The essentials
- Licensing authorityColorado State Plumbing Board, Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO), Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) — official site
- Statewide?Yes — Colorado licenses at the state level
- Experience required4 years (6,800 hours) of practical experience for a Journeyworker Plumber license; 5 full-time years (8,500 hours) for a Master Plumber. All qualifying experience must have been gained within the last 10 years
- ExamPSI — a private testing agency administers the plumbing exams in English only; the Journeyworker exam is 100 questions, open book, 240 minutes, with 70 correct answers needed to pass
- Renewal & CEBiennial — all plumbing licenses, plumbing contractor registrations and water conditioning registrations expire the final day of February of odd-numbered years; at least 8 hours of continuing education must be completed during EACH year (March 1–February 28) of the two-year cycle, and at least 4 of the 24-month total must be code-related
- Bond / insuranceNot published in a form we could verify — confirm with the board
- ReciprocityNone we could confirm
License classes in Colorado
Colorado issues the following classes. Getting the class right matters — several states have residential-only or limited-scope licenses that will not cover commercial or multifamily work:
- Plumbing Apprentice — unlicensed but registered, must be directly supervised by a licensed Colorado plumber
- Residential Plumber — limited to residential plumbing work
- Journeyworker Plumber — full scope journey-level license (formerly called Journeyman)
- Master Plumber — highest individual license
- Plumbing Contractor Registration — required for the business entity
- Water Conditioning Installer / Principal Registration — specialty registrations
Experience and training
4 years (6,800 hours) of practical experience for a Journeyworker Plumber license; 5 full-time years (8,500 hours) for a Master Plumber. All qualifying experience must have been gained within the last 10 years
One thing worth knowing regardless of state: the hours only count if they were logged properly at the time. Several boards require you to register as an apprentice before the clock starts, and hours worked while unregistered are simply gone. If you are early in the trade, get the registration paperwork right now rather than reconstructing it four years later.
The exam
PSI — a private testing agency administers the plumbing exams in English only; the Journeyworker exam is 100 questions, open book, 240 minutes, with 70 correct answers needed to pass
Renewal and continuing education
Biennial — all plumbing licenses, plumbing contractor registrations and water conditioning registrations expire the final day of February of odd-numbered years; at least 8 hours of continuing education must be completed during EACH year (March 1–February 28) of the two-year cycle, and at least 4 of the 24-month total must be code-related
Letting a license lapse is more expensive than it looks. Some states allow a short grace period with a penalty fee; others treat a lapsed license as forfeited and make you retest from scratch. Put the renewal date in your calendar with a 90-day warning, not a 7-day one.
Insurance and bonding
We could not verify a published state bond or insurance minimum for Colorado. That does not mean you should work uninsured — local permit offices, general contractors and property managers routinely require a certificate regardless of what the state demands.
Separately from whatever the state requires: Pipe Well requires every plumber on the network to carry current general liability insurance and to upload the certificate before the first appointment is sent.
Working across state lines
We could not confirm any published reciprocity agreement for Colorado. That does not always mean there is none — several states evaluate out-of-state licenses case by case, or let you sit for the exam on the strength of a license held elsewhere. If you are relocating, call the board and ask specifically about endorsement or credential review rather than assuming you start over.
What plumbers actually get wrong here
Colorado requires apprentices to register with the board and file annual experience reports — hours that were never reported can be very hard to document later when you apply for the Journeyworker exam. Note the terminology change: the state now calls the journeyman license 'Journeyworker'.
Once you are licensed: getting the work
A license gets you legal. It does not get you a full schedule. The usual next step is buying leads — $40 to $85 for a contact that three or four other shops bought at the same moment, which at a realistic 10–20% close rate works out to somewhere between $300 and $1,000 for every job you actually book, plus the unpaid hours spent chasing the ones that go nowhere.
Pipe Well works the other way round. We book appointments, not leads, and we handle everything up to the moment you knock on the door: the advertising, the phone call, qualifying the job, getting the address and access details, and agreeing a date and time window with the homeowner. What reaches your phone is a scheduled appointment — name, address, time window and what is wrong. You reply YES and it is yours.
What it costs
Nothing to join. No subscription, no per-lead charge. You do the job, you set your own price, and you collect payment from the customer directly. Then Pipe Well is paid 50% of the job after your documented materials come off the top:
(amount collected − documented materials) × 50%
| Collected | Materials | Net | Pipe Well | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $400 | $40 | $360 | $180 | $220 |
| $1,200 | $520 | $680 | $340 | $860 |
| $2,800 | $800 | $2,000 | $1,000 | $1,800 |
| $8,500 | $3,200 | $5,300 | $2,650 | $5,850 |
Due within 48 hours of the customer paying you. If they never pay, you owe nothing. And look honestly at that last row — on a big repipe our share is a large number. If your book is already full of $8,500 jobs you are better off filling that capacity yourself. We are worth most to a shop with open capacity it cannot currently fill.
Apply free → Run your own numbersQuestions plumbers ask about licensing in Colorado
Do you need a license to do plumbing work in Colorado?
Yes. Colorado State Plumbing Board, Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO), Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) is the licensing authority for Colorado. Colorado requires apprentices to register with the board and file annual experience reports — hours that were never reported can be very hard to document later when you apply for the Journeyworker exam. Note the terminology change: the state now calls the journeyman license 'Journeyworker'.
Who issues the plumbing license in Colorado?
Colorado State Plumbing Board, Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO), Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). The official site is https://dpo.colorado.gov/Plumbing.
What license classes exist in Colorado?
Plumbing Apprentice — unlicensed but registered, must be directly supervised by a licensed Colorado plumber. Residential Plumber — limited to residential plumbing work. Journeyworker Plumber — full scope journey-level license (formerly called Journeyman). Master Plumber — highest individual license. Plumbing Contractor Registration — required for the business entity. Water Conditioning Installer / Principal Registration — specialty registrations.
How many hours of experience do you need for a Colorado plumbing license?
4 years (6,800 hours) of practical experience for a Journeyworker Plumber license; 5 full-time years (8,500 hours) for a Master Plumber. All qualifying experience must have been gained within the last 10 years
Who administers the Colorado plumbing exam?
PSI — a private testing agency administers the plumbing exams in English only; the Journeyworker exam is 100 questions, open book, 240 minutes, with 70 correct answers needed to pass
How often does a Colorado plumbing license renew?
Biennial — all plumbing licenses, plumbing contractor registrations and water conditioning registrations expire the final day of February of odd-numbered years; at least 8 hours of continuing education must be completed during EACH year (March 1–February 28) of the two-year cycle, and at least 4 of the 24-month total must be code-related
Can I get booked plumbing appointments in Colorado once I am licensed?
Yes. Pipe Well Plumbing books customer appointments in Colorado and texts them to licensed plumbers whose service radius covers the address. Joining is free — no subscription and no per-lead fee. Pipe Well is paid 50% of the job after your documented material costs are deducted, and only after the customer has paid you.
Booked appointments in Colorado
Set your ZIP and a service radius of at least 30 miles and we will match appointments inside it. Free to join.
Join Free → Plumbing jobs in ColoradoPlumbing license requirements in other states
Compiled from Colorado State Plumbing Board, Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO), Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) published materials, last reviewed July 2026. Where a figure could not be verified against a primary source we have said so rather than estimate it. Spotted something out of date? Email info@pipewellplumbing.com and we will correct it.