1.3 Education, Experience, PSI Process & Excavation Safety

1.3 Education, Experience, PSI Process & Excavation Safety

Quick Answer: A current apprentice path to the journeyman plumber exam is at least 6,800 clock hours of qualifying work under a Massachusetts master (or a journeyman employed by a master) plus 550 hours of theory in five 110-hour tiers. HVAC, steam, and hydronic hours do not count (248 CMR 11.02). Apply online in eLIPSE ($31); mailed applications are returned. The PSI exam is closed-book: Part I 80 items / 160 minutes / 70%, Part II 40 / 160 / 70%, independent scores. After both parts, pay the $52 license fee in eLIPSE; PSI does not print licenses on site (CIB 10/3/2025).

PSI's journeyman outline puts Safety and Excavation in the same nine-item administrative cluster as permits and M.G.L. c. 142. That is why Dig Safe sits in this chapter rather than in a later piping chapter. The numbers below are the current official figures. Older paper applications that still mention 8,500 hours are stale; 248 CMR 11.02, as published in Mass. Register No. 1559 (October 24, 2025), uses 6,800 clock hours.

Experience that counts — and hours that do not

248 CMR 11.02(1) requires documentary proof of at least 6,800 clock hours as a licensed apprentice working as an employee under the direct supervision of a Commonwealth of Massachusetts licensed master plumber, or under the direct supervision of a Massachusetts licensed journeyman plumber who is in the employ of a master plumber. Unlicensed work is not credited (248 CMR 11.02(8)), except the limited vocational-school shop path described in the same section.

Experience installing HVAC components for heating systems, steam piping, and hydronic heat piping shall not be considered qualifying experience. The Board may grant partial credit for relevant related-trade experience, but that is a petition, not a self-help conversion of boiler hours into plumbing hours. Apprentices keep W-2 records through the apprenticeship and for at least seven years after journeyman licensure. Time billed as an independent contractor is not apprentice time.

As a planning rule, 248 CMR 11.02 pairs 165 clock hours of education (one and a half tiers) in a year with 1,700 clock hours of qualifying work. Education and work are completed in conjunction with one another as measured by calendar years, with listed hardship exceptions, including completing Tiers 1 and 2 (220 hours) in a single calendar year and completing Tier 1 before apprentice licensure. Apprentices must begin the education program within nine months of the initial apprentice license. An apprentice license generally cannot be renewed after ten years from the later of initial grant or September 1, 2018, unless the Board reinstates it for good cause.

A Massachusetts licensed journeyman or master gas fitter may petition to use up to 220 hours of gas education and 3,400 hours of gas work toward the plumber path. A gas apprentice may petition for up to 110 education hours and 1,700 gas work hours. Limited undiluted LP installer time is not credited toward a plumber license.

Scenario. An apprentice in Lawrence spends two winters installing hydronic baseboard and steam mains for a heating contractor who also holds a plumbing shop. Those heating hours do not count toward 6,800. The hours that count are the licensed apprentice hours spent on plumbing and gas fitting under a Massachusetts master, or under a journeyman employed by that master, with payroll records to match.

Education: five tiers, 110 hours each

Mass.gov's Plumbing Tier Program and 248 CMR 11.06 divide plumber theory into five consecutive tiers of 110 clock hours, totaling 550 hours. 248 CMR 11.02 requires that theory over a period of no less than four years, with no more than 165 hours of education credited in a calendar year. Each tier ends in a school- or instructor-designed examination. Students may not advance until the clock hours and examination of the current tier are complete, unless the Board waives for good cause. Tiers need not all be taken at the same school, but each individual tier must be finished with the same provider unless the Board allows a transfer.

Every tier includes, at a minimum, M.G.L. c. 142; 248 CMR 3.00 through 11.00; Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) construction-outreach material; material safety data sheets; and Dig Safe systems under M.G.L. c. 82, § 40. A Board-approved public comprehensive high school career/vocational technical program may credit a maximum of the first three tiers (330 hours) plus up to 1,700 experience hours in shop, school projects, or documented co-op work.

Applicants also need a high school diploma or equivalent. The Mass.gov journeyman application uploads an Education Verification Form signed by a school official, a Statement of Experience signed by the supervising master (the employer's statement cannot be modified after signature), a 2x2 passport-style photo, and a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) acknowledgement whose second page is notarized.

eLIPSE application, PSI authorization, and the closed-book exam

Journeyman plumber applications must be completed online. Mass.gov states that applications mailed to the Board will be returned. Create a MyMassGov account, link the record using DOL's linking guide, and file through eLIPSE. The Board application fee is $31 (non-refundable). Incomplete applications stay open 180 days from receipt, then are abandoned and require a new filing and fee. Active military members, spouses, and veterans may qualify for Valor Act fee reductions. Veterans seeking the statutory exam credit file a DD-214 showing dates of induction and separation.

