Does New Hampshire License HVAC Contractors? What the Business Needs Instead
No. New Hampshire does not issue a statewide HVAC contractor license.
What reaches an HVAC business instead is the fuel gas side of mechanical licensing: a company that installs or services gas-fired heating equipment needs a Mechanical Business Entity license from the OPLC Mechanical Licensing Board, with at least one corporate officer or responsible managing employee who holds a fuel gas fitter license.
The entity license needs no exam, no bond and no insurance minimum under RSA 153:29-a or the board's Mec 307 rules, costs $275 and renews every 2 years.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
No. New Hampshire issues no statewide HVAC contractor license and no state license called mechanical contractor — the state business license in this space is the Mechanical Business Entity license.
The Mechanical Licensing Board, part of the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC).
It has no HVAC or refrigeration license class.
One business license in this space, taken by trade: plumbing, fuel gas fitting, plumbing and fuel gas fitting, hearth, or domestic appliance.
A gas-fired HVAC business licenses under fuel gas fitting.
At least one corporate officer or responsible managing employee holding the matching license — for gas work, a fuel gas fitter license: the installation technician needs 1,000 hours of field experience within 60 months (up to 500 from oil-fired work) plus at least 100 classroom hours; the service technician needs 2,000 hours within 60 months (up to 750 oil-fired) plus 140 classroom hours.
None for the business: entity licenses can be issued without an exam or continuing education.
Gas fitter exams for the qualifier are offered through Advanced Trade School and Granite State Trade School.
No bond and no minimum insurance amount is set in RSA 153:29-a or the Mec 307 rules.
The entity must show Secretary of State good standing and proof of liability insurance at licensing and renewal.
$275 to apply and to renew; a sole owner with no employees is exempt from the fee.
The entity renews every 2 years, and the qualifier's own license renews every 2 years with at least 6 CE hours per endorsement.
Not established for business licenses in our research.
OPLC's reciprocity page covers individual licenses: 34 journeyman plumber and 9 master plumber jurisdictions, with the fuel gas service technician listed as None and other gas specialties as TBD.
What New Hampshire and its localities issue
- Fuel gas fitter license (five specialties, plus trainee)Specialty
The individual fuel gas fitter licenses the statute creates: hearth system installation and service technician, domestic appliance technician, fuel gas installation technician, fuel gas service technician, or fuel gas piping installer.
An entity's officer or responsible managing employee holds the one matching its licensed work.
- Mechanical Business EntityContractor
The state business license an HVAC company needs when it does fuel gas or plumbing work.
There is no HVAC, refrigeration or mechanical contractor license beside or above it.
Does New Hampshire license HVAC contractors statewide, or only locally?
No. New Hampshire issues no statewide HVAC contractor license, and no state license called a mechanical contractor license.
The business license in this space is the Mechanical Business Entity license from the OPLC Mechanical Licensing Board, which covers plumbing, fuel gas fitting, hearth and domestic appliance businesses — not HVAC or refrigeration as such.
In practice it still reaches HVAC companies, because gas-fired heating equipment is fuel gas work: a company that installs or services it licenses as a fuel gas fitting business and puts a licensed fuel gas fitter behind it.
The plumbing license, by contrast, does not apply to plumbing done in connection with installing heating, cooling, air conditioning or domestic water heating systems — though code, permit and inspection rules still apply.
Which agency issues the license, and what are the classes?
The Mechanical Licensing Board, part of the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, administers mechanical licensing in New Hampshire.
It has no HVAC or refrigeration class for a business to take.
The business license it does issue is the Mechanical Business Entity, defined by what the entity is engaged in: plumbing, fuel gas fitting, plumbing and fuel gas fitting, hearth system installing or servicing, or domestic appliance installing or servicing.
For the qualifier's own credential, RSA 153:27-38 creates five fuel gas fitter specialties plus a trainee: hearth system installation and service technician, domestic appliance technician, fuel gas installation technician, fuel gas service technician, and fuel gas piping installer.
