1.1 Exam Blueprint, Format, and the 2024 Code Changeover
Key Takeaways
- The Colorado Journeyworker Plumber exam has 100 scored items and a 240-minute limit, and 70 correct items (70 percent) are required to pass (PSI Candidate Information Bulletin, updated 9/3/2026).
- Sanitary Drainage Systems (20 items) and Vents (18 items) together supply 38 percent of the scored exam; Water Supply adds 15 more.
- PSI states the test is based solely on the 2021 IPC and 2021 IRC and is not based on Colorado's state amendments to those codes.
- Starting November 1, 2026 the Colorado plumbing exams change to the 2024 IPC and IRC, and PSI will supply the 2021 books only on request until February 1, 2027.
- The examination fee is $78 and the retest fee is $73; both are non-refundable and valid for one year from the date of payment.
Why the blueprint comes first
Most candidates fail the Colorado Journeyworker Plumber exam for one of two reasons: they study a generic "plumbing" curriculum that does not match how PSI weights the test, or they study the wrong code book. Both problems disappear once you read the actual Candidate Information Bulletin (CIB) that PSI publishes for the Colorado State Plumbing Board. The version in force as this guide is written was updated September 3, 2026, and every fact in this section comes from it.
Format at a glance
| Item | Journeyworker Plumber |
|---|---|
| Scored items | 100 |
| Time limit | 240 minutes (4 hours) |
| Passing standard | 70 percent — 70 items correct |
| Non-scored pretest items | Up to 10, with 30 extra minutes added |
| Delivery | Computer-based at a PSI test center |
| Books | Open book — 2021 IPC and 2021 IRC supplied by PSI |
| Exam fee / retest fee | $78 / $73 |
| Score report | Displayed immediately, pass/fail only |
PSI scores the exam with a compensatory model. Every scored item is worth one point, wrong and blank answers are worth zero, and strength in one content area offsets weakness in another. There is no per-area minimum you can fail on. That matters for study strategy: you do not have to be equally strong everywhere, but you cannot afford to write off a whole content area, because the areas are not equally sized.
Before the clock starts, PSI runs a tutorial with sample questions. Up to 15 minutes spent in the tutorial does not count against your 240 minutes. An online calculator is provided on screen.
The eleven scored content areas
This is the heart of the blueprint. Learn it, and you know exactly where every study hour should go.
| Content area | Items | Share | Where this guide covers it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanitary Drainage Systems | 20 | 20% | Chapters 8-10 |
| Vents | 18 | 18% | Chapters 11-13 |
| Water Supply | 15 | 15% | Chapters 5-7 |
| Storm Drainage Systems | 10 | 10% | Chapter 16 |
| Fixtures and Equipment | 8 | 8% | Chapter 3 |
| Water Heaters | 7 | 7% | Chapter 4 |
| General Regulations | 5 | 5% | Chapter 2 |
| Traps, Interceptors and Separators | 5 | 5% | Chapter 14 |
| Indirect and Special Waste Piping | 5 | 5% | Chapter 15 |
| Isometric Analysis | 5 | 5% | Chapter 18 |
| Residential Fire Sprinklers | 2 | 2% | Chapter 17 |
Two observations change how most candidates study:
- Drainage and venting are more than half the exam. Sanitary Drainage, Vents, Storm Drainage and Traps total 53 items. If you can size a drain, size a vent, size a conductor and place a trap arm, you are most of the way to 70.
- Storm Drainage is 10 items, not an afterthought. Chapter 11 of the IPC is the single most commonly skipped chapter in self-study, and it is worth five times as much as Residential Fire Sprinklers.
Note what is not on the blueprint: there is no Fuel Gas content area, no Colorado statute area, and no Board Rules area. Fuel gas piping is real licensed work in Colorado and it is inspected under the Colorado Fuel Gas Code, but it is not a scored area on this examination.
