The plumber, their licence and the 30-day warranty certification

It is the law regulating the plumbing trade, and for whoever hires it has three concrete things: a thirty-day warranty the plumber signs, a certification under penalty of perjury without which agencies do not connect water or gas, and a penalty that also reaches whoever hires an unlicensed person.

It covers anyone hiring plumbing work in Puerto Rico and those practising the trade. The law recognises three grades: the apprentice, authorised by certificate to do plumbing work under a master plumber’s immediate direction and supervision while undergoing training; the journeyman plumber; and the master plumber, the latter two licensed by the Examining Board.

• That whoever does the work hold an apprentice certificate or a journeyman or master plumber licence issued by the Examining Board, per the corresponding grade.Verified against the official source
• To connect water, gas or other service, the installation or reinstallation certification signed by the master plumber who did or inspected the work.Verified against the official source

• Warranty certification: a document the master or journeyman plumber prepares and signs describing the work performed and expressly offering a thirty (30) day warranty.
• Installation certification: a document signed by the master plumber under penalty of perjury, which agencies use to proceed with connecting service.

1. 1

   Step 1: Ask for the warranty certification: it is 30 days

   The least known figure and the easiest to demand. The law defines the warranty certification as the “document a master or journeyman plumber prepares and signs describing the work performed and expressly offering a 30-day warranty on that work.” Note the definition requires two things: that it describe the work and that it offer the warranty expressly.

2. 2

   Step 2: The installation certification is under penalty of perjury

   And without it they do not connect you. It is the “document the master plumber prepares and signs certifying, under penalty of perjury, that they performed or inspected a plumbing job, that it conforms to applicable regulations and requirements, and that it is used by government agencies to proceed with connecting water, gas or other service.” Being under penalty of perjury is what gives it weight: whoever signs answers for what they certify.

3. 3

   Step 3: Which agencies require it

   The law lists them, and the duty is theirs: “The Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, the Transport and Other Public Services Bureau, the Puerto Rico Fire Bureau, the Permit Management Office, any other concerned agency and the municipalities shall require an installation or reinstallation certification signed by the master plumber who did or inspected the work, before issuing” the connection. Which is why it pays to hire from the start someone who can sign it.

4. 4

   Step 4: The three grades, and who may work alone

   It matters because it defines who may be in your home unsupervised. The apprentice is the “unskilled person authorised by the Examining Board… by certificate, to do plumbing work under a master plumber’s immediate direction and supervision, while undergoing the training this Act requires.” The journeyman and the master plumber hold licences. And only the master plumber signs the installation certification.

5. 5

   Step 5: Hiring someone unlicensed is also an offense

   This part surprises people, and it is aimed at whoever hires: “any natural or juridical person who employs, contracts, subcontracts or has working under their supervision in plumbing work any person without an apprentice certificate or a master or journeyman plumber licence commits the aforementioned offense and shall be subject to the same penalties.” It is not only the plumber who is exposed.

6. 6

   Step 6: Advertising as a plumber without being one counts the same

   The law closes that door expressly: “the same penalty and sanction shall apply to any person who holds themselves out or advertises as a plumber, in any grade, without being duly licensed or certified by the Board.” The words “in any grade” are what block the trick of advertising as an apprentice.

7. 7

   Step 7: The ladder of fines

   It rises by who you are and how many times. Practising unlicensed, or hiring someone who is not: misdemeanor, fine of no less than five hundred dollars ($500) and no more than one thousand ($1,000) or one (1) to three (3) months’ imprisonment, or both; on subsequent convictions, two thousand ($2,000) to five thousand dollars ($5,000) or four (4) to six (6) months. Any company, business or trade employing an unlicensed plumber: two thousand ($2,000) to five thousand dollars ($5,000), and on subsequent ones ten thousand ($10,000) to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). And whoever is in the commercial practice of installing, maintaining or repairing plumbing equipment to provide potable water for daily consumption or to handle used water, employing uncertified and unlicensed people: five thousand ($5,000) to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), and on subsequent ones ten thousand ($10,000) to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).

8. 8

   Step 8: Who oversees compliance

   The law creates the plumbing inspector and defines them thus: “A person with a master plumber licence appointed by the Health Secretary and attached to the Health Department, authorised by law to ensure compliance with this Act’s provisions.” That is, the inspector is themselves a master plumber.

The Examining Board issues apprentice certificates and journeyman and master plumber licences, and may suspend or revoke them; compliance oversight falls to plumbing inspectors appointed by the Health Secretary and attached to the Health Department. The installation certification is filed with the agency that will issue the connection. If your problem is with a contractor rather than the plumber, those are the contractor registry and repairs guides; if it is a shop or service invoice, those have their own.

• Not asking for the warranty certification: the law defines it with an express 30-day warranty.
• Hiring without checking the licence: whoever employs, contracts or supervises an unlicensed plumber incurs the same penalty.
• Trusting whoever advertises as a plumber: advertising in any grade without a licence is an offense.
• Letting an apprentice work unsupervised: their certificate authorises them under a master plumber’s immediate direction.
• Asking a journeyman for the installation certification: the master plumber prepares and signs that one.
• Starting work without thinking about the connection: agencies require that certification before issuing it.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Estado de Puerto Rico

  Departamento de Estado

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov