Plumbing (C-36) · Trade license
How do you get a C-36 plumbing contractor license in California?
Checked 20 October 2026 against CSLB's C-36 study guide 13E-36 (03-2026), CSLB's classification, exam, fee and workers' comp pages, its 2023 Sunset Review Report and September 2026 Board packet, and the Business and Professions Code · Written by the License Ladder team · Reviewed by AJ Sokol, Co-Founder
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To get a C-36 plumbing contractor license, you need at least four years of journey-level plumbing experience in the last 10 years. You apply to CSLB ($450) and pass two exams, Law and Business and the C-36 trade exam; both come in Spanish. Then you file a $25,000 bond and pay the license fee (fees as of October 2026). Our Plumbing (C-36) deck is coming soon. Law & Business prep is available now for $99.
What are the steps to a C-36 license?
You get a C-36 license in a set order. First you prove your plumbing experience and apply to CSLB. Then you wait for your Notice to Schedule and pass two exams at PSI. You also get fingerprinted and finish the asbestos open-book exam. Last, you file your bond and workers' comp and pay the license fee. Once CSLB accepts your application, you have 18 months to pass both exams.
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1
Check that you qualify
You must be 18 or older and have a Social Security number or an ITIN. The person who qualifies the license needs at least four years of journey-level plumbing experience, earned within the last 10 years. A finished apprenticeship can cover up to three of those years. What counts.
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2
Apply to CSLB for the C-36
File the Application for Original Contractor License (form 13A-1) for the C-36 classification, with the $450 fee. CSLB keeps the fee whether or not it approves you. Someone who saw your plumbing work firsthand certifies your experience.
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3
Wait for your Notice to Schedule
When CSLB accepts the application, it mails you a Notice to Schedule. You then book and pay for each exam yourself with PSI, CSLB's testing company. CSLB posts its processing times every week. What happens while you wait.
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4
Pass the two exams
Take Law and Business and the C-36 trade exam, 3½ hours each, at $51.43 per exam to PSI (October 2026). Both exams have Spanish versions. The C-36 exam is given in person only, at PSI centers in California and in Wilsonville, Oregon.
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5
Get fingerprinted
You and each officer, partner, owner, member, manager and responsible managing employee are fingerprinted for a DOJ and FBI check. Processing fees are $49 ($32 DOJ plus $17 FBI), plus the Live Scan site's own fee.
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6
Complete the asbestos open-book exam
CSLB requires every new applicant to complete its Asbestos Open Book Examination before the license is issued. It does not certify you for asbestos work.
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7
File your bond and workers' comp
File a $25,000 contractor bond, or a $25,000 cashier's check instead. File proof of workers' comp if you have employees, or an exemption if you have none. From January 1, 2028, every active license except a joint venture with no employees needs coverage. Details below.
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8
Pay the license fee
Pay $200 as a sole owner or $350 for any other business type. CSLB then issues the license for two years.
Sources: CSLB form 13A-1 (rev. 01/2026), CSLB Examinations FAQ, CSLB, Get Fingerprinted, CSLB, Issuing My License. Every step for any classification: how to get a California contractor license. Checked 20 October 2026.
What work does a C-36 license cover?
A C-36 license covers the water supply and fluid waste of any building. In CSLB's words, a plumbing contractor provides “a supply of safe water, ample in volume and of suitable temperature” and “the proper disposal of fluid waste” (16 CCR 832.36). That includes gas piping, gas appliances, water heaters and backflow devices. It does not include forced warm air units.
| License | What CSLB's text covers | Trade exam in Spanish? |
|---|---|---|
| C-36 Plumbing | Water supply, fluid waste and on-site waste disposal systems; gas piping, gas appliances and flues; water and gas piping from the owner's side of the meter; any equipment that heats water, solar included; upkeep and replacement of backflow preventers, gas earthquake valves and water conditioning equipment. Not forced warm air units | Yes |
| C-42 Sanitation System | Septic tanks, cesspools, storm drains and other sewage disposal and drain structures, with the pipe laid for them | No |
| C-34 Pipeline | Pipelines that carry water, gas, petroleum or other fluids, with the trenching, boring and backfilling they need | No |
| C-4 Boiler, Hot-Water Heating and Steam Fitting | Power boilers, hot-water heating systems and steam fitting, with their piping, valves, pumps, radiators and flues, solar heating equipment included | No |
| C-55 Water Conditioning | Water conditioning equipment, and only the pipe and fittings needed to connect it to the water supply | No |
| C-16 Fire Protection | Every type of fire protection system and its equipment, except electrical alarm systems | No |
| C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning | Warm-air heating systems and water heating heat pumps, ventilation and air conditioning, with their ducts, flues and controls | No |
| B General Building | No plumbing-only prime contract, unless the contract requires at least two unrelated trades besides framing and carpentry, the B also holds a C-36, or it subcontracts the plumbing to a licensed contractor | Yes |
| B-2 Residential Remodeling | Plumbing fixtures such as faucets, sinks, toilets and tubs, with minor changes to existing systems, on a contract with three or more unrelated trades. Plumbing system work needs a C-36 or a licensed subcontractor | No |
Small plumbing jobs can need a license too. You need one for any job of $1,000 or more in labor and materials, and for smaller jobs that need a building permit or hired help (B&P 7048). Which license fits other kinds of work.