Which code book — and the November 1, 2026 changeover
The CIB's Reference List is unambiguous, and it is the single most important paragraph in the bulletin:
All examination questions are consistent with the 2021 edition of the International Plumbing Code (IPC) and the 2021 edition of the I.R.C. for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (IRC). The IPC and IRC will be provided at the test center... the test is solely based on the 2021 IPC and IRC, which is adopted into the Colorado Plumbing Code by reference. The test is not based on state amendments to the 2021 IPC and IRC within the Colorado Plumbing Code. Starting November 1, 2026 the exams will update to the 2024 IRC and IPC. The 2021 IRC and IPC will be available upon request until February 1st 2027.
Three consequences:
- Answer from the model code, not from Colorado's amendments. Colorado really does amend the IPC — it deletes the frost-closure rule, permits air testing of plastic piping, fixes the vent roof extension at 6 inches, and more. Those amendments govern your installations and your inspections. They are not the basis for exam scoring. Where an amendment changes the answer, this guide flags it explicitly so you never confuse the two.
- Check your test date against November 1, 2026. Test on or after that date and the books on the desk are the 2024 IPC and IRC. Between November 1, 2026 and February 1, 2027 you may request the 2021 books instead. After February 1, 2027 the 2021 editions are gone.
- One stale sentence to ignore. The opening paragraph of the same bulletin still says the exams are "referenced in the 2018 edition." That is leftover boilerplate; the dated Reference List and the changeover notice are the operative text.
Book rules, and what you may not do to your code book
The IPC and IRC are provided at the test center. You may not bring your own, and you may not bring anything else:
- You may not write in, highlight, underline, or index the reference books.
- No tabs, no notes, no personal code book, no printed formula sheet.
- Formulas are not provided and are not allowed in. The CIB says so directly: you must know basic plumbing theory formulas because they are needed in the Calculations work.
This single rule should reshape your preparation. Candidates who have spent years working out of a heavily tabbed personal code book lose enormous time on a clean, untabbed copy. Practice navigating a bare code book by chapter number and section number, not by the color of a tab: Chapter 3 general regulations, Chapter 4 fixtures, Chapter 5 water heaters, Chapter 6 water supply, Chapter 7 sanitary drainage, Chapter 8 indirect waste, Chapter 9 vents, Chapter 10 traps, Chapter 11 storm drainage.
Scheduling, sites and check-in
Register online at PSI's Colorado plumbing portal. Colorado test centers listed in the current bulletin include Broomfield (Jeffco Airport), Colorado Springs, Denver-Centennial, Denver-Wheat Ridge, Durango, Englewood (Test Pro Center at Centennial Airport), Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Lakewood (Red Rocks Community College) and Pueblo.
- Arrive 30 minutes early for sign-in. Arrive after the start time and you forfeit the fee.
- Bring one valid, unexpired, signed photo ID whose name matches your registration exactly.
- Cancel at least 2 days before the appointment or you forfeit the fee.
- Personal belongings, including phones, smart watches, notes and your own reference material, go into secure storage.
Passing is step one, not the finish line
The CIB is explicit: "Passing of an examination is not a guarantee of licensure." In the current process you pass the examination first, then file the license application with the Division of Professions and Occupations with your experience documentation. Board Rule 1.4(A)(1) states the same order. Older DPO web copy describing an approval-then-schedule sequence predates this; follow the bulletin and the rule.
A four-week study allocation that matches the blueprint
| Week | Focus | Items covered |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanitary drainage: DFUs, slope, sizing, fittings, cleanouts | 20 |
| 2 | Vents: trap arms, sizing, wet/circuit/combination, AAVs | 18 |
| 3 | Water supply, backflow, water heaters | 22 |
| 4 | Storm drainage, fixtures, traps, indirect waste, isometrics, sprinklers | 35 |
Finish with two full 100-item timed runs using a clean code book and the on-screen calculator only.
How many scored items appear on the Colorado Journeyworker Plumber examination, and how many must be answered correctly to pass?
Which two content areas contribute the largest number of scored items to the Journeyworker exam?
A candidate is scheduled to test on November 15, 2026. Which code editions will be on the desk, and what option does the candidate have?
According to PSI's reference list, how should a candidate answer a question where the Colorado amendment to the IPC differs from the model code?