Delaware · plumber licensing · verified July 2026
Delaware plumber license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Delaware licenses plumbers at the state level through the Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation), but the only full trade license is Master Plumber, there is no separate state journeyman or apprentice license. Master licensure requires either a journeyman's certificate from an apprenticeship meeting federal Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training standards plus 2 years of supervised post-apprenticeship experience, or 7 years of supervised experience plus an apprenticeship by-pass exam, followed by the Board's written master exam. Licenses renew biennially on October 31 of even years.
Do you need a license to work as a plumber in Delaware?
Delaware licenses plumbers statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
Reciprocity: applicants licensed in states with 'substantially similar' standards (the Division lists Connecticut, Iowa, and Maryland) need no additional experience documentation; applicants from other states must document a minimum of 7 years of practice after receiving master-level licensure. The journeyman's certificate is issued through apprenticeship programs, not by the Board.
What licenses does Delaware issue?
The Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, Division of Professional Regulation issues the credentials below for this trade. Boards often list further classes for specialties and business licenses; these are the ones this page covers.
Hours are what each class asks for on its own terms. Where a senior class shows fewer than a journeyman, the board is counting time served after the earlier license rather than from the start; the prerequisite column says which.
| License | On-the-job hours | Classroom hours | Exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Plumber | not published | not published | Yes |
| Temporary Plumber | not published | not published | No |
Source: Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, Division of Professional Regulation (dpr.delaware.gov). Verified July 2026.
What exam does Delaware require?
Master Plumber written standardized examination (Board-designated, offered at least quarterly).
Apprenticeship By-Pass Exam (required for the 7-year, no-journeyman-certificate path; 70% minimum passing score).
How much does a Delaware plumber license cost?
Getting a journeyman plumber license in Delaware costs $173 in board fees, before any training. That is the application fee charged once. No board publishes this total, so it is added up here from the schedule it does publish. An exam is required and its fee is not in that figure, because no amount for it appears in the board material this page is built from. Check the board's current fee schedule before budgeting.
- Application fee$173
Source: fee schedule (dpr.delaware.gov). Verified July 2026.
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: Biennial, plumbing/HVACR licenses expire October 31 of even-numbered years
Continuing education: 5 hours per biennial renewal period for subsequent renewals; prorated for the first renewal based on issuance date (0, 3, or 5 hours). All CE must be Board-approved (Regulation 5.0, clarified for the 2026 renewal).
Source: renewal requirements (dpr.delaware.gov). Verified July 2026.
How does the apprenticeship route work?
There is no state apprentice license; apprentices train in registered apprenticeship programs and work under supervision. Completing an apprenticeship program that meets or exceeds federal Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training standards yields the journeyman's certificate, which, plus 2 years of supervised post-certificate experience, qualifies the applicant to sit for the Master Plumber exam. Without the certificate, 7 years of supervised experience plus the Apprenticeship By-Pass Exam is required.
Which states does Delaware have license reciprocity with?
Delaware appears in 3 published reciprocal licensing agreements for this trade, covering CT, IA, MD. Boards write these as agreements between two states rather than as a one-way list, and some publish the list while their counterpart does not, so this counts every agreement naming Delaware from either side. Recognition is never automatic: the board you apply to decides, and most require the original license to have been earned by examination and to be in good standing.
How does Delaware compare to neighboring states?
Requirements stop at the state line, which matters if you live near one or expect to move. Here is what the neighboring states ask of the same trade.
| State | Journeyman hours | Licensing model |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware | not published | Statewide |
| Maryland | 7,500 | Statewide |
| New Jersey | not published | Statewide |
| Pennsylvania | not published | City or county |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- Delaware Code, Title 24, Chapter 18, Subchapter II - Plumbers (master plumber qualifications and reciprocity)
- Delaware DPR - Master Plumber Licensure (application paths and experience documentation)
- Delaware DPR - Board of Plumbing/HVACR Examiners fee schedule
- Delaware DPR - License Renewal (expiration October 31 of even years)
- Delaware DPR - Continuing Education and Audit Information
Last verified July 2026. Found an error? Report it and it will be corrected and logged on the corrections page.
Other states with published requirements for this trade: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois.
Price the whole path with the license cost estimator, or weigh earning against paying for school with the apprenticeship comparison. Back to plumbers overview.
Licensing requirements change between our verification sweeps. This page is informational only, so confirm current requirements with Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, Division of Professional Regulation before making decisions. Not legal advice.