigation, the license issuance fee, and the separate charges for the plate and the seal. Budget for all of them. The seal in particular is not optional decoration. It reappears at renewal as its own line item, which tells you the department treats it as part of the license rather than an accessory. Confirm the live figures in DOB NOW before paying, since these are the numbers that move.
The insurance requirement is in a rule, not on a web page, which is why it is often quoted vaguely. 1 RCNY 104-02 sets it. Licensees covered by the rule, master plumbers among the ten licensee categories it lists, must carry commercial general liability insurance with a limit of $1,000,000, one million dollars, combined single limit per occurrence. The rule does not state a separate aggregate limit. Licensees must also procure and maintain workers compensation insurance, or a waiver of such insurance from the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, and disability insurance, or a waiver from the same board. Two details in the rule do real work. The carrier has to qualify: the general liability insurer must be rated A-VII or better by A.M. Best, or A or better by Standard and Poor's. A cheap policy from an unrated carrier does not satisfy the rule. And when working under certain permits the City must be named as an additional insured. Proof goes in as a certificate of insurance carrying specified information, including the licensee's business address and the Department's address. The department's own licensing guidance repeats the three cover types, general liability, workers compensation and disability, as a condition of the master plumber business. Treat the rule as the source of the number and the web page as the reminder.
New York City reviews the company, not just the person. The Administrative Code requires at least 51 percent ownership of a plumbing contractor business by licensed master plumbers, all work under their direct supervision, and a licensed master plumber in charge. The department turns that into a document list that differs by entity type. A corporation files a state certified Certificate of Incorporation, the filing receipt, meeting minutes showing the applicant as an officer, articles and by-laws, and stock certificates, and the applicant must hold a 51 percent or greater interest unless other master plumber licensees hold the controlling interest. An LLC files the filing receipt or Certificate of Good Standing, a state certified Article of Organization, the operating agreement, and minutes showing the applicant as an officer. A partnership files the partnership agreement listing all officers, an official letter with partner names, addresses and license numbers, and confirmation of the notification protocol when the partnership changes. A sole proprietor files an affidavit of sole proprietorship acknowledging personal liability, plus a certified Business Certificate from the County Clerk if trading under a name. The premises are checked too. The office must be in New York City in a commercial zone, with a telephone bill in the business name, and where the phone service is VoIP or mobile the department also wants a utility bill or a signed notarized lease stating utilities are included.
Renewal applications are due between 30 and 90 days before the expiration date printed on the license card. The department's master plumber renewal checklist lists the cost as $150.00 for the license and $75.00 for the seal, $225.00 in total. Late filing is priced in two bands: $275.00 if the application is filed from one to thirty days late, which is the $225.00 renewal plus a $50.00 late fee, and $325.00 if it is more than thirty one days late up to one year, which is the $225.00 renewal plus a $100.00 late fee. Two documents go with it. The first is the original certificate of completion for a seven hour continuing education course. That is New York City's continuing education requirement for master plumbers, set by the department rather than by any state body, since the state does not license the trade at all. The second is a LIC62 physical examination form completed by a physician within 90 days prior to renewal. Then comes the part to take seriously. The department states there is currently no license reinstatement process. If the license has been expired for more than one year, you have to reapply and file as an original applicant. For a master plumber that means the written exam, the practical exam and the background investigation again. Diary the renewal window.
New York City registers journeyman plumbers separately, and the registration matters twice: it is what lets your employee work, and it is the credential that feeds the two year condition on a future master plumber application. Applicants must be at least eighteen, able to read, write and understand the English language, of good moral character and fit for the work. The experience test has two routes. The first is at least five years of full time experience in plumbing or fire suppression piping under the supervision of a licensed master plumber, with at least one year of that experience in New York City. The second is completion of a New York State registered training program plus one year of experience in New York City. The registration fee is $50.00, payable at application submission. Filing is through DOB NOW: Licensing, with photo identification, a Social Security card, a DPL1 form, training certificates and notarized employer affidavits carrying specific employment detail. One restriction is worth flagging to anyone planning a career path: plumbing and fire suppression experience cannot be interchanged between the two registrations. Time served on sprinkler and standpipe work does not convert into plumbing years, and the reverse is equally true. Register your apprentices as soon as they qualify, because the registered years are the ones that count later.
