More than a thousand licensed plumbers in Iowa will get a “red tape” break on July 1st. State Labor Commissioner Michael Mauro says current regulations require plumbers who work on construction projects to fill out licensing paperwork with both his agency AND the Iowa Department of Public Health. “Currently, there’s like 1290 plumbers who also register as contractors,” Mauro says.

Starting July 1st, there will be a “one-stop” point of state licensing for those nearly 13-hundred Iowa plumbers who work in the construction industry. “Get that license. It’ll be for three years,” Mauro says. “We think it’s a good thing.”

Currently, the Iowa Department of Public Health issues licenses to plumbers and the Iowa Workforce Development agency’s labor division issues licenses to contractors — so people who do both have to get two licenses. A person must register as a “contractor” in Iowa if they earn at least two-thousand dollars a year from work on construction projects.

Governor Branstad and Republican legislators have been pushing agencies to state government streamline licensing procedures. State agencies issue licenses to a wide range of professionals — including accountants and even interior designers.

(Radio Iowa)