Does Florida Require an HVAC License? Who Licenses HVAC Work Instead

No. Florida does not license HVAC technicians or journeymen at the state level; instead, Florida law authorizes counties and municipalities to issue journeyman licenses in the plumbing, pipe fitting, mechanical and HVAC trades.

What you need to work legally therefore depends on the city or county where the job happens.

The state does license the contracting tier: the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) under the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) licenses air-conditioning contractors, and no one may engage in contracting in Florida without being certified (statewide) or registered (local) in the proper classification.

Refrigerant handling adds a federal layer: under the EPA 608 rule, anyone who maintains, services, repairs or disposes of appliances containing regulated refrigerants must pass an exam from an EPA-approved certification program.

Florida's HVAC credentials split into two layers.

At the worker level, the only licenses are local: a county or city HVAC journeyman card, which Florida law requires every other Florida locality to recognize.

At the state level, the CILB licenses air-conditioning contractors in two classes: a Class A contractor's services are unlimited in scope, covering central air conditioning, refrigeration, heating, ventilating, duct work, boilers and unfired pressure vessels, and piping; a Class B contractor is limited to 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 Btu of heating in any one system.

Both classes come certified (statewide) or registered (local only, valid where you hold a local competency license, with no state exam for registration).

Florida licenses mechanical contractors as a separate CILB category from air-conditioning contractors.

One trap to know: the Class C air-conditioning contractor license, which covered servicing only, is closed to new applicants — only people who held it on October 1, 1988 may keep it.

For a local HVAC journeyman card, Florida law requires 75% or higher on a proctored journeyman exam plus either a registered, state-approved apprenticeship or at least 12,000 hours of on-the-job training in the trade.

Florida registers apprenticeship programs through the Department of Education, its State Apprenticeship Agency.

For the certified contractor rung, you must be at least 18 and show, for example, 4 years of active experience as a skilled worker or foreman, at least 1 year of it as a foreman; college credit or a relevant degree can substitute for part, and 2,000 person-hours count as one year of full-time experience.

Certification also takes proof of financial responsibility — a credit report with no unsatisfied judgments or liens and a FICO score of 660 or higher, or else a board-approved 14-hour financial responsibility course — and insurance of at least $100,000 public liability and $25,000 property damage.

DBPR lists the renewal fee as $205 plus $50 per qualified business; our research did not confirm a current initial application fee, so check the CILB fee schedule before you apply.

Two different exams, depending on the rung.

A local journeyman card takes a proctored journeyman exam — the Block and Associates exam or another board-approved exam — scored at 75% or higher.

The CILB's certification exams pair a trade-knowledge exam with a business and finance exam: Professional Testing, Inc. handles applications, and Pearson VUE delivers the exams computer-based (the plumbing trade exam is the paper-based exception).

Every CILB exam is open book and multiple choice.

Our research confirms that two-part structure but not the air-conditioning trade exam's topic list, so download the candidate information from DBPR's construction examinations page before you study.

Florida's continuing-education rule attaches to contractor licenses, not to journeyman cards.

Certified and registered contractors renew every 2 years and must complete 14 hours of continuing education per biennium, including workers' compensation, business practices, workplace safety and 1 hour of laws and rules.

Certified contractors renew by August 31 of even-numbered years and registered contractors by August 31 of odd-numbered years, with DBPR listing the renewal fee as $205 plus $50 per qualified business.

Renewal of a county or city journeyman card — and any CE it requires — is set by the issuing locality, which our research did not survey; ask the county or city that issued your card.

For contractor licenses, not by reciprocity: the CILB's reciprocal agreements cover only general, building and residential contractors (Louisiana, North Carolina and Mississippi) — none for air-conditioning, mechanical or plumbing licenses.

The route into Florida is licensure by endorsement, for applicants who passed a substantially equivalent exam elsewhere, hold a substantially equivalent out-of-state license, or have held another state's contractor license for at least 10 years.

For journeyman cards, Florida's portability rule applies within the state: any Florida county or municipality must recognize a journeyman card issued by another Florida locality.

Whether a specific county honors an out-of-state card was outside our research — ask the locality.

DBPR's licensing portal, myfloridalicense.com, has a Verify a Licensee search that covers state contractor licenses, including the air-conditioning classifications.

Local journeyman cards are not in a statewide list — our research did not identify one — so to verify a card, contact the county or city that issued it.

Florida law authorizes its counties and municipalities to issue HVAC journeyman cards on the terms the statute sets: 75% or higher on a proctored journeyman exam, plus a registered, state-approved apprenticeship or at least 12,000 hours of on-the-job training.

How each locality administers the card, and what it charges, varies.

A card issued by any Florida locality travels: every other county and municipality in the state must recognize it.

Which Florida counties issue HVAC journeyman cards, and what they charge, was outside the scope of our research — confirm with the building or licensing department in the city or county where you will work.