The board's oil heating technician certification is voluntary, at a $50 fee.
“Is engaged in one of the following: a. Plumbing; b. Fuel gas fitting; c. Plumbing and fuel gas fitting; d. Hearth system installing or servicing; or e. Domestic appliance installing or servicing;”
Who can be the qualifier, and what experience do they need?
A Mechanical Business Entity must employ at least one corporate officer, or responsible managing employee, who currently holds the matching New Hampshire license: a fuel gas fitting license, master plumber license, domestic appliance technician license or hearth system installer license.
For gas-fired HVAC work that is a fuel gas fitter license, and the experience the statute and rules attach is specific.
A fuel gas installation technician needs 1,000 hours of field experience within 60 months, of which up to 500 may come from oil-fired equipment work; a fuel gas service technician needs 2,000 hours within 60 months, with up to 750 oil-fired hours.
Classroom training adds at least 100 hours for the installation technician and 140 for the service technician, plus 60 hours for a fuel gas piping installer.
“Employs at least one corporate officer, or responsible managing employee, as applicable, who currently holds a New Hampshire fuel gas fitting license, master plumber license, domestic appliance technician license, or hearth system installer license”
Which exams must be passed: trade, and business and law?
The business license carries no exam: a mechanical business entity license can be issued without an examination or continuing education, and no business-and-law exam requirement exists for it.
The exam burden sits on the qualifier's individual license: gas fitter licensing exams are offered through Advanced Trade School and Granite State Trade School.
Our research did not capture the exam format, whether it is open book, or which code editions it tests, so confirm those details with the board or the schools before your qualifier schedules.
What bond and insurance are required?
New Hampshire sets no bond for this license and no minimum insurance amount: neither RSA 153:29-a nor the board's Mec 307 rules establish one, and those are the two sources this reading of the state rule rests on.
What the state does require is documentation.
All business entities must provide proof of good standing with the Secretary of State and proof of liability insurance before the license is issued and again at every renewal — so the practical insurance task is to carry coverage and produce the certificate, not to hit a state dollar floor.
“All business entities shall provide proof of good standing with the secretary of state and proof of liability insurance prior to issuance and renewal of a business entity license.”
What does it cost, and how often is it renewed?
The Mechanical Business Entity license costs $275 to apply for and $275 to renew as of September 29, 2026, and a sole owner with no employees is exempt from the fee.
The entity license renews every 2 years, and the rules set its expiry at the last day of January, biennially.
As of the same date, the qualifier's individual license carries its own costs: $198 for a fuel gas fitter (piping installer, installation technician or service technician) or hearth installer, $176 for a domestic appliance technician, and $88 for a trainee, the same amounts at renewal.
Individual mechanical licenses expire every 2 years on the last day of the month they were issued, and each endorsement needs at least 6 hours of board-approved continuing education per 2-year cycle, which OPLC describes as 3 hours of code update each year.
Does New Hampshire have reciprocity with other states?
Our research found no reciprocity route into the Mechanical Business Entity license: nothing in RSA 153:29-a or the board's rules as we read them sets one out, so plan on New Hampshire's own requirements for the business.
The board's reciprocity page instead addresses individual licenses.
Under New Hampshire's 2023 universal-recognition law (HB 594, RSA 310:17), OPLC lists 34 qualifying jurisdictions for journeyman plumbers and 9 for master plumbers, while its gas lists are not filled in: the fuel gas service technician is listed as None and the other gas specialties as TBD.
A would-be qualifier licensed in another state should therefore expect to qualify through the board's own process — ask OPLC before you count on any out-of-state credential.
What happens if your qualifier leaves?
The rule is concrete.
If the business loses its licensed officer or responsible managing employee, it must notify the board within 30 days.
