Indiana · HVAC licensing · official-source guide
Indiana has no statewide HVAC license. The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency regulates plumbing but not heating and cooling, so authority sits with cities and counties. Indianapolis licenses through its Board of Heating and Cooling Examiners, and Evansville through its Building Commission. Federal EPA Section 608 refrigerant certification applies on top of any local license.
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-09-14. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Indiana does not license heating and cooling contractors at the state level. The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency publishes the full list of professions its boards regulate. Plumbing is on that list. So are home inspectors, manufactured home installers, engineers and architects. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration is not on it. There is no state HVAC board, no state HVAC exam and no state HVAC license number. The state license verification system tells the same story. You can pick the Plumbing Commission and dozens of other boards from its profession menu, and there is no heating and cooling profession to pick. Indianapolis says it outright in its own licensing documents, which open with the line that licensing is at the discretion of the local municipality in the state of Indiana and that there is not a state heating and cooling license. That single fact drives everything else here. Your right to sign an HVAC contract in Indiana is granted by a city or a county, not by the state and not by one city on behalf of the rest. A license that lets you sell a furnace changeout in Marion County does not by itself let you sell one in Vanderburgh County. Contractors who run trucks across metro lines carry more than one license, and they plan their application calendar around the board meeting dates in each jurisdiction they want to sell in. Budget the lead time before you budget the marketing.
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In Marion County the license comes from the Consolidated City of Indianapolis through the Board of Heating and Cooling Examiners, which sits inside the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services. The city describes the board as the body that carries out the provisions relative to licensure of heating and cooling contractors in the City-County. It has eight members on two year terms appointed by the mayor, and most seats are reserved for licensed heating and cooling contractors, including seats tied to a refrigeration license and to the A license. The board meets the second Monday of each month at 1:30 pm. Its authority comes from Chapter 875 of the Revised Code of the Consolidated City and County, Article III, and Section 875-302 creates the board itself. The scope of work the license controls is written into that article. A license of the appropriate type is required to install, modernize, replace, service or repair all or any part of a heating system, space heating equipment, a cooling system, space cooling equipment or refrigeration equipment. It also covers installation of ductwork for an exhaust hood greater than four square feet in a Class 2 structure, and installation of ductwork for an exhaust hood in any Class 1 structure. Read that scope carefully before you advertise service work in Indianapolis. Businesses engaged in the business of service and repair are covered by the licensing article, not only businesses that install new equipment.
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Indianapolis does not issue one HVAC license. It issues five, and the one you hold sets the ceiling on the work you can sell. Air Conditioning A is the unrestricted class. Air Conditioning B covers 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 BTUs of heating, with boiler pressures not exceeding 15 psig steam and 30 psig water. Air Conditioning D covers 5 tons of cooling and 300,000 BTUs of heating. Refrigeration is a separate license. High Pressure Steam is a separate license. Most residential changeout work fits inside the D class. Light commercial rooftop work runs past it quickly, and a contractor who markets commercial service on a D license is advertising work the license does not authorize. Each class is also tied to a specific federal refrigerant certification, and the board checks it before it issues an exam voucher. The A license requires Universal EPA certification. The B license requires both Type I and Type II. The D license requires both Type I and Type II. The Refrigeration license requires Universal. The High Pressure Steam license requires no EPA certification. If an applicant does not hold the matching certification, the board requires them to obtain it before the exam voucher is assigned or before a reciprocal license is issued. Decide which class you actually need before you start the packet, because the experience documentation and the exam both follow from it.
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The Indianapolis article separates the person who sells the work from the people who perform it. A person who is not licensed but who is employed by a licensed heating and cooling contractor may perform heating and cooling work while working under the direction and control of that licensed contractor. That unlicensed person may not otherwise enter into or offer to enter into a contractual relationship to engage in heating and cooling work. Their scope of activity may not extend beyond what the supervising contractor's own license class allows, so a crew working under a D license holder cannot legally take on work that would require a B or an A. There is a narrow in-house exception. A person who is not licensed may perform ordinary maintenance and repair if the work is done in the regular course of their sole, full-time employment by the owner of the premises where the maintenance and repair happens. That covers a building engineer on staff at a property, not a service company. The article states plainly that persons, partnerships or corporations engaged in the business of service and repair must be licensed. Joint ventures follow the same logic. Unlicensed heating and cooling contractors may enter a joint venture with a licensed heating and cooling contractor and perform the work, but the unlicensed party only works under the licensed party's supervision, and the licensed person is expected to provide responsible direction and control.
Indianapolis screens applicants before it lets them test. The packet goes to the Board of Heating and Cooling Examiners at least ten business days before the board meeting, and your name has to be placed on the board agenda. City ordinance requires the full packet. It contains the heating and cooling exam application, a resume with work experience, and verification of employment documenting at least five years of experience in the HVACR trade from current and former employers. That verification has to be on original letterhead stationery and has to include start and end dates of employment plus a description of job responsibilities. The five years can also be met with a combination of industry-related education and practical work experience. You also submit at least three signed reference letters from people in the HVACR industry on company letterhead, such as employers, wholesalers or suppliers. A photocopy of your EPA certification card and a photocopy of your driver's license go in the same packet, along with copies of any current licenses, certificates and diplomas related to the heating and cooling industry. Packets go to the Board of Heating and Cooling Examiners at 200 E. Washington Street, Suite 107, Indianapolis, IN 46204, or by email to the board coordinator. After the packet is filed, the applicant appears before the board for an interview, and the board decides whether the applicant qualifies to sit for the exam. Nothing moves until that interview happens, so the meeting calendar is the real schedule.
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Indianapolis uses Prov Inc. for its heating and cooling examinations. Once the board approves an applicant at the interview, the applicant is given the information to work with Prov and sit for the appropriate exam. The passing grade is 70 percent. The board's written policy also sets out what happens when you miss. An applicant who scores between 60 and 69 percent may retest once without reappearing before the board. An applicant scoring less than 60 percent must reappear before the board and provide documented evidence showing improvement in the areas of weakness before retesting, and that is allowed once. After a second failure, the applicant may not retest for one year, and then must reappear before the board again with documentation showing improvement. Showing improvement means you need the strengths and weaknesses report from the testing agency, so keep it. An applicant who is approved to test but does not sit may take the approved exam any time within one year from the date the board granted approval. If more than two years have passed, the applicant has to document that they worked in the heating and air conditioning field during the previous year. Passing is not the last step. After passing, the applicant reappears before the board for orientation, and only then submits the license paperwork. The board also states that it administers a written test because installers must be able to read and understand complex and varied installation instructions.
Passing the exam does not put a license in your hand in Indianapolis. After the exam and orientation, the applicant has to submit proof of a surety bond, proof of general liability insurance and proof of workmen's compensation coverage, together with the proper fees and applications, before the license is issued. The reciprocity packet repeats the same sequence and adds a blunt line worth remembering: the applicant is not licensed until the paperwork and fees are filed. Approval by the board is not the license. Plan the insurance and bond procurement in parallel with the exam rather than after it, because a carrier turnaround can cost you a month of selling season. The city publishes the bond, insurance and fee amounts through the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services licensing counter rather than in the exam packet itself, so confirm the current figures with the licensing section before you buy. Workers compensation is a separate obligation that follows you regardless of which Indiana city licenses you. The Worker's Compensation Board of Indiana publishes the required workplace posters and a tool for confirming that a business carries coverage, and that tool is one of the ways a general contractor or a property manager checks a subcontractor before awarding work. Treat the certificate of insurance, the bond and the workers compensation confirmation as sales documents, because larger commercial buyers ask for all three before they will take a bid.