The Board reviews the file. When approved, PSI Services LLC emails or mails an Examination Authorization Notice. Schedule at https://test-takers.psiexams.com/maplu. Allow about three weeks for processing. Board approval to examine is a one-year window in 248 CMR 11.03; the CIB gives journeyman candidates 12 months from the application approval date to finish, then a new Board application is required.

The journeyman plumber examination is closed-book, computer-generated, and two parts. Scores are stand-alone: each part is independent but both are necessary. Fail one part and retake only that part. Passing scores are valid one year only. 248 CMR 11.03 requires no less than 70% on each portion. If a failed portion is not passed within one year from the most recent failure, all parts must be retaken.

Journeyman candidates who have not passed after six attempts must petition the Board in writing before further attempts (248 CMR 11.02(1)(b) and the CIB). Master plumber and master gas-fitter exams have no attempt cap in the CIB. Qualified veterans, as defined in M.G.L. c. 4, § 7, Forty-third clause, receive a 5% credit on each part when the DD-214 is filed with the application (M.G.L. c. 142, § 4; 248 CMR 11.03(1)(b)).

Fees. PSI's examination administration fee is $80 for a first attempt or a retake; retake fees are non-refundable. After both parts are passed, pay the $52 journeyman license fee through DOL's eLIPSE profile. The Board's CIB dated October 3, 2025 states: eligible candidates who pass both portions may pay for their license via eLIPSE, and PSI does not print licenses on site. Older Mass.gov how-to language still mentions paying a license fee at the test center; the dated CIB is the Board's current exam-process statement.

Test sites listed in the October 3, 2025 CIB include Auburn (48 Sword St., Unit 204); Braintree (420 Washington St., Suite 300); Boston/Charlestown (56 Roland St., Suite 305 — do not park in the building lot); Fall River (218 South Main St., Suite 105 — paid parking, cash on hand); Lawrence (1 Ballard Way, Suite 104); and West Springfield (1111 Elm St., Suite 32A). Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Late arrival is a missed appointment and forfeits the exam fee. Register under the legal name on a valid, unexpired government photo identification. The only calculator allowed is a non-programmable, non-printing, silent, battery-operated unit with non-alphabet keys. Codebooks stay home; the CIB lists 248 CMR, NFPA 54 (2012), NFPA 58 (2011), and M.G.L. c. 142 as references that are not allowed in the examination center.

Cancel at least two days before the appointment through the PSI website or a live registrar; voicemail is not an acceptable cancellation. Failure to appear forfeits all fees for that sitting.

Dig Safe and excavation safety as tested

248 CMR 11.06 puts Dig Safe Systems in the Commonwealth, M.G.L. c. 82, § 40, in every apprentice tier. The CIB's Safety and Excavation heading is that statute in exam form.

M.G.L. c. 82, § 40A says that except in an emergency, an excavator shall not excavate in a public or private way, company easement, or public or privately owned land unless, at least 72 hours exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, and not more than 30 days before the work, the excavator has premarked not more than 500 feet of the proposed excavation and given initial notice to the Dig Safe system. Call 811 or 888-344-7233. Mass.gov's Dig Safe guide repeats the same 72-business-hour wait and the 30-day ticket life. Do not start until the ticket start time. Utilities mark within that 72-hour window.

Safety zone (M.G.L. c. 82, § 40) is the width of the facility plus not more than 18 inches on each side, designated with standard color-coded markings. When facilities will be exposed, non-mechanical means shall be used as necessary to locate them, and further excavation must use reasonable precautions (M.G.L. c. 82, § 40C). If a pipe, main, wire, conduit, or protective coating is damaged, notify the company immediately. Excavating without the required notice, when damage results, is prima facie evidence of negligence. Emergency notice is still required before or during a life-threatening emergency, and the initial point of boring or excavation is premarked. Blasting has its own 72-hour notice, with a four-hour rule for an unanticipated obstruction.

Scenario. A Braintree water-service replacement will trench a front lawn on a Wednesday. Calling Dig Safe at 4 p.m. Tuesday does not authorize a Wednesday start. Count 72 hours exclusive of the weekend if the window crosses Saturday or Sunday, wait for marks, hand-excavate inside the safety zone, and keep the ticket alive or re-notify before day 30.

Do not import IPC excavation notes or another state's one-call waiting period. Massachusetts uses M.G.L. c. 82, §§ 40 through 40E.

Official resources

• Apply for a Journeyman Plumber license — eLIPSE filing, $31 / $52 fees, 180-day incomplete rule
• Plumbing Tier Program — five 110-hour tiers
• 248 CMR 11.00 Education and Experience — 6,800 hours, HVAC exclusion, 70% each part, veteran 5% credit
• PSI CIB (bulletin 597) — October 3, 2025 exam rules, sites, $80 fee, eLIPSE license issuance
• PSI scheduling — after Board authorization
• About Dig Safe — 811, 72 business hours, 30-day ticket