You renew an HVAC license with the board that issued it — before its expiration date, paying that board's renewal fee and completing continuing education if the board requires it.
Our research found no federal renewal rule: cycles, fees and CE hours are set state by state, and by cities where licensing is local.
Miss the date and the consequences can escalate from a late fee to a retest.
Here is how the cycles, costs, lapses and reinstatements actually work.
HVAC license renewal cycles by state
The cycles our research confirmed are each set by the board that issued the license, and they run from one year to three.
Arkansas HVACR licenses expire on the last day of the month one year after issuance.
Oklahoma mechanical licenses last up to one year and expire on the last day of the licensee's birth month, and Kentucky renewals run on the same birthday system, yearly by the last day of the birth month.
Maryland issues HVACR licenses for 2-year terms that expire on October 1 of odd-numbered years, while Iowa puts every license on a three-year clock that hits June 30, starting June 30, 2026.
Where a board requires continuing education, it rides on the same cycle, and the hours vary just as much.
These are examples our research confirmed — not the full map:
| Board | Cycle | Continuing education |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas (HVACR) | Annual | At least 8 hours of board-approved CE per International Mechanical Code cycle |
| Maryland (HVACR Board) | 2 years (Oct 1, odd years) | None |
| Virginia (tradesman) | 2 years | 3 hours per term |
| Iowa | 3 years (June 30) | At least 8 board-approved classroom hours per term |
| Florida (certified and registered contractors) | 2 years | 14 hours per biennium, including workers' compensation, business practices, workplace safety and 1 hour of laws and rules |
| Ohio (OCILB) | 1 or 3 years | 8 hours a year, or 24 for three-year renewals (the figures OCILB states) |
| North Carolina (plumbing/heating board) | Annual (Dec 31) | None since December 31, 2012 |
Where CE is required, the board or local governing body named in the rule approves it.
Oklahoma's mechanical journeymen and contractors need six hours of CIB-approved continuing education every 36 months.
New Hampshire mechanical licensees complete at least 6 hours of board-approved CE per endorsement every 2-year cycle.
New Jersey Master HVACR holders owe 5 credits of board-approved CE per biennial period, with the first renewal exempt.
Utah contractors need 6 hours of approved CE per licensing period (3 core), and at most 3 of them may be online.
Kansas's local HVAC licensees need 12 hours every two years, or 6 annually, with at least half of it code education.
Mississippi requires each qualifying party on a residential license to complete 2 hours from a board-approved provider.
Florida's 14 hours come with named topics — workers' compensation, business practices, workplace safety and 1 hour of laws and rules.
Some boards require no CE to renew.
The Maryland HVACR Board does not require continuing education, and North Carolina replaced its mandatory CE with complaint-driven Disciplinary Education after December 31, 2012.
The cross-state tally our research ran adds Michigan's mechanical contractor licenses, Wisconsin's HVAC qualifier and registration, and Louisiana's commercial (LSLBC) licenses to the no-CE list.
Ohio's number also carries a footnote: OCILB currently states 8 hours for one-year renewals and 24 for three-year renewals, while its rule text says 10 — the two-hour reduction goes to licensees in the Compliant Contractor Program.
Whatever the cycle, the renewal itself runs through the board that issued your license: find your expiration date (the examples above run from your issue date, your birth month, or a fixed date the board sets for everyone), finish continuing education if the board requires it before you renew, then submit the renewal and fee to the board and keep the confirmation.
Which states license HVAC work at all, and at which level, is the ladder in our HVAC license requirements guide — and each state's page in that series carries that state's renewal detail.
HVAC license renewal fees
Every renewal fee our research captured is set by the board itself, and in those fee schedules the amount varies with license level and cycle length.
Because the cycles differ, the sticker numbers are not directly comparable — so each figure below is listed with the cycle it covers.
