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Louisiana lawmakers want to overhaul current licensing system for plumbers
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BATON ROUGE — Some Louisiana lawmakers want to cut in half the time it takes to become a fully licensed plumber in an effort to lower prices for customers, but plumbers say it will negatively impact public health.
According to national data, licensed plumbers are becoming harder to find. Some predict that by 2027, the United States could be short 550,000 plumbers nationwide.
It's a problem Brad Hassert, Executive Director of the Louisiana Licensing Board for Contractors, says is affecting all trades.
To increase the number of licensed plumbers, state lawmakers want to reduce the time it takes to become a fully licensed plumber by half. Lawmakers are also considering reorganizing the state's plumbing board.
The bill would also give the licensing board of contractors the authority to issue plumbing licenses and adjust the time it takes to become a journeyman and master plumber.
If passed, the bill would also change the first licensing tier requirement from 4,000 hours of training to 2,000. The next tier would go from more than 7,000 to only 3,000 hours.
"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," Hassert said.
Not only would this mean potentially more plumbers, but also more competition, which would likely result in lower prices for consumers. But the idea doesn't wash with plumbers speaking against this bill at a recent hearing.
"There's a thousand hours of plumbing sitting behind us, and they'll tell you, the bill's no good," a speaker said at the committee hearing.
Plumbers say they worry that quality will slip if more people can become licensed plumbers with fewer hours of qualification.
"It is the barrier that separates our communities from disease," Zach Payne with Central Plumbing said in the hearing.
Others argue that opening the doors to more licensed plumbers will make the currently limited field more competitive, thus creating a more capitalist profession where competition drives down prices.
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