Hawaii’s Master Plumber license — type code PM — is the senior of the two individual plumber licenses the state issues under HRS chapter 448E, examined by PSI for the Board of Electricians and Plumbers. The PassProfessor Hawaii Master Plumber program prepares candidates for that examination: 80 questions in 180 minutes, closed book, minimum passing score 70 percent, tested on the Uniform Plumbing Code, 2018 edition.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
What this credential certifies
Hawaii issues exactly two individual plumber license types under HRS chapter 448E: the Journey Worker Plumber, type code PJ, and the Master Plumber, type code PM. The Master Plumber license is the top of that two-step structure — the credential of a plumber who has held journey worker registration, accumulated the standing the statute requires, and passed an examination that tests the whole scope of the trade: the design, installation, repair, maintenance, and extension of any plumbing system, including drains, waste, sanitary vents, water supply systems, fixtures, and gas systems. That scope wording is the same for both Hawaii licenses; what separates the PM candidate is the standing behind the application and the level at which the examination is pitched.
One boundary must be drawn before anything else. The C-37 Plumbing Contractor license is a different credential, issued under a different statute — HRS chapter 444, through the Contractors License Board — with a different examination. None of its examination figures belong on this page. This program prepares candidates for the PM examination under chapter 448E, and every figure on this page belongs to that examination alone.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Hawaii Master Plumber (license type PM), the senior of Hawaii’s two individual plumber licenses under HRS ch. 448E |
| Regulator | Board of Electricians and Plumbers, within the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division (PVL), Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) |
| Examination vendor | PSI Services LLC, contracted by DCCA; Board approval precedes PSI registration |
| Examination structure | A single examination. There is no separate Business and Law portion for PM |
| Format | 80 questions / 180 minutes / CLOSED BOOK / computer-administered |
| Passing standard | Minimum Passing Score 70%, as stated in the PSI bulletin examination table |
| Examination fee | $90, per the PSI bulletin; the fee is valid for one year from the date of payment and is not refundable or transferable |
| Tested reference | Uniform Plumbing Code, 2018 edition (IAPMO) |
| Adopted code | No single statewide adopted UPC edition is stated: Hawaii’s rules recognise the UPC with amendments as adopted by each county as the minimum standard |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Board of Electricians and Plumbers or DCCA |
A closed-book sitting, and what that changes
The single most consequential fact about the Hawaii PM examination is the one candidates most often get wrong by importing habits from other states: it is closed book. Eighty questions in 180 minutes, with no code book on the desk. Everything the examination asks about the Uniform Plumbing Code 2018 must be carried into the room in the candidate’s head — the sizing tables’ logic, the venting rules, the backflow requirements, the fixture provisions — held as working knowledge rather than located on a page. Preparation for a closed-book sitting is a different discipline from preparation for an open-book one: it is built on retrieval, repetition, and timed recall, and it punishes the study method of reading the code through and trusting to recognition.
The examination is computer-administered, at a test centre or by remote proctoring, after Board approval: registration follows the Board’s approval letter, through PSI’s registration channels for Hawaii trade examinations. A pre-examination tutorial of up to 15 minutes does not count against examination time. Questions appear one at a time, and a candidate may return to a question and change an answer while time remains. Up to ten experimental questions may be administered alongside the scored eighty; those questions are unscored, and their time is not counted against examination time. No new appointment may be made on the same day as an examination taken, and an unsuccessful candidate may be able to retest within two business days depending on space availability.
What the examination covers
The PM content outline totals 80 questions, and its centre of gravity is unmistakable. Excavation, General Knowledge, and Regulations carries 18 questions — more than a fifth of the sitting — the largest block in the examination and a clear signal that the master-level paper examines the regulatory and general framework of the trade, not only its pipework. Drain, Waste and Vent Systems, including Pipe Sizing and Water Supply and Distribution, including Pipe Sizing carry 10 each — sizing is examined inside the two great systems, where it is actually used. Fixtures and Water Heaters carries 10. Isometrics carries 6 and Sewer carries 6 — isometric reading examined as written questions inside a computer-administered examination. Backflow Prevention and Fuel Gas Systems, including Pipe Sizing carry 5 each. Plumbing Math carries 4, and Storm and Roof Drainage and Safety OSHA close the outline at 3 each.
