Texas licenses plumbers at four levels — Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber and Plumbing Inspector — and every one of them renews annually with continuing education. Most people searching for this want one of three answers: how many hours do I need, when does my licence expire, and how do I check somebody else's.
All three are below, with the figures, and none of them are where you would expect to find them on the board's own site.
Key facts
- The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners issues four licence types: Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber and Plumbing Inspector (TSBPE, License Types, read 23 September 2026).
- Licences renew annually.
- Renewal requires 6 hours of continuing professional education.
- A holder of the Medical Gas Piping Installation Endorsement must complete at least 2 hours of continuing professional education to renew that endorsement.
- Drain Cleaner-Restricted, Drain Cleaner and Residential Utilities Installer registrations require 6 hours of continuing education to renew.
- Tradesman Plumber-Limited requires 4,000 hours in the trade and a 24-hour TSBPE-approved training course.
- Journeyman Plumber requires 8,000 hours in the trade and a 48-hour TSBPE-approved training course.
- Master Plumber requires a Journeyman Plumber licence held for at least one year plus a training programme approved by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship.
The four licences, and what each one may actually do
Plumber's Apprentice is a registration you hold while you accumulate hours. It is not an exam and not a licence.
Tradesman Plumber-Limited is the one people outside Texas have never heard of, and it is genuinely useful. It allows you to construct, install, repair, service or renovate plumbing for one and two-family dwellings, working under the supervision of a Responsible Master Plumber. At 4,000 hours plus the 24-hour course, it is the first licence most people can actually reach, and it roughly halves the wait to being paid as a licensed plumber.
Journeyman Plumber is the general licence at 8,000 hours plus the 48-hour course. It is the point at which the "one and two-family dwellings" restriction comes off.
Master Plumber comes after a year as a journeyman plus a Department of Labor-approved apprenticeship programme. It is an individual licence.
Responsible Master Plumber is not a fifth licence and the two get confused constantly. It is a registration a Master Plumber takes on to be legally responsible for a company's plumbing work and for the people working under it. You become a Master Plumber first; you register as an RMP only if you intend to run the work.
Plumbing Inspector is a separate licence for people inspecting plumbing for a municipality, not for people installing it.
Renewal and continuing education
Every licence renews annually, which is the detail that catches plumbers moving from a state on a two- or three-year cycle. Set a reminder for eleven months, not twenty-three.
The renewal requirement is 6 hours of continuing professional education, taken from a TSBPE-approved CPE provider. The two exceptions are worth knowing because both are easy to get wrong:
- The Medical Gas Piping Installation Endorsement carries its own requirement of at least 2 hours, separate from the 6 for the licence itself. Hold the endorsement and let the 2 hours slide and you lose the endorsement, not the licence.
- Drain Cleaner-Restricted, Drain Cleaner and Residential Utilities Installer registrations each require their own 6 hours.
How to check a Texas plumbing licence
TSBPE runs a public licence search. It is the only authoritative answer to "is this person licensed", and it is free.
It is worth using in two directions. Before hiring anybody, check the licence is current rather than merely real — an expired licence looks identical on a business card. And before you count hours toward your own licence, check that whoever is supervising you holds a current Master Plumber licence and is the Responsible Master Plumber for the company. Hours worked under somebody who was not eligible to supervise them are a problem you discover at 8,000 hours, which is the worst possible time.
Coming from another state
An out-of-state journeyman or master plumbing licence does something specific in Texas: it lets you skip apprentice registration and waives the approved training course. It does not waive the exam, and the reciprocal route still wants 8,000 hours under a master plumber. That has its own page: an out-of-state plumbing licence in Texas.
Common questions
Do plumbers have to be licensed in Texas?
Yes. Plumbing is a licensed trade in Texas under the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, which issues the Tradesman Plumber-Limited, Journeyman Plumber, Master Plumber and Plumbing Inspector licences.
How many hours do I need for a Texas journeyman plumber licence?
8,000 hours in the plumbing trade plus a 48-hour TSBPE-approved training course. The Tradesman Plumber-Limited licence, which covers one and two-family dwellings, needs 4,000 hours and a 24-hour course.
How often does a Texas plumbing licence renew?
Annually. This surprises plumbers arriving from states on a two-year or three-year cycle.
How many continuing education hours does Texas require for plumbers?
6 hours of continuing professional education to renew. The Medical Gas Piping Installation Endorsement carries a separate requirement of at least 2 hours, and the Drain Cleaner, Drain Cleaner-Restricted and Residential Utilities Installer registrations each require 6.
What is the difference between a Master Plumber and a Responsible Master Plumber?
Master Plumber is the individual licence you earn after a year as a journeyman plus a Department of Labor-approved apprenticeship programme. Responsible Master Plumber is a registration a master takes on to be legally responsible for a company's plumbing work and the people under it. You become a Master Plumber first.
What can a Tradesman Plumber-Limited do?
Construct, install, repair, service or renovate plumbing for one and two-family dwellings, under the supervision of a Responsible Master Plumber. It sits between apprentice and journeyman and has no equivalent in most states.
Where to go from here
The exam is the part you control, and it is the part worth measuring now. The free exam is 20 questions written from the code Texas tests, weighted the way the real paper is, with the answer explained and cited. Twenty minutes, no account, no card.