The rule then reads:
“Not act as a fuel gas fitter or plumber, or combination thereof until some other officer, member, or designee, has obtained a licensed fuel gas fitter or master plumber as the responsible managing employee respectively”
Who licenses HVAC contracting in New Hampshire cities and towns?
Permits, not licenses, are the local layer our research confirmed: a licensed mechanical business entity may apply for and receive a permit from any municipality in the state.
Whether individual New Hampshire cities or towns add their own HVAC or mechanical contractor registration on top of the state license was not researched, so ask the building or licensing department where the work will be done before you bid.
What recently changed in New Hampshire mechanical licensing?
Two changes matter if you last looked at New Hampshire mechanical licensing years ago.
In December 2024, OPLC replaced the single broad Gas Fitter license with specialty-specific license types and discontinued the upgrade system; conversions start with licenses expiring in 2026.
And effective July 1, 2024, the state's adopted mechanical and plumbing codes moved to the 2021 editions.
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the New Hampshire board pages, statutes, rules and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state HVAC contractor licensing series, current as of September 2026.
It is not a substitute for the instructions the Mechanical Licensing Board, part of the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC) publishes.
For the rest of the picture in New Hampshire, see plumbing contractor licensing in New Hampshire and HVAC licensing in New Hampshire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does New Hampshire require an HVAC contractor license?
No — New Hampshire issues no statewide HVAC contractor license.
What reaches an HVAC business is the fuel gas side of the state's mechanical licensing: a company that installs or services gas-fired heating equipment needs a Mechanical Business Entity license from the OPLC Mechanical Licensing Board, with a licensed fuel gas fitter as an officer or responsible managing employee.
The board's oil heating technician certification is voluntary.
Confirm the current rules with the board and the municipality where you work.
How much does the New Hampshire mechanical business entity license cost?
$275 to apply and $275 to renew, as of September 29, 2026.
A sole owner with no employees is exempt from the fee, and the entity license renews every 2 years.
The qualifier's own fuel gas fitter license is a separate cost: $198 for a piping installer, installation technician or service technician, with the same amount due at each renewal.
Is there a trade exam or a business-and-law exam for New Hampshire HVAC contractors?
No. The board's rules permit mechanical business entity licenses to be issued without an examination or continuing education, and no business-and-law exam requirement exists for them.
The exam sits on the individual qualifier instead: gas fitter licensing exams are offered through Advanced Trade School and Granite State Trade School.
Our research did not capture the exam format or the code editions tested, so confirm with the board before scheduling.
Does an HVAC company need a plumbing license in New Hampshire?
The plumbing license does not apply to plumbing performed in connection with installing heating, cooling, air conditioning or domestic water heating systems, whether solar, oil, gas or electric.
Code, permit and inspection rules still apply, and gas work still requires a fuel gas license — so ask the board where a specific job lands.
What happens if my company's licensed qualifier leaves?
You must notify the Mechanical Licensing Board within 30 days.
The business may not act as a fuel gas fitter or plumber until some other officer, member or designee has obtained a licensed fuel gas fitter or master plumber as the responsible managing employee.
In practice, the company's fuel gas and plumbing work stops until a replacement licensee is in place, so keep a successor in mind before the qualifier departs.
More New Hampshire Resources
Sources
- OPLC: Mechanical Licensing Board (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- New Hampshire Administrative Rules, Mec 300 (Mechanical Licensing board rules) (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- New Hampshire RSA Title XII, Chapter 153 (mechanical licensing subdivision) (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- OPLC Mechanical Licensing: license fees (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- OPLC Mechanical Licensing: education requirements (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- New Hampshire Administrative Rules, Mec 400 (renewal and continuing education) (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- OPLC notice to mechanical gas fitters (December 17, 2024) (retrieved 2026-09-29)
- OPLC: new changes — reciprocity in New Hampshire (retrieved 2026-09-29)
Sourced from the documents listed above.
Verified September 2026.
This is career information, not legal advice.
Confirm current rules with the Mechanical Licensing Board, part of the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC).