Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Rhode Island's official board.
Statewide licensing administered by DLT Professional Regulation; plumbers grouped with irrigators and water filtration installers.
| Requirements | HOURS AND SCHOOLING. Board rule 260-RICR-30-15-9 requires the applicant to have been employed in Rhode Island as an apprentice for the whole of the 8,000 hours of on-the-job training required for the journeyperson plumber. DLT's Plumbers and Irrigators Application Instructions state the same requirement in years: a plumber journeyperson application requires verification of at least five years of experience in the trade plus 576 hours of related instruction approved by the Department of Labor and Training; a plumber master application requires verification of at least five years of experience in the trade and possession of a journeyperson's license held for at least one year before the master's test. EXAMINATION. The Rhode Island plumbing examination consists of 50 multiple-choice questions based on the 2018 International Plumbing Code. The Board determines the passing score of each written examination it administers; the DLT fee schedule states that individuals who achieve a passing score of 70 or greater are invoiced for the license fee. Examinations are given at least three times a year, on a first-come, first-served basis, and space is limited. APPLICATION STEPS, in order: (1) attach a legible government-issued photo identification; (2) complete, sign and notarise the last two pages of the packet; (3) pay the non-refundable $75.00 application fee by check or money order payable to the RI Department of Labor and Training (credit cards in person only); (4) attach a separate detailed notarised statement on company letterhead, signed by a present or past employer, stating all work-related experience; (5) list all education and schooling received in the plumbing and irrigation trade; (6) Rhode Island indentured apprentices attach the Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship from the DLT Apprenticeship Office; (7) out-of-state applicants attach proof of current licensure from their state and a letter of good standing; (8) irrigation apprentices attach a notarised letter on company letterhead with date of hire and job description, and a signed master irrigator ratio sheet. Incomplete applications are not processed and are returned. FEES, from DLT's Non-Refundable Processing Application Fee schedule - a $75.00 application fee plus a two-year license fee invoiced only on a passing score of 70 or greater: Contractor Master $75 / $240; Master Plumber $75 / $240; Master Irrigator $75 / $240; Journeyperson Irrigator $75 / $72; out-of-state Journeyperson Plumber $75 / $72; Master water-filtration/treatment-system installer $75 / $240; Journeyperson water-filtration/treatment-system installer $75 / $72. The Apprentice Irrigator class carries no test and no fee. |
| Reciprocity | No named-state reciprocity, but a defined out-of-state licensure pathway. Board rule 260-RICR-30-15-9 §9.3(D)(4), 'Out-Of-State Licensed Plumbers, Irrigators and Water-Filtration/Treatment-System Installers', provides that a master plumber, master irrigator, master water-filtration/treatment-system installer, or a journeyperson plumber, journeyperson irrigator or journeyperson water-filtration/treatment-system installer duly licensed by examination in a state other than Rhode Island may be issued a license in this state provided that the requirements are the same as this state's. The applicant supplies a copy of the current out-of-state license, a statement from each licensing board where the applicant holds or has held licensure attesting to licensure status, and affidavits confirming the applicant passed a written examination in the originating state for the same classification sought in Rhode Island. No specific states are named anywhere in the regulation and no separate out-of-state fee schedule is given. |
| Renewal | Biennial, on a two-year cycle. License fees under the Board's rule and DLT's fee schedule: Master Plumber $240.00 and Journeyperson Plumber $72.00 per two-year term; the same $240 applies to the Contractor Master, Master Irrigator and Master water-filtration/treatment-system installer classes, and the same $72 to the Journeyperson Irrigator and Journeyperson water-filtration/treatment-system installer classes. Late reinstatement carries a $12.00 per-month administrative assessment. Continuing education is 7 hours of approved continuing education per two-year cycle for master and journeyman plumbers under R.I. Gen. Laws section 5-20-23(f), with enforcement beginning January 2027; by its own terms that program does not reach the refrigeration or pipefitting trades. The Board's rule also sets penalties for violations at $1,500 for a first offence and a minimum of $2,000 for subsequent violations. |
| Notes | Statewide licensing administered by DLT Professional Regulation; plumbers grouped with irrigators and water filtration installers. |
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Sources: www.ri.gov, dlt.ri.gov, rules.sos.ri.gov, dlt.ri.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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