In the four states our research verified from statute — Texas, Arizona, Ohio and Florida — the law structures how a licensing board may use a felony record, and Texas's statute says outright that a conviction outside its listed grounds does not automatically disqualify you.
A record still surfaces at the license application — Texas's licensing department checks every applicant — and a related conviction can matter.
EPA 608 certification is a separate, exam-based layer.
Do licensing boards check records?
At the boards our research checked, the license application is where your record comes up.
In Texas, the Department of Licensing and Regulation — TDLR, the agency that licenses air conditioning and refrigeration contractors — states that every individual who applies for a license is subject to a criminal background check to determine their suitability for it.
In Maine, the check carries its own fee: Maine's Fuel Board charges a $21 criminal background check fee on its oil burner and solid fuel technician licenses, and the state's Plumbers' Examining Board adds the same $21 check to its journeyman and master plumber license applications.
In North Carolina, the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating & Fire Sprinkler Contractors — the board that licenses HVAC work statewide — requires applicants to submit a nationwide criminal background report from Disahealthcare.com with the application, and the board says application processing is currently averaging six weeks.
A background check is a review; what a board may do with a conviction is written in state law.
The four statutes below each put different machinery around that decision — from pre-application determinations to time limits on what a board may count.
Fair-chance licensing laws
Fair-chance licensing laws work two ways: some limit when a board may deny a license because of a record, and some let you get an official answer before you invest in training or exams.
The four statutes below were verified from the statutes themselves in September 2026.
They are the mechanisms our research confirmed — not a survey of every state, and the plumbing version of this question is its own topic.
Texas: the criminal history evaluation letter
Under Texas Occupations Code 53.102, a person who is enrolled in or planning to enroll in an educational program that prepares them for an initial license — or planning to take the exam for one — can ask the licensing authority for a criminal history evaluation letter if they believe a felony or misdemeanor conviction or deferred adjudication may make them ineligible.
The authority must answer within 90 days.
TDLR, which licenses air conditioning and refrigeration contractors in Texas, charges $10 for the letter and issues it within 90 days of a complete request.
TDLR is direct about what the letter is: any recommendation stated in it is not binding on the department should you later apply for a license, and you can still apply and receive a full background review.
TDLR also publishes Criminal Conviction Guidelines listing the crimes it considers related to each occupation.
The statute is at statutes.capitol.texas.gov.
On the denial side, the same chapter lets a licensing authority suspend or revoke a license, disqualify an applicant from receiving one, or deny the opportunity to take the licensing examination over a conviction that directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the licensed occupation, over offenses listed in Code of Criminal Procedure article 42A.054, or over sexually violent offenses.
Outside those grounds, a conviction does not automatically disqualify you.
Arizona: petition before you train, test or pay
Arizona law (A.R.S. 41-1093.04) lets a person with a criminal record petition a state licensing agency at any time — including before obtaining any required education or experience, taking any examination or paying any fee — for a determination of whether the record disqualifies them.
The agency must issue its written determination within 90 days of receiving the petition.
In that pre-application determination, the agency may not count against you: non-conviction information, including arrests that were not followed by a conviction, deferred adjudication or participation in a diversion program; convictions that have been sealed, dismissed, expunged or pardoned; juvenile adjudications; and nonviolent misdemeanors.
When can a felony still matter?
In some cases.
The statute's tests include a felony conviction that occurred within three years before the petition — excluding prison time, and not set aside or sealed — or specified serious offenses at any time, and the agency must find by clear and convincing evidence that the offense substantially relates to the occupation.
The statute carries more conditions than this summary, so read it or ask the agency before relying on any one reading.
Ohio: an answer within 30 days
Ohio Revised Code 9.78 lets an individual who has been convicted of any criminal offense ask any state board or local licensing authority, at any time, to determine whether the conviction disqualifies them from a license that authority issues.
The authority may charge a fee of not more than $25, and it must answer within 30 days.
The same section adds two recovery pieces: licensing authorities must post the list of disqualifying offenses online, and must state that a disqualification can be overcome if the applicant holds a Certificate of Qualification for Employment — a certificate issued under section 2953.25 of the Revised Code.
Florida: the 5-year line for contractor licenses
Florida Statutes 455.213(3) covers the air-conditioning, mechanical, plumbing and sheet metal contractor licenses: a conviction or other adjudication for a crime more than 5 years before the board receives the application may not be used as grounds for denial — except for certain listed serious crimes that relate to the profession.
The board may still consider criminal history where the law ties it to good moral character, so an older record is shielded, not erased.
Florida also lets you start early: a person may apply for an air-conditioning, mechanical or plumbing contractor license before lawful release from confinement or supervision, the department may not charge an additional fee for being confined or under supervision, and the board may not deny the application solely on the basis of current confinement or supervision.
Four statutes, not a survey
EPA 608 has no background check
The federal layer works differently.
Under 40 CFR 82.161, any person who could reasonably be expected to violate the integrity of the refrigerant circuit while maintaining, servicing, repairing or disposing of appliances containing CFC/HCFC or non-exempt substitute refrigerants — HFCs included — must pass an exam from an EPA-approved technician certification program.
Approved certifying organizations give the tests and issue the cards; EPA itself issues no card.
The certification requirements the rule sets center on the exam.
The Type II, Type III and Universal tests — and Type I taken as part of Universal — are closed-book and proctored, and the proctor verifies each test-taker's identity with photo ID.
Certifying programs must tell you your results within 30 days and issue the standard wallet-sized card within 30 days of the test, and the certification does not expire.
No criminal background check appears among those requirements — the photo ID confirms who you are, not what is in your record.
That checked list is what matters for a reader with a record: the EPA 608 requirements we reviewed in 40 CFR 82.161 and Appendix D are exam requirements, and none of them is a background check.
The credential is still worth holding regardless of your history, because only EPA-certified technicians may buy ozone-depleting or substitute refrigerants such as HFCs, with limited exceptions.
A 608 card is not a license, though.
It is a federal certification for refrigerant handling — whether you also need a state or local license for the work you want is the separate question the license layer answers.
The HVAC license requirements overview maps which states license HVAC, at which level, and what each rung demands.
Two layers, two authorities
Getting hired with a record
Licensing is one gate; hiring is the other, and federal rules shape how employers use your record.
EEOC guidance says a targeted criminal-record screen should consider at least the nature of the crime, the time elapsed and the nature of the job — the Green factors — plus an individualized assessment.
When an employer uses a screening company, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you process rights.
The employer must tell you in writing, in a stand-alone notice that is not part of the job application, and get your written permission before pulling the report — the FTC's guidance says that permission can be part of the same document.
Before taking adverse action based on the report, the employer must give you a copy of the report and the Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA.
There is also a tool built for this conversation.
The U.S. Department of Labor created the Federal Bonding Program in 1966, and it gives employers free fidelity bonds of $5,000 with no deductible covering the first six months of a hired at-risk job seeker's employment.
If an employer's hesitation is bonding, you can point them to the program.
Practically, the two tracks can run in parallel.
Arizona's petition can be filed before you take a single class, Texas's evaluation letter costs $10 and comes with a 90-day deadline, and Florida lets an air-conditioning contractor-license applicant apply before release from confinement or supervision.
Wherever you are in that process, browse HVAC technician jobs to see what employers in your market actually ask for.
This page is career information, not legal advice. Licensing rules, fair-chance statutes and hiring-law questions each have their own authority — your state licensing board, or the city or county where licensing is local, and for anything case-specific an employment attorney. Confirm before you act on any of it.