North Carolina plumbing license requirements and insurance

To work for yourself as a plumber in North Carolina, you need the Plumbing Contractor, Class I license. North Carolina has 4 plumbing license types, and which one you need depends on the work you take on. The state sets no minimum liability insurance, and workers' comp is required once you have employees. The state does not ask for a bond.

Checked by the Trades by State editor on 2026-09-16 Based on 20 official pages, listed at the bottom Something wrong? Tell us

License you need: Plumbing Contractor, Class I Renew Annual. Every license expires December 31. Renew in January or pay $25 extra. After three years unrenewed you must retest
Insurance you must carry: No state minimum customers usually ask for $1,000,000
Workers' comp: Required as soon as you hire anyone
Credit score: None or take a 14-hour course

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1 What stands out in North Carolina for a plumber What is this?

The things people get wrong or do not expect about North Carolina, in a few sentences.

North Carolina does not ask a plumbing contractor for liability insurance or a bond to get or keep the license. Nothing in G.S. 87 Article 2 or the Board's rules sets an insurance minimum. Websites that list one are quoting another state or a city permit rule.
There is no continuing education. The Board dropped the requirement on December 31, 2012, and the CE rule (21 NCAC 50 .1401) is repealed.
Replacing a water heater, a toilet, or a sink is a taxable service in North Carolina. You charge sales tax on the whole bill, labor included, whether the customer is a home or a business. Adding new piping that needs a building permit is the opposite. You charge the customer no tax and pay tax yourself when you buy the materials.
On a job worth $40,000 or more you must send a Notice to Lien Agent within 15 days of your first day on site or your lien loses priority. Remodels of a home the owner lives in are exempt from the lien agent rule.
Workers' comp starts at three employees, and corporate officers count toward the three. A corporation with two officers and one worker must carry it.
The whole state fee path is $300. A $150 exam application (half of it the exam fee) and a $150 annual license.

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·5 official pages

2 Who issues plumber licenses in North Carolina? What is this?

North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors (the Board) issues plumbing licenses in North Carolina.

Name	North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors (the Board)
Website	https://nclicensing.org/
Look up a license	https://public.nclicensing.org/Public/Search
The law	General Statutes chapter 87, Article 2 (G.S. 87-16 to 87-27.1)
The rulebook	21 NCAC chapter 50

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3 North Carolina plumber license requirements and fees What is this?

North Carolina has 4 license types that matter to a plumber. The Plumbing Contractor, Class I needs 2 years (4,000 hours) of full-time work installing, maintaining, servicing, or repairing plumbing systems. Up to half (2,000 hours) can be school time in a related college or technical program. The Board counts 66.66 hours for each semester hour. Part-time work under 40 hours a week is prorated.

Plumbing Contractor, Class I

Anyone who contracts, bids, or advertises to do plumbing work in any building, for anyone other than themselves

What you can work on

All plumbing systems in all structures, homes and commercial

Experience required

2 years (4,000 hours) of full-time work installing, maintaining, servicing, or repairing plumbing systems.
Up to half (2,000 hours) can be school time in a related college or technical program.
The Board counts 66.66 hours for each semester hour.
Part-time work under 40 hours a week is prorated.

Training required

None required. You must own the current NC State Building Code books, the Board's Laws and Rules book, and the NC Business and Project Management for Contractors book before you apply

Exam

Yes, a computer exam run by PSI at seven NC test centers, with a business and law part and a technical part. You must test within 90 days of approval and wait 90 days to retake after a fail

Fees

Application	75
Exam	75
Exam application, total	$150
First license	$150
Renewal	$150
Late renewal penalty	25
Application without an exam	30
Background check	Not listed yet

Renewal

Annual. Every license expires December 31. Renew in January or pay $25 extra. After three years unrenewed you must retest

Training hours each year

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Plumbing Contractor, Class II

Same as Class I, but for a business that only works on houses

What you can work on

Plumbing systems in single-family detached homes only

Experience required

Same as Class I, 2 years (4,000 hours), up to half from school

Training required

Same as Class I

Exam

Yes, the Class II business and technical exam through PSI. A South Carolina Residential Plumbing license can waive the technical part, not the business part

Fees

Application	75
Exam	75
First license	$150
Renewal	$150

Renewal

Annual, expires December 31

Training hours each year

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Plumbing Technician, Class I and Class II

An employee of a licensed Plumbing Contractor who wants to supervise work on site. You cannot contract or pull permits in your own name with this

What you can work on

Class I any structure, Class II single-family homes, always as a full-time employee of a Plumbing Contractor

Experience required

Class I 3,000 hours (18 months). Class II 2,500 hours (15 months). Up to half can be school time

Exam

Yes, a technical part and a Board laws and rules part. A technician who later has 4,000 hours can get the contractor license by passing only the business part

Fees

Exam application	$150
Yearly license fee	75

Renewal

Annual, expires December 31

Training hours each year

Taken from the linked page, not separately checked

·2 official pages

Restricted Limited Plumbing Contractor and Limited Plumbing Water Heater Replacement Contractor

Smaller licenses for people who are not full plumbers. The water heater one is new from June 1, 2026 and covers like-for-like water heater swaps in a single-family home with no more than 10 feet of new pipe

Experience required

Restricted Limited needs 1,500 hours (9 months). Water heater replacement experience rule not read

Fees

Yearly license fee	$150

Checked by software against the official page·ncrules.state.nc.us

4 How much insurance does a plumber need in North Carolina? What is this?

North Carolina sets no minimum liability insurance for this license. Customers and general contractors usually ask for $1,000,000 anyway. Workers' comp is required once you have employees.

