Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Louisiana's official board.
Louisiana requires a water well contractor's (driller's) license from the Office of Conservation at the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources, and a separate Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors license in the Water Well Drilling classification applies once a project crosses the board's dollar thresholds.
| Requirements | Louisiana has two separate requirements. First, the Office of Conservation licenses water well drillers under R.S. 38:3098, LAC 46 Part LXXXIX and LAC 56 Part I. Every person, firm or corporation engaged in or desiring to engage in the business of drilling water wells for underground water, drilling monitoring wells, geotechnical bore holes, heat pump wells, cathodic protection holes or seismic shot holes, as well as reworking water wells or plugging and abandoning wells or bore holes, excluding oil and gas wells, must file an application with the office for a drilling license. To qualify the applicant must be at least 18 years of age, be of good moral character, have a minimum of two years of drilling experience under the supervision of a licensed water well contractor or other comparable drilling experience acceptable to the department, and demonstrate a reasonable knowledge of the Louisiana Water Well Rules, Regulations and Standards. The application must state the applicant's work experience and the names and addresses of two licensed contractors familiar with that experience, and must be approved by the department before the applicant can take the licensing examination. The department's June 2025 memorandum states that any individual or entity performing, advertising or representing themselves, whether temporarily or permanently, as a water or environmental well driller must be licensed, that well subcontractors must be licensed, and that a person who operates the rig or performs labor at the direction and under the personal supervision of a licensed contractor is not required to be individually licensed. A person may construct or plug a water well on his own or leased property for a single family house that is his permanent residence, or for watering livestock on his farm, without a license, but must still comply with all construction, plugging and registration rules. Second, the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors lists a Water Well Drilling classification, which its page states requires Louisiana Department of Natural Resources licensure and refers to the drilling of water wells for potable water systems and other water needs; the board's FAQ gives thresholds of $50,000 or more for commercial work in major and specialty classifications and $7,500 or more for home improvement projects, with project value combining labor and materials. |
| Reciprocity | Not addressed on the agency's published pages. The license application asks whether the applicant is presently licensed by another state and whether a drilling license has ever been revoked or suspended by any state, but the published pages do not describe a reciprocity pathway. |
| Renewal | LAC 46 Part LXXXIX Section 503.D provides that a contractor's (driller's) license applies to all drillers employed by that contractor and that a license fee or an annual renewal fee is required for each license issued or renewed. The agency's published pages reviewed here set out the annual renewal structure but do not state the renewal fee amount or a continuing education hour total, so those are best confirmed with the Office of Conservation's Groundwater Resources section directly. |
| Notes | Louisiana requires a water well contractor's (driller's) license from the Office of Conservation at the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources, and a separate Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors license in the Water Well Drilling classification applies once a project crosses the board's dollar thresholds. |
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Sources: www.denr.louisiana.gov, www.denr.louisiana.gov, www.denr.louisiana.gov, lslbc.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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