State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master
Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation) runs plumbing licensing in Delaware. Below: the exact ladder, the transfer doors into Delaware from all 50 states, the renewal and lapse lines, and the master-of-record rule for opening a company — every figure from the board's own publications, checked October 22, 2026.
State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master Checked in part Checked October 22, 2026
Checked in part. The master-only licensing structure and both experience routes were confirmed on primary statute text (24 Del.C. 1808, Delaware Code Online) on 2026-10-22. Delaware does not issue a state journeyman plumber license, so common web figures for a Delaware 'journeyman license' (fees, hours, a journeyman exam) could not be confirmed on any primary source and are not used. Current DPR fee amounts, the exact biennial renewal date, CE hours, and the lapse/reinstatement window were NOT confirmed on a primary DPR page in this pass (secondary sources conflict on the renewal date and on CE), so those fields are null or 'None published'.
| The ladder | Delaware |
|---|---|
| Journeyman credential | No separate state journeyman license — Journeyman's Certificate from an apprenticeship program |
| Total hours required | not published |
| Classroom hours | not published |
| Apprentice registration | Required — hours count only while registered |
| Exam | Board-designated standardized examination (for the Master Plumber license; 24 Del.C. 1808) — There is no state journeyman examination because there is no state journeyman license. The Board-designated written examination in 24 Del.C. 1808 is the master plumber examination. Exam vendor and fee were not confirmed on a primary DPR page in this pass. |
| License fee | Not published |
| Renewal | Every 2 years |
| Continuing education | None published |
| Master credential | Master Plumber |
Registration, in the board’s terms: Delaware's statute licenses master plumbers only. The 'journeyman' step is a Journeyman's Certificate issued following completion of a plumbing apprenticeship program that meets or exceeds the Federal Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training standards (24 Del.C. 1808(a)(1)) — a program certificate, not a Division of Professional Regulation license. The statute expresses experience in years, not hours, so hoursTotal is null.
Master Plumber: Under 24 Del.C. 1808(a): (1) a Journeyman's Certificate from an apprenticeship program meeting or exceeding federal standards, followed by two years performing plumbing services under the supervision of a master plumber or similar licensee in another state; OR seven years performing plumbing services under such supervision followed by passing the Board-approved apprenticeship equivalency test administered by a Delaware vocational-technical school; and (2) the passing score on the Board-designated written standardized examination for Delaware master plumber licensure.
Experience is verified by oath or affirmation to the Board. The master license is the only individual plumbing license Delaware issues; a contractor/business layer (state business license through the Division of Revenue) is separate.
Master licenses renew on a two-year cycle. The exact renewal date, late-renewal terms, and reinstatement window were not confirmed on a primary DPR page in this pass — secondary sources conflict (October 31 of even years vs. other dates).
Reinstatement: Not confirmed on a primary source as of 2026-10-22.
Past the line: Not confirmed on a primary source as of 2026-10-22.
Delaware endorses journeyman licenses from: none. A secondary reciprocity listing claims Delaware recognizes master plumbers licensed in Connecticut, Iowa, and Maryland as substantially similar, with other states reviewed case-by-case — that list was NOT confirmed on a primary DPR page in this pass, so accepts is empty and the route is recorded as review. Note the master statute itself accepts a Journeyman's Certificate 'issued in any state' toward the experience route.
| Licensed in | Door into Delaware | |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Alaska | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Arizona | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Arkansas | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| California | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Colorado | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Connecticut | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| District of Columbia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Florida | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Georgia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Hawaii | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Idaho | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Illinois | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Indiana | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Iowa | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Kansas | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Kentucky | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Louisiana | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Maine | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Maryland | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Massachusetts | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Michigan | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Minnesota | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Mississippi | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Missouri | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Montana | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Nebraska | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Nevada | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New Hampshire | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New Jersey | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New Mexico | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New York | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| North Carolina | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| North Dakota | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Ohio | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Oklahoma | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Oregon | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Pennsylvania | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Rhode Island | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| South Carolina | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| South Dakota | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Tennessee | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Texas | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Utah | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Vermont | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Virginia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Washington | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| West Virginia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Wisconsin | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Wyoming | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
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The seat: Master Plumber. Plumbing services in Delaware are performed under a licensed master plumber: both statutory experience routes require service under the supervision of a master plumber, and the master license is the state's only plumbing credential. A separate Delaware business license (Division of Revenue) is required to operate a contracting business.
Statewide master-only licensing under Title 24, ch. 18; there is no Delaware city/county journeyman system — the gap is that the state simply does not license journeymen at all.
Run the owner gate for your situation →
Rules as published by Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation) and the statutes it administers, checked October 22, 2026. Board: https://DELCODE.DELAWARE.GOV/title24/c018/sc02/index.html
