Plumber resume examples by experience level

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Use this example

A plumber resume is a one to two page document that names your license tier, the kind of plumbing work you actually do, the code you work to, and the certifications that let you touch the systems most plumbers cannot.

Like electrical, this is a tiered licensed trade and the ladder matters. But the ladder is not what separates two licensed plumbers applying for the same job. What separates them is the work: a service and drain plumber, a new construction plumber and a commercial plumber with a medical gas card are three different hires, and a resume that does not say which one you are gets read as the cheapest of the three.

Resume guide for a plumber resume

This guide and the corresponding plumber resume example will cover:

• How to write a plumber resume, section by section
• The four kinds of plumbing work, and which certifications gate them
• Three adaptable summaries: journeyman, service plumber and master
• What a service ticket proves that a duty statement cannot
• What the job market looks like and what you can expect to earn

How to write a plumber resume

Six sections: contact header, summary, license and work-type block, experience, skills, education and certifications. One page until you run a truck or a crew, two after that.

The license goes above experience because it is a legal gate. Most states and some localities require plumbers to be licensed, typically after two to five years of experience and an examination (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Where the license sits varies: Pennsylvania has no statewide plumbing license, and in Pittsburgh it is the Allegheny County Health Department that licenses journeyman and master plumbers, requiring 576 hours of schooling plus four years of employment with a registered master plumber before the journeyman examination, and two further years as a journeyman before the master examination (Allegheny County Health Department, Plumbing Program).

Run the finished file through the free Rezoom ATS resume checker first. Service companies and mechanical contractors both screen through portals.

Choosing the best resume format for a plumber resume

Reverse chronological. A plumbing resume is read as a record of what you have been trusted to do alone, and any format that hides the order reads as an order worth hiding.

One page until you supervise, then two. Month and year dates. Short gaps between jobs are normal in construction plumbing and need no explanation; a long unexplained one does.

Include your contact information

Put the license number in the header. It is checked before you are sent to a job, and the file that lets someone check it in ten seconds moves ahead of the one that does not.

Make use of a summary

Four lines: license tier and years, the work type, the certifications that widen your scope, and one number.

Journeyman plumber licensed in Allegheny County with 5 years on residential and light commercial service. Run a solo truck on 5 to 7 calls a day: drain cleaning and camera work, water heater replacement, fixture and valve repair, repipes in copper and PEX, and sewer lateral repair. Work to the International Plumbing Code as adopted under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code. Closed 1,240 tickets last year at a 3.1% callback rate.

Journeyman plumber with 9 years split between service and commercial fit-out, and an ASSE 5110 backflow prevention assembly tester certification. Carry a full service truck: hydro jetting, sewer camera and locating, water heater and tankless installation, backflow assembly testing and repair, and gas line work under a separate county permit. Tested and filed 210 backflow assemblies last year for 38 commercial accounts, every report inside the water authority's 30-day window.

Master plumber with 17 years in the trade and 6 running a service department of 9 plumbers and 3 apprentices. Hold ASSE 6010 medical gas systems installer and ASSE 5110 backflow certifications, and pull permits in 4 municipalities. Grew the maintenance agreement book from 14 accounts to 96, about $840,000 in recurring annual revenue, while holding the callback rate under 4%. Brazed medical gas piping on two hospital renovations to NFPA 99.

Right vs wrong: the same plumber summary, twice

The right column is a dispatch decision. The left column is a paragraph a service manager has read forty times this month.

Outline your experience

Company, city, dates, then the work. Name the systems, the pipe and the volume. Plumbing bullets should read like a ticket history with numbers attached.

Journeyman Plumber, Monongahela Mechanical, Pittsburgh, PA, June 2021 to Present
Run a solo service truck on residential and light commercial work across Allegheny County: 5 to 7 calls a day, 1,240 tickets last year at a 3.1% callback rate.
Replace water heaters and tankless units, including gas line resizing, venting and condensate: 186 last year with 41 tankless conversions.
Clear, camera and locate drains and sewer laterals; 22 laterals repaired, lined or spot-replaced after locating.
Test, repair and file 210 backflow prevention assemblies a year for 38 commercial accounts under ASSE 5110.
Rough and trim commercial fit-outs in cast iron, copper and PEX, including a 4-story, 62-fixture office project.
Quote and close work on the ticket, averaging $612 a call.

The four kinds of plumbing work, and the certifications that gate two of them

This is the block almost nobody writes, and it is the one that decides which pay band you are read into.

License: Master Plumber, Allegheny County Health Department #MP-4471, renewed annually. Journeyman since 2016.
Code: International Plumbing Code as adopted under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, plus Allegheny County Article XV. Have also worked to the Uniform Plumbing Code on out-of-state commercial projects.
Work types: Residential and light commercial service and drain. Commercial fit-out and new construction. Water heater, tankless and recirculation. Gas fitting under separate county permit.
Gated certifications: ASSE 5110 Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester, current. ASSE 6010 Medical Gas Systems Installer, brazing qualification current, NFPA 99 systems.
Volume: 1,240 service tickets and 210 backflow filings last year. 4 municipalities permitted in.

