National Technical Institute

Plumbing School in Reno, NV

A plumbing trade school in Reno, NV, at The Oddie District in Sparks. Fusion runs 16 weeks with online lecture videos and one lab day a week, and Traditional runs 12 weeks on campus.

How Our Reno Plumber Training Works

Our plumbing school in Reno is at The Oddie District in Sparks. In the Fusion format, the program runs 16 weeks and pairs online lecture videos with a weekly lab day where students measure, cut and join pipe, sweat and braze copper fittings, and install fixtures, faucets and water heaters under an instructor’s eye. No plumbing background is required.

It’s a plumbing trade school program, and it prepares you for an entry-level plumbing job. New hires in the trade usually start as helpers or apprentices and build their skills from there.

What You Get at NTI

Fusion Training is a hybrid format. The lectures are online videos you can watch around a job or family schedule, and the hands-on work happens in the lab one day a week with an instructor. Because the lectures don’t run at a set time, the lab day is the only scheduled part of the week, which is why we designed Fusion for students who already have jobs.

  • Program Name:

    Entry Level Plumbing Technician (Fusion or Traditional)

  • Program Length:

    12 weeks (Traditional) or 16 weeks (Fusion)

  • Contact hours:

    192 (Traditional)

  • Program Formats:

    Fusion, Traditional

  • Lab Schedule:

    One lab day a week in Fusion; admissions has the current schedule

  • Tuition & Financing:

    The full cost comes from admissions before you enroll; financing is available to those who qualify, including NTI’s in-house plan: 12 months, no interest, paid directly to NTI

  • Campus:

    Reno-Sparks, at 2450 Oddie Blvd., Sparks

Our Reno-Sparks campus

The plumbing lab is at our Reno-Sparks campus at The Oddie District, 2450 Oddie Blvd. in Sparks, and all of the hands-on training happens there, in every format. Each program’s lab is set up like a job site, with operational HVAC systems and units, live plumbing systems and power for the electrical program. Our HVAC school and electrician school programs run from the same campus; see the Reno-Sparks campus page for directions and more about the campus.

National Technical Institute – Reno-Sparks

  • 2450 Oddie Blvd., Suite 151, Sparks, NV 89431

  • (775) 365-0632

Two ways to do it

Reno-Sparks runs both formats.

  • Fusion — 16 weeks. A hybrid format: you watch the lecture videos online, then come into the lab one day a week.

  • Traditional — 12 weeks, four hours a day, four days a week on campus.

Admissions can tell you which cohorts are open and when the next one begins.

What You Finish With

At the end of the program you receive an NTI certificate of completion. By then you’ll know your way around the tools and safety practices of plumbing work and the terms used on a job site, and the theory courses will have covered how the systems themselves run.

The certificate of completion is not a license, nor is it an industry certification. The questions below explain how licensing works for plumbers in Nevada.

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

Paying for it

Admissions will break down the full cost for you before you enroll: tuition, the textbook, and the lab materials and tools fee. The equipment you use in the lab is included in tuition.

For those who qualify, there are several ways to finance it. NTI’s in-house plan has no interest and is paid to NTI across 12 months, and there are also funding options through third-party lenders. Details are on the financing page.

What You Learn in Reno Plumbing Training

The trade, safety and the public

The plumbing industry today, the careers in it, and how on-the-job training fits in. Then the hazards of the work, to plumbers and to the public, and the roles of licenses, permits and inspections.

Tools and plumbing math

The tools a plumber reaches for daily, such as torch kits, pipe wrenches, pipe cutters and tape measures, and the basic math every job calls for.

Water supply and waste

Sources of water, including municipal and private systems, surface water and graywater. Cross connections and preventing back-siphonage. The major hazards of waste, and using fixture traps correctly.

Piping materials and joining

Compression, tension and shear, the mechanical properties that matter when running pipe, and supporting pipe with hangers. Clay, steel and concrete pipe, soldering and brazing, and copper fittings for drain lines and pressure pipe.

