Nevada · HVAC licensing · official-source guide
The Nevada State Contractors Board licenses HVAC contractors statewide under NRS Chapter 624. Air conditioning and refrigeration work falls in classification C-21, while some heating work falls under C-1. Your trade qualifier needs four years of experience within the past fifteen, and the Board sets a bond between $1,000 and $500,000 before it issues the license.
Verified against agency sources on 2026-09-14. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
The Nevada State Contractors Board issues every HVAC contracting license in Nevada. Licensing is a state function under NRS Chapter 624, not a city function. The Board keeps two offices, one in Reno at 5390 Kietzke Lane and one in Las Vegas at 8400 West Sunset Road. Seven members appointed by the Governor sit on the Board, and six of them must hold an active contractor license and have been actively engaged in contracting for at least five years under NRS 624.040 and NRS 624.050. The Board is funded from fees collected from licensees and takes no money from the State General Fund. NRS 624.700 makes it unlawful to act in the capacity of a contractor in Nevada, or to submit a bid on a job situated in Nevada, without an active license. NRS 624.020 defines contractor as a person who undertakes or offers to construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck or demolish a building or other structure, and the definition takes in subcontractors and specialty contractors. A furnace changeout, a rooftop package unit, a walk-in cooler, a duct replacement: all of it is contracting. The Board states that all contractors must be licensed prior to contracting, and it defines contracting to include bidding, offering to engage, and negotiating a price. The license has to be in hand before you quote, not before you turn a wrench. Counties and incorporated cities keep the power to require an additional contractor license of their own under NRS 624.035.
Sourcesnvcontractorsboard.com 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
Nevada puts refrigeration and air conditioning in classification C-21. NAC 624.380 says a C-21 holder may perform any work authorized for the C-21 subclassifications, and that C-21 work is not incidental or supplemental to the performance of any other work a specialty contractor may do. That second sentence matters in practice, because it stops another trade from picking up your scope as a side item. Subclassification C-21a is refrigeration: devices, machinery and units for the control of air temperatures below 50F in refrigerators, refrigerated rooms and insulated spaces, with related insulation, ducts, blowers, registers, humidity and thermostatic controls, the natural gas line from the unit to the existing gas line at the meter or beyond, and the electrical service from the unit to the main panel. C-21b is air-conditioning: installation, repair, service and maintenance of equipment and related ductwork that uses evaporation, refrigeration, boilers or combustion to control air temperature in structures. C-21c is sheet metal, covering ducts, flashings, gutters, louvres, patented chimneys, flues and metal roof systems, but not equipment that uses refrigeration as an integral part of the system. C-21d is maintenance: repair and replacement of parts of existing air conditioning and refrigeration systems, including compressors, motors, relays, coils and heat exchangers, but not complete condenser assemblies on remote systems, not air handlers, and nothing that alters the design of an existing system. C-21e is solar air-conditioning. C-21f is chilled and hot water systems, covering boilers, chillers, coils, cooling towers, piping, pumps, storage tanks and valves. C-21g is industrial piping.
Not all heating work in Nevada lives under C-21. NAC 624.190 puts plumbing and heating contracting in classification C-1, and several C-1 subclassifications overlap with what an HVAC company sells every week. C-1a covers boilers and pipes for hot water and steam with the related fittings, valves, gauges, pumps, radiators, convectors, tanks, fuel oil lines, chimneys, flues and insulation. C-1c covers insulation of pipes, ducts and related equipment. C-1d plumbing takes in hydronic heating systems not exceeding 200,000 British thermal units and systems to heat potable water, including solar equipment. C-1e sheet metal covers duct fabrication and installation, and the rule says plainly that a C-1e holder is not authorized to install equipment which uses refrigeration as an integral part of the system. C-1f covers heating, cooling and circulating air: fabrication and installation of systems for the heating, evaporative cooling and circulation of air, including solar equipment for that purpose. Evaporative coolers are still sold across Nevada, and C-1f is where that work sits. Choosing the wrong classification is a scope problem, not a paperwork problem. NRS 624.3015 makes acting in the capacity of a contractor beyond the scope of the license cause for disciplinary action, and treats bidding above your monetary limit and contracting with an unlicensed contractor the same way. The Board runs a dedicated license classification determination email address for this exact question. Ask before you apply, because broadening a license later to add subclassifications carries its own fee.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
Nevada has a small-job exemption in NRS 624.031, and heating and cooling work is carved out of it. The statute exempts work to repair or maintain property the value of which is less than $1,000, including labor and materials. Five conditions cancel that exemption, and one of them names this trade directly: the exemption does not apply if the work is of a type performed by a plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, heating or air-conditioning contractor. It also fails if a building permit is required to perform the work, if the work is part of a larger project worth $500 or more, if contracts of less than $500 were awarded to evade the chapter, or if the work is performed by someone already licensed under the chapter or an employee of that person. The practical result is that there is no dollar floor for HVAC in Nevada. A small capacitor swap done for pay is contracting. The other exemptions in NRS 624.031 cover work performed exclusively by an authorized representative of the federal government, the State of Nevada or a local political subdivision, public utilities doing construction and maintenance incidental to their business, officers of a court acting within their office, and an owner building or improving a residential structure for their own occupancy who applies to the Board for the exemption. Selling or leasing that structure within one year of completion creates a rebuttable presumption that it was built to sell. Sale or installation of a finished product that never becomes a permanent fixed part of the structure also falls outside the chapter.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us