The reference list matches the outline. The tested code is the Uniform Plumbing Code, 2018 edition, for the master examination exactly as for the journey worker examination — the two Hawaii licenses share an identical reference list. Alongside it the bulletin lists Mathematics for Plumbers and Pipefitters, 8th edition, 2013, and 29 CFR Part 1926 (OSHA), in its latest available amendments or the PSI Selections version — the source of the Safety OSHA block. One absence is deliberate and candidates must respect it: the PM reference list does not include the International Fuel Gas Code. Hawaii examines fuel gas through the UPC 2018 and the Fuel Gas Systems outline area; the gas answers this sitting credits are UPC answers.
The tested code and the county codes
Hawaii requires the same layer discipline as any state where the examination book and the working code are not the same document — with a Hawaii twist. The tested edition is verified and singular: UPC 2018, for both plumber licenses. The adopted layer is not a single statewide edition at all. Hawaii’s rules, at HAR section 16-80-3, recognise “the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) with amendments as adopted by each county” as the minimum standard for performing plumbing work — adoption runs through the counties, each with its own amendments, and the sources behind this page verify no single statewide adopted UPC edition. This page therefore states none. The candidate’s obligation runs in both directions: prepare for the sitting on the 2018 UPC exactly as the bulletin keys it, and then, for work in the field, learn the code as the county where the work sits has adopted and amended it.
Eligibility: two years at the journey worker level
The statute’s route to the PM examination is experience at the level below it. Under HRS section 448E-5, the master plumber applicant shall have been registered with the Board as a journey worker plumber for at least two years, or shall have equivalent experience in the trade. The application layer restates the route as registration as a licensed journey worker plumber in this or another state for at least two years, and the rules define equivalent experience as licensure as a journey worker or master plumber in another county, state, or country whose requirements are substantially equivalent to Hawaii’s. Experience is not asserted; it is documented, on completed, notarised Experience Verification forms.
Hawaii’s position on reciprocity is absolute, and this page states it without softening: Hawaii does not reciprocate with any jurisdiction. The application material and the Division’s published answers agree — there are no reciprocal agreements, and all applicants meet the same licensing and examination requirements. An experienced master plumber licensed elsewhere does not transfer that license into Hawaii; the equivalent-experience definition may qualify such an applicant to sit, but the PM examination itself stands in every route.
Application mechanics have their own discipline. A complete application with its fees must be received at least seven working days before a Board meeting — the Board usually meets in February, April, June, August, October, and December — because Board approval precedes examination registration. Eligibility then runs two years from the approval letter. The fee picture, stated with its layers, is this: an application fee of $40, non-refundable, at the application stage; the $90 PSI examination fee described above; and license fees payable on passing, prorated by the year of the triennium — $306 in the first year, $204 in the second, $102 in the third. Those Division amounts rest on the application form and Board pages rather than a standalone fee schedule, and candidates should confirm current amounts with the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division when they apply.
Staying licensed: triennial renewal and continued competency
The PM license renews on a triennial cycle, by June 30 — the coming renewal years are 2027, 2030, and 2033. Renewal carries Hawaii’s continued competency requirement, which is structured differently from a conventional hours-based system: before each renewal, every licensed plumber must either furnish proof of attendance at an educational course related to current updates of the UPC, conducted or approved by the community colleges, or pass a Board-prescribed examination on current UPC updates. No hour count for that requirement is stated in the primary sources, and this page states none — candidates and licensees should distrust any fixed hour figure attached to the requirement by a secondary source. A licensee issued a new license within one year of the renewal date is exempt for that renewal, and licensees on inactive status are not subject to the requirement.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Closed-book mastery of the UPC 2018. The program is built for recall, not reference: the code’s systems, sizing logic, venting and drainage rules, backflow provisions, and fixture requirements taught to the standard a closed-book sitting demands — retrievable under time pressure, without a book.
