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Plumber Resume 2026 - journeyman and service plumber sample with skills free

Антон Литвинов
Антон Литвинов Founder, AI Resume Master
in 𝕏
Published: 25.09.2026 Updated: 25.09.2026

A plumbing resume is read by someone who has been in the trade twenty years and can tell in one paragraph whether you have crawled under a house. He checks the license tier and the state first, because that decides what he can legally let you do alone. Then he looks for the split that runs through the whole trade: service work and new construction are different jobs. Service is diagnosis, customers, tight spaces and a truck you stock yourself. New construction is underground, rough-in, top-out and trim on a schedule set by somebody else. Add-on certifications like backflow testing and gas fitting are what move you off the bottom of the pay scale, so they belong near the top of the page. Below is a full sample plus how to write both sides of the trade without padding.

What you get

  • A complete journeyman plumber resume sample
  • 3 PDF templates
  • A formula for writing service calls and rough-ins with numbers
  • 6 mistakes that get plumber resumes skipped
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Ready sample

Plumber resume sample

License and state first, then service or construction, then the work itself with pipe, fixture counts and call volume attached.

License tier under your name

Apprentice, journeyman, master or plumbing contractor, plus the state and the license number. Plumbing licensing is state regulated and in some places handled by the city or county, so a reader in another state needs to see exactly what you hold.

Service or new construction, said out loud

A service manager hiring for a van fleet and a superintendent hiring for a 200-unit build are looking for different people. Lead with the side you are strongest in and keep the other one visible.

Endorsements that pay

Backflow prevention assembly testing, gas fitting where your state issues it, and medical gas installation all widen the work you can be sent on. Put them in their own block, not in a sentence.

ATS friendly

Mechanical contractors and facility employers screen through applicant tracking. One column, standard headings, certifications spelled out in text, no icons, tables or photo.

Sample resume text

Use it as a reference: keep the structure and wording, put in your own facts and numbers.

Brian Kowalski

Journeyman Plumber - Service and New Construction
Columbus, Ohio
b.kowalski.plumbing@example.com
(614) 555-0178
linkedin.com/in/example

Profile

Journeyman Plumber, Ohio license, 9 years across residential service and commercial new construction. Copper sweat and press, PEX, cast iron no-hub, PVC DWV; water heaters and tankless conversions, repipes, and full underground-to-trim scope. Certified backflow prevention assembly tester. Averaged 7 service calls a day with a callback rate under 3% and a 4.8 star rating across 600+ customer reviews.

Experience

Journeyman Plumber - Service2021 - present

Buckeye Mechanical Services, Columbus, OH

  • Run a residential and light commercial service route averaging 7 calls a day, holding callbacks under 3% and a 4.8 star rating across more than 600 reviews
  • Perform annual backflow assembly testing for 210 commercial accounts, filing test reports with the water purveyor and converting 34 failed assemblies into repair or replacement work
  • Completed 61 water heater replacements and 19 tankless conversions, including gas line sizing, venting and combustion air corrections
  • Cover one week in four of the after-hours on-call rotation, including holiday coverage, with no missed dispatches in three years
Journeyman Plumber - New Construction2018 - 2021

Harlan Pipe and Mechanical Inc, Columbus, OH

  • Ran underground, rough-in and top-out on a 148-unit apartment build, roughly 420 fixture units in PEX and PVC DWV, passing every rough inspection first time
  • Led a two-man crew on medical office fit-outs, including fixture trim and equipment connections coordinated around HVAC and electrical rough-in
  • Cut supply house trips on the apartment job by staging material by floor and building a fitting kit per unit type, saving an estimated 5 crew hours a week
Plumbing Apprentice2015 - 2018

Harlan Pipe and Mechanical Inc, Columbus, OH

  • Completed a state-registered plumbing apprenticeship with classroom instruction while working residential repipes and commercial rough-in
  • Moved from digging and material handling to running DWV rough-in unsupervised in the final year

Education

State-registered apprenticeship program, Ohio2015 - 2018

Plumbing Apprenticeship, completed 2018

Whitehall-Yearling High School, Columbus, OH2011 - 2015

High School Diploma

Skills

Copper sweat and press, PEX expansion and crimpCast iron no-hub, PVC and ABS DWVWater heaters, tankless and recirculation systemsGas piping: black iron and CSST, leak testingBackflow assembly testing (RPZ, double check, PVB)Sewer camera inspection, locating and hydro jettingUnderground, rough-in, top-out and trim sequencingReading plans and plumbing isometricsTrench and confined space safetyService ticketing, quoting and customer handling

Licenses and Certifications

  • Ohio Journeyman Plumber license - number on request, current through 2027
  • Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester certification - renewed 2025
  • OSHA 30-Hour Construction - 2023
  • Confined space entry and trench safety training - 2024
  • Manufacturer training: tankless water heater installation and service - 2022

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Profile

Plumber profile summary

Four lines at most: license tier and state, years in the trade, service or construction, the materials and systems you work in, and one number that shows scale. This is the paragraph that gets you the phone call, so no adjectives that any applicant could type.

