Nebraska has no state plumbing license. No state plumbing board, no state agency that issues one. If a site told you to apply to the “Nebraska State Plumbing Board,” that board does not exist.
Licensing here happens city by city. That sounds easier than it is, so here is what actually applies.
Who regulates plumbing in Nebraska
Nobody at the state level, for the license itself. The Legislature’s own 2022 Urban Affairs Committee report says it plainly: there is no state agency that oversees the regulation of Master Plumbers.
The framework is Neb. Rev. Stat. sections 18-1901 to 18-1920, and it is a municipal plumbing board article. Section 18-1910 makes it unlawful to do plumbing in a city or village “which has established a plumbing board” unless you hold that city’s license. The requirement is triggered by local action, not state law.
Omaha is required to have a plumbing board. Lincoln, first class cities, second class cities and villages may have one. Worth knowing for contrast: Nebraska does license electricians statewide through the Nebraska State Electrical Board. Plumbing has no equivalent.
Where licensing actually exists
As of that 2022 legislative report, at least a dozen cities ran a plumbing board: Beatrice, Gering, Grand Island, Hastings, Holdrege, Lincoln, North Platte, Omaha, Schuyler, Scottsbluff, Seward and South Sioux City. More cities license plumbers without a formal board, including Alliance, Bellevue, Blair, Chadron, Columbus, Fremont, Kearney, La Vista, Norfolk and Sidney.
Working outside any city does not put you off the hook. Section 18-1917 says anyone installing or repairing sanitary plumbing in Nebraska has to be a master plumber licensed by the city or village nearest the construction site, with installing employees licensed as journeymen by that same city. Where the nearest city has no plumbing ordinance, the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code applies.
Omaha
Omaha runs the biggest program, under Chapter 49 of the municipal code.
Licensed classes: Master Plumber, Journeyman Plumber, Lawn Sprinkler Contractor, Sewer Layer, Water Conditioning Contractor, Water Conditioning Installer. Apprentice Plumber, Drain Cleaner and Lawn Sprinkler Installer are registered, not licensed.
Journeyman experience. Four consecutive years in a city certified apprenticeship, or an equivalent course of study, or seven consecutive years of training at 300 hours a year minimum totaling 7,000 hours. If you come from a community that requires no instruction, it is eight consecutive years and 14,000 hours.
Master experience. Four consecutive years installing plumbing systems while holding an Omaha journeyman license, or qualification as a master in a city of equivalent size with similar criteria, or 12 consecutive years and 21,000 hours.
Exams run four times a year, in February, May, August and November. First time testers apply by the 15th of December, March, June or September. Passing is 80 percent for master and 75 percent for journeyman. Fail and you wait 90 days for the first three retries, then 180 days.
Fees. Master exam $81, journeyman exam $54. Master license $100 plus an $8 tech fee to start, $75 plus $6 to renew. Journeyman is $1 plus a $19.50 ID badge.
Everything expires December 31. Renew by March 31 without retesting. Reinstating within 12 months costs a late fee of four times the renewal. Past 12 months you retest.
Continuing education is 8 hours a year for masters and journeymen, 4 hours for sewer layer, water conditioning and lawn sprinkler.
Bond and insurance. A $10,000 bond to operate a business, and to pull permits you need a $1,000,000 combined bodily injury and property damage certificate plus the $10,000 bond. Masters need an additional $20,000 street excavation bond to permit building sewers, storm sewers or water services.
Lincoln
Chapter 24 of the Lincoln Municipal Code, run through Building and Safety.
Tiers: Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, Master Contractor. Separate ladders exist for gas fitting and water conditioning.
Journeyman needs at least four years of practical experience. Credits apply: two years for a four year engineering degree, three years if you are a Nebraska registered professional mechanical engineer, one year for a board approved course of study.
Master needs a valid Lincoln journeyman certificate held at least one year, or a mechanical engineering degree plus two years practical experience, or Nebraska PE registration.
Exams are the third Thursday of February, May, August and November. The practical copper project starts at 6:30 a.m. sharp with a two hour limit, and you bring your own copper, fittings, solder and tools. Written portions start at 9:00 a.m. with a five hour limit. Apply at least two weeks ahead.
Fees. Master exam $208, journeyman exam $183. Yearly registration runs $250 for Master Contractor, $75 Master, $50 Journeyman, $25 Apprentice.
Renewal is March 1 to May 31. Miss May 31 and you stop working. Miss it by 60 days and the license is revoked and you retest.
CE is 10 hours for masters and master contractors, 6 for journeymen.
Insurance is a minimum $500,000 each occurrence general liability, with the City of Lincoln named as additional insured and the master’s name listed on the certificate as an insured. No bond unless you work in the right of way.
The state registration you still need
Separate from any city license, every contractor working in Nebraska has to register with the Nebraska Department of Labor before performing construction work. It costs $40 as of August 1, 2026, and renews every 12 months.
Exemptions: work on your own property, and anyone earning less than $5,000 a year from construction services. Contractors with employees have to keep a current certificate of insurance on file with NDOL as certificate holder.
This is registration, not a competency license. The statute says so directly: the Legislature does not intend to endorse the quality of any contractor’s work. Do not treat it as a license.
One trap worth knowing. If you pay a subcontractor who is not in the NDOL registration database, you have to withhold 5 percent of every payment and remit it as Nebraska income tax withholding. Check the database before you cut a check.
Backflow: this one really is statewide
The most missed requirement in Nebraska. Testing or repairing backflow preventers with test ports on a public water system requires a Grade VI Water Operator license from Nebraska DHHS. It takes a minimum 32 hour course with hands on instruction, plus a written and a hands on exam.
Fees are $115 initial and $115 to renew for two years, with a $50 exam fee. All water operator licenses expire December 31 of odd numbered years. Nebraska issues its own credential here and does not simply accept an outside certification.
Water well and pump installation is also state licensed, through the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment. That one carries a $400 initial fee and a $100,000 commercial liability requirement for contractor grades.
Reciprocity between cities
There is none, and this catches people out. Nothing in sections 18-1901 to 18-1920 creates it. An Omaha license gives you no right to work in Lincoln.
What cities publish is narrower than reciprocity. Omaha lets a license from a city of equivalent size qualify you to sit for the Omaha exam. Lincoln lets an out of state license by examination qualify you to take the Lincoln exam without submitting extra paperwork. Both are eligibility, not a waiver. You still take their test.
Nebraska’s universal license recognition law does not help either. It binds boards “created by state law,” and a municipal plumbing board is not one.
What this means for you
Pick your city first, then work backward. If you plan to run jobs in both Omaha and Lincoln, you are looking at two licenses, two exams, two renewal calendars and two CE requirements. That is a real cost and it belongs in your business plan before you buy a van.
Next steps
Compare states on the plumbing license by state hub, or read the full plumbing license guide.
Once licensing is mapped out, here is how to start a plumbing business.
