Florida · HVAC technician licensing · verified July 2026
Florida HVAC technician license requirements
The short answer
As of July 2026, Florida licenses HVAC at the contractor level through the DBPR Construction Industry Licensing Board; individual technicians are not state-licensed and work under a licensed contractor. Air-conditioning contractors are either Certified (statewide practice, earned by state exam) or Registered (limited to local jurisdictions where they hold a local competency credential), in Class A (unlimited system size) or Class B (up to 25 tons cooling / 500,000 BTU heating per system). Certification requires 4 years of trade experience (at least 1 year supervisory, with college/military substitution allowed for up to 3 years) plus trade and business/finance exams.
Do you need a license to work as an HVAC technician in Florida?
Florida licenses HVAC technicians statewide, so one credential is valid across the whole state.
Individual HVAC technicians/journeymen are not licensed by the state, only contractors who contract for work. Some counties/cities operate journeyman competency programs locally, and the registered-contractor track is built on local competency cards. Note that myfloridalicense.com is the official DBPR domain. Federal EPA Section 608 refrigerant certification applies to all technicians handling refrigerants regardless of state licensing. Statutory basis: Chapter 489, Part I, Florida Statutes.
What licenses does Florida issue?
The Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board, Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Class A Air-Conditioning Contractor (CAC) | not published | not published | Yes |
| Certified Class B Air-Conditioning Contractor | not published | not published | Yes |
| Registered Class A or Class B Air-Conditioning Contractor (RA) | not published | not published | No |
| Class C Air-Conditioning Contractor (legacy) | not published | not published | No |
Source: Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board, Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) (www2.myfloridalicense.com). Verified July 2026.
What exam does Florida require?
Air-Conditioning Contractor Trade Knowledge exam (Class A or Class B) - open book, multiple choice. Administered by Professional Testing, Inc. (registration/scoring) with Pearson VUE as computer-based testing vendor.
Business and Finance exam. Administered by Professional Testing, Inc. / Pearson VUE.
Source: examination page (www2.myfloridalicense.com). Verified July 2026.
How often do you renew, and what continuing education is required?
Renewal period: 2 years, certified contractors renew by August 31 of even-numbered years; registered contractors by August 31 of odd-numbered years
Continuing education: 14 hours per biennial renewal, including at least 1 hour each of workplace safety, workers' compensation, business practices, advanced building code, and laws & rules
How does the apprenticeship route work?
No formal apprenticeship is required; qualification is experience-based (4 years of field experience in the category, at least 1 year as foreman/supervisor). Time worked as an apprentice/technician in the trade counts as field experience, and up to 3 years may be substituted with accredited college credit hours or military service (which need not be construction-related).
Which states does Florida have license reciprocity with?
Florida appears in 2 published reciprocal licensing agreements for this trade, covering Mississippi, Nevada. 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 Florida 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 Florida 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | not published | Statewide |
| Alabama | not published | Statewide |
| Georgia | not published | Statewide |
Source: state licensing boards. Verified July 2026.
Sources and verification
Every fact on this page traces to one of these
- DBPR Construction Industry Licensing Board - license categories incl. Air Conditioning Class A/B/C
- DBPR Construction Industry - FAQs (experience, renewal dates, CE, certified vs registered)
- DBPR - Construction Examinations (Professional Testing, Inc. and Pearson VUE)
- DBPR Construction Industry - Experience requirements
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: Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts.
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 Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board, Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) before making decisions. Not legal advice.