You’re entitled to check anyone you hire, including us. Here’s how New Hampshire plumbing licensing actually works, what work needs a permit, who’s responsible for pulling it, and why unpermitted work causes problems years later at closing.
New Hampshire licenses plumbers at the state level, through the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification’s Mechanical Safety and Licensing Board. That’s different from many trades, where licensing is a town-by-town matter or doesn’t exist at all.
The path runs apprentice → journeyman → master. A journeyman license typically requires on the order of 8,000 hours of documented practical experience plus a state examination. A master license requires further experience beyond that, and it’s the master license that carries the authority to supervise work, pull permits, and contract independently.
The rule that matters to you as a homeowner: no one may contract for plumbing work for compensation in New Hampshire without holding a master plumber license or working under one. If a person quoting you plumbing work can’t tell you whose license the work is being done under, that’s the whole answer.
The state maintains a public license lookup through the OPLC. Search the name or the business, confirm the license type and that it’s current, and note the number. It takes two minutes.
Ask for a certificate of insurance as well — general liability, and workers’ compensation if there’s a crew. A reputable contractor has these ready and isn’t bothered by the question. Anyone who is bothered by the question has told you something.
Worth saying plainly: this page is not a license claim. A rented or newly launched local-service website is not a license, and you should hold every contractor — including whoever answers this site’s form — to producing their own current credentials before work begins.
Most plumbing installations, significant alterations, and major system replacements require a permit, from the local building department in towns that administer their own, or through the state inspection program where they don’t. The common ones people are surprised by:
Generally not requiring a permit: repairing an existing fixture in place, clearing a drain, swapping a faucet or a shut-off valve, or replacing a toilet with the same fixture in the same location. Your town is the authority; a phone call settles it.
Your licensed plumber pulls the permit, not you. If a contractor suggests skipping it to save money or asks you to pull it as a homeowner for work they’re doing, that should stop the conversation.
Two ways, both delayed and both expensive. Insurance: if unpermitted work contributes to a loss, the claim gets complicated in exactly the moment you needed it to be simple. Selling: unpermitted work surfaces at inspection or in the town records, and buyers’ attorneys treat it as an open liability — which becomes a price reduction, a demand to permit it retroactively, or a delayed closing.
The permit fee is typically a small fraction of the job. It’s the cheapest part of the whole thing.
Licensing described in general terms as of 2026; requirements change and the OPLC is the authority. This page is general information, not legal advice.
If you’re not sure whether your job needs one, ask — we’ll tell you, and we’ll pull it when it does.
Describe what’s happening and where the property is. We’ll come back with a straight answer on what it likely is, what it should cost, and when we can be there. If it’s an emergency, say so in the first line.
We reply to every request within 2 business hours.
