(1) (a) The board shall issue licenses to persons who have, by examination and experience, shown themselves competent and qualified to engage in the business, trade, or calling of a residential plumber, journeyman plumber, or master plumber. The board shall establish the minimum level of experience required for an applicant to receive a residential, journeyman, or master plumber's license. The maximum experience the board may require for an applicant to qualify to test for a residential plumber's license is three thousand four hundred hours of practical experience. The maximum experience the board may require for an applicant to qualify to test for a journeyman plumber's license is six thousand eight hundred hours of practical experience. The maximum experience the board may require for an applicant to test for a master plumber's license is eight thousand five hundred hours of practical experience.

(b) Any applicant for such license shall be permitted to substitute for required practical experience evidence of academic training in the plumbing field, which shall be credited as follows:

(I) If he is a graduate of a community college or trade school plumbing program approved by the board, he shall receive one year of work experience credit.

(II) If he has academic training, including military training, in the plumbing field which is not sufficient to qualify under subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (b), the board shall provide work experience credit for such training according to a uniform ratio established by rule and regulation.

(c) No license shall be issued until the applicant has paid a license fee set by the board pursuant to section 24-34-105, C.R.S.

(2) An applicant for a license under this section shall file an application on forms prepared and furnished by the board, together with the examination fee. The time and place of examination shall be designated in advance by the board, and examinations shall be held at least four times each calendar year and at such other times as, in the opinion of the board, the number of applicants warrants.

(3) The contents of the examinations provided for in this section shall be determined by the board. The examination shall be administered by the board or its authorized agent pursuant to rules prescribed by the board. Each examination shall be designed and given in such a manner as to fairly test the applicant's knowledge of plumbing and rules and regulations governing plumbing. Examinations may include written tests and applied tests of the practices which the license will qualify the applicant to perform and such related studies or subjects as the board may determine are necessary for the proper and efficient performance of such practices. Such examinations shall be consistent with current practical and theoretical requirements of the practice of plumbing and shall be reviewed, revised, and updated on an annual basis by the board. The board shall ensure that the examination passing grade reflects a minimum level of competency.