Guides

Plumber Job Description: Template, Duties and Pay (2026)

A ready-to-post plumber job description for small service companies, with duties, license levels, BLS pay percentiles, pay-range rules and interview questions.

Ijharul Islam October 21, 2026 9 min read

A plumber job description, in short: the plumber installs, repairs and maintains water, drain, gas and fixture piping in homes and businesses, diagnoses leaks and clogs, follows local code and explains the work to customers. It should name the license level you need (apprentice, journeyman or master), state a pay range (the BLS median was $30.67 an hour in May 2025) and describe the on-call schedule.

More on this topic: Running a trade business, every guide in one place.

Plumbers can pick where they work, and a posting that reads like every other template gets skipped. This guide gives you a plumber job description written for a small residential service company: what the job involves, a template to paste, the license levels and what each can do, national pay percentiles from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the states that require a pay range in the posting, and interview questions. Plumbing licenses are set by states and sometimes cities, so check the rules where you work.

Key takeaways

Say what kind of plumbing: residential service and repair, new construction, or commercial. They're different jobs.
Name the license level. BLS says most states and some localities license plumbers; journey-level and master status each take an exam.
Pay (BLS, May 2025): plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters earned $21.22 an hour at the 10th percentile, $30.67 at the median and $52.13 at the 90th.
Apprenticeships usually take 4 or 5 years, so a clear path from apprentice to journeyman is a hiring advantage.
Post a pay range: required in California and Washington (15+ employees), New York (4+) and Colorado.
Test diagnosis and customer handling in the interview, not just years of experience.

What does a plumber do?

A plumber installs and repairs water, gas and other piping systems in homes, businesses and factories. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook lists the duties as preparing cost estimates, reading blueprints and following state and local building codes, choosing materials, installing pipes and fixtures, inspecting and testing pipe systems, troubleshooting and maintaining and repairing plumbing systems. In a residential service shop, a typical week includes:

Leaks, running toilets, faucets and fixture replacements.
Drain cleaning and clogs, with a camera inspection on repeat problems.
Water heater repair and replacement, tank and tankless.
Repiping, shut-off valves, pressure-reducing valves and supply lines.
Gas line work where the plumber's license covers it.
Pricing jobs on site from your price book and getting approval before work starts.
Emergency calls on an on-call rotation: burst pipes, sewer backups, no hot water.

What should a plumber job description include?

A plumber job description should include the license level, the type of work, the pay range and pay plan, the schedule and on-call rules, benefits, what you supply, and how to apply. Copy this and fill in the brackets:

Copy-and-paste template

Service Plumber ([Journeyman]) – [Company], [City, State]
Pay: $[low]–$[high] an hour, plus [commission on sold work / on-call pay]. Schedule: [Mon–Fri, 7–4], on-call [one weekend in four]. Benefits: [health insurance, paid time off, retirement plan, paid license renewals and continuing education].
About the job: We're a [number]-truck residential plumbing company in [area]. You'll run service and repair calls in a stocked company truck, about [3–6] a day, and price work on site from our price book.
What you'll do:
Diagnose and repair leaks, drains, fixtures, water heaters and supply piping
Install fixtures, water heaters and new piping to code, and pull permits when the job needs one
Explain options and give written prices before starting work
Take photos and notes on every job and leave the work area clean
Take part in the on-call rotation for emergency calls
What you need:
[Journeyman] plumbing license for [state/city], or [apprentice registration] for the apprentice role
[3+] years of service plumbing experience
A valid driver's license and an insurable driving record (driving to customers is an essential part of this job)
Your own hand tools; we supply drain machines, cameras, press tools and power tools
How to apply: Send your resume or a few lines about your experience to [email or link]. We reply within [3] business days.

If you pay commission on sold work, say so in the posting. In New York the posting must state when a job is commission-based, and everywhere else it saves an awkward conversation later.

What are the levels of plumber: apprentice, journeyman and master?