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Indianapolis handles expired licenses on a sliding scale, and the deeper you fall the more it costs you in time. The Board of Heating and Cooling Examiners delegates routine renewal approval to the license administrator for the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, where eligibility is established under Section 875-311(1) of the Revised Code. If an individual license has been expired more than two years but less than four years, the holder must appear before the board to request reinstatement and provide documentation that they have been employed in the trade during the past two years. If the license has been expired more than four years, the person starts the board process over: reapply for board approval to test, submit documentation for the required years of experience, retake and pass the exam, and attend orientation with the board. Letting a license lapse past four years in Indianapolis means starting from the beginning. Upgrades run on their own track. Once per year a licensed contractor may take an additional examination to upgrade their license by applying to the department, and in defined cases no board appearance is needed to sit for it. A B license holder may take the A exam, the Refrigeration exam or the High Pressure Steam exam. A D license holder may take the B exam or the Refrigeration exam. A Refrigeration license holder may take the D exam or the High Pressure Steam exam. A High Pressure Steam holder may take the D exam or the Refrigeration exam.
Indianapolis will consider a reciprocal license, but the path is documented rather than automatic. The board may accept reciprocity on a comparable license issued by a municipality or government agency when several conditions are met. The issuing agency must certify to the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services that the license is current and is not suspended or revoked. The license must meet or exceed the requirements for the Indianapolis license being applied for, and it must have been issued on passing a standardized exam produced by Prometric, Inc. or Prov, Inc. and proctored by one of those organizations or by the issuing municipality. The testing company must verify to the department that the exam is equivalent to the Indianapolis license examinations. The applicant must meet all other requirements for holding the Indianapolis license, and every piece of documentation must come in writing from the appropriate agency. The reciprocal packet requires an original letter from the city or state that sponsored the exam, on letterhead, signed by a local building official, stating the test number, exam type, exam date, exam score, the passing grade required in that jurisdiction, current license status and that the municipality reciprocates with Indianapolis. No copies are accepted, and the letter must be mailed directly to the board. The exam score must be at least 70 percent and the outside license must be currently valid. Reciprocal applicants also file the same five years of employment verification, three reference letters and EPA certification copy.
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Evansville runs its own contractor and tradesman licensing through the Evansville Building Commission, and the categories are written more narrowly than the Indianapolis classes. A Master Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioner Installer is a person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of installing, altering, repairing or servicing gravity or forced air heating systems, air conditioning systems rated at five tons or less when refrigeration piping is included, or fifteen tons or less if a packaged unit, including the refrigerant cycle, ventilating systems, ductwork, sheet metal work and equipment connected with fan heating systems. That master category expressly does not include construction, installation, repair or servicing of boilers, or piping and heating or cooling coils connected to them, or cooling piping and equipment where the heating is done by a steam, vapor or hot water heating plant. A Journeyman Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioner Installer does the same installations under the direction and supervision of a master, and an apprentice is a worker registered in an approved apprentice training program. Refrigeration is a separate ladder with its own master, journeyman and apprentice categories, covering the business of constructing, installing, repairing or servicing air conditioning and refrigeration equipment. Boiler and solar heating work sits in yet another category. Evansville also licenses building general contractors and residential general contractors separately, and subcontractor licenses are not required if you already hold the matching general contractor license for that work.
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Evansville publishes its numbers, which makes budgeting straightforward. An HVAC or refrigeration master sits in the Tradesman Master License line: $300.00 new, $125.00 renewal, or $225.00 for a two year renewal. A Tradesman Journeyman License is $35.00 new and $25.00 to renew. Apprentice registration is $25.00 for each of the first five years and $35.00 from the sixth year on. A limited journeyman is $35.00. If you hold a state license and are registering it in Evansville, registration is $60.00 for a contractor, $35.00 for a journeyman and $25.00 for an apprentice. For comparison, a building contractor license is $360.00 new and $210.00 to renew, and a residential contractor license is $210.00 new and $150.00 to renew. The insurance and bond thresholds are set by category. For a masters license, a commercial general contractor license or an unlimited roofing license, the applicant must deliver proof of general liability insurance of not less than $1,000,000.00 before the license is granted. Residential general contractor, limited roofing, wrecking and sign erector Class B licenses require not less than $500,000.00. All other subcontractor licenses require not less than $300,000.00. Every applicant for a master, contractor or subcontractor license must also deliver a surety bond of $25,000.00 on the form the Building Commission provides, plus proof of worker's compensation coverage or an affidavit stating that Indiana law does not require it, within six months of passing the exam.
