Minnesota Plumbing Continuing Education

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has made some changes to their continuing education requirements through the years. Now, they allow online continuing education for a lot of their licensees and registrants, which can certainly make things easier for you. 

But the hours requirements are still pretty specific. And because they vary based on your license or registration type, knowing exactly what you need to do in order to renew can feel complicated. 

To make it easier for you to understand the Minnesota plumbing continuing education requirements for your specific license or registration type, we built this guide.

CE hours required by license type

Let’s look at the DLI’s renewal requirements for each individual plumbing designation:

Licensed master and journeyworker plumbers

You need 16 hours of CE during each renewal cycle. That means you have two years to knock these hours out. You can take eight hours each year, finish all 16 as part of a single course, or beak it up in any other way that works best for you — just as long as you have 16 hours done by the time your renewal is due. 

Eight of your hours need to focus on the State Plumbing Code. The remaining eight hours can be on plumbing code, plumbing installations and equipment, the Minnesota State Building Code, or the state statutes that govern plumbing work.

Licensed master and journeyworker water conditioners

You need four hours of CE during each license period. At least two of your hours need to focus on the Minnesota rules and statutes governing water conditioning. 

Unlicensed plumber registrations

You need to complete two CE hours by June 30 each year. If you take more than two hours, you can carry them over into the next year. 

Finding DLI-approved CE hours

In order for your hours to count toward the applicable renewal requirement, the DLI wants to make sure they’re legitimate. The easiest way to ensure that the DLI will be satisfied with your CE courses is to choose a continuing education provider who has had their courses specifically reviewed and approved by the state. (To see an example, you can scroll to the bottom of this page for our approval letters.) 

Alternatively, if you take a course that isn’t already DLI-approved, you can request credit for it. But this requires you to complete extra paperwork and pay a $20 fee per course. Because of the extra cost and hassle, people generally only request credit if they’ve already taken a course and found out it wasn’t state-approved afterward. It’s a lot easier to choose an education provider that’s already DLI-approved. 

Another nice thing about DLI-greenlit education providers is that they’re required to report your course completions to the state on your behalf. In other words, provided that you complete your CE hours with enough time for the provider to report them and the DLI to update their records (this usually takes a couple of weeks), your CE status should already be good to go by the time you submit your renewal application.

All this said, there’s always a chance the DLI will audit you and want to see proof of your CE. Save all of your certificates of completion — which your CE provider should issue whenever you finish a course — so you can have the necessary paperwork ready if you find yourself in this situation.