Colorado Plumber License Renewal: CE Requirements and the 2027 Cycle Change

Colorado's plumber license renewal system is changing. The shift from a two-year to a three-year cycle starting in 2027 affects your continuing education totals, your renewal deadlines, and your fallback options if you miss a deadline. Here's the full picture.

The Current and Upcoming Renewal Cycles

Current (through February 2027): Colorado plumbing licenses expire on February 28 of odd-numbered years, on a two-year cycle. The total CE requirement per cycle is 16 hours (8 hours per year).

Starting March 1, 2027: House Bill 24-1344 extends the renewal cycle to three years. The first three-year licenses will expire in 2030. The total CE requirement per cycle increases to 24 hours (still 8 hours per year, just over a longer period).

The renewal fee stays at $18 per cycle.

Continuing Education Requirements

All active Residential, Journeyworker, and Master Plumbers must complete CE. Here's what the requirements look like:

Hours: At least 8 hours per year of the licensing cycle. The cycle runs from March 1 through February 28, not the calendar year — this trips people up when they try to squeeze in hours at the end of December thinking they're meeting a year-end deadline.

Code requirement: At least 4 of the 8 annual hours must focus specifically on state-adopted plumbing codes. The remaining hours can cover related technical subjects.

New licensee exemption: If you earned your license by passing the state exam, you're exempt from CE until after your first renewal. This gives newly licensed plumbers up to one full renewal cycle before the CE clock starts.

Multiple credentials: If you hold more than one license issued by the Board (for example, both a plumbing and an electrical license, or both a journeyworker and master plumbing license), you only need to complete CE for the most advanced license you hold. Completing the CE for your highest credential automatically satisfies the requirements for all lesser credentials.

Finding Approved CE Providers

CE courses must come from board-approved providers. The State Plumbing Board doesn't maintain a single searchable directory of every approved course, but several well-established providers serve the Colorado market — including training institutes that specialize in plumbing code updates and continuing education.

When selecting courses, verify that the provider is approved specifically by the Colorado State Plumbing Board (not just another state's board) and that the courses will count toward both the code-specific and general CE requirements.

Grace Periods

If you miss your renewal deadline, you have a 60-day grace period following the expiration date. During this window, you can renew your license by paying a delinquency fee on top of the standard renewal fee. Your license is considered "lapsed" during this period, but no formal reinstatement application is required during the grace period.

The critical thing about the grace period: it's 60 days, not "a couple of months." Count the actual days from your expiration date, because the consequences of missing the grace period are significantly more severe.

Reinstatement After the Grace Period

If your license has been expired for more than 60 days, the renewal pathway closes and the reinstatement pathway opens. The rules depend on how long your license has been inactive:

Expired 60 days to 3 years: File a formal reinstatement application with DORA, pay the reinstatement fee, and prove you've completed at least 8 hours of CE since your last valid renewal. This is the straightforward path — paperwork, a fee, and documented CE.

Expired more than 3 years: The reinstatement pathway is gone entirely. You must re-register for, pay for, and successfully pass the state plumbing exam again to demonstrate current competency. There's no CE-only option and no administrative workaround. You're essentially starting the licensing exam process over; follow DORA's current instructions for any experience documentation it requires.

The three-year line is the one that catches people. A plumber who let their license lapse for two years and 11 months can reinstate with CE. At three years and one day, they're back to studying for and passing the PSI exam.

Practical Renewal Steps

When your renewal period opens (typically 60–90 days before expiration), here's the sequence:

1. Verify your CE hours: Make sure you've met the annual minimums across the entire cycle — 8 hours per year, with at least 4 hours in plumbing codes per year
2. Log into MyLicense Office: DORA processes renewals through their online portal
3. Pay the renewal fee: $18 per cycle
4. Retain your CE certificates: DORA conducts random audits of CE compliance, and you'll need to produce documentation if selected

What Doesn't Change in 2027

The move to a three-year cycle changes the total CE hours per cycle (16 to 24) and the renewal timeline, but several things stay the same:

• The annual minimum of 8 hours doesn't change — you're just accumulating over three years instead of two
• The 4-hour code-specific requirement per year stays
• The renewal fee stays at $18
• The 60-day grace period still applies
• The reinstatement thresholds (60 days / 3 years) remain unchanged
• The new-licensee exemption still runs until the first renewal

The biggest practical impact is that you'll go longer between renewal deadlines, which could be a benefit (less administrative overhead) or a risk (more time to forget and let CE hours slip). Setting an annual reminder to complete your 8 hours in the March-to-February window — rather than cramming at the end of the cycle — is the simplest way to stay compliant.

For a complete renewal and CE tracking system, including deadline calculations for the 2027 transition, the Colorado Plumber License Guide includes a fillable Renewal and CE Tracker that maps each licensure year's requirements automatically.

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