How to check a Michigan plumber's license, and what to do if something goes wrong

What Michigan requires

The rule sits in the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407, at MCL 339.6107. A person may not work as a plumbing contractor, master plumber, journey plumber or apprentice without the matching license or registration. Only a licensed master or journey plumber may perform plumbing, and plumbing work requires a permit obtained by the responsible plumbing contractor.

LARA, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, licenses plumbers through its Bureau of Construction Codes. The license levels are apprentice, journey, master and contractor.

The exceptions, and why they matter to you

The act exempts four things that come up in a house: minor repair work; a building sewer or water service pipe, if there is a permit and inspections; domestic water treatment equipment, if permitted; and a homeowner installing their own plumbing, building sewer or private sewer in a single-family dwelling, with a permit.

Minor repair is defined narrowly, as clearing stoppages, repairing or replacing a faucet or valve, or reinstalling the same fixture, with no modification to the plumbing system. Repairing or replacing a backflow preventer or an air admittance valve falls outside it.

This cuts two ways for you. Someone who clears a clog or swaps a faucet may not need a plumbing license for that job, while someone who moves pipe, replaces a water heater or works on a sewer generally does. When a quote covers more than the problem you described, ask which part is licensed work.

How to look a license up

1. Ask the plumber or the company for a license number before you agree to anything. “We’re licensed” without a number is not an answer.
2. Open the State of Michigan’s “Find or verify a licensed professional or business” page, run by LARA. It lists Plumber under Skilled Trades.
3. Search with the number or the name, and compare the license type with the work. A journey plumber and a plumbing contractor are different licenses, and the company’s contractor license is the one a permit usually hangs on.

The page links to LARA’s license search portal, which would not load for us, so we describe none of its screens. If a result looks wrong, or the names do not match the person at your door, call the company back before you sign.

Gas work has its own license class

Gas brings in a second license. Under Michigan Administrative Code R 339.5161, the mechanical specialty classifications include LP distribution piping, fuel gas piping, and fuel gas piping and venting. Fuel gas piping is defined as installing piping, valves and fittings from the outlet of the point of delivery to the outlet of the appliance shut-off valve.

LARA’s mechanical FAQ goes a step further for water heaters: replacing a gas water heater takes a Michigan mechanical license and a Michigan plumbing contractor’s license, with both a mechanical and a plumbing permit. We have seen that text only through a search summary, so check it with LARA before you rely on it. Whichever way that resolves, ask what license the person holds on any job that touches gas, and look it up; gas line goes into the details.

What the contract should say

Michigan’s Construction Lien Act points to a useful habit. Under MCL 570.1114, a contractor has no lien right on a residential structure unless the work was done under a written contract, and amendments must also be in writing. The contract must state that a plumbing contractor is required to be licensed and, where a license is required, that the contractor is licensed, with the license number.

Protecting a plumber’s lien rights is not your job, but the rule gives a legitimate contractor a reason to put a license number on paper, so ask for it. In an emergency you may be signing on a phone screen with water on the floor, and a number in the text is still worth having. Emergency plumber covers what to ask when time is short.

Penalties for unlicensed work

Practicing a regulated occupation without a license is a misdemeanor under MCL 339.5601, with a fine of up to $500 or up to 90 days in jail, or both. A second offense carries up to $1,000 or one year. A third or later offense is a felony, with up to $25,000 or five years. A court may also require restitution.

Those penalties fall on the person doing the work and not on you, but you may be the one left holding unpermitted work if you skip the lookup.

If something goes wrong

Complaints about licensed plumbers go to LARA’s Bureau of Construction Codes enforcement section. It takes complaints about things like negligence that causes physical harm, working without a permit or license, and fraud or deceit. It has no legal authority over contractual, monetary or warranty disputes and cannot prosecute crimes.

The process is on paper: you complete a statement-of-complaint form and email it to LARA-BCC-Compliance@Michigan.gov or mail it. Where a county or city handles enforcement in your area, contact that agency first, and the Statewide Jurisdiction List shows which one it is.

For a money dispute, the Michigan Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team informally mediates. It cannot act as your private attorney, complaints become public records, and the process can take a few weeks. In-state callers can use 877-765-8388. If the business will not respond, the Attorney General’s page suggests small claims court.

The three-day cancellation rule, read carefully

You will see “three-day right to cancel” on contractor pages. MCL 445.112 says a buyer may cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after signing. The related section defines such a sale as one over $25 that is solicited and agreed at the buyer’s residence, and it excludes sales that follow a negotiation at the seller’s business location or a published ad.

The statute also removes the cancellation right where the buyer asks for the goods or services without delay because of an emergency, if the conditions are met. Our reading, which is only a reading, is that a homeowner who phones a plumber is not in a door-to-door sale. If you cannot tell which side of the line you are on, ask an attorney or the Attorney General’s office, and do not assume the right exists.

When we send your request

PlumberMatch holds no license and cannot vouch for any company. How it works explains what we pass along and what we do not check. The number, the lookup and the written price stay with you.