A Nevada HVAC license belongs to a company, and the company qualifies through people the Board calls qualified individuals. One person may serve as both the management qualified individual and the trade qualified individual, or the two roles may be split between two people. The management qualified individual takes and passes the business and law examination. The trade qualified individual must have at least four full years of experience as a journeyman, supervising employee or contractor in the specific classification requested, and that experience must have been gained within the fifteen years immediately before the application is filed. Under NRS 624.260 the qualifier may be an owner, officer, member, manager or employee, and must be a bona fide member or employee actively engaged in the contracting business. Proof comes as four Certification of Work Experience forms per trade qualifier plus a Resume of Experience. Employers other than the applying company complete the certificates, and relatives cannot complete them unless they were your employer. A current master certification issued by a governmental agency in a substantially similar discipline works instead, as does proof of transferrable military experience and training. Training at an accredited college or an equivalent program accepted by the Board may replace up to three years of experience and never more than three. Nevada sets no education requirement. Licensure by endorsement is the reciprocity route: if your trade qualifier has been actively licensed for the past four years in a state on the Board's State Equivalency Chart with no disciplinary actions, suspensions or sanctions, a Request for Verification of Licensure completed by that state replaces the experience certificates.
The qualifying individual must pass the business and law examination, which the Board calls the CMS exam, and the trade examination specific to the classification requested, unless a waiver applies. The Board has contracted with PSI Licensure to deliver both. You cannot book a seat before you apply. The order is fixed: submit the application, satisfy the experience requirement, receive an Examination Eligibility form carrying a Candidate ID number, then schedule the exam. Nevada has three PSI test centers, at 5740 S Eastern Suite 200 in Las Vegas, the Airport Plaza Office Building at 1755 E Plumb Lane Suite 108 in Reno, and 225 Silver Street Suite 102 in Elko. PSI also allows applicants to sit the Nevada specific examinations at PSI owned sites in other states. You get three attempts at each exam. Fail once and you wait two weeks before retaking it. Fail three times and the application becomes void under NAC 624.600(3), and you may reapply with a new application and the applicable fee thirty days after the date of the last examination. NAC 624.600 also sets two waiver routes: an examination offered by an endorsing state and approved by the Board, or one accredited by the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies where the Board finds it substantially equivalent. If your endorsing state does not offer an equivalent trade examination, you sit the Nevada trade exam. NRS 624.280 caps the examination fee the Board may fix at $300, while PSI publishes the current amounts.
Sourcesnvcontractorsboard.com 1leg.state.nv.us 2leg.state.nv.us 3
Every Nevada contractor license carries a monetary limit. NRS 624.220 defines it as the maximum contract a licensed contractor may undertake on one or more construction contracts on a single construction site or subdivision site for a single client. It is not an annual revenue cap. It is a per site, per client ceiling, and it controls what you are allowed to bid. A financial statement is required with the application regardless of how small a limit you request. NAC 624.593 and the Board's requirements page set the tiers. For a monetary limit of $25,000 or less, submit a statement prepared by an independent certified public accountant, a statement on a Board form with an affidavit verifying its accuracy, or a balance sheet prepared with accounting software under generally accepted accounting principles with a verifying affidavit. Above $25,000 and below $500,000, you need a CPA compiled statement current within six months or a CPA reviewed or audited statement current within one year. From $500,000 to under $1,000,000, the compiled option must carry full disclosures. At $1,000,000 or more, only a CPA reviewed or audited statement current within one year is accepted. Self-prepared or compiled statements must be current to within six months of the date the application is received. A Bank Verification Form completed by your bank goes in alongside. NRS 624.263 lists what the Board weighs, including net worth, liquid assets, working capital, the ratio of current assets to current liabilities, payment and credit records, liens and adverse judgments. Indemnification by a stronger party is optional and is offered to applicants who might not otherwise qualify.
Sourcesnvcontractorsboard.com 1leg.state.nv.us 2leg.state.nv.us 3
Before the Board issues an HVAC license it requires a surety bond or, in lieu of one, a cash deposit. NRS 624.270 fixes the range at not less than $1,000 and not more than $500,000, with the actual figure set by the Board against your financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of your operations. You will not know the number when you apply. The Board notifies you of the required amount after the license is approved and before it is issued. The bond must be continuous in form, and the surety's total aggregate liability for all claims is limited to the face amount no matter how many years the bond stays in force. The surety must be authorized to transact surety business in Nevada and must have long-term debt obligations rated A or better by a nationally recognized rating agency. A surety may cancel by giving the Board sixty days notice, and your license must carry a continuous bond with no lapse in coverage. Cash deposits go in as a cashier's check payable to the State Contractors Board for the full amount, and the Board assesses a $200 biennial administrative fee on every cash bond deposit. After a license terminates, the Board holds the cash deposit an additional two years because that is the statute of limitations for filing claims. Failure to file or maintain the bond is cause to deny, revoke, suspend or refuse to renew. After five consecutive years acting as a licensed contractor in Nevada the Board may relieve you of the bond on evidence, and may require a new one later.