Local Law 150 of 2016 added a separate credential for gas work in New York City, and it binds anyone touching gas. The Department of Buildings states the requirement as anyone performing gas work must possess either a Department issued Master Plumber License or a Qualification for Gas Work. There are two versions and they behave differently. The full Gas Work Qualification does not expire and has no renewal. Eligibility runs three ways: status as a Department registered journeyman plumber, or completion of a New York State Department of Labor approved apprenticeship or training program plus at least one year of full time experience under master plumber supervision, or a minimum of five years of full time experience performing gas work under master plumber supervision with at least one year in New York City. The exam for the full qualification is 50 questions in two hours with a 70 percent pass, meaning 35 correct answers. The limited Gas Work Qualification is the entry route: a minimum of six months full time plumbing experience under a master plumber plus either a Department sponsored gas work training course of at least 16 hours or registration in a state approved plumbing apprenticeship. The trap is in its term. The limited qualification expires five years after issuance and cannot be renewed. Fees are $585 for the LIC41 written exam application and $50 registration on approval.
Sourcesnyc.gov
This is the commercial centre of the New York City license. The Department of Buildings states that plumbing permits are only issued to a Licensed Master Plumber or a Licensed Master Fire Suppression Contractor. Nobody else in the chain can take one out. A property owner who wants work done must first hire a New York State licensed Professional Engineer, Registered Architect or Department licensed plumber to file the applications. The scope attached to the master plumber is plumbing, standpipe and sprinkler work for systems with fewer than 30 heads, and the department states that these contractors and their supervised employees are the only people legally permitted to work on piping systems. Permit triggering work is defined broadly: installation, maintenance, repair, modification, extension or alteration of waste, domestic water, gas piping or fire standpipes. The exemption is narrow and specific. The department describes simple repairs or replacing existing faucets, toilets and sinks as cosmetic, work someone without a license may do without a permit. Everything past the fixture is yours. Before a permit issues, the department also requires unpaid application fees cleared, special inspection agencies identified, any penalty or violation waivers requested, and an active current license and insurance on file. A lapsed certificate of insurance stops permits, which stops jobs, which is why the insurance filing is an operations task and not a once a year errand.
New York City has one of the most specific advertising rules any plumbing contractor in the country works under, and it is worth quoting. Section 28-408.6.2 of the Administrative Code, Identification, provides that all business vehicles, advertising, websites and stationery used in connection with a master plumber business shall display prominently the full name of the licensee, the words N.Y.C. licensed plumber, the licensee's number and the licensee's business address. Four elements, and websites are named in the text alongside trucks. That section took effect on November 7, 2022 through Local Law 2021/126. Where the business is anything other than a sole proprietorship, the same section requires that the trade name, partnership or corporate name be placed immediately above the full name or names of the licensed master plumber or licensed master plumbers. Naming is regulated as well: a trade name, partnership name or corporate name requires departmental approval before use. Section 28-408.6 separately restricts who may employ the name plumber or plumbing in a business at all. The Department's own guidance repeats the duty in plainer words and points at the code, citing section 28-401.3 on its plumbing permits page and section 28-401.18 on its skilled trades page for the requirement to carry the license number and business information on trucks, business cards and advertisements. Audit your website footer, your vehicle lettering and your estimate template against the four elements.
Sourcescodelibrary.amlegal.com 1codelibrary.amlegal.com 2nyc.gov 3nyc.gov 4
Buffalo is the clearest proof that New York licensing is municipal, because it runs a parallel system with none of New York City's paperwork. The City of Buffalo licenses master plumbers, journeyman plumbers and journeyman repair plumbers, and competency is determined by the Examining Board of Plumbers. The city code states that no person may obtain a license without first procuring a master plumber certificate of competency issued by the Examining Board of Plumbers, and registering with that board in accordance with the General City Law. Section 326-2.1A states that no person shall perform any plumbing work as a master plumber or journeyman plumber in the City of Buffalo without being licensed. The master plumber application sets the experience bar at 6,000 hours worked as a journeyman plumber as an employee of a licensed master plumber, not working for yourself, evidenced by notarized affidavits from the supervising master plumbers, and it will accept master plumber licenses from other municipalities as proof of experience. Permits follow the license exactly as they do in the city: section 326-15 provides that a plumbing permit shall only be issued to a City of Buffalo Licensed Master Plumber, with one exception for a resident owner who satisfies the Commissioner they are personally qualified to do the work in their own home. Buffalo's plumbing permit fees include a $50.00 application fee, $100.00 plan review where plans are required, $75.00 per reinspection, and $12.00 per fixture on one and two family residential work.
