In West Virginia you probably need two licenses, not one. Every person doing plumbing work needs a plumber certification from the Division of Labor. Separately, once a job crosses a dollar threshold, your business needs a contractor license with the Plumbing classification from a completely different board.
One is about the person holding the wrench. The other is about the company signing the contract. Plenty of new plumbers get the first and get shut down for missing the second.
Who runs plumbing licensing in West Virginia
The West Virginia Division of Labor issues the individual plumber certification.
WV Division of Labor, Plumber Certification
The West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board issues the contractor license. It used to sit under the Division of Labor. It does not anymore. It is now a standalone board with its own site and its own rules, and the old statute reference you will see quoted everywhere reads “[Repealed.]” The current law is WV Code chapter 30, article 42.
The plumber statute is WV Code section 21-14, with rules at 42 CSR 32. If a page cites 21-16, that is the HVAC technician statute, not plumbing.
The three plumber tiers
- Plumber in Training. A person who has not passed the journeyman exam. Works under direct supervision.
- Journeyman plumber. Passed the journeyman written exam at 70 percent or better, and is competent to instruct and supervise a plumber in training.
- Master plumber. Passed the master written exam at 70 percent or better, and is competent to design plumbing systems and supervise journeymen and trainees.
A master or journeyman may directly supervise no more than three plumbers in training at a time.
Every person doing plumbing work needs one of these, regardless of job size. The certification goes to a person, never to a company. Three plumbers on a job means three certifications plus the company’s contractor license.
What counts as plumbing work
Per the Division of Labor: installing water lines, vents and drains inside a building. It does not include replacing faucets, replacing washers, unclogging sinks or installing dishwashers.
Exemptions cover work on your own home or an immediate family member’s, work as an employee inside a manufacturing plant or industrial establishment, incidental plumbing while installing appliances for a retail seller, utility company work, water and drainage lines outside the foundation walls, sewers and underground utility services, plumbing incidental to HVAC work, and work at active coal mines.
Hours and experience: there is no published number
This is unusual and it is worth being clear about. West Virginia publishes no hour or year requirement for any plumber tier.
The statute defines each tier purely by exam passage. The rule sets no experience minimum. The official application form has no experience section at all. If you see “8,000 hours” or “four years” for West Virginia, it has no statutory basis.
The one real sequencing rule: after you pass the journeyman exam you have to wait 12 months before you can sit for the master exam.
Veterans get a specific path. If you completed a course of instruction qualifying you as a plumber or utilities worker and served honorably, you submit the certificate and discharge and sit the same exam. If more than 30 years have passed, additional training may be required first.
Exams
Prov, Inc. administers the exams. Prov replaced the previous vendor in September 2024, and this matters practically: reference books the old vendor allowed are no longer permitted in the exam room. Showing up with them will not help you.
Testing is on the International Plumbing Code, which the plumbing rule incorporates by reference.
Passing score is 70 percent, published in the statute, the rule and the Prov bulletin. Fail and you retake by paying the exam fee again.
Plumber in Training requires no exam at all.
Fees
- Master plumber: $75 initial and $75 annual renewal
- Journeyman plumber: $75 initial and $75 annual renewal
- Plumber in Training: $25 initial and $25 annual renewal
- Duplicate certification: $10
- Late fee if renewal is more than 15 days past expiration: $25
- Exam fee paid to Prov: $59.95 per exam, first attempt or retake
The contractor license
You need one once the total contract is $5,000 or more residential, or $25,000 or more commercial.
Read that carefully. It is the total contract amount, not just the plumbing portion. A $6,000 bathroom remodel where your plumbing piece is $1,800 still crosses the line.
The classification you want is Plumbing. What it takes:
- Two exams, each at 70 percent: the Plumbing Contractor trade exam, 100 questions in 3 hours, and the West Virginia business and law exam. Both cost $59.95 through Prov.
- A qualifier who passes those exams and is either in responsible management or a full time employee working 30 or more hours a week. If your qualifier leaves, you have 45 calendar days to name a replacement.
- An affidavit certifying business franchise tax compliance, registration and good standing with workers’ compensation and unemployment, and compliance with the wage bond requirements.
- $90 per year, initial and renewal.
A written contract is required on any job of $10,000 or more including materials and labor. Your license number has to appear in every advertisement and every executed contract, and a copy has to be posted at each job site. Permit offices are barred from issuing a permit to anyone who needs a license and does not have one.
Fee waivers exist for qualifying low income individuals and military families, though the waiver covers the initial fee only.
Bond and insurance
Individual plumber certification: no bond and no insurance required. Nothing in the statute or rule asks for either.
Contractor license: no general surety bond either. What is required is compliance with West Virginia’s wage bonding law, certified by affidavit, plus workers’ compensation and unemployment registration in good standing.
The board can order a bond or other financial assurance after a hearing and a finding of violation, and it can be removed after five complaint free years. That is a penalty, not an entry requirement.
Continuing education and renewal
Both licenses renew annually. Neither requires continuing education.
Plumber certification is valid up to one year, with a renewal notice mailed at least 45 days out. A $25 late fee applies past 15 days. A certification expired 90 days or more cannot be renewed at all. You start over as a new applicant.
Contractor licenses expire one year from issue, with notice at least 30 days out and a $25 penalty past 15 days. Same hard cutoff: lapsed 90 days or more and it cannot be renewed.
That 90 day wall is the thing to put in your calendar. It is short, it is absolute, and it costs you the exam.
Reciprocity
Both licenses have a reciprocity provision and both are discretionary. No partner states are named.
For plumbers, the Commissioner may grant a license without examination where another state’s requirements are equivalent, subject to West Virginia’s credential acknowledgement rules. Those conditions include holding the out of state license at least one year, good standing everywhere you have been licensed, established West Virginia residency, and no pending complaints. There is a separate route if you worked in a state that does not license plumbing, requiring at least two years in the trade.
For contractors, the board may waive the written exam for someone licensed in a state that offers similar treatment.
Neither is automatic. Call before you count on it.
One thing that works in your favor
West Virginia preempts local licensing. No city or county can require additional proof of plumbing competence from a state licensed plumber, and none can require an additional occupational license from a state licensed contractor. Get the state credentials and you are cleared statewide.
Next steps
Compare states on the plumbing license by state hub, or read the full plumbing license guide.
Once both licenses are in hand, here is how to start a plumbing business.
