HVAC Contractor License in Alabama: Requirements, Qualifier, Bond and Exams

Statewide, and the net reaches further than installation and repair projects.

The HACR Board requires a heating and air conditioning certification from any entity involved in air duct cleaning service, filter changing service, or the replacement of air filters or filter media, so a maintenance-only or duct-cleaning business is inside the licensing system, not outside it.

The statewide licence our research found is this one contractor credential: one board issues it, and contractor certifications share one renewal calendar.

One second layer does exist, and it is not local: separately from the trade credential, Alabama's General Contractors Board licenses anyone undertaking a project costing $100,000 or more, labor and materials included, including subcontractors on such jobs.

The Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors (HACR Board) issues the credential as a contractor certification in two exam categories: Heating & Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration.

Status matters more than category for a business.

Active status is the contracting status a company runs on: it requires a business name and a $20,000 performance bond, and the fee is $220 per year.

Inactive status holds the same certification for a person who does not perform HVAC or refrigeration installation, service or repair: no bond, $110 per year.

On the crew side, the board's how-to-get-licensed page lists no journeyman or technician license, and our research describes technicians working under a certified contractor as not separately licensed — confirm crew requirements with the Board; what that means for an individual is covered in our Alabama HVAC license for individuals guide.

Alabama structures this as a person in responsible charge, and the rules are specific about the employment relationship: the person must work an average of 30 or more hours per week for the heating, air conditioning, or refrigeration business as a full-time employee, or be an owner, partner or corporate officer.

Whoever fills the seat must hold the certified contractor certification; how a candidate qualifies to sit the exam is the next section.

One person can sit in responsible charge of two companies, but only through an extra gate: they must appear before the Board with evidence of ownership, supervision ability and financial responsibility, pay an additional fee, post another bond, and win the Board's discretion.

Plan the bench depth of your business on that basis: a qualifier is not a rubber stamp, and a second company is a fresh application, not a given.

Your qualifier candidate sits the board's exam in their category.

The eligibility routes, from Code of Ala. §34-31-28, are: two or more calendar years of board apprentice registration, 3,000 hours of coursework or experience as the board defines it, or graduation from an approved HVAC or refrigeration curriculum — a long certificate from any public Alabama two-year or community college is approved.

The experience route is documented: notarized employer affidavits swearing that the applicant worked in the HVAC and/or commercial refrigeration industry for at least two years within the past five years, plus the matching W-2 forms.

The HVAC exam our sources describe is open book, built on references including the 2021 International Residential Code, ACCA Manual D and Manual J, and the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, 12th-14th edition.

The board materials we reviewed describe no separate business-and-law exam, and they do not describe the Refrigeration category's exam format — confirm both with the Board.

The written exam costs $175; the practical exam is $375 where applicable.

We name no exam vendor: the pages we read do not state one.

The bond is explicit: under the board's licensing page, active status requires a business name and a performance bond in the amount of $20,000.

A second certification carries its own bond: a contractor who qualifies a second business after a Board appearance posts another one.

Insurance is the gap in the public record: the HACR pages we read — the how-to-get-licensed page, the law and rules, and the FAQ — state no liability-insurance minimum for certified contractors.

That is a report of what we found, not proof that no requirement exists, so put the question to the Board and to your insurance agent before you bind a policy or sign a contract that assumes one.

The recurring cost of active status is $220 per year; inactive status is $110.

The qualifier's exam costs $175 written, $375 practical where applicable.

Renewal runs on the calendar year, and the deadline is hard: the board considers a contractor's certification lapsed if not renewed by December 31 of each year, and a lapse that is not cured with penalties within one year expires the certification and sends the holder back to the exam.

For a business, that retest rule is the expensive version of a missed renewal — the certification the company runs on would be gone.

Continuing education is 4 hours each year, and a contractor may take as many as 8 hours in a single year and carry over 4 to the next cycle.

Yes, with a named list of boards.

The HACR Board grants licensure by reciprocity to holders of a current license, earned with an exam score of at least 70%, from the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, South Carolina's Residential Builders Commission and Contractor's Board, Texas TDLR, and the West Virginia and Louisiana boards.

For an employer, that list is a hiring map: a qualifier candidate licensed by one of those boards may reach Alabama's certification by reciprocity rather than by re-examination.

If your candidate's license is from anywhere else, plan on the standard route — eligibility plus the board's exam — and confirm the current list with the Board before you extend an offer that depends on it.

A qualifier's departure starts two duties on a clock.

The Board must be notified within 5 days of the separation on the Board's severance notification form — our sources do not state who files that notice — and the company must immediately stop contracting and HVAC work until a new certified contractor is approved.

There is no working grace period: the duty to stop is immediate, not at the end of the month and not while you search.

The one exception in the rules we read covers death or incapacitation, where the company may apply for an emergency certification active for no longer than 90 days.

The practical translation for an owner: know who your next qualifier is before the current one gives notice, and treat a resignation letter as the stop-work order it is under the rules.

Separately from the HACR certification, Alabama's General Contractors Board licenses anyone undertaking a project costing $100,000 or more, labor and materials included — including subcontractors on such jobs.

The board's law page puts subcontractors under the same dollar floor: those performing minimum contracts of $100,000 ($5,000 swimming pools) under contract to a licensed prime contractor must be licensed by the board.

If your company bids HVAC or refrigeration scope as a subcontract of $100,000 or more, the General Contractors Board's requirement applies to you alongside the HACR certification, so check both before you sign.

The certification number follows the business everywhere it advertises and bills.

The board's FAQ requires a certification number on all vehicles associated with a heating, air conditioning, or refrigeration entity, as well as on all forms of advertising — website home pages named specifically — and on invoices and estimates.

Build it into the shop's templates rather than remembering it per job: vehicle lettering, the home page of the company site, and the footer of every estimate and invoice.