Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from South Dakota's official board.
Statewide licensing commission, so the credential is not municipal. Two things to plan for: the four years must each carry 1,900 hours, and the third-year apprentice examination is what unlocks unsupervised work on houses, take it on schedule rather than treating it as optional.
| Requirements | SOUTH DAKOTA SETS BOTH A DURATION AND AN ANNUAL INTENSITY, which is unusual and worth reading carefully. PLUMBER. FOUR YEARS of experience as an APPRENTICE PLUMBER, AND at least 1,900 HOURS PER YEAR during each of those four years, then pass the examination. The per-year floor is the distinctive part. Most states set a total, 8,000 hours, say, that can be accumulated at any pace. South Dakota requires the work to have been substantially full-time in EACH of the four years, so a year of part-time or seasonal plumbing does not count as a qualifying year even if the career total is high. Keep dated payroll records year by year rather than a career total. THIRD-YEAR APPRENTICE EXAMINATION. An apprentice in their third year must pass a state examination in order to work UNSUPERVISED on single-family dwellings. That is a real intermediate step, and it is the point at which an apprentice becomes independently useful to an employer. PLUMBING CONTRACTOR. SIX YEARS of experience as a contractor, plumber or apprentice, with AT LEAST TWO of those years as a plumbing contractor or plumber. The contractor license is therefore two years beyond the plumber license at minimum. |
| Reciprocity | A licensure-without-examination route exists, but the Plumbing Commission publishes no list of qualifying states. The commission's reciprocity page quotes SDCL 36-25-21: the commission MAY register, without examination and upon payment of the required fee, a nonresident applicant registered under the laws of another state whose requirements for regulating plumbers the commission determines are SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT to South Dakota's. It is a discretionary, case-by-case determination rather than a standing agreement, so apply and ask rather than assuming eligibility. |
| Renewal | ANNUAL renewal, with renewal notices mailed at the end of September; specialty licenses run on a TWO-YEAR cycle. Continuing education is FOUR HOURS PER YEAR relating to the plumbing trade, of which AT LEAST TWO must cover code. That applies to plumbing contractors, restricted plumbing contractors, plumbers, restricted plumbers and third-year apprentices, note that apprentices carry a continuing education obligation too, which is uncommon. |
| Notes | Statewide licensing commission, so the credential is not municipal. Two things to plan for: the four years must each carry 1,900 hours, and the third-year apprentice examination is what unlocks unsupervised work on houses, take it on schedule rather than treating it as optional. |
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Sources: dlr.sd.gov, dlr.sd.gov, dlr.sd.gov, dlr.sd.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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