Virginia Journeyman Plumber Exam Prep

About the Virginia Plumbing Journeyman license

Virginia licenses plumbers through the Virginia Board for Contractors (DPOR). The Plumbing Journeyman license authorizes you to perform plumbing work, generally under the responsibility of a master plumber. You earn it by meeting the experience-and-education requirement — documented on-the-job hours plus approved instruction, or completion of an approved apprenticeship — and passing the trade exam.

Your exam is built on the International Plumbing Code (IPC) as adopted by Virginia — currently the 2021 IPC edition, the plumber book listed in PSI bulletin 481 (July 23, 2026). The Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code uses that same 2021 book where the state has not written a different rule. UPC tables are the wrong book.

Know these scope facts cold: the license is held by the individual; most work requires a permit and inspection (rough-in/top-out and final); you must work within the classification you hold; and unlicensed or out-of-scope plumbing work is a violation that can cost you the license and carry penalties. Plumbing protects public health — the exam constantly returns to the two core purposes of the code: deliver safe potable water and remove waste without contaminating that water.

How Virginia licensing works

• Experience and education: to sit for the journeyman exam you must document one of these paths (Board for Contractors tradesman regulations): a bachelor's degree in a related engineering curriculum plus 1 year of practical experience; an associate degree or 2-year tradesman-related certificate plus 2 years; 240 hours of formal vocational training plus 4 years; 160 hours plus 5 years; 80 hours plus 6 years; 40 hours plus 7 years; or no formal training plus 8 years of practical experience. The master license adds its own path on top of that: at least 1 year holding the journeyman license, 3 years as a residential plumbing tradesman, or 9 years of practical experience with no prior license.
• Application: submit the application, fees, and proof of experience (often signed off by a master plumber or employer) before you are approved to sit.
• Exam vendor: PSI. The Journeyman/Master Plumber exam is a single 80-item, 210-minute test — regulatory items (standards of practice/conduct, renewal, qualification for licensure) plus the technical code content (drainage waste and vents, water supply, backflow prevention, storm drainage, fixtures, general regulations, interceptors and traps). The passing score is 60 of 80 (75 percent), and the exam fee is $100 for journeyman (master is $125). Those figures are the July 23, 2026 bulletin, not a guess.
• Renewal: licenses renew every 3 years from the last day of the month issued. Renewal requires 3 hours of board-approved continuing education relating to applicable building-code changes, for each trade designation you hold.