The ICC mechanical and fuel gas exams our research found in HVAC licensing rules are the journeyman and master mechanical exams: F31 and F29 in Denver, G31 and G29 in New Orleans, F29 or W29 in Pittsburgh.
ICC's national catalog separately lists M1, M2, M3 and FG — the inspector-track certifications.
Which one a rule names, and on which code edition, is decided by the jurisdiction that licenses you.
Which jurisdictions use ICC exams?
ICC exams reach HVAC techs through the rules of the jurisdiction that licenses you — and in the jurisdictions our research covered, that rule sits with a city or county, or with a state statute its localities apply.
Denver's certificates, Pittsburgh's trade license and New Orleans's license classes name the exam they accept, and Kansas statute names the exam families its localities may use.
Where licensing sits — state board or city hall — is the first thing to pin down, and our HVAC license requirements guide maps which states license HVAC at all.
- Denver, Colorado — the Heating and Ventilating Journeyman certificate takes four years (minimum 7,000 hours) of heating and ventilating field installation experience in an apprenticeship or on-the-job training, plus a pass on ICC exam F31 National Standard Journeyman Mechanical. The Class A Supervisor certificate takes eight years of commercial heating and ventilating work — four as a journeyman mechanic, four as a designer, draftsman or supervisor — plus ICC exam F29 National Standard Master Mechanical.
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — the Mechanical Trade License is issued to individuals and requires a passing score on the ICC National Standard Master Mechanical exam (F29 or W29), taken through Pearson VUE, plus at least four years of combined experience and education.
- New Orleans, Louisiana — Class A air-conditioning and refrigeration license applicants submit an ICC G29 Master Mechanical exam results report, or a state LSLBC qualifying-party letter if state-tested; the Class B Journeyman Mechanical license requires the ICC G31 National Journeyman Mechanical exam. Louisiana state law (R.S. 37:2156.1(I)) separately bars cities and parishes from requiring their own exams or certification of employees of statewide-licensed mechanical contractors as a condition of working for that contractor — and the city does not explain how that preemption and the Class B requirement interact, so we state both without resolving them.
- Kansas localities — state statute designates ICC, IAPMO or Prometric exams as the standard HVAC competency exams; localities using them must set a 75% passing score and may not add questions of their own. A license built on a designated exam is valid in every other Kansas county or city that licenses HVAC without re-examination — one built on a city's own exam is valid only in that city unless a reciprocal agreement says otherwise.
- Casper and Cheyenne, Wyoming — Casper's Mechanical Journeyman needs an approved exam, ICC G31-N, G29-N or the equivalent; Cheyenne's Contractor Licensing Board sets the exams for its qualified supervisor, plumbing and mechanical licenses, administered by ICC, the City, NICET and others.
A city missing from this list is not evidence of no requirement — our research verified these jurisdictions, not every ordinance in the country.
The building department or licensing office that issues mechanical licenses where you work names the exam it accepts, so start there.
Exam rules are local — confirm before you prep
The ICC exam list and code editions
ICC's national certification catalog is the source of the ICC mechanical exam IDs: M1 Residential Mechanical Inspector, M2 Commercial Mechanical Inspector, M3 Mechanical Plans Examiner and FG Fuel Gas Inspector.
The plumbing side of the same catalog lists P1 Residential Plumbing Inspector, P2 Commercial Plumbing Inspector and P3 Plumbing Plans Examiner.
The two mechanical inspector exams have defined scopes: M1 covers mechanical systems and fuel gas piping in one- and two-family dwellings up to three stories, and M2 covers commercial mechanical systems under the International Mechanical Code.
Both are inspection-side credentials — ICC's outline has the M1 holder verifying installed mechanical systems and fuel gas piping — and the career path they belong to is the one our mechanical inspector guide walks through.
The exams cities require for a license are not the certification list above — none of the IDs in the city rules we read appears in ICC's national certification list.
The city rules name ICC's journeyman and master mechanical exams instead: journeyman-level tests such as Denver's F31 National Standard Journeyman Mechanical, New Orleans's G31 National Journeyman Mechanical and Casper's G31-N, and master-level tests such as Pittsburgh's F29 or W29, Denver's F29 and New Orleans's G29 Master Mechanical.
Denver's and New Orleans's journeyman credentials name journeyman exams; the supervisor and Class A credentials name the master mechanical exams.
On editions, the catalog itself states the options: ICC's certification exams are offered on the 2021 and 2024 code editions.
For a city-required exam, our research did not pin down each city's edition, so confirm which one your city tests on with the city before you buy references.
Format and scheduling
ICC's published content outlines give the shape of the certification exams: M1 runs 60 questions in 2 hours, open book, and M2 runs 50 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, open book; on the plumbing side, P1 matches M1 at 60 questions and P2 matches M2 at 50.
Treat those counts as a starting point rather than a promise — ICC's content-outline PDFs can lag the current catalog, so confirm the format for your exam in ICC's exam catalog before you book.
Open book does not mean open time.
ICC's candidate bulletin tells candidates they will not have time to look up all of the answers and must know their references well — and there is no guessing penalty, so it pays to answer every question.
ICC also says most of its exams are open book while the open or closed status and the allowed references vary by exam, which is another reason the catalog or bulletin for your specific exam is the document that counts.
Where references are allowed, ICC's administrative rules permit bound references — original, a three-ring binder or stapled pages, with no photocopies of copyrighted material — notes in ink or highlighting, and permanently attached tabs that cannot be removed without destroying the page.
Scheduling follows the jurisdiction rather than the exam name — the license rules above book their exams several different ways.
Pittsburgh routes its ICC master mechanical exam through Pearson VUE; Cheyenne's Contractor Licensing Board has its qualified supervisor, plumbing and mechanical exams administered by ICC, the City, NICET and others; and Kansas localities that use the state's designated exams pick ICC, IAPMO or Prometric.
For booking steps, fees and test centers, go to whoever delivers your exam — the local license page or candidate bulletin names that vendor.
The wider exam landscape — state-delivered trade exams, retake waits and the separate business-and-law test — is covered in our HVAC license exam guide.
Once the exam is passed and the license is in hand, our HVAC technician jobs board shows what local shops are hiring for.
This page is career information, not legal advice. Every ICC exam requirement on this page comes from the jurisdiction that wrote it — a city or county, or a state statute its localities apply — so confirm the exam, the edition and the current format with the office that licenses you and with ICC's exam catalog before you book.