Your trucks carry your license number
Plumbing contractors have a stricter truck rule than most trades. Every C-36 contractor must show its name, permanent business address and license number on both sides of each commercial vehicle used in the business, in letters and numbers at least 1½ inches high (B&P 7029.5). Most other contractors show only the business name and license number, at least ¾ inch high. Skipping it is a cause for discipline.
Sources: CSLB classification pages for C-36, C-42, C-34, C-4, C-55, C-16 and C-20; CSLB's 2026 Law Book (16 CCR 832.36; B&P 7029.5, 7029.6, 7057 and 7057.5); CSLB Examinations FAQ (Spanish exams). B or B-2: B vs B-2. Checked 20 October 2026.
What is on the C-36 exam?
The C-36 trade exam has five sections in CSLB's study guide 13E-36 (03-2026), for exams scheduled on or after March 1, 2025. Planning and Estimating and Underground and Rough Systems count 22% each, 44% together. The exam is closed book, multiple choice and 3½ hours long. CSLB publishes no question count and no passing score.
| Section | Weight | What CSLB lists under it |
|---|---|---|
| Planning and Estimating | 22% | Scope of work and code compliance, pipe sizing and venting, shop drawings, plans and specifications, job site inspections, project coordination, water conservation, cost estimates for materials, equipment, labor and overhead |
| Underground and Rough Systems | 22% | Excavation and underground installations, piping layout and installation, fuel gas piping, insulation and system testing |
| Finish Plumbing Installations | 20% | Plumbing fixtures and appliances, water heaters, shut-off valves, specialty installations, industrial and commercial piping and sanitary systems |
| Service, Repair, and Remodel Plumbing Systems | 19% | Troubleshooting, isolating leaks and damage, repairs, retrofits, disposal of plumbing materials |
| Safety | 17% | Personnel safety, job site safety, environmental safety |
How to pass: use License Ladder as directed
Our Plumbing (C-36) deck is coming soon. Every C-36 candidate also takes Law and Business, and License Ladder for Law & Business is ready now for $99. Start there:
- Study 20 minutes a day with the printed 142-card deck and the digital study guides.
- Practice in the app with practice questions and timed mock exams.
- Book the exam when your readiness score turns green. Reaching green is also the first condition of our pass guarantee.
How the C-36 exam runs
No code book or other reference is allowed: the C-36 exam is closed book. Each question has four choices and one best answer. Some need math, and a calculator is provided. There is no penalty for guessing. You get 3½ hours, plus PSI's tutorial of up to 15 minutes, which does not count. Licensed contractors who work in the trade write and review every question.
The other exam: Law and Business
Every C-36 applicant also takes CSLB's Law and Business exam. It has seven sections, from business organization and licensing to safety, and a Spanish version. The seven sections and their weights, or try our free Law and Business practice test.
Where you take it and what it costs
Book each exam with PSI for $51.43 (October 2026). There is no online option. The C-36 exam is given in person at PSI's 20 California centers and in Wilsonville, Oregon. If you fail, you can retake it after 21 days, inside your 18-month window. How retakes work.
What changed in 2025
CSLB released a new C-36 exam and a new Spanish C-36 exam in 2025. The current outline applies to exams scheduled on or after March 1, 2025. Older outlines, and the pass rates below, describe the exam before that change.
Sources: CSLB, Plumbing (C-36) study guide 13E-36 (03-2026) and its Spanish edition; CSLB, Examinations FAQ; PSI, Plumbing (C-36) candidate bulletin; CSLB, 2025 Accomplishments and Activities Report; CSLB, September 2026 Board packet. Checked 20 October 2026.
How many people pass the C-36 exam?
