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

Yes — statewide, and the license is a general contracting one.

Under ORS chapter 701, a person or joint venture that undertakes, offers to undertake or submits a bid to do work as a contractor must hold a current Construction Contractors Board (CCB) license and possess an appropriate endorsement, and the research records the rule as covering every Oregon contractor, HVAC contractors included.

On the trade side, our research found no HVAC technician license on the BCD license list we checked — an absence inferred from that list rather than a published statement, so confirm it with BCD — while BCD does issue business licenses for HVAC firms, such as the Limited Maintenance Specialty Contractor HVAC/R (LHR) and the Restricted Energy Contractor (CRE), covered below.

The Construction Contractors Board (CCB), the state board under ORS chapter 701, issues the contractor license.

Its classes are endorsements: residential and/or commercial.

On the residential side our research shows residential specialty, residential general and residential limited contractors; on the commercial side, commercial specialty contractors are classified at level 1 or level 2.

Which endorsement an HVAC business needs is not established in our research — it depends on the work, so ask the CCB before you apply.

Alongside the CCB license, a firm may hold a BCD business license: the Limited Maintenance Specialty Contractor HVAC/R (LHR), which lets a company maintain, service, repair or replace commercial and industrial electrical products that use fuel or other forms of energy to produce heat, power, refrigeration or air conditioning, or the Restricted Energy Contractor (CRE), limited to HVAC activities.

One lead our research flagged but did not confirm: a firm whose HVAC work involves electrical connections may also need an electrical-type BCD business license, such as the LHR, CRE or Limited Energy Contractor — check with BCD before relying on it.

Oregon's qualifier is the responsible managing individual (RMI): every CCB-licensed business must have one at all times.

The experience rule our research confirms attaches to the endorsement rather than to a standalone RMI definition: commercial specialty level 1 requires key employees with 8 years' combined experience, and level 2 requires 4 years' combined experience.

What the CCB requires of the RMI personally — whose experience counts and how it is documented — was not in the sources we read, so ask the board what it needs before you name your RMI.

The business-and-law layer sits at the CCB: applicants must complete board-required training on construction business practices and law and pass a CCB-approved test.

The training hours and the test vendor were not verified in our research.

The requirement we read names no HVAC trade exam.

On the trade side, BCD publishes one passing rule for its licensing exams: the passing score for all BCD licensing exams is 75% or better, and applicants who fail must wait 30 days before retaking.

Whether the LHR or CRE requires an exam was not in the sources we read — ask BCD.

The surety bond and the liability insurance figures depend on the endorsement.

Residential specialty contractors need a $20,000 surety bond and at least $300,000 general liability insurance.

Residential general contractors need $25,000 and $500,000; residential limited contractors $15,000 and $100,000.

Commercial specialty contractors need a $55,000 bond and $1 million of insurance at level 1 — the level that also requires key employees with 8 years' combined experience — or a $25,000 bond and $500,000 of insurance at level 2, which requires 4 years' combined experience.

Which endorsement fits your business decides which pair applies; confirm it with the CCB before you price the bond.

CCB application and renewal fees were not captured in our research — ask the board for current amounts before you budget.

On the BCD side, business licenses such as the LHR and CRE next renew July 1, 2029 per the BCD license table.

BCD license holders can renew online within 45 days of expiration, and a license expired more than one year requires retesting.

BCD also offers combination business licenses, such as the Plumbing and Boiler Business and LHR (PBH), that carry one application, one renewal and one license number.

Not for contracting businesses in our research.

The only reciprocity our research confirmed in Oregon is worker-side: BCD's reciprocal licensing page lists journeyman plumber agreements with Idaho and Montana — those cover journeyman plumbers, not contracting businesses or HVAC work.

Our research found no CCB reciprocity agreement with any state, so if you hold an out-of-state contractor license, ask the CCB what it requires of you — experience, testing, bond and insurance — before you bid Oregon work.

The statute anticipates the gap: when an RMI leaves, the business may operate with a temporary RMI for up to 14 days after notifying the board, or until a new RMI is approved, whichever is earlier.

Because the standing requirement is an RMI at all times, line up the replacement before the current one gives notice where you can, and notify the CCB as soon as a departure happens.

Our research did not capture the qualification steps the CCB applies to an incoming RMI, so confirm them with the board while you recruit.

Our research did not identify a dollar threshold below which contractors are exempt from CCB licensing — no rule of the form 'a license is required only over $X' appeared in the statute sections we read.

That is a gap in our research, not a confirmed no-threshold rule: the statute's exemption list (ORS 701.010) was outside the sections we reviewed, so ask the CCB whether any exemption covers small or occasional work before you bid unlicensed.