Minimum liability insurance	None required by the state
Type of policy	None required by the state to hold the license
Who this applies to	Nobody. Neither G.S. 87 Article 2 nor 21 NCAC 50 sets an insurance minimum for plumbing contractors. Customers, builders, and some city permit offices will still ask for a certificate
Who must be named on the certificate	None
Workers' comp required?	Yes, once you have three or more employees on a regular basis
Who can opt out	Corporate officers count as employees toward the three but can exclude themselves from the policy in writing. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members are not counted and are not covered unless they choose to add themselves

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5 Does North Carolina check your credit for a plumber license? What is this?

North Carolina does not check your credit for this license.

Credit score you need	None
If your score is lower	None needed. The application asks for a criminal background report from CastleBranch and proof of your hours (W-2s or 1099s), not a credit check

Checked by a person against the official page·nclicensing.org

6 Does a plumber need a bond in North Carolina? What is this?

North Carolina does not require a state bond for this license. Some cities ask for one before they issue permits.

Does the state require a bond?	No
Amount	Not listed yet

The state does not ask for one to hold the license. A city or county permit office may, and public jobs use payment bonds under G.S. 44A Article 3

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7 Where must a North Carolina plumber show the license number? What is this?

In North Carolina: post the license at your place of business. Your license number must appear on every proposal, bid, and contract and on every permit request. The Board's rule adds that the firm's license number and qualification go on contracts, proposals, permit applications, and yellow page ads. A non-binding estimate does not count as a proposal. Do not let your number go on a permit for work you will not do or supervise.

The rule	Post the license at your place of business. Your license number must appear on every proposal, bid, and contract and on every permit request. The Board's rule adds that the firm's license number and qualification go on contracts, proposals, permit applications, and yellow page ads. A non-binding estimate does not count as a proposal. Do not let your number go on a permit for work you will not do or supervise.
If you forget	The Board treats misuse of the license or number as misconduct and can discipline the license. Contracting or bidding without a license is a Class 2 misdemeanor

The rule

Post the license at your place of business.
Your license number must appear on every proposal, bid, and contract and on every permit request.
The Board's rule adds that the firm's license number and qualification go on contracts, proposals, permit applications, and yellow page ads.
A non-binding estimate does not count as a proposal.
Do not let your number go on a permit for work you will not do or supervise.

If you forget

The Board treats misuse of the license or number as misconduct and can discipline the license. Contracting or bidding without a license is a Class 2 misdemeanor

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8 Does a plumber charge sales tax on labor in North Carolina? What is this?

Whether North Carolina taxes your labor, your materials, or neither.

See how this compares in every state: Sales tax on labor for plumbers and HVAC contractors by state

Repairs and service calls	You charge sales tax on the whole bill, labor and parts. North Carolina taxes repair, maintenance, and installation services (the state calls them RMI). Fixing a leak, replacing a toilet, sink, tub, shower, or fittings, and repairing, installing, or replacing a water heater are all taxable
Homes versus businesses	No difference. A home and a business are taxed the same way
New buildings and additions	No tax charged to the customer. New construction and new additions to a piping system that need a building permit are capital improvements (the state calls the job a real property contract). You pay sales tax yourself when you buy the materials and do not charge the customer
Materials on work that becomes part of the building	You are the consumer. Pay tax at the supply house and build it into your price. Keep a Form E-589CI (Affidavit of Capital Improvement) on file for each job
Materials on taxable repairs	You charge the customer tax on the parts as part of the taxable bill. Whether you can buy those parts tax-free with a resale certificate (Form E-595E) was not confirmed by the state's page
Jobs that are part repair, part new work	If the taxable repair part of a capital improvement job is 25 percent or less of the contract price, treat the whole job as a capital improvement. If it is more than 25 percent, charge tax on the repair part
Tax rate	4.75 percent state plus local rates, for a total of 6.75 to 8.25 percent depending on the county

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9 Getting paid: lien and notice deadlines for a North Carolina plumber What is this?

If you are not paid in North Carolina, a lien on the property is your backstop, but only if your notice goes out on time: within 15 days after your first day of furnishing labor or materials (first day on site March 1 means notice by March 16). Miss it and your lien ranks behind any mortgage recorded before you file, and on some projects you cannot perfect a lien at all. Send it through the lien agent's approved website, certified mail, email, fax, or hand delivery.

Who has to send a notice	Anyone who could file a lien, including the contractor hired by the owner, on a project where a lien agent is required. A lien agent (a title company the owner picks to receive lien notices) is required when the project costs $40,000 or more. It is not required for work on an existing single-family home the owner lives in
Send your notice to the lien agent by	Within 15 days after your first day of furnishing labor or materials (first day on site March 1 means notice by March 16). Miss it and your lien ranks behind any mortgage recorded before you file, and on some projects you cannot perfect a lien at all. Send it through the lien agent's approved website, certified mail, email, fax, or hand delivery
Notice when you are a subcontractor	If you were hired by the contractor, not the owner, you serve a Notice of Claim of Lien upon Funds on the person who owes your customer money. The statute sets no deadline for it, but nothing is protected until it is served. Rules on notice of contract and notice of subcontract in G.S. 44A-23 were not read
File your lien by	File a Claim of Lien on Real Property with the clerk of superior court in the county where the property is, within 120 days after your last day of furnishing labor or materials (last day April 1 means file by July 30)

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10 How much does it cost to become a plumber in North Carolina? What is this?

The government fees on this page add up to about $300 in North Carolina. Add insurance, tools, and a vehicle to get the real number.

Government fees, added up	$300

Does not include the CastleBranch background report, the required code books, insurance premiums, tools, a vehicle, or city permits. Pass the exam on or after October 1 and the first license costs $75 for the rest of that year

Our estimate

11Where these numbers come from

The labels under each table are explained on how to read a page.