In fiscal year 2022/23, 47% of the 1,469 candidates who took the C-36 Plumbing exam passed. That is from Table 8 of CSLB's 2023 Sunset Review Report, the most recent overall per-exam pass rates CSLB has published. The rate was 56% in 2019/20 and 2020/21. Law and Business, the other exam, had a 57% pass rate in 2022/23.
Read these numbers with care. CSLB calls them overall pass rates, counts every language version in them, and does not say whether they include retakes. Year by year: 56% of 922 candidates (2019/20), 56% of 1,214 (2020/21), 48% of 1,905 (2021/22) and 47% of 1,469 (2022/23). All of them come from before the new C-36 exam CSLB released in 2025. For every exam and what makes them hard, see how hard the CSLB exam is.
Sources: CSLB, 2023 Sunset Review Report, Table 8; CSLB, 2025 Accomplishments and Activities Report. Checked 20 October 2026.
Can you take the C-36 exam in Spanish?
Yes. The C-36 Plumbing exam is one of the 10 CSLB exams with a Spanish version, and Law and Business is another, so you can take both exams in Spanish. If you ask CSLB for a translator, it has you take the Spanish version instead. The Spanish exams also have an on-screen toggle that shows each question in English.
Same exam, CSLB's Spanish
CSLB says its Spanish and English exams have the same content, format and exam plan. Its Spanish C-36 guide lists the same five sections and weights, in CSLB's own words: Planificación y estimación, Sistemas subterráneos y brutos, Acabado de instalaciones de plomería, Servicio, reparación y remodelación de sistemas de plomería, and Seguridad.
The English toggle
CSLB created the English toggle on November 1, 2024, and by March 1, 2025 every Spanish exam had it: you can see the original English of each question. CSLB reports that the Spanish C-36 pass rate went from 11% before the toggle to 27% after it. From August 2025 to July 2026, PSI gave 462 Spanish C-36 exams.
Prepare in Spanish
At License Ladder, the site and the app run in Spanish, the cards are printed in Spanish, and the Exam Coach in the online system answers in Spanish. License Ladder for Law & Business is $99; our Plumbing (C-36) deck is coming soon.
Sources: CSLB, Examinations FAQ; CSLB, Preparing for the Exam (13P-104); CSLB, Spanish C-36 study guide 13E-36 (03-2026); CSLB, 2025 Accomplishments and Activities Report; CSLB, September 2026 Board packet. Every CSLB exam in Spanish: taking the CSLB exam in Spanish. Checked 20 October 2026.
How much experience do you need for a C-36?
CSLB requires at least four years of journey-level plumbing experience, earned within the last 10 years. A completed apprenticeship, technical training or school can count for up to three of those years, but at least one year must be hands-on work. CSLB counts years of experience; it issues no journeyman or master plumber license.
Journey level is experience, not a license
CSLB's only plumbing license is the C-36 contractor license. CSLB uses “journeyman” for a level of work it credits: a fully qualified worker who can do the trade without supervision, or someone who finished an apprenticeship. Work as a helper, trainee or apprentice is not journey-level work.
Working for wages needs no CSLB license
The license is for the business that contracts for plumbing. A plumber paid wages by a licensed contractor, who does not run an independent business or have the right to control how the work is done, is outside the license law (B&P 7053). To contract plumbing jobs of $1,000 or more on your own, you need a CSLB license for the work, such as the C-36.
Who signs for your experience
A qualified person who knows your work must verify it, such as an employer, a contractor, a foreman, a coworker, another journeyman or a union representative. Apprenticeship credit needs a completion certificate from an accredited program, or a union's certified statement, in the C-36 class. What counts, and who can certify it.
Licensed in Arizona?
Of California's five reciprocity states, only Arizona has licenses that match the C-36: its C-37, C-37R, K-37, K-77, L-37 and L-77 plumbing classes. After five years in good standing, CSLB may waive the C-36 trade exam, but it can still require it. You still take Law and Business unless you passed it in the last five years. How reciprocity works.
Sources: CSLB, Qualifying Experience for the Examination; CSLB, Frequently Asked Questions About Journey-level Experience and The Road to Becoming a Licensed Contractor; CSLB, Licensing Classifications; CSLB's 2026 Law Book (B&P 7053); CSLB, Reciprocal Classifications List and General Reciprocity Information. Checked 20 October 2026.
What bond and workers' comp does a C-36 contractor need?