Fixtures, faucets and water heaters

The fixtures found in homes and commercial buildings and how they’re installed: water closets and flush types like flushometer and dual flush, rough-ins and configurations, urinals, bidets, sinks, faucets and water coolers. Electric and gas water heaters follow: installing and repairing them, dip tubes, thermostats, and temperature and pressure relief valves.

Plans, prints and sketching

Reading construction drawings and working with their scales, the terms used on drawings, and sketching freehand with standard symbols.

Plumber Pay and Job Outlook

Across the country, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters earned a median of $63,800 a year in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which projects 7% job growth from 2025 to 2035.

Plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters — national, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Measure Figure
Median annual wage $63,800 (May 2025)
Lowest 10% earned less than $44,150
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.

The BLS wage survey also covers the Reno, NV metro area, where about 1,170 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters were working in May 2025. The table includes new hires as well as people with long careers, so it isn’t a starting wage.

Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters — Reno, NV metro area, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Measure Figure
Workers employed in the metro area about 1,170
Median annual wage $77,020 (May 2025)
Lowest 10% earned less than $44,200
Highest 10% earned more than $111,540

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Reno, NV metropolitan statistical area.

Reno Plumbing School — Common Questions

Fusion takes 16 weeks: online lecture videos plus one lab day a week. Traditional takes 12 weeks on campus, four days a week.

No. Safety, tools and plumbing math come first, then piping, fixtures and water heaters, so you can start as a complete beginner. To enroll, you’ll need a high school diploma or GED.

Yes. NTI’s Reno-Sparks campus is at The Oddie District, 2450 Oddie Blvd. in Sparks. It offers this plumbing school along with HVAC school and electrician school programs, and admissions can walk you through enrolling.

NTI’s certificate of completion, which records that you completed the training. It is neither a license nor a certification.

The usual path is to learn the basics in a training program, get hired into an entry-level job, and build experience in the field alongside experienced plumbers. At NTI, that first step is hands-on training at our Reno-Sparks campus, 16 weeks in Fusion or 12 weeks in Traditional, ending in a certificate of completion. Career services can help with job lead referrals and job skills when you start looking for work.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in the Reno, NV metro area earned a median of $77,020 a year in May 2025. Beginners and experienced workers are both in that median, which makes it a poor measure of starting pay. It isn’t NTI graduate earnings, and NTI doesn’t guarantee employment or any particular wage.

No. NTI awards a certificate of completion, and that isn’t a license or a certification. In Nevada, the Nevada State Contractors Board licenses contracting businesses, not individual workers, so the program is aimed at an entry-level job with a licensed contractor.

Under NRS 624.260, the person who qualifies the license must have at least four years of experience in that trade as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor, earned in the past 15 years, and must pass the Contractors Board’s exams.

No. In Fusion, the lectures are online videos, but the weekly lab is in person and required, and Traditional is taught on campus. Soldering joints and setting fixtures take practice with real pipe and fixtures, and that happens in the lab.

Admissions will go over the full cost with you before you enroll. Financing options for those who qualify are listed under Paying for It.

Our Reno-Sparks campus is at The Oddie District, 2450 Oddie Blvd., Suite 151, Sparks, NV 89431, and all plumbing labs are held there.

No, the lab equipment is provided. Students receive an NTI tool bag on the last day of class if they’ve met the program’s academic and attendance standards, are current on payments and have their documents in order.

Start dates are set by cohort, so we don’t list them here; admissions has the current schedule.

Entry-level plumbing jobs, most often as a helper or apprentice working for a plumbing contractor. Career services offer graduates employment assistance, including job lead referrals and help building job skills. NTI does not guarantee employment.

Get Started with NTI

Interested in our plumbing school in Reno? Admissions can go over the formats, cost and financing, and start dates with you, and help you apply.

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