An apprentice writes it from the program and the hands-on work: which apprenticeship you are in, which year, what you have been trusted to do without a journeyman standing over you, and which code your jurisdiction runs on. Honest and specific beats inflated every time, because the first job walk settles it anyway.

WeakReliable plumber with experience in residential and commercial plumbing. Skilled in installation, repair and maintenance. Seeking a position with a reputable company offering growth.
StrongJourneyman Plumber, Ohio license, 9 years split between residential service and commercial new construction. Copper, PEX, press fittings, cast iron no-hub and PVC DWV; water heaters, tankless conversions, repipes and full rough-in to trim. Certified backflow prevention assembly tester and state gas endorsement. Averaged 7 service calls a day with a 4.8 star customer rating across 600+ reviews.
Tip
Name the materials and joining methods, not just 'plumbing'. Copper sweat and press, PEX expansion and crimp, cast iron no-hub, ABS and PVC DWV - a service manager knows immediately what you can be sent to and what you cannot.
Skills

Plumber skills for a resume

Pipe, fixtures, code and diagnosis. Write only what you would be comfortable doing on a ride-along with the service manager watching.

Hard skills

  • Water supply: copper sweat and press, PEX expansion and crimp, CPVC, pipe sizing and pressure testing
  • Drain, waste and vent: cast iron no-hub, PVC and ABS, slope and venting to code, hydrostatic and air testing
  • Applicable plumbing code for the jurisdiction - IPC or UPC as adopted, with local amendments
  • Fixture and appliance work: water closets, lavatories, tubs and showers, disposals, dishwashers, pumps
  • Water heaters: tank, tankless and recirculation, gas and electric, venting, expansion control and T and P relief
  • Gas piping: black iron and CSST, sizing, leak testing and purging under the National Fuel Gas Code as adopted locally
  • Backflow prevention: RPZ, double check and PVB assemblies, field testing with a differential pressure gauge, reporting to the water purveyor
  • Diagnosis and drain work: sewer camera inspection and locating, cabling, hydro jetting, leak detection
  • New construction sequence: underground, rough-in, top-out, trim, inspection sign-off from plans and isometrics
  • Jobsite equipment and safety: trench and excavation safety, confined space, threading machines, powered drain machines

Soft skills

  • Explaining a repair to a homeowner standing in a flooded laundry room without talking down to them
  • Quoting honestly, including telling a customer the cheaper repair is the right one
  • Working an on-call rotation and actually answering the phone at 2 a.m.
  • Keeping a van stocked so a second trip to the supply house is the exception
  • Coordinating with framers, HVAC and electrical so your rough-in is not in someone else's way
  • Teaching an apprentice why the vent goes there, not just where
  • Writing a clear invoice and a job note the next tech can pick up from
  • Staying calm on a call that turns into a bigger job than the ticket said
  • Protecting the customer's house - drop cloths, shoe covers, cleaning up before you leave
  • Turning a bad review around instead of arguing with it
Experience

How to write plumbing experience

Formula: the setting plus what you installed or diagnosed plus the system and its size plus a result. For construction, use projects and counts. For service, use volume, fix rate and customer numbers. Both are concrete, which is the whole point.

If you have done both, split them under the same employer rather than blurring them. A superintendent wants fixture counts and inspection history; a service manager wants calls per day, callback rate and average ticket. Give each reader the version that speaks to them and let the other one sit below it.

Weak- Performed plumbing installation, repair and maintenance on residential and commercial properties.
Strong- Ran underground, rough-in and top-out on a 148-unit apartment build: roughly 420 fixture units in PEX and PVC DWV, passed every rough inspection first time, and finished the plumbing scope inside the superintendent's schedule despite a three-week concrete delay.
What to include
Project type and size - fixture or unit counts - materials and joining methods - inspection results - calls per day and callback rate for service - on-call rotation you covered.
Education

Licenses, apprenticeship and certifications

This section carries more weight than your schooling, so it goes above education. Name the license exactly as your state names it, with the number, the state and the expiry. Plumbing licenses are issued state by state, and several states leave journeyman licensing to counties or municipalities, so confirm the requirement with your own state plumbing board rather than repeating an hours figure from a national article.

  • License tier, state, number and expiry - apprentice, journeyman, master or plumbing contractor
  • Other states you hold a license in, and any reciprocity agreements you have used
  • Apprenticeship: the program and completion year, whether union through UA local training or a non-union program such as PHCC or ABC
  • Backflow prevention assembly tester certification, with the certifying body and expiry - these are renewed on a cycle and an expired card is worthless
  • Gas fitting license or endorsement where your state or city issues one separately
  • Medical gas installer certification (ASSE 6010) if you work healthcare projects
  • OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 construction card, confined space and trench safety training
  • Manufacturer training: tankless water heaters, press tools, pump and boiler systems
  • High school diploma or GED, plus any community college or trade school plumbing coursework
Careful
Backflow tester certifications expire and are checked. Write the expiry date next to it. A card that lapsed last year is read as carelessness about paperwork, which in this trade is read as carelessness in general.
Apprentices

Plumbing resume with no experience

Plumbing contractors hire apprentices on attitude, reliability and back. They assume they will teach you the trade. What the resume has to prove is that you will be there at 6:30 every morning, that you can lift and crawl all day, and that you have not been fired from three jobs in a year.

