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

Not for the worker: Louisiana does not issue a statewide license for individual HVAC technicians, and the state instead regulates the trade at the contractor level.

The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) requires a state contractor license for electrical, mechanical or plumbing projects exceeding $10,000 including labor and materials, and HVAC work falls under LSLBC's Mechanical classification.

Two state-law points matter for technicians.

A statewide-licensed mechanical contractor is exempt from local examination requirements and may work in any local jurisdiction after paying local fees, and state law bars cities and parishes from requiring their own exams or certification of the employees of statewide-licensed mechanical contractors as a condition of working for that contractor (R.S.

37:2156.1(I)).

Refrigerant work adds the federal layer: EPA 608 certification.

Louisiana has no state journeyman or technician level for HVAC — the credentials that exist are a city ladder in New Orleans plus the state's contractor license.

New Orleans issues a Class B Journeyman Mechanical license (mechanic and gasfitter) whose holder works under a Class A contractor, and a Class A Master Mechanical Contractor license for mechanical contractors performing work within the city, limited to one license holder per company.

These are city credentials for work in New Orleans, not statewide licenses.

At the state level, LSLBC licenses the business under its Mechanical major classification (code 6) or its subclassification Heat, Air Conditioning, Ventilation, Duct Work, and Refrigeration (code 6.1), which covers the installation, maintenance or repair of air conditioning, ventilation, refrigeration, coolers, freezers, and ice rinks; a license is required when the value exceeds $10,000.

A mechanical contractor who performs plumbing work of $10,000 or more must also hold a master plumber license from the State Plumbing Board of Louisiana, and gas fitting is its own SPBLA credential (Natural Gas Fitter, Master Natural Gas Fitter).

With no individual license, the state sets no hours, training or exam requirement for a technician — any requirement you meet comes from your employer or from a local jurisdiction such as New Orleans, not from a state technician rule.

The requirements that do exist attach to the licenses above.

New Orleans' Class B Journeyman Mechanical license requires the ICC G31 National Journeyman Mechanical exam.

For the LSLBC contractor license, every applicant must designate a qualifying party for each classification and for the Louisiana business and law requirement; the qualifying party can be any principal or a full-time employee, and an employee qualifying party must work at least 32 hours per week and meet the IRS definition of an employee.

A commercial LSLBC license must show a financial statement of at least $50,000 net worth, current within 12 months.

On fees, the contractors statute caps LSLBC fees at $50 for an exam, $100 for a license and $100 for a renewal, plus an extra $100 fee on each license renewal; our research did not find the board's current fee schedule, so confirm costs with LSLBC before you apply.

Two exam systems, depending on the credential.

Since August 5, 2025, all LSLBC trade exams are administered by PSI, and trade exam fees are paid directly to PSI when the qualifying party registers.

The qualifying party also completes the Business and Law requirement: a one-hour online course with an exam on its contents at the conclusion, a $150 course fee as of LSLBC's form revised 01/30/2026.

Our research does not describe the mechanical trade exam's content outline, so work from the candidate information LSLBC and PSI point you to.

New Orleans uses ICC exams instead: Class A applicants submit an ICC G29 Master Mechanical exam results report — or, if state-tested, a copy of their LSLBC statewide qualifying-party letter — and the Class B Journeyman Mechanical license requires the ICC G31 National Journeyman Mechanical exam.

LSLBC contractor licenses renew for one-, two- or three-year terms and expire on the anniversary of the original issue; renewal opens 60 days before expiry, and a license that has been expired for more than one year cannot be renewed.

There is no continuing education requirement for commercial LSLBC licensees, which includes commercial mechanical contractors; only residential building contractors must complete 6 CE hours a year.

In New Orleans, both mechanical licenses renew annually — the Class A Master Mechanical Contractor license and the Class B Journeyman Mechanical license.

The city pages we read set out annual renewal but no CE hours for these licenses, so confirm renewal details with the city.

Since October 23, 2024, LSLBC accepts a trade exam passed in any other state — passed with no waivers, exemptions or grandfathering — for an equivalent Louisiana classification, and the change replaced all earlier state-by-state reciprocity agreements; the board's letter says all other licensing requirements still apply.

When no trade exam is required (reciprocity, a previously passed exam), LSLBC charges a $150 Exam Research/Waiver Fee.

NASCLA exam credit at LSLBC covers only its Building Construction/Residential Construction exams and its Electrical exam — a NASCLA exam does not substitute for the Mechanical trade exam.

For New Orleans' city licenses, the city accepts an LSLBC statewide qualifying-party letter in place of its ICC G29 report for Class A applicants; whether the city honors out-of-state mechanic credentials otherwise was outside our research, so ask the city.

LSLBC's public license search covers its contractor licenses, including a search by qualifying party — so before you go to work for a contractor, you can look up the license and its qualifying party.

The search is at arlspublic.lslbc.louisiana.gov.

There is no statewide list of individual technicians to search, because the state issues none.

Our research did not identify a public lookup for New Orleans' Class A and Class B mechanical licenses, so for those, contact the city.

New Orleans licenses mechanical work at both levels.

The Class A Master Mechanical Contractor license (A/C, Refrigeration and Gasfitters) is for mechanical contractors performing work within the city and renews annually; only one Class A holder is allowed per company, and applicants submit an ICC G29 Master Mechanical exam report or — if state-tested — their LSLBC statewide qualifying-party letter.

The Class B Journeyman Mechanical license (mechanic and gasfitter) requires the ICC G31 National Journeyman Mechanical exam, renews annually, and its holder must be employed by and work under the supervision of a Class A contractor.

State law bars cities and parishes from requiring their own exams of employees of statewide-licensed mechanical contractors; how that preemption and the city's Class B requirement fit together is not explained by either source, so confirm with the city before you count on either.

Our research covered New Orleans only and did not survey other parishes, so check with the building or licensing department where the work happens.