Maine · plumber licensing · verified July 2026
Maine plumber license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Maine licenses plumbers statewide through the Plumbers' Examining Board within the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation. There are four tiers: Trainee (no exam), Journeyman-in-Training (plumbing coursework plus passing the journeyman exam; one-time 4-year license), Journeyman (2 years/4,000 hours as a trainee or 2,000 hours as a journeyman-in-training, exam pass mark 70%), and Master (1 year/2,000 hours as a journeyman or 4 years/8,000 hours as a trainee, exam pass mark 75%). Trainee, journeyman, and master licenses renew every two years.
Do you need a license to work as a plumber in Maine?
Maine licenses plumbers statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
No continuing education requirement for plumbers appears on the board's official licensing pages or fee schedule. Passing scores and hour thresholds verified directly in MRS Title 32, Chapter 49 (sections 3501-A/3501-B area). Separate exam fee not listed on the official licensing page; the flat $100/$200 fees shown are the application/license fees. Maine statute also provides a limited plumber license category for restricted scopes.
What licenses does Maine issue?
The Maine Plumbers' Examining Board, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Department of Professional and Financial 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trainee Plumber | not published | not published | No |
| Journeyman-in-Training | not published | not published | Yes |
| Journeyman Plumber | 4,000 | not published | Yes |
| Master Plumber | 2,000 | not published | Yes |
Source: Maine Plumbers' Examining Board, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Department of Professional and Financial Regulation) (maine.gov). Verified July 2026.
Journeyman Plumber: 2 years/4,000 hours as licensed trainee, or 2,000 hours as journeyman-in-training within 4 years
Master Plumber: 1 year/2,000 hours as journeyman, or 4 years/8,000 hours as trainee under a master plumber
How many hours do you need in Maine?
Maine requires 4,000 hours of on-the-job experience for a Journeyman Plumber license. At a 40-hour week the on-the-job portion is roughly 2 years of full-time work.
What exam does Maine require?
Journeyman plumber license examination (passing grade may not be less than 70%). Administered by Maine Plumbers' Examining Board / Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation.
Master plumber license examination (passing grade may not be less than 75%). Administered by Maine Plumbers' Examining Board / Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation.
Source: examination page (maine.gov). Verified July 2026.
How much does a Maine plumber license cost?
Getting a Journeyman Plumber license in Maine costs $200 in board fees, before any training. That is the application 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$200
- Initial license feeincluded
- Renewal fee (recurring)$200
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: 2 years (trainee, journeyman, master renew biennially based on first licensure date); journeyman-in-training is a one-time, non-renewable 4-year license
How does the apprenticeship route work?
Two routes: (1) accumulate 4,000 supervised hours over 2+ years as a licensed Trainee Plumber employed under a master plumber, then take the journeyman exam; or (2) complete one academic year of plumbing instruction at an approved college, an approved secondary CTE program, or a registered US Department of Labor apprenticeship program, pass the journeyman exam to get the Journeyman-in-Training license, then log 2,000 supervised hours within 4 years to convert to full journeyman.
Which states does Maine have license reciprocity with?
No published agreement for this trade names Maine. That is not the same as a closed door: states without a published list usually take out-of-state applicants through an endorsement or equivalency review instead, decided case by case on the requirements set out above.
How does Maine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Maine | 4,000 | Statewide |
| New Hampshire | 8,000 | Statewide |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
How does Maine compare nationally?
21 states publish an explicit hour figure for this trade, and they range from 4,000 to 12,000 hours. Maine's 4,000 hours is the shortest requirement of any of them. The full comparison is on the hours by state table.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- Maine OPOR Plumbers' Examining Board - Individual Licenses
- Maine OPOR Plumbers' Examining Board - Licensing
- MRS Title 32, Chapter 49 - Plumbers
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: Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana.
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 Maine Plumbers' Examining Board, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation (Department of Professional and Financial Regulation) before making decisions. Not legal advice.