Sourcesbuffalony.gov 1buffalony.gov 2ecode360.com 3ecode360.com 4ecode360.com 5buffalony.gov 6
There is a state level certification a plumbing contractor in New York will meet, and it is not a plumbing license. The New York State Department of Health certifies backflow prevention device testers under 10 NYCRR Section 5-1.31 of the State Sanitary Code, the cross connection control provision. A tester's certification is valid for three years. Renewal is by successfully completing a renewal training course from an approved training provider before the certification expiration date, and the Department recommends starting at least three months before that date. Lapses are graded. If the certification has lapsed for less than one year the individual follows the renewal requirements. If it has lapsed for more than one year the individual must repeat the entire initial certification course. The Department publishes lists of certified testers statewide and by county, which means the certification is also a listing customers and water suppliers can search. For a plumbing contractor this is commercially useful in a way the trade license is not, because annual backflow testing is a recurring obligation on the building owner rather than a one off job, and the tester list is where a facilities manager looks. If you serve commercial buildings, restaurants, irrigation or fire lines anywhere in the state, this is the state credential to hold.
There is no single statewide lookup, because there is no statewide license, so verification is jurisdictional and you should make it easy. In New York City the Department of Buildings publishes a public search for skilled trades licensees, general contractors and registrants through the Buildings Information System at a810-bisweb.nyc.gov, reached from the department's own Check License and Registration Status page, and the DOB NOW Public Portal carries licensing records as well. Those are the pages a co-op board, a managing agent or a general contractor will open before they hire you. Two things follow. First, the name the department holds should match the name you advertise under, which is also why the code requires departmental approval of a trade name before you use it. Second, status is public, so an expired license or a lapsed insurance filing is visible to prospects while you are still quoting. In Buffalo, the city publishes its licensed plumbers through its open data portal as well as through the Examining Board of Plumbers, and the chief plumbing inspector's office takes questions on (716) 851-5067. Put your license number, your business address and the words the code requires on your site, and the search confirms you rather than raising a question you then have to answer.
Sourcesnyc.gov 1a810-bisweb.nyc.gov 2codelibrary.amlegal.com 3buffalony.gov 4
These are common details other guides publish about New York, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. The Department of State's Division of Building Standards and Codes states that licensing of contractors is not handled by the Division, its Division of Licensing Services catalogue does not include plumbing, and the state's own Occupations Licensed or Certified by New York State dataset contains no plumber entry.
Individual municipalities. The Department of State's own guidance says every city, town, village and county administers and enforces the Uniform Code within its jurisdiction. New York City licenses master plumbers through the Department of Buildings. Buffalo licenses through its Examining Board of Plumbers.
Seven years of total experience within the ten years prior to application under a licensed master plumber, including a minimum of two years as a Department registered journeyman plumber. Degree, licensed professional and government service routes shorten the requirement.
The Department of Buildings page lists $585.00 for the written exam and $530.00 for the practical. An older department bulletin lists $525.00 written and $350.00 practical plus a $500.00 background investigation, $200.00 license issuance, $75.00 plate and $50.00 seal. Both figures are on nyc.gov.
1 RCNY 104-02 requires commercial general liability of $1,000,000 combined single limit per occurrence, plus workers compensation and disability insurance or waivers from the New York State Workers' Compensation Board. The liability insurer must be rated A-VII or better by A.M. Best.
No bond amount appears in 1 RCNY 104-02, on the Department of Buildings master plumber pages, or in the department's examination bulletin. The financial conditions those sources state are insurance, not surety.
Renewal applications are due 30 to 90 days before the expiration date on the license card. The renewal checklist lists $150.00 for the license and $75.00 for the seal, $225.00 in total, with late fees taking it to $275.00 or $325.00.
Yes. The renewal checklist requires the original certificate of completion for a seven hour continuing education course, along with a LIC62 physical examination form completed by a physician within 90 days before renewal.
Only a Licensed Master Plumber or a Licensed Master Fire Suppression Contractor. A property owner must hire a New York State licensed Professional Engineer, Registered Architect or Department licensed plumber to file the applications first.
Section 28-408.6.2 requires all business vehicles, advertising, websites and stationery to display prominently the full name of the licensee, the words N.Y.C. licensed plumber, the licensee's number and the licensee's business address.
No. There is no state level recognition between New York municipalities. Buffalo requires its own master plumber certificate of competency from the Examining Board of Plumbers, though its application will accept a master plumber license from another municipality as proof of experience hours.
The Department of Buildings states there is currently no license reinstatement process. If the license has been expired more than one year you reapply and file as an original applicant, which for a master plumber means the written exam, the practical exam and the background investigation again.
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