Licensing, apprenticeship and certification
How Karlsen plumbers are licensed and trained
A licence tells you a plumber cleared a minimum. It does not tell you how they got there. This page is what Karlsen Plumbing publishes about its own training, word for word, followed by the full list of certifications every plumber here carries.
In our own words
Straight from our own education page
Our plumbers at Karlsen Plumbing, Inc. are licensed by the state of Wisconsin. Each journeyman plumber completes a five-year apprenticeship program which consists of in-the-classroom day school, evening classes and on the job training with other licensed plumbers. We also provide our plumbers monthly continuing education classes to keep them up to date on the newest products and equipment. All of our plumbers are trained and OSHA certified.
What the licence actually covers
Seven things every Karlsen plumber can say about themselves
This is the full list, not a highlight reel. If a certification is not on it, we do not claim it.
- Licensed by the State of Wisconsin
- OSHA certified
- Certified in Backflow testing
- Medical Gas Certified
- Member of Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 118
- Completed (or is enrolled in) an apprenticeship program
- Each apprentice is required to attend 800 hours of class
Every one of them apprenticed the same way
Why five years
What the apprenticeship is actually made of
Five years, three ways of learning
Day school in the classroom, evening classes on top of a full work week, and on the job training standing next to a licensed plumber who is doing the same work you are. All three run at the same time, for five years, before anyone is signed off as a journeyman.
Eight hundred hours of class, minimum
That is class time only, before the on the job hours are even counted. It is why a Karlsen apprentice can tell you what is behind a wall before it is opened, not just what is supposed to be there.
Training does not stop at the licence
Fixtures, codes and equipment change every year. The monthly continuing education classes are how the crew stays current on what is actually being specified now, not what was standard when they finished their apprenticeship.
Backflow testing and medical gas certification sit on top of the state licence, not instead of it. Backflow testing is what keeps a cross-connection from letting anything siphon back into clean drinking water, and it is why buildings with backflow devices need a certified tester on the yearly retest, not just any plumber. Medical gas certification covers the specific piping and connections used in health care buildings, where a mistake is not the same category of problem as a mistake in a house. Membership in Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 118 sits alongside all of it, and OSHA certification is not optional on any job site Karlsen runs, residential or industrial.
Same training on a service call as on a rough-in
Read more on the company's history, see what customers have said about the crew, or look at the full range of services these plumbers are trained on.