Michigan Master Plumber licensing is administered by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction Codes, under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407, Article 11. The Master Plumber examination is given by PSI: 130 questions, 180 minutes, open book, with a passing score of 75 percent, tested on the 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code. The PassProfessor Michigan Master Plumber program prepares candidates for that examination, including its in-exam material takeoff component.
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
A Michigan Master Plumber is the top examined plumbing tier in the state system set out in Article 11 of 2016 PA 407. Michigan statute uses the word “journey” for the tier below, and the master tier builds on that licensed journey experience. The step to master is not a longer version of the journey sitting: it is a distinct credential with its own eligibility threshold, its own examination, and broader responsibility.
Candidates should keep three Michigan credentials separate. The master plumber credential is the subject of this page and of the companion Michigan Master Plumber Exam Guide at /michigan-master-plumber-exam-guide/. The plumbing contractor credential is a separate law and administration program; it is not this program, and contractor material does not substitute for master preparation, nor the reverse. The Bureau of Construction Codes, within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, is the licensing authority. Only the State of Michigan may determine eligibility; PSI delivers the written examination after Bureau approval but does not decide who qualifies to sit.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Michigan Master Plumber |
| Regulator | Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Construction Codes (BCC) |
| Governing law | Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407, Article 11 — Plumbers and Plumbing Contractors; construction-code layer under 1972 PA 230 |
| Examination vendor | PSI Services LLC (PSI), for the written examination, after BCC approval |
| Examination format | 130 questions / 180 minutes / open book |
| Passing score | 75 percent |
| Examination fee | $100, paid to PSI at scheduling |
| Tested code | 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code — tested edition and adopted edition are the same |
| Material takeoff | Inside the PSI examination: a drawing of back-to-back restrooms; list fittings, state vent and drain sizes, and identify venting methods |
| Separate master practical | None published for Master Plumber — there is no separate Department-administered practical for this tier |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with LARA, the Bureau of Construction Codes, or PSI |
Tested equals adopted: the 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code
Michigan candidates benefit from one clear position that must still be stated precisely: tested equals adopted. The examination tests the 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code, and the adopted code is that same 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code, effective March 12, 2024. That code is the International Plumbing Code, 2021 second printing edition, including appendices B, C, D, and E, as adopted by reference in Part 7, R 408.30701, with the enumerated Michigan exclusions and amendments.
The precision matters. Preparation must key to the Michigan code book, not to the bare 2021 International Plumbing Code wherever a Part 7 amendment speaks. The PSI bulletin names the Michigan code book and never presents the bare model code as the tested book. A candidate who studies an unamended model-code text, or who works from material keyed to a different edition, will meet questions framed on Michigan’s adopted text and Michigan’s variations from it. The two governing Acts travel with the code into the sitting: 1972 PA 230 and 2016 PA 407 are part of the listed examination references for Master Plumber.
A proposal to move Michigan toward a later model-code edition does not change this position; until an adoption takes effect and the examination is rekeyed, the verified edition remains the 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code.
Who may sit: the journey-to-master ladder
Eligibility for the Master Plumber examination rests on licensed journey experience, stated in hours and in recency. A master applicant must be at least 18 years of age, must hold a journey plumber license, and must have gained 4,000 hours of experience in work as a journey plumber over a period of not less than 2 years immediately preceding the date of application. The applicant must then pay the examination fee, pass the examination, and pay the license fee.
The ladder beneath that threshold explains the counting. The journey tier requires not less than 6,000 hours over not less than 3 years as a registered plumbing apprentice in practical installation work under a licensed master plumber, together with both the written and practical portions of the journey examination. Apprentice status is registration only; there is no apprentice examination. Candidates should verify their hours against the statutory wording before applying: apprentice hours do not satisfy the master threshold, and journey experience outside the period immediately preceding the application does not meet its recency element.
