How Do You Get an HVAC License in Texas?

Yes.

Texas requires anyone who assists a licensed air conditioning and refrigeration (ACR) contractor with maintenance or repair work to hold at least a TDLR technician registration, and the requirement is statewide.

Technicians work under the supervision of a licensed ACR contractor and may not advertise ACR services themselves.

And since September 1, 2021, Texas municipalities may not charge registration fees to TDLR-licensed ACR contractors, although building-permit fees still apply — so the state credential is what matters anywhere in Texas.

TDLR's ladder has three rungs.

Registered Technician is the required starting point for anyone assisting a licensed contractor.

Certified Technician is a voluntary, higher designation; only holders may call themselves certified technicians.

The ACR Contractor license is the credential a business needs to contract for ACR work.

Both technician levels must work under a licensed ACR contractor and may not advertise ACR services.

Texas issues no journeyman or master HVAC license.

Two scope lines matter.

Technicians may not do work defined as plumbing under Chapter 1301 unless they also hold a Texas plumbing license.

And the contractor license is classed — Class A covers any size of equipment, Class B up to 25 tons of cooling or 1.5 million BTU/hour of heating — with an E (Environmental Air Conditioning), R (Commercial Refrigeration & Process Cooling and Heating) or C (combined E and R) endorsement on each license.

Separately, federal law requires EPA 608 certification for refrigerant work: under 40 CFR 82.161, anyone who could open the refrigerant circuit while maintaining, servicing, repairing or disposing of appliances containing CFC/HCFC or non-exempt substitute refrigerants must pass an exam from an EPA-approved certification program.

A Registered Technician applies with a non-refundable $20 fee, must be at least 16, and needs no experience and no exam; the registration is valid for 1 year.

A technician younger than 18 must at all times work under the direct supervision of a licensed ACR contractor or a certified technician.

A Certified Technician needs 24 months of ACR-related work under a licensed ACR contractor, or a TDLR-approved certification program of 2,000 hours of combined instruction and practical experience — and TDLR must receive that application within 48 months of completing the program.

The Certified Technician application fee is $50 and the minimum age is 18.

For the ACR Contractor license, an applicant must be at least 18 with either 48 months of supervised ACR experience in the preceding 72 months, or 36 months in the preceding 48 months plus 12 months holding the technician certification.

Texas credits every 2,000 hours of on-the-job apprenticeship training as 12 months of that experience, a 4-year relevant degree as 24 months, a 2-year program as 12 months and a 1-year program as 6 months.

The contractor application fee is $115 and the license is valid for 1 year.

PSI administers TDLR's ACR exams, for both the Certified Technician designation and the contractor licenses.

You apply to TDLR first, and PSI then emails you an eligibility notice.

A Certified Technician applicant must pass the TX ACR Certified Technician exam within one year of filing.

Contractor candidates sit the exam their class and endorsement call for — TX Environmental Air A or B, or TX Commercial Refrigeration A or B — and a failed exam can be retaken until the application expires one year after filing.

Our research does not describe the content outline of either exam, so check the candidate information TDLR and PSI point you to.

Technician registrations and certifications renew every year: $20 for a Registered Technician and $35 for a Certified Technician.

On continuing education, the 8-hour rule TDLR publishes — 8 hours of approved CE a year, including 1 hour of Texas law and rules, with a $65 contractor renewal fee — is stated for ACR contractor license renewals.

Our research did not confirm any CE requirement for Registered or Certified Technicians; the TDLR technician pages we read do not mention CE, so confirm with TDLR before you renew on that point.

Not automatically.

TDLR reviews out-of-state and municipal license holders case by case and may require some or all Texas requirements, including the exam.

For two states it names specific agreements: holders of South Carolina or Georgia air conditioning licenses are pointed to TDLR's licensing reciprocity page for the agreements between these states.

Expect TDLR to decide case by case what, if anything, of your out-of-state license carries over.

TDLR's public license search covers ACR contractors and technicians.

Search by name or license number at tdlr.texas.gov/LicenseSearch before you hire anyone who says they are licensed — and before you take a job with a company whose license you cannot find in it.