Hawaii · plumber licensing · verified July 2026

Hawaii plumber license requirements

Do you need a license to work as a plumber in Hawaii?

Hawaii licenses plumbers statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.

The official requirements document states: 'Hawaii does not reciprocate with any jurisdiction.' The plumber license does NOT allow contracting, a C-37 plumbing contractor license under HRS Chapter 444 (Contractors License Board) is required to contract plumbing work. Complete applications must arrive at least 7 working days before a board meeting (held roughly every other month); exams are scheduled the following month. Applications are abandoned after 2 years of inactivity.

What licenses does Hawaii issue?

The Board of Electricians and Plumbers, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional & Vocational Licensing Division 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.

Source: Board of Electricians and Plumbers, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional & Vocational Licensing Division (cca.hawaii.gov). Verified July 2026.

Journey Worker Plumber (PJ): 5 years but not less than 10,000 hours of plumbing work in compliance with the UPC

How many hours do you need in Hawaii?

Hawaii requires 10,000 hours of on-the-job experience for a Journey Worker Plumber (PJ) license. At a 40-hour week the on-the-job portion is roughly 5 years of full-time work.

What exam does Hawaii require?

Hawaii Plumber Licensure Examination (based on the Uniform Plumbing Code). Administered by PSI Services (test-takers.psiexams.com/hitrade), under contract to the Board.

How much does a Hawaii plumber license cost?

Getting a Journey Worker Plumber (PJ) license in Hawaii costs $346 in board fees, before any training. That is the application fee and the initial license fee charged once, with renewal charged separately below. 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$40
• Initial license fee$306
• Renewal fee (recurring)$306

How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?

Renewal period: 3 years, all plumber licenses expire June 30 of triennium years (2027, 2030, 2033)

Continuing education: Continued competency required at each triennial renewal: proof of attending an educational course on the current Uniform Plumbing Code updates (2021 UPC for the July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2027 term) or passing a board-prescribed UPC update exam. Licensees issued a new license within 1 year of the renewal date are exempt for their first renewal; inactive licensees are exempt. No specific hour count is published.

Source: renewal requirements (cca.hawaii.gov). Verified July 2026.

How does the apprenticeship route work?

Hawaii issues no apprentice plumber license. Trainees accrue the 5-year/10,000-hour experience requirement working under licensed plumbers (apprenticeship programs are registered with the state Department of Labor & Industrial Relations); experience is documented via notarized Experience Verification, Plumber (EP-02) forms signed by each licensed plumber supervisor, then the applicant sits for the journey worker exam.

Which states does Hawaii have license reciprocity with?

Hawaii's board states it does not reciprocate. Out-of-state licensees qualify and test on the same terms as in-state applicants.

How does Hawaii compare nationally?

21 states publish an explicit hour figure for this trade, and they range from 4,000 to 12,000 hours. Hawaii sits 19th of the 21, with 18 below it and 2 above. The full comparison is on the hours by state table.

Sources and verification

Other states with published requirements for this trade: Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine.

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 Board of Electricians and Plumbers, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional & Vocational Licensing Division before making decisions. Not legal advice.