Delaware · HVAC technician licensing · verified July 2026
Delaware HVAC technician license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Delaware licenses the HVACR trade at the state level, but only at the master tier: the Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation) issues Master HVACR and Master HVACR Restricted licenses. Qualification requires either a journeyman's certificate from an approved apprenticeship plus 2 years of supervised post-apprenticeship experience, or 7 years of supervised experience plus an apprenticeship-equivalency test, followed by a written exam (70% to pass) and CFC/EPA refrigerant certification. Licenses renew biennially with 5 hours of continuing education.
Do you need a license to work as an HVAC technician in Delaware?
Delaware licenses HVAC technicians statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
Delaware does not issue a separate state journeyperson or technician license through this board, technicians and apprentices work under master licensees, and the journeyman's certificate is an apprenticeship credential. Statutory licensure by reciprocity exists under 24 Del. C. sec. 1823 for applicants licensed in good standing in states with substantially similar standards (7 years of licensed practice required if standards are dissimilar); there is no published list of reciprocal states. Applicants who fail the exam three times must wait one year and reapply as new applicants. Federal EPA Section 608 (CFC) certification is an explicit statutory prerequisite (24 Del. C. sec. 1821(a)(3)) and applies to all refrigerant handlers. Applications are filed through the DELPROS portal. Fee shown is the Master/Master Restricted HVACR application fee from the Division's fee schedule.
What licenses does Delaware issue?
The Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation) issues the credentials below for this trade. Boards often list further classes for specialties and business licenses; these are the ones this page covers.
Hours are what each class asks for on its own terms. Where a senior class shows fewer than a journeyman, the board is counting time served after the earlier license rather than from the start; the prerequisite column says which.
| License | On-the-job hours | Classroom hours | Exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master HVACR | not published | not published | Yes |
| Master HVACR Restricted | not published | not published | Yes |
Source: Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation) (dpr.delaware.gov). Verified July 2026.
What exam does Delaware require?
HVACR licensure examination (written, standardized; minimum passing score 70%). Administered by ProV (testing vendor for the Division of Professional Regulation); in-person in Wilmington, Newark and Dover, or online via Examroom.
Apprenticeship By-Pass examination (apprenticeship equivalency, when required by the Board). Administered by Associated Builders and Contractors Delaware (ABC Delaware).
Source: examination page (dpr.delaware.gov). Verified July 2026.
How much does a Delaware HVAC technician license cost?
Getting a journeyman HVAC technician license in Delaware costs $173 in board fees, before any training. That is the application fee charged once. No board publishes this total, so it is added up here from the schedule it does publish. An exam is required and its fee is not in that figure, because no amount for it appears in the board material this page is built from. Check the board's current fee schedule before budgeting.
- Application fee$173
Source: fee schedule (dpr.delaware.gov). Verified July 2026.
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: 2 years, licenses are renewable biennially (24 Del. C. sec. 1825(b)); the renewal fee amount is communicated at renewal time
Continuing education: 5 hours per biennial renewal period (prorated to 0-5 hours for the first renewal depending on when the license was issued)
Source: renewal requirements (dpr.delaware.gov). Verified July 2026.
How does the apprenticeship route work?
Complete a registered HVACR apprenticeship meeting or exceeding federal (Bureau of Apprenticeship) standards to earn a journeyman's certificate, then document 2 years of post-apprenticeship experience under a master HVACR (or master restricted) licensee to qualify for the master exam. Without a journeyman's certificate, 7 years of supervised experience plus the apprenticeship equivalency (by-pass) exam is required.
Which states does Delaware have license reciprocity with?
Delaware appears in 1 published reciprocal licensing agreement for this trade, covering Maryland. Boards write these as agreements between two states rather than as a one-way list, and some publish the list while their counterpart does not, so this counts every agreement naming Delaware from either side. Recognition is never automatic: the board you apply to decides, and most require the original license to have been earned by examination and to be in good standing.
How does Delaware compare to neighboring states?
Requirements stop at the state line, which matters if you live near one or expect to move. Here is what the neighboring states ask of the same trade.
| State | Journeyman hours | Licensing model |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware | not published | Statewide |
| Maryland | 6,000 | Statewide |
| New Jersey | not published | Statewide |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- Delaware Division of Professional Regulation - HVACR Licensure
- Delaware Code Title 24, Ch. 18, Subchapter III - HVACR licenses (secs. 1821-1825)
- Delaware DPR - Examinations (Plumbing/HVACR board)
- Delaware DPR - Fee Schedule (Plumbing/HVACR board)
- Delaware DPR - Continuing Education and Audit Information
Last verified July 2026. Found an error? Report it and it will be corrected and logged on the corrections page.
Other states with published requirements for this trade: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana.
Price the whole path with the license cost estimator, or weigh earning against paying for school with the apprenticeship comparison. Back to HVAC technicians overview.
Licensing requirements change between our verification sweeps. This page is informational only, so confirm current requirements with Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation) before making decisions. Not legal advice.