Write any physical or mechanical work you have done in full detail: landscaping, warehouse, farm work, auto repair, military, restaurant kitchens. Add safety cards, a driver's license and clean record, and any tools you own. If you are already in a program or have applied to one, that goes first.

  • Apprenticeship program applied to or enrolled in, with year of study
  • OSHA 10 card and any other safety training you already hold
  • Driver's license and driving record - service work means a company vehicle
  • Physical work history with dates that show you stay in a job
  • Hands-on skills that transfer: pipe threading, digging, soldering, reading a tape, basic hand tools
  • Trade school or community college plumbing coursework with subjects named

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Mistakes

Common mistakes

License tier left vague

'Licensed plumber' means nothing across state lines. Tier, state, number, expiry - four pieces of information that decide what a contractor can put you on, and they belong in the header.

Service and construction mashed together

A resume that reads as generic plumbing makes both hiring managers assume you are average at their side of the trade. Pick a lead, order the bullets to match the posting, and keep the other side underneath.

Backflow and gas buried or missing

These are the endorsements that decide what work you can be sent on alone. If they sit in a paragraph on page two, half of your value is invisible.

No numbers on service work

Calls per day, callback rate, average ticket, review score, on-call weeks covered. Without them, twelve years of service reads exactly like two.

A skills section made of single words

'Pipefitting, repair, installation, maintenance' says nothing. Materials, joining methods, fixture types and test equipment say everything, and they are also the keywords the posting uses.

Design over content

Columns, icons, rating bars and a headshot get mangled by the parser and read as inexperience to anyone who has hired in this trade. Plain, single column, no photo.

Takeaways

Takeaways

Remember

  • License tier, state, number and expiry under your name
  • Say whether you are service or new construction
  • Backflow and gas certifications in their own block
  • Materials and joining methods, not the word plumbing
  • Calls per day, callback rate, inspection results
  • One column, no photo, no rating bars
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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

There is no single national figure, and any article that gives you one is rounding off fifty different rules. On-the-job hours, classroom hours and how they are documented are set state by state, and in several states counties or cities set their own requirements on top. Check your state plumbing board or apprenticeship agency, and ask your training coordinator what your logged hours actually stand at. On the resume, write the program, your year in it, and hours completed if your program issues a record.
In the header, directly under your name and phone number, with the tier, the state, the number and the expiry date. If you hold licenses in more than one state, list them all. A master license or plumbing contractor license also changes what a company can bid with you on the payroll, so make the tier unmissable rather than leaving it to be inferred from your job titles.
Whichever matches the job you are applying for, and change it for each application. New construction employers read fixture counts, unit counts, materials and inspection history. Service employers read calls per day, first-visit fix rate, callback rate, average ticket and review scores. If you genuinely do both, say so in the summary line and then order the evidence to suit the reader, rather than mixing it and losing both.
A lot, because it is billable work only certified testers can perform, and annual testing is a recurring revenue line for the shop. Write the certification with the certifying body, the state or water purveyor it is recognized by, and the expiry date. Add the volume if you have it - the number of assemblies you test in a season tells a service manager you actually do the work rather than just holding the card.
It depends entirely on where you work. Some states fold gas piping into the plumbing license, others issue a separate gas fitter license or endorsement, and some cities license it on their own. Do not claim gas work you are not licensed for in that jurisdiction. Write what you hold, name the authority that issued it, and describe the gas work you have done - appliance connections, black iron and CSST runs, sizing, leak testing and purging.
As a line in the job, because it is real work and not every applicant will do it. Say how often the rotation came around, whether it covered nights, weekends or holidays, the kind of emergency calls you handled, and your response record if the shop tracked it. A candidate who volunteers that they carried one week in four of after-hours calls is answering a question the service manager was about to ask.
The one actually adopted where you work. Jurisdictions adopt either the International Plumbing Code or the Uniform Plumbing Code, usually with local amendments and often a cycle or two behind the current edition. Write the code your jurisdiction enforces and any code update classes you have taken. Naming the wrong code for your own state is an instant signal that you copied the line from somewhere.
Yes - the sample above and the templates on this page. You can assemble your own in the builder for free and see the finished result; downloading the PDF is paid, by subscription or a one-time payment. The layouts stay single column and parser safe, which matters because mechanical contractors, hospitals, universities and property groups all screen through applicant tracking before anyone reads the file.
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