National Technical Institute

Plumbing School in Phoenix: Plumber Training Program

Hands-on plumbing classes at our plumbing trade school in Phoenix, on South 36th Street. Train on the Traditional or Hybrid schedule in 12 to 16 weeks; no plumbing background is needed.

How Our Phoenix Plumbing School Works

At our plumbing school in Phoenix, the hands-on work happens in the lab at our Phoenix campus at 4645 S 36th St, where you cut and join pipe, solder and braze copper, and set fixtures, faucets and water heaters with an instructor checking your work. Depending on the schedule you choose, the program takes 12 to 16 weeks, and you can start without any plumbing background. This plumbing technician training program prepares you for an entry-level plumbing position, where you work alongside experienced people and keep building skills on the job.

What You Get at NTI

Hybrid, the format our catalog calls Fusion, suits plumbing students who already have a job. You study the plumbing coursework online at your own pace and come to the Phoenix lab once a week, where an instructor works with you as you cut and join pipe and set fixtures. The weekly lab is the only part of Hybrid with a set time.

  • Program Name:
     Entry Level Plumbing Technician (Traditional or Fusion)

  • Program Length:
    12 to 16 weeks, depending on the format you choose

  • Contact hours:
     192 (Traditional), 144 (Hybrid)

  • Program Formats:
     Traditional or Hybrid

  • Lab Schedule:
    Set by format and cohort; ask admissions for the current one

  • Tuition & Financing:
    Admissions gives you the full cost before you enroll; financing for those who qualify, including NTI’s 12-month, no-interest plan

  • Campus:
    Phoenix, at 4645 S 36th St

Our Phoenix campus

Plumbing labs on both schedules meet at our campus on 36th Street, in a 6,000-plus-square-foot lab with plumbing stations. Our HVAC school and electrician school programs share the building, and the Phoenix campus page has directions.

National Technical Institute – Phoenix

Plumbing Class Schedules in Phoenix

Plumbing students in Phoenix choose between the Traditional and Hybrid schedules.

  • Traditional — 12 weeks on campus, Monday to Thursday. It’s the shorter route if you can commit four days a week to plumbing classes.

  • Hybrid — 16 weeks. You study plumbing online and spend one day a week in the lab.

Ask admissions which plumbing schedule has the next open start.

What You Finish With

Graduates leave with an NTI certificate of completion. Along the way you learn to use the tools of plumbing work safely and pick up the terms used on job sites, and the theory courses explain how the systems you’ll be working on operate.

A certificate of completion isn’t a license or an industry certification. The questions below cover how licensing works for plumbers in Arizona and Phoenix.

Plumbing student working on under-sink pipes during hands-on training at the National Technical Institute Phoenix campus

Paying for Plumbing School in Phoenix

Admissions goes over the full cost of plumbing school with you before you sign up, including tuition, the textbook, and the lab materials and tools fee. The lab equipment plumbing students train on is covered by tuition.

If you qualify, you can finance the program more than one way: NTI’s own payment plan, paid to NTI over 12 months with no interest, or funding options through third-party lenders. See the financing page for details.

Veterans education benefits can be applied toward tuition for the Traditional program at our Phoenix campus. Admissions can explain what eligible students need to submit.

What You Learn in Our Phoenix Plumbing Classes

The trade, safety and the public

An overview of the plumbing industry, the career paths in it, and why learning on the job matters. Then the hazards plumbers deal with, both on site and for the public, and how licenses, permits and inspections fit in.

Tools and plumbing math

The everyday kit, from torch kits and pipe wrenches to cutters and tape measures, plus the basic math that comes up on every job.

Water supply and waste

Where water comes from, from municipal and private systems to surface water and graywater. How cross connections happen and how to stop back-siphonage. The main hazards in waste systems, and how fixture traps should be used.

Piping materials and joining

The forces pipe has to handle (compression, tension and shear) and how hangers support it. Working with clay, steel and concrete pipe, soldering and brazing, and copper fittings on drain lines and pressure pipe.

Fixtures, faucets and water heaters

Installing residential and commercial fixtures: water closets and flush types such as flushometer and dual flush, rough-ins and configurations, urinals, bidets, sinks, faucets and water coolers. Then electric and gas water heaters, including installation, repair, dip tubes, thermostats, and temperature and pressure relief valves.