How the sitting is delivered
After Bureau approval, the candidate schedules with PSI. The examination is delivered by computer at PSI centers or online; online delivery has been available for Master Plumber and Plumbing Contractor testing from February 11, 2026. That availability does not extend to the journey written examination.
The score is displayed on screen at the end of the sitting, and a candidate who does not pass receives a diagnostic report. The $100 examination fee is paid to PSI at scheduling, is valid for one year from payment, and is nonrefundable and nontransferable. Cancellation or rescheduling without forfeiting the fee requires notice received 2 days before the scheduled date through PSI by phone or website; voicemail and email are not acceptable. Retesting follows the bulletin’s direct wording: a candidate who fails may retest without a stated limit on attempts, paying the fee for each attempt. No minimum wait is stated, because the verified bulletin text states none in that form.
Open book, on Michigan’s terms
Open book in Michigan has exact reference rules, and candidates lose time when they learn those rules at the test center door. For the Master Plumber examination, the candidate brings only the 2021 code book, with chapter tabs only. The two Acts — 1972 PA 230 and 2016 PA 407 — are provided on screen during the examination and may not be brought in.
All reference material must be bound, with no highlights, underlining, or marking of any type, and no additional papers, whether loose or attached. Printed documents from the Bureau website, where used under the bulletin rules, must be bound by 3 staples on the left edge as separate documents, with highlighting, marking, and tabs in the printed documents not permitted. Preparation should therefore include working from a compliant copy of the code book: a heavily annotated personal copy that serves well at a workbench will not serve at this sitting, and rebuilding navigation habits around chapter tabs alone is part of examination readiness.
The material takeoff: inside the examination, not a separate sitting
One component defines the Master Plumber examination for many candidates, and it is routinely misdescribed elsewhere, so this page states it in the bulletin’s own terms. The material takeoff portion is inside the PSI written examination. It is not a separate sitting, not a separate appointment, and not a hands-on project completed on another day.
In the bulletin’s substance: the material take off practical portion of the exam consists of a drawing indicating back-to-back rest rooms. All pertinent data is provided to enable the applicant, using the plumbing code, to list the required amount of fittings to be used, vent and drains sizes, and to identify venting methods.
The candidate is given a drawing and the pertinent data, works from the plumbing code, and must produce three outputs: a count of required fittings, vent and drain sizes, and the venting methods. It rewards reading a restroom group as a system — fixtures, drainage, and venting together. Practice therefore means timed drawing-based listing and sizing work inside written preparation.
There is no separate Department-administered practical for Master Plumber, and no hands-on component is published for this tier. Michigan does have a separate Department-administered practical at the journey tier — a copper project required alongside the journey written examination for the applications to which it applies. That journey practical belongs to the journey credential only. A master candidate does not face it as part of the Master Plumber examination, and preparation for this program does not present it as a master requirement.
A separate distinction completes the picture. The Michigan Plumbing Contractor examination addresses law and administration for the contractor credential. It is a different examined credential, not a second part of the Master Plumber examination, and this program does not merge the two.
What the examination covers
The bulletin publishes a narrative topic list for Master Plumber rather than a per-topic question count, and this program follows that published form. No per-area question counts are printed here, because none are published in the verified sources.
The listed topics are: drainage systems; general knowledge; fixtures; water distribution; backflow protection; storm drains; special waste; testing; inspections; venting; and knowledge of the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407. Together they describe a master-level sitting, and the material takeoff sits across several of them at once. Candidates should resist study plans built on invented weightings: honest preparation covers the full list and gives additional timed attention to the takeoff task whose form is described in detail.
Fees and the license that follows
Two fee layers must never be blended. The examination fee is $100, paid to PSI at scheduling, valid for one year from payment, nonrefundable and nontransferable, and payable again for each retest attempt. The license fee is a separate State layer. In the statute, MCL 339.6121, the initial and renewal fee for a master plumber license is $300.00, for a period of up to 3 years, renewable for periods of 3 years, prorated yearly outside the April 30 to June 30 issuance window; a master who is also a plumbing contractor pays only the contractor fee. This page attributes the $300 figure to the statute layer in those terms and does not present it as the examination fee.
