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Louisiana cuts hours needed to get plumbing license to bring in more workers
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BATON ROUGE — Louisiana lawmakers have passed a bill aimed at addressing a nationwide shortage of plumbers by reducing the number of training hours required to become fully licensed.
The new law reduces the hours required to reach the first tier of full licensure from more than 4,000 to 2,500. Plumbers can reach the next tier with an additional 1,000 hours.
The bill also moves the state plumbing board under the state contractors board, giving that agency the authority to issue plumbing licenses.
One Florida research company predicted the United States could be short 550,000 plumbers nationwide by 2027.
"The construction industry has suffered for many years with labor shortage issues for all trades," said Brad Hassert, licensing board director.
Hassert said the new rules make it easier to enter the profession, though results are not guaranteed.
"You can't say with positivity that we'll end up with more plumbers or more plumbing contractors, but the opportunities would be easier to achieve," he said.
The goal for lawmakers is to bring more plumbers into the workforce, increase competition, and lower prices, but plumbers say the cost likely won't change for customers.
Crystal Carter, executive director of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of Louisiana, said the industry has concerns about what the law will mean for standards.
"The problem that we have with that philosophy is that the quality of work will also drop with that pricing," she said. "Within five years, you will drastically see a reduction in oversight and the license will go away."
Experts say any savings from increased competition will likely go to builders rather than consumers and that the bill will not produce the results lawmakers intend.
The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of Louisiana submitted a petition to the governor's office asking that the bill be vetoed.
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