Tennessee Plumbing License: What Applies and What Does Not

Does a plumbing business need a license in Tennessee?

Tennessee issues 3 license classes for plumbers.

Tennessee licenses plumbing through the Board for Licensing Contractors. A contractor license with a plumbing classification is required at $25,000 or more, and below that the Limited Licensed Plumber license covers the work in municipalities using the Division of Fire Prevention, with general maintenance under $500 exempt from the LLP license.

The plumbing business itself must be licensed or registered, not only the people doing the work.

The contractor license is held by the business entity, which designates a Qualifying Agent to sit the Business and Law exam and the trade exam on its behalf. A subcontractor must be licensed when contracting directly with a contractor to perform plumbing work and that portion of the project is $25,000 or more, including materials, equipment and labor.

This records what Tennessee 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.

Verified 2026-09-03 against the primary source listed under Sources.

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 Tennessee it is made with the Tennessee 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 Tennessee covers the filing itself, step by step.

Insurance Tennessee 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We do not publish Tennessee premium figures for this trade, so nothing here is a quote.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.