A commercial journeyman plumber installs and repairs water, drain, vent and gas piping in offices, schools, restaurants and new buildings, working from drawings with little oversight. They rough in floors, run tests before inspections, set fixtures, lead an apprentice and take service calls from building engineers and property managers.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, plumbing and HVAC contractors · BLS, May 2025
Execute commercial plumbing installations, repairs, and maintenance with minimal oversight, ensuring high standards of quality and safety. Play a pivotal role in maintaining the functionality of commercial water/gas systems, contributing directly to operational excellence.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Install, repair, and maintain commercial water and gas systems accurately and efficiently.
Diagnose and troubleshoot plumbing issues in commercial settings, implementing sustainable solutions.
Ensure compliance with all applicable codes, standards, and company policies.
Maintain up-to-date documentation of service reports and project progress.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Perform routine inspections and preventive maintenance on commercial plumbing systems.
Engage in on-site customer interactions to assess needs and provide technical recommendations.
Coordinate with team members and other departments to schedule and execute service calls.
Manage repair work and installations while ensuring adherence to safety protocols.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
First-time fix rate: ≥90%.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars.
Service call response time: within 2 hours of request.
Completion rate of scheduled jobs: 95% per month.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent; technical training or apprenticeship in plumbing.
Valid plumbing license and relevant certifications.
Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in commercial plumbing installations and repairs.
Strong troubleshooting and diagnostic skills with a keen attention to detail.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for customer interactions.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience working in commercial or industrial plumbing environments.
Familiarity with modern plumbing tools, technologies, and software systems.
Experience working on large-scale projects with minimal supervision.
Knowledge of commercial construction and maintenance best practices.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift and maneuver up to 50 lbs consistently during job tasks.
Proficiency working in varied environments, including confined spaces, outdoor conditions, and elevated areas.
Capacity to perform physical labor in demanding settings, including extreme temperatures.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard work hours: Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with occasional weekend on-call duties.
Regular travel between job sites within the designated service area.
Exposure to variable weather conditions and construction site environments.
On-call availability for emergency repairs as needed.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate: $30 - $45 per hour, commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonuses available.
Comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, Vision, and 401k.
Opportunities for professional development and advancement within the company.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We cultivate a supportive, results-driven environment that values innovation and continuous improvement.
Our culture emphasizes teamwork, open communication, and mutual respect for all employees.
We are committed to investing in our staff’s professional growth and technical proficiency.
Join a dynamic company that is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of customer satisfaction and service quality.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
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What a journeyman does differently on commercial work
The licensed skills carry over from houses to larger buildings. The pipe sizes, the drawings, the other trades in the ceiling and the safety rules for torches and tight spaces all change.
The journeyman answers for the apprentice
Minnesota is one example. There, an apprentice or registered unlicensed plumber may help install plumbing only with a licensed plumber from the same employer directly overseeing it. That licensed plumber is responsible for making sure the work meets the plumbing code. Either one needs four years of practical experience to sit for the journeyworker exam. Other states set their own rules, so check your board. Source: Minnesota Statutes 326B.47: Supervision of apprentices and unlicensed plumbers (Revisor of Statutes).
Backflow assemblies take a separate certificate
Backflow assemblies keep water from a building flowing back into the public supply. In Minnesota, anyone who installs, maintains, tests, repairs or rebuilds one must hold a state backflow certification. The rebuilder certification needs a current plumbing license plus ASSE 5110 and 5130 certificates. A tester-only certification needs ASSE 5110 and no plumbing license. Ask candidates which ones they hold and when they expire. Source: Minnesota DLI: Backflow prevention certification.
Soldering and brazing near things that burn
Sweating copper or brazing a joint next to wood blocking, insulation or ceiling tile can start a fire. OSHA's construction fire prevention rule is written for welding, cutting and heating, and treating torch soldering and brazing as covered is the safe call. Move anything that burns or shield it, and keep an extinguisher ready at the work. When that isn't enough, someone stands fire watch during the work and after it. Heat through a wall or floor calls for the same care on the far side. Source: 29 CFR 1926.352: Fire prevention for welding, cutting and heating (Cornell LII).
Pits, vaults and tanks can be confined spaces
Sewage ejector pits, grease interceptor vaults, manholes and storage tanks can hold bad air or flood. OSHA's construction rule says a competent person must identify every confined space where the company's workers may go, and which ones need a permit, before work begins. Entering a permit space takes a written program, and workers who aren't cleared for entry must be kept out. Source: 29 CFR 1926.1203: Confined spaces in construction, general requirements (Cornell LII).
The ceiling is shared with other trades
On new buildings and build-outs, plumbing has to fit around ductwork, sprinkler mains, conduit and steel. When the general contractor runs coordination in a 3D model, the journeyman lays out sleeves and hangers to the signed-off drawings and raises a question through the foreman when the field and the plans disagree. Ask candidates how they handled a clash they found in the field.
How much commercial journeyman plumbers make
The closest BLS group for commercial journeyman plumbers is plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $30.30 an hour ($63,010 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $63,800 median for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in all industries. About 330,570 of the 465,840 plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in that survey work for plumbing and HVAC contractors.
