Guides · State ladders

How to become a journeyman plumber in Minnesota

Minnesota's total is lower than the famous 8,000 — 7,000 hours. Minnesota is also the state most likely to find you short, because it grades the split, not just the sum.

The split

Minnesota's Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) requires, for the experience route, at least 2,000 hours in water distribution, 2,000 hours in drain, waste and vent (DWV) work, and 1,000 hours installing plumbing fixtures — inside a 7,000-hour total, worked as a registered unlicensed plumber (or through a registered apprenticeship). A service plumber with 7,000 hours that are nearly all repair calls can be thousands of hours short in a category without knowing it.

What to do about it

Track categories from your first year, not your last. If a category is thin, the fix is a deliberate rotation — asking your employer for new-construction or rough-in time — arranged while there are still years left to arrange it in. Discovering a 900-hour DWV gap in month 47 is a career delay; discovering it in month 12 is a schedule.

The eligibility checker computes your Minnesota split exactly this way. Minnesota is also one of only two states whose journeymen Minnesota-style reciprocity touches — see the reciprocity map (Minnesota endorses North Dakota and South Dakota only).

Full rules: the Minnesota ladder page.