The outline at its published weights. The 18-question block of excavation, general knowledge, and regulations receives the preparation its weight demands; drainage and water supply are taught with their pipe sizing inside them, as the outline examines them; fuel gas is taught from the UPC 2018, as the PM reference list requires; isometrics, sewer, math, storm drainage, and OSHA safety are covered as the scored areas they are.
The Hawaii framework, kept separate from every other Hawaii credential. The program covers the Board of Electricians and Plumbers and the chapter 448E structure, the PJ-to-PM ladder and its two-year registration requirement, the equivalent-experience definition, the complete absence of reciprocity, the Board-meeting application rhythm and two-year eligibility window, and the triennial continued competency cycle — and it keeps the C-37 Plumbing Contractor credential, its statute, and its examination outside the frame entirely, where they belong.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Board of Electricians and Plumbers, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, or PSI. Completing this program confers no license and no eligibility; the Board alone approves applicants and issues licenses, and candidates register for the examination through PSI after Board approval. The companion Hawaii Master Plumber Exam Guide works through the credential, the outline area by area, and the closed-book study method in full.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Hawaii Master Plumber program is in the works as our catalog continues to expand into the plumbing trades, and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Hawaii PM and PJ licenses?
They are Hawaii’s two individual plumber licenses under HRS chapter 448E. PJ is the Journey Worker Plumber license; PM is the Master Plumber license, reached after at least two years registered as a journey worker plumber, or equivalent experience, plus the PM examination. Both examinations are keyed to the UPC 2018 with an identical reference list.
Is the Hawaii Master Plumber examination open book?
No. It is closed book: 80 questions in 180 minutes with no references permitted. Candidates prepare for recall, not for lookups.
What score passes the PM examination?
The PSI bulletin states a Minimum Passing Score of 70% for the PM examination. That figure is a bulletin-layer standard — Hawaii’s statute leaves the passing score to the Board’s rules. Do not confuse it with the different passing figure attached to the separate C-37 contractor examination, which is a different credential.
Which code is tested?
The Uniform Plumbing Code, 2018 edition, for both the PM and PJ examinations. The PM reference list also includes Mathematics for Plumbers and Pipefitters, 8th edition, and 29 CFR Part 1926 (OSHA). It does not include the International Fuel Gas Code; fuel gas is examined through the UPC 2018.
Which UPC edition has Hawaii adopted?
No single statewide adopted edition is stated on this page, because Hawaii’s rules recognise the UPC with amendments as adopted by each county as the minimum standard for plumbing work. Adoption is a county layer; the tested edition is UPC 2018.
What does the examination cost?
The PSI bulletin states an examination fee of $90, valid for one year from the date of payment and not refundable or transferable. The application fee at the Division stage is $40, and license fees on passing are prorated by triennium year.
Is there a Business and Law examination for the Hawaii Master Plumber?
No. The PM credential is earned through a single examination. There is no separate Business and Law portion for PM.
Does Hawaii reciprocate with other states for plumbers?
No. Hawaii does not reciprocate with any jurisdiction. All applicants meet the same licensing and examination requirements; licensure elsewhere may support an equivalent-experience application to sit, but it does not waive the PM examination.
What experience must a PM applicant show?
Registration as a journey worker plumber for at least two years, or equivalent experience — defined in the rules as licensure as a journey worker or master plumber in another county, state, or country whose requirements are substantially equivalent to Hawaii’s. Experience is documented on completed, notarised Experience Verification forms.
How long is examination eligibility valid?
Two years from the Board’s approval letter. A complete application must be received at least seven working days before a Board meeting, because Board approval precedes PSI registration.
What does renewal require?
Triennial renewal by June 30, with continued competency: before each renewal the licensee must show attendance at a course on current UPC updates conducted or approved by the community colleges, or pass a Board-prescribed examination on current UPC updates. No hour count for that requirement is stated in the primary sources.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Board of Electricians and Plumbers?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Board alone approves applicants and issues licenses.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.