Texas Plumber's Apprentice license lookup — free

Plumber's Apprentice is the entry-level credential TSBPE issues — technically a registration rather than a license — for someone at least 16 years old just starting out and logging hours under a licensed plumber's direct supervision. It's the first step on the ladder toward Tradesman, Journeyman, and eventually Master Plumber, and TSBPE ties an apprentice's counted hours to keeping this registration active. Plumbing companies bringing on trainees rely on this number to show the apprentice is registered properly, not just working informally. Because it's the cheapest and lightest-touch credential in the TSBPE system, it's also the one apprentices are most likely to let slip without noticing.

TSBPE gives a brand-new apprentice registration a random expiration date somewhere 6 to 18 months out — a deliberate move to stagger the agency's renewal workload — and it renews annually after that. On its own, the base apprentice registration doesn't carry a continuing education requirement; CPE only kicks in if the apprentice also holds an add-on registration like Drain Cleaner-Restricted, Drain Cleaner, or Residential Utilities Installer, which then requires 6 hours. Renewing late is inexpensive relative to the higher license types — $7.50 within 90 days of expiration and $15 beyond that — but TSBPE's public pages don't spell out what happens if the registration itself lapses past the agency's general two-year cutoff for licenses and registrations, so don't assume the same reinstatement path without checking with TSBPE directly.