State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master
North Dakota State Plumbing Board runs plumbing licensing in North Dakota. Below: the exact ladder, the transfer doors into North Dakota 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. Hours, exam fees ($50), master requirements, continuing education and the SD/MN/MT reciprocity agreements are from the Board's own FAQ (accessed 2026-10-22). Not confirmed on a primary source in this pass: the journeyman license (issuance) fee, the license renewal cycle, and any lapse/reinstatement window — secondary guides conflict on all three (annual vs biennial; $50 vs $100 license fee), so those fields are null or unstated rather than filled.
| The ladder | North Dakota |
|---|---|
| Journeyman credential | Journeyman Plumber |
| Total hours required | 7,600 |
| Classroom hours | not published |
| Apprentice registration | Required — hours count only while registered |
| Exam | North Dakota State Plumbing Board · $50 — Journeyman exam fee $50 (Board FAQ, accessed 2026-10-22). A failed master or journeyman exam carries a 6-month wait before rewriting. |
| License fee | Not published |
| Renewal | Every Not stated on the Board FAQ checked 2026-10-22 |
| Continuing education | Master and journeyman plumbers must complete at least 2 to 4 credit hours of continuing education within a 2-year period (Board FAQ and Board continuing-education overview, accessed 2026-10-22); Board CE session or correspondence course fee $40 |
| Master credential | Master Plumber |
Registration, in the board’s terms: Apprentices must be registered with the Board within 30 days of starting work or the hours do not count toward the apprenticeship (Board FAQ, accessed 2026-10-22). First-, second- and third-year apprentices must work under the direct supervision of a master or journeyman; fourth- and fifth-year apprentices may work by themselves. Graduates of at least a 9-month plumbing program at an accredited school may receive apprenticeship credit based on grade point average. No separate classroom-hour total is imposed in the Board FAQ, so classroomHours is null.
Master Plumber: Age 21 or older, plus 2 years and 3,400 hours of experience as a licensed journeyman plumber, then pass the master examination (Board FAQ, accessed 2026-10-22).
Master exam fee $50 (Board FAQ, accessed 2026-10-22). Master license issuance fee was not confirmed on a primary source in this pass.
Master exam fee: $50
A lapse/reinstatement rule was not stated on the Board FAQ or continuing-education pages checked 2026-10-22.
Reinstatement: Not confirmed on a primary source checked 2026-10-22.
Past the line: Not confirmed on a primary source checked 2026-10-22.
North Dakota endorses journeyman licenses from: South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana. Written agreements with South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana; the application must include a Certificate of Endorsement from the licensing state, not just a copy of the license (Board FAQ, accessed 2026-10-22). South Dakota: current SD journeyman license + SD residency = ND journeyman without examination; SD contractor = ND master without examination. Minnesota: license held at least 1 year, current, + MN residency = ND journeyman or master without examination. Montana asymmetry: a current Montana journeyman OR master license qualifies only for the North Dakota journeyman license without examination — Montana masters do not get the ND master by endorsement.
| Licensed in | Door into North Dakota | |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Alaska | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Arizona | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Arkansas | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| California | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Colorado | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Connecticut | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Delaware | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| District of Columbia | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Florida | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Georgia | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Hawaii | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Idaho | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Illinois | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Indiana | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Iowa | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Kansas | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Kentucky | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Louisiana | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Maine | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Maryland | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Massachusetts | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Michigan | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Minnesota | Endorsement available | Run the pair → |
| Mississippi | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Missouri | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Montana | Endorsement available | Run the pair → |
| Nebraska | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Nevada | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New Hampshire | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New Jersey | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New Mexico | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| New York | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| North Carolina | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Ohio | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Oklahoma | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Oregon | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Pennsylvania | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Rhode Island | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| South Carolina | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| South Dakota | Endorsement available | Run the pair → |
| Tennessee | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Texas | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Utah | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Vermont | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Virginia | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Washington | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| West Virginia | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Wisconsin | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
| Wyoming | No endorsement — exam route | Run the pair → |
Included in the $49 PlumberLicenseCheck Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. The checkers above stay free either way.
The seat: Licensed Master Plumber in charge. Under N.D.C.C. 43-18, no person, firm, corporation or LLC may engage in the business of installing plumbing unless a registered and licensed master plumber is in charge of the work at all times; in cities under 1,000 population and in rural areas a licensed journeyman may engage in the business of installing plumbing (statute as quoted in ND Attorney General Opinion 97-F-12). Any person performing plumbing in North Dakota must be licensed with the Board (Board FAQ, accessed 2026-10-22).
State license is valid statewide, but N.D.C.C. 43-18-16 preserves cities' power to require an additional municipal license or registration before a state-licensed plumber works in that city.
Run the owner gate for your situation →
Rules as published by North Dakota State Plumbing Board and the statutes it administers, checked October 22, 2026. Board: https://www.ndplumbingboard.gov/faq
