How to become a plumber in Delaware

The path in Delaware, step by step

Delaware licenses plumbing work at the state level through the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Get a journeyman certificate through a federally approved plumbing apprenticeship, or build seven years of work under a master licensee.
2. Create a DELPROS account, apply, and pay the $173 application fee.
3. Have your supervisors send Verification of Employment forms to the board.
4. If you have no journeyman certificate, pass the Apprenticeship By-Pass exam with at least 70 percent once the board approves you.
5. Take the Master exam through ProV after board approval.
6. Get a Delaware business license from the Division of Revenue, and renew your plumbing license every two years with the required continuing education.

The full license guide, with every fee and form: plumbing license in Delaware.

Finding an apprenticeship in Delaware

Delaware runs Registered Apprenticeship through its own State Apprenticeship Agency, recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor to register and oversee programs there. Its staff are state employees, and it may use the federal paperwork or forms of its own. Apprenticeship.gov lists the Delaware State Apprenticeship Agency as the contact.

Either way, a registered program means paid work with a mentor, raises as you progress, classroom instruction and a credential recognized in every state. Search open spots in the Apprenticeship Job Finder.

Across the country. Most plumbers learn the trade in a 4 or 5 year apprenticeship, with about 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training plus some classroom instruction each year.

License levels and exams in Delaware

The license to aim for: Master Plumber.

Trade exam. Yes. The board must approve you, then you take the Master exam through ProV. Without a journeyman certificate you first pass the Apprenticeship By-Pass exam through ABC Delaware. Passing score is 70 percent.

Keeping it. Every two years, with continuing education. After your first renewal you owe 5 hours each renewal. Late renewals add a late fee of 50 percent of the renewal fee.

Coming from another state. Holders of a current Master Plumber license in Connecticut, Iowa or Maryland do not need to prove experience. Applicants licensed in several other states, including Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia and DC, must show seven years as a licensed master.

What the Delaware license costs

The fees the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners lists. Exam fees from a testing company, insurance and any bond come on top.

What plumbers earn in Delaware

The median plumber in Delaware earned $31.11 an hour in May 2025, 23rd of 51 states, with 1,590 on payrolls. The national median was $30.67.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of plumbers in Delaware earned under $24.93 an hour and a tenth under $19.71. At the top, a quarter earned over $37.42 and a tenth over $45.93.

Every state, the neighbors and what a business should charge: plumber salary in Delaware.

Jobs ahead in Delaware

Delaware's labor market office projects jobs for plumbers growing from 1,550 in 2022 to 1,670 in 2032, a change of 7.7%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 150 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to grow 7.7% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the 2.3% projected nationally, ranking 28th of the 50 states in the file.

These are the state's own long-term projections, published together on Projections Central for the occupation group plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters.

Starting your own plumber business in Delaware

To contract on your own in Delaware, the license is the Master Plumber.

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Delaware median of $31.11 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $125.22 per billable hour. Try your own in the plumber labor rate calculator.

The full checklist is in how to start a plumbing business. The free Koira Office plan gives you a website on a Koira address, estimates customers sign with a deposit, invoices with card payments and your day's jobs in one place, with no per-person fee. See the plans.