Here is the whole road, in order, with the numbers. Everything below is from the TSBPE Candidate Handbook (August 2025) and the Plumbing License Law; where a number lives in a statute, I say where.
Step 1: Register as an apprentice before you touch a pipe
Occupations Code 1301.354 is clear: an apprentice registers with the Board before assisting with plumbing. Registration is what makes your hours count. Nobody backdates hours you worked unregistered.Step 2: Put in the hours
The Journeyman exam needs 8,000 hours of experience working in the plumbing trade (1301.002(4); Board Rule 363.5). Roughly four years full time. The Tradesman Plumber-Limited license sits halfway along the same road at 4,000 hours with a 24-hour course, and a Tradesman who later moves up to Journeyman does not repeat the practical. If you finished the classroom portion of a US Department of Labor apprenticeship program (or a Board-approved one), the Board can credit you 1,000 hours toward the requirement (1301.354(c); Rule 363.5).Step 3: The 48-hour course
Before the written exam you complete a 48-hour training course approved by TSBPE, covering health and safety, plumbing codes and water conservation (1301.354(b)). A DOL apprenticeship program counts instead. Journeymen and Masters licensed in another state skip it.The course includes the OSHA 10-Hour Outreach class for construction (Rule 363.5(f)(2)).
Step 4: Fingerprints and the application
Every TSBPE exam requires fingerprints reviewed and approved by the Board. Then you apply through the State of Texas Online Licensing System (or on paper by mail). The Journeyman application fee is $40, and the Employer Certification Form goes in with it. Once TSBPE approves, Pearson VUE emails your Authorization to Test. That email carries your Entity ID, and you need it to open a Pearson VUE account and book.Step 5: The written exam
100 scored questions, 120 minutes, 70 percent to pass, closed book. Exam fee $68.50, paid to Pearson VUE when you reserve, at least 24 hours before the date you want. Written exams run at Pearson VUE centers around Texas and at select centers on military bases.What it covers: the Plumbing License Law (the handbook names 1301.351, .356, .403, .404, .452, .502, .508, .701 and .702), the Board Rules (361.1, 365.1, 367.2, 367.4, 367.5, 367.7), and the plumbing code chapter by chapter. Texas adopts both the 2018 UPC and the 2018 IPC, and the exam is written to be passable from either book.
Show up 30 minutes early with one current, government-issued photo ID that has your signature. The name must match your registration exactly. You leave with your score report in hand.
Step 6: The practical
Pass the written and TSBPE gets the score within about 48 hours. Pearson VUE then emails a second Authorization to Test for the practical: 6 items in 240 minutes, given only at TSBPE's Austin and Waco centers. Reserve at least ten days out; the fee is $40. TSBPE supplies the materials. Long pants and closed-toe shoes, no exceptions.Step 7: The license
Both parts passed, you pay the $40 initial license fee in your TSBPE online account. The wall certificate and pocket card arrive by mail in 10 to 15 business days. Carry the pocket card while working (1301.351(d); Rule 367.12). Your first expiration date is set at random, 6 to 18 months out, and after that the license renews every year. Each renewal needs six hours of continuing professional education, three of them in health protection, energy conservation and water conservation (1301.404(b); Rule 365.14).If you fail
Your score report gives you a number and a breakdown by content area. One authorization covers five attempts on the written exam within one year of the TSBPE application. Wait 24 hours before scheduling again; the exam itself cannot be retaken sooner than 30 days after a first failure, 60 days after a second, and 90 days after each one after that. Every attempt is paid again. Use all five before you reapply to TSBPE.The money, all in
- $40 to TSBPE to apply
- $68.50 to Pearson VUE for the written exam
- $40 to Pearson VUE for the practical
- $40 to TSBPE for the initial license