Plumber apprenticeships in New Zealand
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Plumbers install and repair water and air systems — pipes, hot water cylinders, drainage, gas appliances, roofing and spouting.
Last checked .
How long did your apprenticeship take?
Put it on the record. Anonymous, about two minutes.
Add your timelineHow long is a plumber apprenticeship, and what does it pay?
A plumber apprenticeship in New Zealand takes 3–4 years. Once qualified, the job most commonly pays $56,000–$91,000 a year, starting at $50,000 a year and reaching $108,000 a year with experience. The work also requires registration with the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board.
- How long it takes
- 3–4 years
- Pay when starting out
- $50,000 a year
- Most common pay
- $56,000–$91,000 a year
- Experienced
- $108,000 a year
- School qualifications
- NCEA Level 2 if you are still at school.
- Registration
- Required. Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board
Those pay ranges are for the job, not for an apprentice. While you are training your legal floor is the training minimum wage of $19.16 an hour if you are 20 or over and your agreement requires at least 60 credits a year of industry training; otherwise it is the adult minimum of $23.95. Plenty of employers pay well above either. How apprentice pay works →
What do you need to start a plumber apprenticeship?
An employer willing to take you on, first of all — everything else follows the job. NCEA Level 2 if you are still at school. Beyond that, what a plumber apprenticeship asks for is:
- An apprenticeship in plumbing.
- You may also need the New Zealand Certificate in Plumbing, Gasfitting and Drainlaying (Level 3), and a driver licence.
In every trade the order is the same: you find the employer first, then the training is arranged around the job. How to get an apprenticeship →
Which New Zealand employers take on plumber apprentices?
We list 4 of them, across 3 regions: Auckland, Canterbury, Waikato. Each was verified against the company's own website, and each listing carries a name, a trade and a region only — this site holds no reviews or ratings of any of them.
- Laser Plumbing Christchurch East
- Laser Plumbing East Tamaki
- Laser Plumbing Silverdale
- Laser Plumbing Waikato
Pay, duration and entry requirements quoted from Tahatū Career Navigator — Plumber, read 2026-09-18. Wage floors from Employment New Zealand, checked 2026-11-01.