The essentials
- Licensing authorityNorth Dakota State Plumbing Board — official site
- Statewide?Yes — North Dakota licenses at the state level
- Experience requiredJourneyman: four years in the trade and 7,600 hours of work experience under a licensed master plumber. Master: two years / 3,400 hours as a licensed journeyman plumber
- ExamState-administered — the board conducts examinations at times and places it sets; applicants appear at a regular board meeting, and a failed candidate must wait six months to retest
- Renewal & CETwo-year continuing education cycle (approximately 2–4 credit hours per two-year period for journeymen and masters); the board publishes annual license renewal forms — confirm your renewal date with the board
- Bond / insuranceNot published in a form we could verify — confirm with the board
- ReciprocitySouth Dakota, Minnesota, Montana
License classes in North Dakota
North Dakota 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:
- Plumber's Apprentice — registers with the board within 30 days of starting employment; works under direct supervision
- Journeyman Plumber — performs practical installation and repair work
- Master Plumber — skilled in planning, supervision and practical installation; required to contract
- Sewer and Water licensure — separate limited licensure track offered by the board
Experience and training
Journeyman: four years in the trade and 7,600 hours of work experience under a licensed master plumber. Master: two years / 3,400 hours as a licensed journeyman plumber
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
State-administered — the board conducts examinations at times and places it sets; applicants appear at a regular board meeting, and a failed candidate must wait six months to retest
Renewal and continuing education
Two-year continuing education cycle (approximately 2–4 credit hours per two-year period for journeymen and masters); the board publishes annual license renewal forms — confirm your renewal date with the board
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 North Dakota. 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
North Dakota has reciprocity or endorsement arrangements involving South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana. Reciprocity almost never means "your license is automatically valid here" — in practice it usually waives the trade exam while you still file a full application, pay the fees and meet the insurance and continuing-education rules. Confirm the current terms with the board before you rely on it.
What plumbers actually get wrong here
North Dakota holds written reciprocity agreements with South Dakota (journeymen and contractors without exam), Minnesota (one or more years of current licensure) and Montana (current journeyman or master may apply at the ND journeyman level); all require a Certificate of Endorsement from the originating state. Anyone performing plumbing anywhere in ND must be licensed with the board — there is no local carve-out.
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 North Dakota
Do you need a license to do plumbing work in North Dakota?
Yes. North Dakota State Plumbing Board is the licensing authority for North Dakota. North Dakota holds written reciprocity agreements with South Dakota (journeymen and contractors without exam), Minnesota (one or more years of current licensure) and Montana (current journeyman or master may apply at the ND journeyman level); all require a Certificate of Endorsement from the originating state. Anyone performing plumbing anywhere in ND must be licensed with the board — there is no local carve-out.
Who issues the plumbing license in North Dakota?
North Dakota State Plumbing Board. The official site is https://www.ndplumbingboard.gov/.
What license classes exist in North Dakota?
Plumber's Apprentice — registers with the board within 30 days of starting employment; works under direct supervision. Journeyman Plumber — performs practical installation and repair work. Master Plumber — skilled in planning, supervision and practical installation; required to contract. Sewer and Water licensure — separate limited licensure track offered by the board.
How many hours of experience do you need for a North Dakota plumbing license?
Journeyman: four years in the trade and 7,600 hours of work experience under a licensed master plumber. Master: two years / 3,400 hours as a licensed journeyman plumber
Who administers the North Dakota plumbing exam?
State-administered — the board conducts examinations at times and places it sets; applicants appear at a regular board meeting, and a failed candidate must wait six months to retest
How often does a North Dakota plumbing license renew?
Two-year continuing education cycle (approximately 2–4 credit hours per two-year period for journeymen and masters); the board publishes annual license renewal forms — confirm your renewal date with the board
Can I get booked plumbing appointments in North Dakota once I am licensed?
Yes. Pipe Well Plumbing books customer appointments in North Dakota 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 North Dakota
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 North DakotaPlumbing license requirements in other states
Compiled from North Dakota State Plumbing Board 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.