How to become a plumber in Maine

The path in Maine, step by step

Maine licenses plumbing work at the state level through the Maine Plumbers' Examining Board, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation. These are the steps it lays out, in order.

1. Get a trainee plumber license and work under a journeyman or master.
2. Log the hours and pass the journeyman exam.
3. Work one year and 2,000 hours as a journeyman (or four years and 8,000 hours as a trainee).
4. Apply to the board for the master exam and pass it with Prov.
5. Pay the $200 license fee and $21 background check fee.
6. Renew every two years for $200.

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

Finding an apprenticeship in Maine

Maine 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 Maine 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 Maine

The license to aim for: Master Plumber license.

Trade exam. Yes. A computer based exam at Prov testing centers, after board approval. You need 75% to pass.

Keeping it. Every two years based on your first licensure date. The renewal fee is $200.

What the Maine license costs

The fees the Maine Plumbers' Examining Board, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation lists. Exam fees from a testing company, insurance and any bond come on top.

What plumbers earn in Maine

The median plumber in Maine earned $30.77 an hour in May 2025, 25th of 51 states, with 2,710 on payrolls. The national median was $30.67.

At the bottom of the range, a quarter of plumbers in Maine earned under $29.47 an hour and a tenth under $23.13. At the top, a quarter earned over $36.41 and a tenth over $38.83.

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

Jobs ahead in Maine

Maine's labor market office projects jobs for plumbers shrinking from 2,670 in 2022 to 2,610 in 2032, a change of -2.2%. Counting people who retire or change careers, that is about 220 openings a year.

Jobs are projected to shrink 2.2% from 2022 to 2032, against 2.3% growth nationally, ranking 50th 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 Maine

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

Pricing comes next. Paying yourself the Maine median of $30.77 an hour, the labor rate calculator's starting numbers (one person, 2 unbilled hours a day, $90,000 of overhead, 15% profit) come to $124.63 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.