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Home / Plumbers / North Carolina / Apprenticeships

Plumber apprenticeships in North Carolina

North Carolina has 10 registered plumber apprenticeship programs: 0 union and 10 open shop.1 Apprentices are hired and paid while they learn.

Find a program near you

Enter your ZIP to sort by distance.

10 programs

  1. Apex Plumbing and Heating, Inc

    Apex · Wake County

    Open shop

  2. Blanton's Air, Plumbing & Electric

    Fayetteville · Cumberland County

    Open shop

  3. Brown Brothers Plumbing & Htg. Company, INC.

    Durham · Durham County

    Open shop

  4. Haire Plumbing & Mechanical Co., Inc.

    Fayetteville · Cumberland County

    Open shop

  5. Jd Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

    Durham · Durham County

    Open shop

  6. Johns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

    Greensboro · Guilford County

    Open shop

  7. Ohana Plumbing and Home Repair

    Barco · Currituck County

    Open shop

  8. Precision Plumbing - Mecklenburg

    Matthews · Mecklenburg County

    Open shop

  9. Precision Plumbing Inc.

    Goldsboro · Wayne County

    Open shop

  10. Three Way Plumbing Services Inc

    Concord · Cabarrus County

    Open shop

Union or open shop?

Union

Run by a joint committee run by the United Association (UA) local and union contractors. You apply to the committee, take an aptitude test and an interview, and wait on a ranked list. The committee sends you to its contractors.

Pay is a set share of the union journey-level rate and steps up on a schedule. Classes are nights or week-long blocks, usually paid for by the program.

Open shop

Run by PHCC, ABC or a single plumbing contractor. You usually get hired by a member contractor first, and the contractor enrolls you.

Your employer sets the pay and the raises. Classes are nights or weekends, and some programs charge tuition.

What do programs ask for?

Applying this month

  1. Get your papers together1 week

    High school transcript or GED, a photo ID, and your birth certificate or proof of age. Programs that ask for algebra want the transcript that shows it.

    Time
    1 week
  2. Practice for the aptitude test2 to 4 weeks

    Union programs test algebra and reading. A few evenings with a practice test helps your ranking.

    Time
    2 to 4 weeks
  3. Pick three programs and check their dates1 evening

    Union programs take applications in set windows, some once a year. Open-shop programs and employer programs often take them year-round.

    Time
    1 evening
    Back to the program list
  4. Apply, then keep working

    Apply to all three. While you wait, a helper or trainee job with a licensed contractor gives you hours and a reference.

    The license steps

Can't get in yet?

Pre-apprenticeship

Short programs, often free, that teach the basics and help with the application. Ask the programs above which ones they take graduates from.

Start on a crew

Licensed contractors hire helpers with no experience. Keep a log of your hours and employers; many programs and license boards count them. If you'd rather learn the basics first, 10 schools in North Carolina have plumber programs.

The license steps in North Carolina

How do you get into a plumber apprenticeship in North Carolina?

Pick programs near you, check each one's website for its application dates, and apply to more than one. Union programs test and interview, then rank applicants; open-shop programs usually start once a member contractor hires you.

How much do plumber apprentices make in North Carolina?

Programs set their own scales, usually a share of journey-level pay that rises every year. For a floor, the lowest-paid tenth of all plumbers in North Carolina earned $18.69 an hour or less in May 2025.

Plumber pay in North Carolina

Other routes in North Carolina

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Labor, apprenticeship.gov registered apprenticeship partners (apprenticeship.gov)
  2. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Carolina, May 2025 (bls.gov, May 2025)