- Plan for a trade exam.
- Local licenses require at least 12 hours of continuing education every two years, or 6 hours a year, approved by the local body.
Do you need a state license in Kansas?
Kansas does not issue a statewide plumbing license. Any license you need comes from the city or county where the job is, so the rules can change from one town to the next.
Check with each county or city where you work. A city or county may also use its own exam, but that license is good only in that jurisdiction.
How to get set up in Kansas, step by step
- Get two years of field experience under a journeyman or master plumber.
- Pass a state-designated standard plumbing exam (ICC, IAPMO or Prometric) with at least 75%.
- Apply to the county or city where you work for your journeyman certificate.
- After two more years as a journeyman, get your master certificate.
- Get the contractor license from each county or city that requires one, and keep up your continuing education.
Experience and other requirements
Experience. Journeyman: at least two years of field experience (up to one year can be trade school of at least 930 program hours). Master: a journeyman certificate for two years, or four years of field experience.
Kansas plumbing exams
Trade exam. Local licensing uses the state-designated standard exams from ICC, IAPMO or Prometric, with a minimum passing score of 75%.
What it costs in Kansas
There is no state license fee for plumbing work in Kansas. Ask the city or county where you work about any local fees.
Renewal and licenses from other states
Renewal. Local licenses require at least 12 hours of continuing education every two years, or 6 hours a year, approved by the local body.
Reciprocity. A certificate earned on a designated standard exam, with the required experience, is valid in any Kansas county or city that licenses plumbers, without another exam.
Good to know in Kansas
- Kansas Attorney General opinion 1999-42 is listed as saying a city may not use home rule to add licensing requirements for plumbers.
- Trade school counts only if it is at least 930 program hours with a certificate of completion.
Once you are cleared to work
The license lets you take the work. Getting the work is the next job.
- Register the business. If you work under a name other than your own, register it where your state asks (often the Secretary of State, sometimes the county), and keep the name the same on your license, your truck and your invoices.
- Claim your Google Business Profile. It is the listing people see when they search for a plumber near them. Fill in your service area, hours and real photos of your work.
- Put up a website that shows the license. Customers look for it before they call. Koira builds a contractor website for you and keeps it current.
- See where you stand. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where this comes from
Every fact on this page comes from the official pages below, checked October 8, 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm with your city or county before you file.
More for your trade: how plumbing companies run on Koira.