Minnesota Plumbing License: What Applies and What Does Not
What Minnesota requires of a plumbing business in 2026, what the LLC has to file first, and where the license and the entity are two separate steps.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: September 2026
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Minnesota plumbing licensing at a glance
| State credential required for this work? | Yes, statewide |
| What they are called | Plumbing Contractor, Master Plumber, Journeyworker Plumber, Restricted Master Plumber, Restricted Journeyworker Plumber |
| Who issues it | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry |
| Must the business itself be licensed? | Yes |
Does a plumbing business need a license in Minnesota?
Minnesota issues 5 license classes for plumbers.
Minnesota licenses plumbing statewide through the Department of Labor and Industry. Individuals hold master or journeyworker plumber licenses, restricted versions of both apply in cities and towns under 5,000 people, and the contracting entity holds its own plumbing contractor license.
The plumbing business itself must be licensed or registered, not only the people doing the work.
A business that contracts to perform plumbing must hold a plumbing contractor license under Minnesota Statute 326B.46, keep a licensed master plumber as its responsible individual at all times, and maintain the required bond, general liability insurance and workers' compensation insurance. The department defines the license holder to include a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or other legal entity.
This records what Minnesota publishes, not a determination about your business. Scope, thresholds and local requirements are set by the issuing body, so confirm with them before you bid or file.
Source: Plumbing license types and credentials, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Verified 2026-09-03.
What the LLC has to do first
Several states license the plumbing company separately from the individual plumber, so the LLC and the license are two filings, not one.
The entity filing is separate from anything the license requires. In Minnesota it is made with the Minnesota Secretary of State. File directly with the state here. The order matters wherever the license is issued to the company rather than to a person: the entity has to exist before an application can name it.
Forming an LLC as a plumbing business in Minnesota covers the filing itself, step by step.
Insurance Minnesota plumbers are asked to show
Plumbing license and registration schemes commonly require proof of general liability cover, and water damage from a failed connection is the claim these policies are bought for.
We do not publish Minnesota premium figures for this trade, so nothing here is a quote. Our business insurance guide for plumbers covers what each policy does and does not pay for.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state licensing board publishes for this trade, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own work needs a licence: that turns on the scope of the job, the value of the contract, and the city or county you work in, which commonly adds its own registration on top of the state's. Confirm your own position with the board named on this page and with your local building or business licensing office before you bid or start work.
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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.