Plumbers usually move from apprentice to journeyman to master, and most states and some localities license each step. According to the BLS, most plumbers learn the trade through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship; states and localities often require 2 to 5 years of experience before a worker can take the exam to become journey-level, and plumbers who have several more years of experience and pass another exam earn master status. Titles, hours and what each license allows differ by state, so treat this as a general pattern:

Level	What they usually do	Typical requirement	In your posting
Apprentice	Works under a licensed plumber; carries, cuts, assembles, learns code	Registered apprenticeship or trainee registration where your state has one	Say who they'll ride with and how school hours are paid
Journeyman	Runs service calls and installs alone; may supervise an apprentice	Journey-level license after required hours and an exam	Name the license and the state or city that issued it
Master	Plans jobs and supervises others; in some states, pulls permits or qualifies the business	Several more years and a second exam	Usually a lead, manager or license-holder role
Service lead / trainer	Your best diagnostician: second opinions, ride-alongs, callback checks	Journeyman or master, plus strong customer skills	Offer a pay step and a training budget

What each license lets a plumber do, gas piping included, also depends on the state. Check your state plumbing board before you list a requirement, and don't require a master license for a role a journeyman can legally do.

How much should you pay a plumber?

Pay a plumber within your local market range: nationally, BLS reported a May 2025 median of $30.67 an hour ($63,800 a year) for the 465,840 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in its survey. BLS doesn't publish pay by license level, but the percentiles work as bands:

BLS percentile (May 2025)	Hourly	Annual
10th percentile	$21.22	$44,150
25th percentile	$24.13	$50,190
Median (50th)	$30.67	$63,800
75th percentile	$40.92	$85,110
90th percentile	$52.13	$108,420

Apprentices generally start toward the bottom and licensed service plumbers in expensive metros earn toward the top. Look up your own area in the BLS wage tables. BLS also projects jobs for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, so expect competition for licensed help. If you're weighing hourly, commission or flat-rate pay, the same plans and overtime rules apply as in our guide on how to pay HVAC technicians.

Which states require a pay range in a plumber job posting?

California and Washington require it for employers with 15 or more employees, New York for employers with 4 or more, and Colorado requires compensation in all job postings covered by its Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. Washington also wants a general description of benefits and other compensation, and says a range needs both ends: “up to $29.00/hour” isn't enough. Other states and some cities have their own rules; our HVAC technician job description has a table of the four we checked.

What should you ask in a plumber interview?

Ask about real calls and listen for an order of steps, code awareness and how they talk to customers:

“A customer has no hot water from a gas tank heater. Walk me through your diagnosis.”
“A kitchen drain keeps clogging every few months. What do you do differently on the third visit?”
“When does a water heater replacement need a permit here, and what will the inspector look at?”
“You find a code problem the customer didn't call about. How do you bring it up?”
“Tell me about a job that came back. What caused it?”
“What license do you hold, from which state or city, and when does it renew?”
“How would you price a job that isn't in the price book?”

Verify the license on your state board's lookup before you make an offer, and consider a paid half-day ride-along. If your price book is thin, fix it before the new hire starts: our guide on how to build a plumbing price book shows how.

Where CrewRobin fits

When the new plumber starts, CrewRobin's price book gives them the same prices on every quote, and the dispatch board shows who's where. Each tech gets My day, a phone-friendly web page with directions, an On my way text, photos and notes. See how it works for plumbers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the job description of a plumber?

A plumber installs, repairs and maintains water, drain, gas and fixture piping, diagnoses leaks and clogs, reads plans, follows state and local code, estimates jobs and explains the work to customers.

What is the difference between a journeyman and a master plumber?

A journeyman has passed the journey-level exam after an apprenticeship and can work without direct supervision. A master has several more years of experience and has passed a second exam. What a master license allows, such as pulling permits or qualifying a plumbing business, depends on the state.

How long does it take to become a licensed plumber?

BLS says most plumbers train through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, and states often require 2 to 5 years of experience before the journey-level exam. Check your state board for the exact hours.

How much does a plumber make per hour?

BLS reported a May 2025 median of $30.67 an hour for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, with the 10th percentile at $21.22 and the 90th at $52.13. Local pay varies widely.

Do plumbers need a license in every state?

No. BLS says most states and some localities require plumbers to be licensed. Where there's no state license, a city or county may still require one, so check locally.

Put it to work this week

Give every new plumber the same prices and a clear schedule from day one. CrewRobin is free until your first 10 booked jobs, no card up front. Start free or see pricing.

Sources

Figures from outside CrewRobin were checked against these pages in October 2026. Most industry benchmarks come from vendors and agencies, so treat them as ranges, not rules.

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