Idaho · plumber licensing · verified July 2026

Idaho plumber license requirements

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

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

Lapsed certificates may be revived within 2 years without re-examination on payment of the full initial fee. No formal reciprocity agreements were identified in official sources. Cities administer some permits/inspections but licensing itself is exclusively state-level.

What licenses does Idaho issue?

The Idaho Plumbing Board, Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) 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: Idaho Plumbing Board, Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) (adminrules.idaho.gov). Verified July 2026.

Plumbing Journeyman (certificate of competency): 8,000 hours as a registered apprentice + 576 classroom hours, OR 16,000 hours of plumbing experience

Specialty tiers (Specialty Apprentice, Specialty Journeyman, Specialty Contractor): Varies by specialty (see description)

How many hours do you need in Idaho?

Idaho requires 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience for a Plumbing Journeyman (certificate of competency) plumber license, plus 576 classroom hours. At a 40-hour week the on-the-job portion is roughly 4 years of full-time work.

What exam does Idaho require?

Idaho plumbing journeyman / contractor examinations (board-designated). Administered by Contracted professional testing service (per Idaho Code 54-2614, the contracted testing service sets and collects the exam fee).

How much does an Idaho plumber license cost?

Getting a Plumbing Journeyman (certificate of competency) plumber license in Idaho costs $15 in board fees, before any training. That is 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.

• Initial license fee$15
• Renewal fee (recurring)$7.2

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

Renewal period: 3 years (certificates of competency expire 3 years from issue, Idaho Code 54-2617); apprentice registration valid 5 years; specialty apprentice registration valid 3 years

Continuing education: Continuing education is required to renew journeyman and contractor certificates (Idaho Code 54-2617(2)), with requirements established by the Plumbing Board; specialty contractor and specialty journeyman renew without CE. Specific hour counts are set by board rule and were not stated in the sources read.

How does the apprenticeship route work?

Register as a plumbing apprentice with DOPL ($50 per renewal, 5-year registration) and work under journeyman supervision while accruing hours; 8,000 OJT hours plus 576 hours of board-approved classroom instruction qualifies the applicant to sit for the journeyman exam (an applicant may alternatively qualify with 16,000 hours of experience and no classroom hours).

Which states does Idaho have license reciprocity with?

Idaho appears in 2 published reciprocal licensing agreements for this trade, covering Montana, Oregon. 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 Idaho 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 Idaho 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.

Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.

How does Idaho compare nationally?

21 states publish an explicit hour figure for this trade, and they range from 4,000 to 12,000 hours. Idaho's 8,000 hours is what 9 of them ask, making it the standard rather than an outlier; 9 states ask less and 3 ask more. The full comparison is on the hours by state table.

Sources and verification

Other states with published requirements for this trade: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa.

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 Idaho Plumbing Board, Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) before making decisions. Not legal advice.