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

No. Kansas does not issue a state HVAC license.

State law lets any county or city require the licensure of mechanical HVAC contractors and master and journeyman HVAC mechanics practicing within its borders, and it sets the uniform standards those local licenses must follow.

Whether you need a license depends on the county or city where the work is done.

One federal rule applies everywhere in Kansas: under 40 CFR 82.161, a person who could reasonably be expected to violate the integrity of a refrigerant circuit while maintaining, servicing, repairing or disposing of appliances containing CFC/HCFC or non-exempt substitute refrigerants (such as HFCs) must pass an exam from an EPA-approved technician certification program.

That federal certification, commonly called the EPA Section 608 certification, is separate from any local license.

Kansas law recognizes three local HVAC license types: the mechanical HVAC contractor, the master HVAC mechanic and the journeyman HVAC mechanic.

The statute defines a journeyman HVAC mechanic as a person with the necessary qualifications, training, experience and technical knowledge to install and repair mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

The master certificate is the higher step: it takes 2 years as a journeyman or 4 years of field experience.

The mechanical HVAC contractor is the contractor-level license the act names; Kansas sets no state HVAC contractor license, bond or insurance amount, so any contractor requirements come from the local jurisdiction.

Each local governing body adopts and enforces the HVAC codes, standards and regulations for its jurisdiction, so read the rules where you will work.

A journeyman HVAC mechanic certificate requires at least 2 years of documented field experience under a journeyman or master, and the issuing city or county must verify that proof before issuing the certificate.

Up to 1 of those years can be trade school, if the program ran at least 930 program hours.

Kansas sets no statewide apprentice registration with a licensing board.

A master certificate requires 2 years as a journeyman or 4 years of field experience.

On fees: Kansas sets no state HVAC contractor license, bond or insurance amount, and our research did not confirm what individual jurisdictions charge for any of the three license types, so ask the local office.

Kansas designates ICC, IAPMO and Prometric exams as the standard HVAC competency exams.

A locality that uses one of them must set a minimum passing score of 75% and may not add its own questions.

A city may instead give its own exam, but a license earned that way is valid only in that city unless a reciprocal agreement applies.

Our research did not confirm which exam each Kansas jurisdiction currently uses or the content outline, so ask the local building or licensing department which exam it requires, then study that publisher's outline.

Local Kansas HVAC licensees must complete 12 hours of continuing education every two years, or 6 hours annually, and at least half of it must be code education.

The continuing education must be approved by the local governing body.

What our research did not confirm is the renewal period and fee any individual jurisdiction uses; confirm both with the city or county that issued your license before it expires.

The portability Kansas law establishes is inside the state: a license based on a designated standard exam (ICC, IAPMO or Prometric) is valid in every other Kansas county or city that licenses HVAC, without re-examination.

A license based on a city's own exam is valid only in that city, unless a reciprocal agreement applies.

How Kansas jurisdictions treat licenses issued by other states is not established in our research; the rules of the jurisdiction where you will work are the ones that govern, so ask its building or licensing department before you assume an out-of-state license transfers.

There is no statewide HVAC license lookup in Kansas.

Licensing is local, so verifying a license means contacting the building or licensing department of the jurisdiction where the work is done.

If you are hiring or subcontracting, ask for the license and confirm it with the issuing jurisdiction before work starts.

Any county or city may require HVAC licensure and adopt and enforce its own HVAC codes, standards and regulations, but none has to — so the first step is to ask the building or licensing department where you will work.

A Kansas Attorney General opinion (1999-42) says a city may not use its home-rule power to add licensure requirements for plumbers, electricians and mechanical contractors beyond the state act.

Our research did not verify the individual city and county licensing offices, so this page does not name them; the jurisdiction itself can tell you whether it licenses HVAC and on what terms.