Every active C-36 license needs a $25,000 contractor bond on file with CSLB. Workers' comp is required once you have employees. The C-36 is not one of the classes that must carry it with no employees, so a C-36 with no employees can file an exemption, unless an RME qualifies the license. That lasts until January 1, 2028, when SB 1455 requires coverage on every active license except a joint venture with no employees.
| Requirement | Who needs it | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor bond | Every active license; a cashier's check can take its place | $25,000 |
| Bond of qualifying individual | A qualifier who is not the owner, a general partner or a joint licensee, such as an RME. Not needed for a corporation's RMO who owns at least 10% of the voting stock, or an LLC qualifier with at least a 10% membership interest | $25,000 |
| Workers' comp | Now: anyone with employees, and any license an RME qualifies. From January 1, 2028: every active license except a joint venture with no employees | A policy, or a certificate of self-insurance |
| LLC worker bond | LLC licenses | $100,000 |
| LLC liability insurance | LLC licenses | $1 million aggregate for five or fewer people listed, plus $100,000 for each additional person, up to $5 million |
The 2028 change matters to many C-36 contractors: on July 31, 2026, 9,442 of the 17,745 active C-36 licenses with workers' comp papers on file, or 53%, had the no-employee exemption, per CSLB's September 2026 Board packet. If you hire anyone before then, the exemption no longer counts, and CSLB must receive proof of coverage within 90 days of the hire (CSLB, Workers' Compensation Requirements). More on the exemption.
Sources: CSLB, Issuing My License; CSLB, Workers' Compensation Requirements; CSLB's California Contractors License Law book (B&P 7071.6, 7071.6.5, 7071.9, 7071.19 and 7125); CSLB, September 2026 Board packet. Checked 20 October 2026.
How much does a C-36 license cost in CSLB, PSI and fingerprint fees?
A C-36 sole owner who passes both exams on the first try pays $801.86 in CSLB, PSI and fingerprint fees as of October 2026, or $951.86 for any other business type with one person fingerprinted. Each extra person fingerprinted adds $49. The Live Scan site's fee, the bond premium and insurance are extra. A C-36 renews at CSLB's standard rate: $450 or $700 every two years.
| Fee | Sole owner | Other business types | Paid to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application (form 13A-1) | $450 | $450 | CSLB |
| Two exams, $51.43 each | $102.86 | $102.86 | PSI |
| Fingerprint processing (DOJ $32, FBI $17) | $49 | $49 | DOJ and FBI, through the Live Scan site, plus the site's own fee |
| Initial license fee, good for two years | $200 | $350 | CSLB |
| Total to get licensed | $801.86 | $951.86 | CSLB, PSI, DOJ and FBI |
| Active renewal, every two years | $450 | $700 | CSLB; the C-36 pays the standard rate (only C-10 contractors pay $20 more) |
Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the National Guard or Reserve, who were not dishonorably discharged pay half the initial license fee: the law cuts it by 50% (B&P 7137). Every fee for every license: what a California contractor license costs.
Sources: CSLB, List of All CSLB Fees; PSI, Law and Business candidate bulletin; CSLB, Get Fingerprinted; B&P 7137. Totals are our addition. Checked 20 October 2026.
Questions people ask about the C-36 license
Start with Law and Business, the exam every plumber takes
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Where every fact on this page comes from
Every figure on this page comes from these primary sources, checked on 20 October 2026.
CSLB pages: C-36 Plumbing classification · C-42 Sanitation System classification · C-34 Pipeline classification · C-4 Boiler, Hot-Water Heating and Steam Fitting classification · C-55 Water Conditioning classification · C-16 Fire Protection classification · C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning classification · Licensing Classifications · Examinations FAQ · Qualifying Experience for the Examination · Get Fingerprinted · Issuing My License · Workers' Compensation Requirements · List of All CSLB Fees · Processing times · General Reciprocity Information · Reciprocal Classifications List · Frequently Asked Questions About Journey-level Experience · The Road to Becoming a Licensed Contractor (Journeymen)
CSLB study guides, forms and publications: Plumbing (C-36) study guide 13E-36 (03-2026) · Plomería (C-36) study guide, Spanish edition 13E-36 (03-2026) · Application for Original Contractor License, 13A-1 (rev. 01/2026) · Preparing for the Exam, 13P-104 · Get Licensed to Build (2025 edition) · California Contractors License Law and Reference Book (2026)
CSLB reports and Board packets: 2023 Sunset Review Report · 2025 Accomplishments and Activities Report · Board meeting packet, September 2026
PSI: Law and Business candidate bulletin · Plumbing (C-36) candidate bulletin
Statutes: B&P 7029.5 · B&P 7048 · B&P 7053 · B&P 7057 · B&P 7057.5 · B&P 7125 · B&P 7137
License Ladder is independent study material, not affiliated with or endorsed by CSLB or PSI.