Renewal carries one education position. Michigan imposes no fixed-hour continuing education requirement for this credential in the verified sources. The renewal education that does exist is event-triggered: a master plumber must demonstrate successful completion of a board-approved course concerning any update or change in the state construction code within 12 months after the update or change, applying during and after years in which the code is updated or changed. No hour count for that course is stated, and none is printed here.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
The Michigan code as tested. The PassProfessor Michigan Master Plumber program is built to the 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code as adopted with Michigan amendments, together with 1972 PA 230 and 2016 PA 407 in their examination roles. Coverage follows the bulletin’s full narrative topic list — drainage systems, general knowledge, fixtures, water distribution, backflow protection, storm drains, special waste, testing, inspections, and venting — without invented per-topic weightings.
Takeoff practice in the examination’s own form. Because the material takeoff is an in-exam drawing task, the program includes drawing-based practice of the kind the bulletin describes: reading a back-to-back restroom drawing with its provided data, listing required fittings, determining vent and drain sizes from the code, and identifying venting methods, under timed conditions that reflect the 130-question, 180-minute sitting as a whole.
Open-book method for a chapter-tabs-only book. The program trains navigation of a compliant, unmarked code book using chapter tabs alone, and works with the two Acts in the on-screen form in which the sitting provides them.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the Bureau of Construction Codes, or PSI. Completing this program confers no license and no eligibility; the State alone determines eligibility, and candidates apply and schedule through the Bureau and PSI channels described above.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Michigan Master Plumber program is in the works as our catalog continues to expand, 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. Further detail is in the companion guide at /michigan-master-plumber-exam-guide/.
Frequently asked questions
Who licenses Michigan Master Plumbers?
The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, through the Bureau of Construction Codes, under Article 11 of the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407. Only the State of Michigan may determine examination eligibility.
Who delivers the Master Plumber examination?
PSI Services LLC delivers the written examination after Bureau approval. Scheduling and the $100 examination fee are handled through PSI.
How many questions are on the Michigan Master Plumber examination, and how long is it?
130 questions in 180 minutes. The examination is open book and the passing score is 75 percent.
Is the passing score 70 percent?
No. The verified passing score for the Master Plumber examination is 75 percent. A 70 percent figure sometimes repeated in secondary material is not the Michigan standard for this examination.
Which code edition is tested?
The 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code. Tested edition and adopted edition are the same: the 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code, effective March 12, 2024, based on the 2021 International Plumbing Code, second printing, including appendices B, C, D, and E, as adopted with Michigan exclusions and amendments.
What is the material takeoff portion?
It is a component inside the PSI examination. The candidate receives a drawing indicating back-to-back restrooms with all pertinent data provided, and, using the plumbing code, lists the required amount of fittings, gives vent and drain sizes, and identifies venting methods.
Does a Master Plumber candidate face a separate hands-on practical?
No. No separate Department-administered practical and no hands-on component are published for Master Plumber. Michigan’s separate copper project practical belongs to the journey tier only.
What experience is required before applying for Master Plumber?
The applicant must be at least 18, hold a journey plumber license, and have 4,000 hours of experience in work as a journey plumber over not less than 2 years immediately preceding the application, then pay the examination fee, pass the examination, and pay the license fee.
What may a candidate bring into the examination?
Only the 2021 code book, with chapter tabs only, bound and without highlights, underlining, or marking of any type and without additional papers. The texts of 1972 PA 230 and 2016 PA 407 are provided on screen and may not be brought in.
What happens after a failed attempt?
The score is displayed on screen at the end of the sitting, with a diagnostic report on failure. A candidate who fails may retest, paying the $100 examination fee for each attempt.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the State of Michigan or PSI?
No. PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with LARA, the Bureau of Construction Codes, or PSI.
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.