The Evansville process starts with the application and the letters, filed together. An applicant obtains three letters of recommendation proving at least four years of experience in the field applied for, and Evansville specifies that electrical and HVAC letters must be on letterhead and notarized. The application and the letters must be submitted at one time to the Building Commission, and the application clearly states which license you want to test for. The commission then sends the application to the proper board for approval to test. Once approved, the applicant contacts Ivy Tech to schedule and pay the fee for each test. Study guides are linked from each license definition, and the commission allows you to underline, highlight or tab references before the exam but not to write in the books or add anything other than permanent tabs. The exam fee is nonrefundable unless you cancel or reschedule within 24 hours of the exam date. Scoring is stricter than in Indianapolis for several trades: electrical masters, master mechanical, sheet metal, ventilation and refrigeration exams require a score of 75 percent or higher on each part, while other exams pass at 70 percent or higher. You receive your score at the end of the exam. The Building Commission then issues a provisional license once the fee, insurance and surety bond are in place, and the Licensing and Disciplinary Board reviews exam scores on the fourth Thursday of the month for final approval. Continuing education is required to keep a contractor license.
Federal law applies everywhere in Indiana no matter which city licenses you. EPA regulations at 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F, under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act require that technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release refrigerants into the atmosphere must be certified. Technicians pass an EPA-approved test administered by an EPA-approved certifying organization, and the tests are specific to the type of equipment the technician wants to work on. EPA defines a technician as an individual who attaches or detaches hoses and gauges to or from an appliance to measure pressure, adds refrigerant to or removes refrigerant from an appliance, or performs any other activity that violates the integrity of a motor vehicle air conditioner-like appliance or a small appliance other than disposal. There are four certification types. Type I is for servicing small appliances. Type II is for servicing or disposing of high-pressure and very high-pressure appliances other than small appliances and motor vehicle systems. Type III is for low-pressure appliances. Universal covers all types of equipment. Section 608 technician certification credentials do not expire. A core test taken as an open book exam cannot be used to get Universal certification, because the core test must be proctored for Universal. Apprentices are exempt from the certification requirement as long as they are closely and continually supervised by a certified technician. EPA does not issue the cards; the certifying organizations do.
The same Section 608 rules control who may buy refrigerant, which matters for how you stock trucks and how you onboard helpers. Under 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F, only EPA-certified technicians may purchase ozone-depleting substances or non-ozone-depleting substitutes used as refrigerants, with limited exceptions. Refrigerant can be sold only to technicians certified under the Section 608 or Section 609 programs, and individuals may only purchase refrigerant consistent with the appliances their certification covers. The restriction covers refrigerant in cylinders, cans or drums, with an exception for small cans of substitute refrigerants for motor vehicle air conditioners. It does not cover equipment or components that contain refrigerant. An employer of a Section 608 certified technician, or the employer's authorized representative, can also buy if the employer gives the wholesaler written evidence that it employs at least one properly certified technician. Only Section 608 certified technicians may purchase refrigerants intended for stationary refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. A Section 609 certified technician cannot buy refrigerant intended for stationary equipment regardless of container size. Wholesalers that sell either ozone-depleting or substitute refrigerants must retain invoices showing the name of the purchaser, the date of sale and the quantity purchased. Wholesalers selling for resale are legally responsible for confirming their customers fall into an allowed category. In practice your supply house will ask for the card or for a letter naming your certified technician, so keep both current on file.
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Even without a state license, the state controls the code you build to and the plans you file. The Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission adopts the codes, and 675 IAC 18 is the citation for the Indiana Mechanical Codes, which adopt editions of the International Mechanical Code by reference. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security Building Plan Review Section reviews Class 1 structure construction plans for compliance with those commission rules, and the State Building Commissioner oversees that section. Commercial HVAC work in a Class 1 structure normally runs through a construction design release applied for online. On receipt, the department reviews the submission for completeness and, if the plans are complete, decides within ten business days whether the plans will be reviewed or released without review. Effective July 1, 2026, certain plans qualify for release without a plan review, including plans already approved by another governmental jurisdiction, plans for structures that are not traditionally occupied or that are classified as storage buildings, open-air pavilions, and plans for a remodel, renovation or repair that is not a change of use and is located in Indianapolis. A registered design professional can self-certify when they have been registered at least five years, have completed at least five Indiana projects, and carry professional liability insurance of at least $500,000 per claim and $1,000,000 aggregate. Plans still must be submitted and may still be selected for review. Building and fire safety inspection reports and fines run through the IDHS Services Gateway.