The four kinds of work hire on almost nothing in common. Service and drain is measured in calls a day, first-visit fix rate, callback rate and average ticket. New construction is measured in fixture counts, pipe and schedule, and whether your rough passes. Commercial and institutional adds coordination, submittals and inspection under a mechanical contractor. Industrial pipe is nearly a separate occupation; the federal data groups plumbers with pipefitters and steamfitters, who install and maintain pipe carrying chemicals, acids and gases at high pressure (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).

Two certifications genuinely change what you can be sent to do, and both are ANSI professional qualification standards administered by ASSE International.

Backflow prevention is the common one. ASSE/IAPMO/ANSI Series 5000 covers cross-connection control personnel, with ASSE 5110 for Backflow Prevention Assembly Testers, ASSE 5130 for Repairers and ASSE 5120 for Cross-Connection Control Surveyors (ASSE International, Series 5000-2022e1). Water authorities require annual testing of assemblies on commercial services, so a certified tester turns a one-off repair customer into an account with a date on it every year.

Medical gas is rarer and pays accordingly. ASSE/IAPMO/ANSI Series 6000 covers medical gas systems personnel, with ASSE 6010 for Installers, 6020 for Inspectors, 6030 for Verifiers and 6040 for Maintenance Personnel (ASSE International, Series 6000-2024). It is separate from your plumbing license and separately maintained, and it puts you on hospital and surgery center piping a plumber without it cannot legally braze.

Gas fitting is the third thing to check, because it is not always inside the plumbing license. Some jurisdictions permit it separately. If yours does, say which permit you hold and what it covers; if it sits inside your license, say that instead.

Build a snapshot of your key skills

Twelve to sixteen entries in four groups: service, installation, materials and systems, and code and certification.

Service and diagnostics: Drain cleaning and hydro jetting, Sewer camera and line locating, Leak detection, Fixture and valve repair, Water heater and tankless diagnosis
Installation: Water heater and tankless replacement, Repipes in copper and PEX, Sewer lateral repair and lining, Commercial fixture rough and trim, Recirculation systems
Materials and joining: Copper soldering and press, PEX, CPVC, Cast iron no-hub and hubless, Black iron gas pipe, Medical gas brazing
Code and certification: International Plumbing Code, Uniform Plumbing Code, ASSE 5110 backflow testing and filing, ASSE 6010 medical gas, Permit application and inspection

List your education and certifications

License first with its number and renewal, then the apprenticeship, then the certifications with their standard numbers and dates.

Master Plumber, Allegheny County Health Department #MP-4471, renewed annually. Journeyman Plumber since 2016.
Plumbing Apprenticeship, Pittsburgh, PA, completed 2016. 576 classroom hours and four years of employment with a registered master plumber, as required before the county journeyman examination.
Certifications: ASSE 5110 Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester (2019, current). ASSE 6010 Medical Gas Systems Installer (2022, brazing qualification current). OSHA 30 Construction (2025). Confined space entry (2025). CPR and first aid (2026).
High School Diploma, Pittsburgh, PA, 2011. Pennsylvania driver's license, clean record.

Choose the right layout and design

Single column, plain type at 11 or 12 point, clear headings, no photograph, no graphics. Service company and mechanical contractor portals parse the file before anyone opens it, and columns and text boxes are where that breaks.

Plumber job market and outlook

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025-35 projections and May 2025 wage data.

Where the work sits:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data.

What salary you can expect as a plumber

The median annual wage for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters was $63,800 in May 2025, or $30.67 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $44,150 and the highest 10 percent more than $108,420 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025).

Three resume-visible things move you inside that range. Tier, because a master license lets you pull permits and qualify a business. Certification, because backflow and medical gas are billed separately. And volume, because service departments pay on closed tickets and average ticket value, both of which you can put on the page.

On-call is the fourth. Plumbers work full time, including nights and weekends, and are often on call to handle emergencies (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). After-hours work carries a premium in most service companies, so if you will take the rotation, write it down.

Key takeaways for a plumber resume

1. Put the license tier, issuing body and number in the header, because licensing is often county or city rather than state.
2. Say which of the four kinds of plumbing work you do, and lead with the one the job is.
3. Name backflow and medical gas certifications by their ASSE standard number.
4. State the code you work to, since the IPC and the UPC are not the same document.
5. Give volume: calls a day, tickets, callback rate, average ticket, fixtures, filings.
6. Be explicit about gas fitting and which permit covers it.
7. Say whether you will take the on-call rotation, because it is paid and it is hard to staff.

Build your plumber resume in 15 minutes.

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Pair it with a matching plumber cover letter.