State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master
South Dakota Plumbing Commission (Department of Labor and Regulation) runs plumbing licensing in South Dakota. Below: the exact ladder, the transfer doors into South Dakota from all 50 states, the renewal and lapse lines, and the master-of-record rule for opening a company — every figure from the board's own publications, checked October 22, 2026.
State ladder: apprentice → journeyman → master Checked in part Checked October 22, 2026
Checked in part. Checked 2026-10-22 against the Plumbing Commission's licensing, forms and continuing-education pages. Hours, CE and the reinstatement window are primary-confirmed. Current fee amounts could NOT be confirmed from a primary source: the Commission's rule-based fee schedule was revised effective July 2, 2025 (51 SDR 141) and the amended fee text was not available in the sources fetched, and secondary sources conflict ($85/yr in the pre-2025 rule vs $205 application/exam in exam-prep listings), so exam.fee and licenseFee are null rather than guessed.
| The ladder | South Dakota |
|---|---|
| Journeyman credential | Plumber (South Dakota does not use the title 'journeyman' for this license) |
| Total hours required | 7,600 |
| Classroom hours | not published |
| Apprentice registration | Required — hours count only while registered |
| Exam | South Dakota Plumbing Commission — Examination is administered under the Commission (SDCL 36-25-18 makes the Commission the committee of examiners). Current exam fee not confirmed from a primary source — see partialNote. |
| License fee | Not published |
| Renewal | Every 1 year (licenses expire Dec 31) |
| Continuing education | 4 hours per year, at least 2 hours on code (Commission continuing-education page) |
| Master credential | Plumbing Contractor |
Registration, in the board’s terms: An apprentice license (application to the Commission) is required; apprentices work under a plumbing contractor. After 2 years / 3,800 hours an apprentice may take a state-administered exam to work without supervision in the 3rd and 4th year on single-family dwellings only (third-year apprentice license).
Plumbing Contractor: 6 years of experience as a plumbing contractor, plumber, or plumber's apprentice, at least 2 of those years as a plumbing contractor or plumber, at least 1,900 hours per year during the six years, and pass the plumbing contractor examination (Commission licensing page).
There is no separate 'master plumber' license in South Dakota; the Plumbing Contractor license is the top/business level. Current contractor exam fee not confirmed from a primary source — see partialNote.
The Commission publishes a Plumbing License Reinstatement Application for a license expired more than a month but less than a year.
Reinstatement: Expired more than 1 month but less than 1 year: file the Plumbing License Reinstatement Application with the Commission (forms page, checked 2026-10-22). Secondary guidance from the Commission's process states licenses may be renewed no later than Jan 31, and on reinstatement within one year of expiration the examination is waived.
Past the line: Expired one year or more: apply again as a new applicant and retake the examination (exam waiver only applies within the one-year reinstatement window).
South Dakota endorses journeyman licenses from: none. No named reciprocal states. SDCL 36-25-21 allows the Commission to register an applicant without examination where the applicant holds a license from another state the Commission determines is equivalent to a South Dakota license — decided case by case, so accepts is an empty list, not a promise to any state.
| Licensed in | Door into South Dakota | |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Alaska | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Arizona | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Arkansas | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| California | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Colorado | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Connecticut | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Delaware | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| District of Columbia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Florida | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Georgia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Hawaii | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Idaho | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Illinois | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Indiana | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Iowa | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Kansas | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Kentucky | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Louisiana | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Maine | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Maryland | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Massachusetts | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Michigan | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Minnesota | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Mississippi | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Missouri | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Montana | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Nebraska | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Nevada | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New Hampshire | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New Jersey | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New Mexico | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| New York | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| North Carolina | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| North Dakota | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Ohio | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Oklahoma | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Oregon | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Pennsylvania | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Rhode Island | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| South Carolina | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Tennessee | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Texas | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Utah | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Vermont | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Virginia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Washington | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| West Virginia | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Wisconsin | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
| Wyoming | Endorsement by review — not guaranteed | Run the pair → |
Included in the $49 PlumberLicenseCheck Kit
One payment. Yours to keep. The checkers above stay free either way.
The seat: Plumbing Contractor. Contracting for plumbing work is done under the Plumbing Contractor license: 6 years of experience (at least 2 as contractor or plumber) at 1,900 hours/year and the contractor exam. The contractor license, not a separate business license, is the gate to running a plumbing business.
State license is required for plumbing work on property connected to a public water or sewer system (SDCL 36-25-17); cities may add local requirements (e.g. Sioux Falls) and the Commission permits local regulations that meet state minimums.
Run the owner gate for your situation →
Rules as published by South Dakota Plumbing Commission (Department of Labor and Regulation) and the statutes it administers, checked October 22, 2026. Board: https://dlr.sd.gov/plumbing/