Template pay is hourly, with overtime and a performance bonus. Union shops pay the scale in their local agreement, and a public or federally funded job pays at least its posted plumber rate for the hours worked there.
Plumbing and HVAC contractors
$63,010$63,010 median Middle half $49,650–$83,730 10th–90th $43,720–$107,780
All industries
$63,800$63,800 median Middle half $50,190–$85,110 10th–90th $44,150–$108,420
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Plumbing and HVAC contractors
$43,720
$49,650
$63,010
$83,730
$107,780
All industries
$44,150
$50,190
$63,800
$85,110
$108,420
BLS reports plumbing and HVAC contractors together, residential and commercial. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Lays out rough-in from plumbing drawings and isometrics
Makes no-hub, press, soldered and solvent-weld joints that hold on the first test
Knows the local code well enough to flag a drawing that won't pass
Keeps an apprentice busy, learning and safe
Plans water shutdowns and tie-ins in buildings that are open for business
Explains a problem plainly to a building engineer or store manager
Teach these on the job
Reading the coordination model on a tablet
Your test reports, daily logs and photo rules
The carriers, fixtures and water heater brands on your jobs
Your hot work and confined space permit steps
ASSE backflow courses, if you sponsor them
Commercial journeymen use battery press tools for copper and steel, snap cutters for cast iron, threaders, core drills, laser levels, test gauges and a tablet with the drawings. Pit and vault work adds a gas detector and ventilation, so say which of these the company supplies and trains on.
Commercial journeyman plumber interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Tie-ins in occupied buildings
You need to tie into a domestic water riser in an occupied office building. How do you plan it?
A strong answer: Schedules the shutdown after hours with the building engineer, gets tenants notified, stages every material ahead, isolates and drains, works fast, then flushes, checks for leaks and restores water.
Behavioral · Working with little supervision
Tell me about a time you ran a section of a commercial job on your own.
A strong answer: Explains how they planned it, kept to the drawings and schedule, solved a problem, and kept the foreman informed.
These KPIs come from a service template. Use them for journeymen who run service calls, and for crew work add first-time inspection passes and test results to the review.
First-time fix rate
Count service calls closed in one visit against all calls the journeyman ran each month. Set aside calls waiting on parts, owner approval or a shutdown window.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Have the building engineer, the facility manager or the GC's superintendent rate each job. Their notes on cleanup, updates and shutdown planning say more than the score.
Service call response time
Time from dispatch to arrival, taken from your dispatch records. Track after-hours calls on their own, and note sites where badging or escorts slow entry.
Completion rate of scheduled jobs
Scheduled jobs and crew tasks finished on the planned day, out of all scheduled. Flag days lost to other trades or late inspectors, and leave those out of the plumber's score.
Career path
Apprentice plumberSpends four or five years on crews and in class toward the license.
Journeyman plumberRuns a floor or building section and takes service calls with an apprentice.
Field supervisorSets the crew's week across a job and books every inspection.
Project managerTrades the tool belt for buyout, submittals and the monthly pay application.
The template reads like a service job. Does it fit a construction crew?
Partly. The duties and KPIs center on service calls, response times and first-time fixes. If the opening is on a new-building or build-out crew, add rough-in from drawings, testing before inspections and coordination with other trades to the duties. Then judge the hire on tests passed, inspections passed and schedule, not on response time.
How much does a commercial journeyman plumber make?
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $30.30 an hour ($63,010 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $49,650 and $83,730 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
How many years should a commercial journeyman have?
The template wants three to five years of commercial installs and repairs on top of a license, and in Minnesota the license alone follows four years of logged work. Ask for jobs by type and size, such as a strip-center build-out, a school renovation or a multistory rough-in. Then ask how they ran the last water test before a slab pour.
When is a journeyman ready to be a foreman?
Watch for the plumber who already thinks a day ahead. Signs include ordering material before the crew runs out, keeping the apprentice busy without being asked, and spotting a missing sleeve before the pour. In this template set, the foreman's job sits under Field Supervisor. Give a candidate one floor to plan for a week before you promote them.
Do commercial plumbers need to know BIM?
Not to build the model. Detailers or engineers usually do that. A journeyman should be able to open the coordination drawings or the model on a tablet, find pipe elevations and sleeve spots, and see where pipe and duct would collide before anything is hung. Someone who already reads plans picks this up fast.
How should a commercial journeyman ad describe the physical work?
Describe the job, not the body. The template's physical list ships word for word, and its line on capacity for labor in extreme temperatures is about the worker. In your ad, say what the work holds: lifting up to 50 pounds, hanging pipe from lifts, working in pits and tight chases, and rough-in on open sites in winter. EEOC guidance allows asking all applicants if they can do that work, with or without a reasonable accommodation.
What should a commercial journeyman plumber ad include?
The kinds of buildings, and how the weeks divide between ground-up jobs, tenant work and service calls. The license you need and certifications you value, such as backflow. How far jobs run and whether there's a company truck, the on-call share, and whether you work union, open shop or prevailing wage jobs.