The license is only one of the filings. INBiz is the state's single front door for registering a business with the Secretary of State, registering with the Department of Revenue for tax purposes, and handling Department of Workforce Development reporting obligations once you have employees. Get the entity and the tax registration done before you apply for a municipal license, because the license application asks for the business identity you intend to trade under. The Worker's Compensation Board of Indiana publishes the notices employers are required to post and a tool for confirming that a business carries coverage. Verification is where the local structure bites. Because Indiana has no state HVAC license, the state license lookup will not confirm a heating and cooling contractor. It searches the boards the Professional Licensing Agency administers, which is where a customer can confirm a plumbing contractor or a home inspector. For HVAC, a homeowner or a general contractor verifies you through the city that licensed you: the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services in Indianapolis, or the Building Commission license clerk in Evansville. That is worth saying plainly on your own website, because a buyer who searches the state database and finds nothing may assume the worst. Put the issuing city, the license class and the license number on your estimates and your site, and tell people which office to call to check it. Confirm the current advertising and display rules with your licensing city before you print vehicle lettering.
These are common details other guides publish about Indiana, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency does not list heating, ventilation, air conditioning or refrigeration among the professions its boards regulate. Licensing is handled by cities and counties, and Indianapolis states in its own packet that there is not a state heating and cooling license.
Air Conditioning D covers 5 tons of cooling and 300,000 BTUs of heating, which fits most single-family work. Air Conditioning B goes to 25 tons and 500,000 BTUs. Air Conditioning A is unrestricted. Refrigeration and High Pressure Steam are separate licenses.
Yes, within limits. An unlicensed person employed by a licensed heating and cooling contractor may perform the work under that contractor's direction and control, but may not enter into or offer to enter into a contract for the work, and may not exceed the supervising license class.
At least five years in the HVACR trade, verified by current and former employers on original letterhead with employment dates and job responsibilities. The five years can also be met with a combination of industry-related education and practical work experience.
Seventy percent on the Prov exam. Score 60 to 69 percent and you may retest once without reappearing before the board. Score under 60 percent and you must reappear with documented evidence of improvement before retesting.
Only through the reciprocity process. The issuing agency must certify the license is current and not suspended, the exam must have been a Prometric or Prov exam passed at 70 percent or better, and an original signed letter with the test details must be mailed directly to the board.
The A license requires Universal. The B and D licenses require both Type I and Type II. The Refrigeration license requires Universal. High Pressure Steam requires none. The board makes applicants obtain the right certification before it assigns an exam voucher.
A Tradesman Master License is $300.00 new, $125.00 for a renewal, and $225.00 for a two year renewal. A Tradesman Journeyman License is $35.00 new and $25.00 to renew. Registering an existing state license as a contractor costs $60.00.
A masters license needs proof of general liability insurance of not less than $1,000,000.00. Other subcontractor licenses need not less than $300,000.00. Every master, contractor and subcontractor applicant also files a $25,000.00 surety bond and proof of worker's compensation coverage or an affidavit.
No. EPA states that Section 608 technician certification credentials do not expire. One caution: a core test taken open book cannot be used toward Universal certification, because the core test has to be proctored for Universal.
Only as your authorized representative. Refrigerant may be sold to Section 608 certified technicians, or to the employer of a certified technician when the employer gives the wholesaler written evidence that it employs at least one properly certified technician.
Class 1 structure construction plans are reviewed by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security Building Plan Review Section for compliance with Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission rules, through a construction design release filed online. Some plans now qualify for release without a plan review.
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