These are the figures our research confirmed:
| Board | Renewal fee | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Texas — TDLR ACR contractor | $65 | Yearly |
| Texas — ACR technicians | $20 registered, $35 certified | Yearly |
| Connecticut — heating, cooling and sheet metal | $150 contractor, $120 journeyperson | Yearly (Aug 31) |
| Kentucky — master HVAC contractor / journeyman | $250 / $50 | Yearly (birth month) |
| New Jersey — Master HVACR | $160 | 2 years |
| Ohio — OCILB | $60 annual, $180 triennial | 1 or 3 years |
| Michigan — mechanical contractor | $300 | 3 years (Aug 31) |
| South Carolina — mechanical contractor | $135 | 2 years (Oct 31, odd years) |
| Utah — contractor | $128 | 2 years (Nov 30, odd years) |
The Maryland HVACR Board's published fee schedule — its amounts are listed simply as fees, as of July 1, 2025 — sets Master and Limited licenses at $94.50, Master Restricted at $31.50 per area, and Journeyman and Journeyman Restricted at $25.00, on licenses that run in 2-year terms.
Texas shows how much variation one state can carry — $65 for an ACR contractor, $20 for a registered technician, $35 for a certified one — and its full picture, technicians through contractors, is on our Texas HVAC license page.
Cities that license the trades set their own renewal terms too.
Pittsburgh's trade licenses expire 365 days after issuance, carry a 60-day grace period and then lapse, and require 8 hours of CE in the 12 months before renewal.
Where your license comes from a city or county, its fee schedule is the one that applies to you.
What happens if your HVAC license lapses
In the states our research captured, a lapse can escalate through three stages: a late fee, then a grace window, then a retest.
The late fee comes first.
North Carolina charges $25 for a renewal received after January, New Jersey adds $50, Michigan $100, Ohio up to $120, and Delaware adds 50% of the renewal fee.
South Carolina's mechanical contractor licenses carry late fees of $100–$200 on top of the $135 renewal.
Then come the windows.
Virginia gives tradesman licenses a 30-day grace period after expiry — during which you may not work.
Iowa's grace period is also 30 days, and Georgia's late-renewal window is 31 days.
North Carolina has none: its licenses expire December 31 each year and there is no grace period after expiration — the details are on our North Carolina HVAC license page.
Longer windows exist too: Mississippi allows a late renewal up to 180 days after expiry and requires a new application after that, Tennessee gives expired contractor licenses a 12-month grace period at $20 per month, and Louisiana's LSLBC renewal is impossible once a license has been expired a year.
The last stage is testing again.
Alabama HACR certifications lapse if not renewed by December 31 each year, and a holder who does not renew within one year after lapsing must retest.
North Carolina requires re-examination once a license has been expired three years, and Michigan makes mechanical contractors whose license expired more than 3 years ago re-apply and re-test.
One credential this whole ladder can never touch: your EPA 608 certification.
EPA states that Section 608 Technician Certification credentials do not expire — so if your state license lapses, the federal card does not go with it.
The difference between the two layers is exactly what our does EPA 608 expire guide covers.
Grace periods and fees are board rules — and boards amend them
HVAC license reinstatement: getting a lapsed license back
The routes our research captured for getting a lapsed license back fall into two kinds.
The simple one is a fee paid inside a set window.
Idaho HVAC certificates of competency expire 24 months from issue, renewal can be requested up to 60 days before expiration, and an expired certificate can be revived within 1 year with a $35 revival fee.
South Carolina's residential HVAC license carries a $220 renewal fee, a $50 late fee and a $480 reinstatement fee on its fee schedule — and a license lapsed more than three years requires re-examination instead.
The second route is inactive status: parking the license before it lapses, rather than rescuing it after.
Ohio lets contractors put a license in inactive (escrow) status indefinitely, paying the $60 renewal fee annually with no CE or insurance required while inactive; reactivation takes up to 24 hours of CE and proof of insurance.
Oklahoma's inactive contractor license needs no bond or insurance and still works as a journeyman license, and it can be activated any time by filing bond and insurance.
Some boards offer no parking option at all.
Virginia tradesman licenses have no inactive or retired status, and TDLR's Texas ACR licenses have no inactive status either — in those states there is no parking a license ahead of trouble; the renewal date is the deadline.
- Your exact expiration date and renewal cycle
- Whether a grace period exists — and whether you may keep working during it
- The late fee, and any reinstatement fee beyond it
- Whether the board offers an inactive status you could file for instead
- The retest threshold — how long a lapse is too long
- The CE hours you owe, and which providers your board approves
Whether you are renewing on time or rebuilding a lapsed license, you can browse HVAC technician jobs on our board.
This page is career information, not legal advice. Renewal, lapse and reinstatement rules are set by the board that issued your license — or the city or county where licensing is local — so confirm them there before you act.