There are a number of very good reasons why plumbers in Thornton command high salaries. For one, plumbing is a trade that requires a vast amount of technical training and many, many years of specialized skill development to master. If you're going to be a plumber, you don't just wing it; you go through the kind of extensive apprenticeship program that a person with a regular old college degree wouldn't even come close to matching in terms of time or financial investment. And then, after all that, you pay more for an operable certification and insurance than most people pay for the stuff that allows them to work in the first place.The physical effort and possible hazards associated with plumbing make its pay more than justified. Plumbers do not just work in strange positions; they also work in strange places—including not only crawl spaces but also attics and trenches, sometimes at the high or low extremes of human comfort, and always with the constant threat of falling (from above or below), drowning, or suffocating in the concrete many feet of tightened tunnel that plumber's work entails. And that is to say nothing of the unremitting demand that plumbing services just about everywhere in this country ensure both a steady and a lucrative job.Fifth, the licensing and insurance that plumbers must secure to work in Thornton act as a significant barrier to entry. In order to qualify for licensure, a plumber must have at least 4 years of experience working under the close supervision of a master plumber. In that time, not only must the plumbing apprentice gain the necessary know-how, he must also practice working in a safe and reliable manner, since a licensed plumbing contractor must carry liability insurance. And the coverages required are not cheap; hence, the apprentice and the working journeyman must be well-practiced in doing plumbing work safely, reliably, and efficiently.