There are many steps in every career to reach to the top of it. In plumbing also there are few steps. First you start with plumbing apprenticeship, then the next step is journeyman plumber. After journeyman plumber person can go for master plumber. Before going for master plumber you have to know about how to become a journeyman plumber.

There are three level of plumbing career which are follows : first one is apprentice, second one is journeyman plumber and last one is master plumber. Here, you will know about the second phase in plumbing career i.e. journeyman plumber.

There are 5 main steps to become a journeyman plumber.

First you have to become a plumber. I highly recommend you read about our guide about how to become a plumber.

Step 1 : You require a high school diploma or GED equivalent.

The very first step and important step in how to become a journeyman plumber is to get a high school diploma. High school pass out have the better change to getting apprenticeship. Because they study English, math, applied physics etc, which helps them in clearing plumbing aptitude test. This is very important test to start a career in plumbing. If candidate do not have a high school diploma then GED will work in most of the apprenticeship programs. At the time of applying for journeyman plumber age of candidate must be over 18.

Step 2 : You have to join a Plumbing Apprenticeship program

Second step is to join a plumbing apprenticeship program in your plumbing career. You have to find a local plumbing union in your area. Else you can find some other apprenticeship program. But, there are some eligibility criteria for apprentices. You have to first fulfill that which is below :

1. High School diploma : You require a high school diploma or you can provide GED certificate if you do not have high school diploma.
2. Your age should be more than 18 years.
3. You must hold a valid driving license with clean driving record.
4. You does not hold any criminal records.
5. And one last important thing, you have to clear a drug screening test.

Once you get the apprenticeship then you have to work with senior journeyman plumber or master plumber for learn some more advance works. You will learn some more advance skills and techniques of plumbing in their supervision.

You will work under senior journeyman plumber or master plumber for some what 4 to 5 years. In that time you will get necessary practical knowledge of trade. Master plumber will assign work to you and train you. They will make a detailed log of what works you do. In this period you will get on the job training as well as classroom lectures in you plumbing course.

Step 3 : Complete you on-the-job training and classroom training

Every person has to complete minimum number of on-the-job training hours and classroom training sessions. After completing all this you are eligible for journeyman’s plumbing exam. The number of hours training and classroom sessions is vary from state to state. In some states it is less as compare to others. But, in general it is at-least 2000 hours of work experience in a year. And you have to complete another 250 hours per year of classroom training. This is just an average of all the states requirement. Actually it is different from state to state.

Step 4 : Pass Journeyman’s Plumbing Exam

After completing your education you are eligible for journeyman’s plumbing exam. You have to prepare very well for this exam. You have to consult to you local plumbing union or your state department of labor about this exam. You have to check the dates and place of exam where you can sit in exam.

One of the most important thing before applying for exam is that you have to complete your apprenticeship classroom training and on-the-job training. Otherwise, you cannot take this exam. This is the mandatory for applying for exam.

Exam consists of below following things :

1. It is a multiple choice exam. You have to pick the correct answer from multiple answers.
2. You will get some general knowledge questions related to plumbing.
3. You will get maintenance and repair related question.
4. Questions related to installation of plumbing systems.
5. Some questions related to state codes, federal plumbing codes and local plumbing codes.
6. Etc.

You will have to attend practical test of plumbing. You have to show your plumbing skills practically while performing several task of plumbing like installing or repairing some fixtures etc. After both tests you will become a plumber.

Step 5 : Plumbing license

After your years hard work and passing your exam, you will get your plumbing license. You will get your state plumbing license and a journeyman plumbing certificate. You have to pay certain fee for that license. But, that is a nominal fee. You have to get you license renew every year as it is a yearly license.

Journeyman Plumber Salary : How much they make ?

This is the most interesting part of this article. You must be very curious to know the journeyman plumber salary. Definitely you will get higher salary as compare than apprentice. But there are few things which determines salary.

These factors influence the salary of journeyman plumber :

1. State and region : Salary is depend on state to state and region to region. As cost of living is different in every state that’s why. One more thing, rural area or city. In city you will get higher salary as compare than rural area.
2. Employer type : if you work with big plumbing company then you will high salary as compare than small plumbing company.

Journeyman plumber generally make hourly $16 to $32. It is a quite good income. Also journey man will get overtime allowance which is $20 to $45 per hour (if he works more than 40 hours per week) and on emergency calls. Where as annually the make minimum $32000 to $73000. These pay rates are very good as compare to other professions.

I hope you will get the idea of how to become a journeyman plumber. After becoming journeyman your next step is to become a master plumber.

for more information about how much jobs in your area for journeyman plumber visit jobs section.