HVAC Apprenticeships in Texas: Programs, Requirements and How to Apply

Registered apprenticeship in Texas is registered and overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship: Texas is an OA state, not a State Apprenticeship Agency state.

Where no recognized SAA exists, DOL's Office of Apprenticeship registers and oversees programs through state field offices.

Each registered program is run by a sponsor, and our research did not compile a roster of the sponsors running registered HVAC programs in Texas.

The research did confirm the union locals the UA and SMART list in Texas (see the union section below); it did not confirm which Texas merit-shop chapters or employers sponsor registered programs.

The federal frame for any registered program: an apprenticeable occupation must require at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning, and a program's term may be time-based, competency-based, or a hybrid of both.

Confirm any program's registration with the sponsor itself before you commit.

Texas has no apprentice tier — its HVAC credentials are the Registered Technician registration, the voluntary Certified Technician certification and the ACR Contractor license, with no journeyman or master HVAC license to apprentice toward.

Anyone who assists a licensed air conditioning and refrigeration (ACR) contractor with maintenance or repair work must hold at least a TDLR technician registration, and the requirement is statewide.

As of September 2026, the entry level, Registered Technician, has a $20 application fee, a minimum age of 16, no experience or exam requirement, and a 1-year term.

A person younger than 18 who acts, or offers to act, as an ACR technician — including an apprentice under 18 doing this work — must at all times work under the direct supervision of a licensed ACR contractor or a certified ACR technician.

Registered and certified technicians must work under a licensed ACR contractor, may not advertise ACR services themselves, and may not do work defined as plumbing unless they also hold a plumbing license.

Since September 1, 2021, municipalities may not charge registration fees to TDLR-licensed ACR contractors, though building-permit fees still apply.

The UA's directory lists Texas locals in Houston (Local 68 and Local 211), Dallas (Local 100), Fort Worth (Local 146), San Antonio (Local 142), Austin (Local 286), Waco (Local 529) and Northwest Texas (Local 404).

The directory confirms the locals' existence, not each one's trade mix, and UA apprenticeships cover plumbing, pipefitting, HVACR, welding and fire protection, so contact the local nearest you and ask how it trains HVACR apprentices.

UA apprenticeships are registered with DOL and typically last five years.

Sheet metal is another union route into HVAC work: SMART's Texas locals include Local 54 (Houston), Local 67 (San Antonio) and Local 68 (Dallas and Fort Worth), and the International Training Institute, jointly sponsored by SMART and SMACNA, reports more than 14,000 registered apprentices in the United States and Canada, with programs running four or five years.

Nationally, ABC describes itself as founded on the merit shop philosophy and reports more than 24,000 members.

PHCC — the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association — offers apprenticeship content through an online learning academy, and its Educational Foundation is an EPA-approved 608 certifying program.

ACCA reports 60,000 professionals and over 3,000 company members and is also an EPA-approved 608 certifying program, though our research found no ACCA registered-apprenticeship program.

What our research did not confirm is the Texas chapter level: which Texas ABC, PHCC or ACCA chapters sponsor registered HVAC apprenticeships, and which Texas employers run their own registered programs.

When you find a program, ask two questions before you commit: is it a registered apprenticeship, and who registers it?

The classroom side of a registered apprenticeship is related technical instruction, and the federal benchmark is a recommendation, not a mandate: DOL recommends a minimum of 144 hours for each year of apprenticeship, and your program's standards set what it actually requires.

On the licensing side, TDLR approves certification programs: completing a TDLR-approved program of 2,000 hours of combined instruction and practical experience qualifies you for the voluntary Certified Technician designation in place of 24 months of ACR-related work under a licensed ACR contractor, and the application must reach TDLR within 48 months of completing the program.

Our research did not list the certification programs TDLR has approved, or which Texas colleges, trade schools or union training centers deliver HVAC related instruction — ask each sponsor where its apprentices take classroom hours, and confirm a school's approved status with TDLR before you enroll.

Start with the sponsors: ask the UA locals near you about apprenticeship intakes, ask merit-shop chapters and larger contractors whether they sponsor registered programs, and get each program's written standards before you commit.

Because any helper who assists a licensed ACR contractor with maintenance or repair work needs one, file TDLR's Registered Technician application — the $20 registration above — as you start.

Federally, a registered apprentice must be at least 16 unless a higher minimum is set by law; there is no federal maximum age, and programs may not discriminate against applicants aged 40 or older.

Registered programs must pay a progressively increasing wage schedule tied to skill, with the entry wage no lower than the FLSA minimum where it applies, and the probationary period may not exceed 25% of the program length or 1 year, whichever is shorter.

Finish, and the registration agency issues a completion certificate; under Texas law, every 2,000 hours of apprenticeship on-the-job training counts as 12 months of practical experience toward the ACR contractor license.

Before you sign with any contractor, check its TDLR license in the public license search.