Plans, prints and sketching

Reading construction drawings and their scales, the vocabulary of construction drawings, and sketching by hand with standard symbols.

Plumber Pay and Jobs in Phoenix

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median wage for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters at $63,800 a year (May 2025) and expects employment to grow 7% between 2025 and 2035.

Plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters — national, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Measure Figure
Median annual wage $63,800 (May 2025)
Highest 10% earned more than $108,420
Projected employment growth 7% (2025–2035)
Projected annual openings ~42,000 / year

It’s worth understanding where those openings come from. BLS attributes many of them to replacing plumbers who retire or leave the trade for other work, rather than to growth in the overall number of plumbing jobs.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters. Wage data as of May 2025; projections cover 2025–2035.

Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters — Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Measure Figure
Workers employed in the metro area about 9,270
Median annual wage $63,750 (May 2025)
Highest 10% earned more than $100,710

Closer to home, the BLS wage survey for May 2025 found about 9,270 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters employed in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area. Because the survey counts plumbers at every career stage, the median doesn’t reflect what a new plumber earns.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metropolitan statistical area.

Phoenix Plumbing School — Common Questions

It takes 12 to 16 weeks. On the Traditional schedule you’re in plumbing classes on campus Monday to Thursday for 12 weeks. Hybrid runs 16 weeks, with the coursework online and one lab day a week.

No. You begin with safety, tools and plumbing math before moving on to piping, fixtures and water heaters, so the program expects beginners. For admission you need a high school diploma or GED, and a Wonderlic ability-to-benefit test is offered at the campus.

An NTI certificate of completion that shows you finished the training. It isn’t a license or a certification.

Most people start with training in the basics, then get hired by a plumbing contractor and keep learning on the job. Inside the City of Phoenix, permitted plumbing work also takes a city Apprentice license, which doesn’t require an exam. Our plumbing program handles the training part, with 12 to 16 weeks of lab work on 36th Street, a certificate of completion, and career services help with resumes and interviews when you start looking for a plumbing job. The licensing questions below explain how Arizona and the City of Phoenix handle plumber licenses. NTI does not guarantee employment.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May 2025 puts the median annual wage for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area at $63,750. Experienced plumbers are part of that median, so it isn’t a guide to starting pay. It isn’t NTI graduate earnings, and NTI doesn’t guarantee employment or any particular wage.

No. You’ll receive a certificate of completion from NTI, which isn’t a license or a certification. Arizona’s Registrar of Contractors licenses contracting businesses, not individual workers. The City of Phoenix is different: it licenses individual workers on permitted plumbing jobs.

For permitted plumbing work inside the city, yes. The City of Phoenix requires a city Apprentice or Journeyman license. There’s no exam for the Apprentice license; you need a notarized letter from your employer and must work under a licensed journeyman or a state-licensed contractor. A Journeyman license calls for at least four years of experience and a passing exam.

No. Hybrid puts the plumbing coursework online and Traditional is taught on campus, and either way the labs are in person and required. You can’t learn to solder a joint or set a fixture from a video.

You get the total plumbing program cost from admissions before you commit. If you qualify, you can finance it; see Paying for Plumbing School in Phoenix, above.

Yes, if you’re eligible. Veterans education benefits can be applied toward tuition for the Traditional program at our Phoenix campus.

The campus address is 4645 S 36th St, Phoenix, AZ 85040. Every plumbing lab is held there, whichever schedule you take.

No. The plumbing lab supplies the equipment you use in class. Plumbing students who meet the academic and attendance standards, are current on payments and have their documents complete receive an NTI tool bag on the last day of class.

Plumbing cohorts start at different points in the year. Admissions has the next start date for each schedule.

Entry-level plumbing jobs, typically as a helper or apprentice on a plumbing contractor’s crew. Career services help includes resume preparation and interview skills, and the campus works with local businesses to arrange interviews and holds career fairs. NTI does not guarantee employment.

Get Started with NTI

Questions about our Phoenix plumbing school? Talk to admissions about plumbing class schedules, cost, financing and start dates, and they can help you apply.

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