NAC 624.130 sets the fee schedule, and these are the amounts an HVAC company actually pays the Board. Issuing or renewing a license costs $600. Late filing of an application to renew an active license adds $150. An inactive license costs $300 to issue or renew, with a $75 late fee. Broadening a license to include the entire classification or other specific subclassifications within it costs $250, which is the line that matters when you start with C-21b and later add C-21c sheet metal or C-21f chilled and hot water systems. Applying for a license in a classification you do not already hold costs $300. Changing the qualified person or another principal listed on the license costs $250. A permanent increase or decrease of your monetary limit costs $250, while an increase for a single project costs $75. A change in the name of the licensee costs $250. A duplicate license costs $25 and a duplicate identification card $10. A returned check costs $25. The cash deposit administrative fee is $200. NRS 624.280 caps what the Board may fix by regulation: an application fee not exceeding $550, a license fee not exceeding $900 biennially, and an examination fee not exceeding $300. NRS 624.281 offers expedited issuance at twice the regular application fee, half paid at submission and half when the license is issued, plus reimbursement of the Board's actual costs and expenses in processing the application.
Nevada will not issue or renew an HVAC license until the industrial insurance question is settled. NRS 624.256 requires every applicant, original or renewal, to submit one of four things. The first is proof of industrial insurance and insurance for occupational diseases covering the applicant's employees. The second is a copy of the applicant's certificate of qualification as a self-insured employer issued by the Commissioner of Insurance. The third is a copy of the certificate issued to an association of self-insured public or private employers the applicant belongs to. The fourth is a signed affidavit affirming the applicant is not subject to NRS chapters 616A to 616D or chapter 617. That affidavit carries three conditions and all three must hold: the applicant has no employees, is not and does not intend to be a subcontractor for a principal contractor, and has not and does not intend to submit a bid on a job for a principal contractor or subcontractor. A one-truck operator who subcontracts to a general contractor on a tenant improvement cannot use it. Failure to file or maintain the required coverage is cause for the Board to deny, revoke, suspend, refuse to renew or otherwise discipline the licensee. The Board must notify the Fraud Control Unit for Industrial Insurance whenever it learns that an applicant or licensee has been contracting in Nevada without that coverage. The same statute reaches unpaid contributions to the Unemployment Compensation Fund, with the Board acting on notice from the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us
A Nevada contractor license expires two years after the date it is issued, and NRS 624.283 lets the Board prescribe shorter or longer periods with prorated fees to run a system of staggered biennial renewals. Any license not renewed on or before its renewal date is automatically suspended. Renewing means sending the Board a renewal application, the renewal fee, all information required to complete the renewal, and, if you are a residential contractor as defined in NRS 624.450, the assessment required under NRS 624.470. The Board may require a licensee to demonstrate financial responsibility at any time through a statement prepared by an independent certified public accountant or a statement on a Board form with a verifying affidavit, plus extra documentation if you perform residential construction. NAC 624.630 requires the completed renewal application back at the Board no later than the last day of the month in which the license expires, or the first day of that month when the Board has asked for a financial statement. If the license is automatically suspended you have six months from the date of suspension to file for renewal and pay a reinstatement fee, provided you are otherwise in good standing with no complaints pending. Miss that window and the Board may cancel the license, after which a new license issues only on an application for an original contractor license. Neither NRS Chapter 624 nor NAC Chapter 624 imposes a continuing education requirement as a condition of renewal, so a Nevada HVAC license renews on fees, bond, insurance and financial standing.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
If your HVAC company does residential work in Nevada you pay into the Residential Recovery Fund and you have to tell homeowners about it. NRS 624.470 adds a biennial assessment on top of the license fee, scaled to the monetary limit on the residential license: not to exceed $200 per biennium where the limit is not more than $1,000,000, $500 per biennium where the limit is more than $1,000,000 but limited, and $1,000 per biennium for an unlimited license. The Board must reduce the assessment when the account balance reaches 150 percent of the largest balance during the previous fiscal year. NRS 624.520 requires a residential contractor to notify the owner of their Recovery Fund rights and to provide a written statement explaining those rights in any agreement or contract for qualified services, in substantially the form the statute prints. That statement belongs in your residential install agreement and change order templates. An injured homeowner may recover actual damages from the account up to $40,000 under NRS 624.510, and total recovery on claims against any single contractor cannot exceed $750,000 or 20 percent of the account balance, whichever is less. A complaint must be filed within four years after completion of the qualified services under NRS 624.480. Cohabitants, close relatives and former business associates of the licensee are excluded, as is an owner who applied for and obtained the building permit themselves. Where the Board pays, it is subrogated to the homeowner's rights, including the right to collect from your surety bond or cash bond.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us
NRS 624.720 governs how a licensed Nevada HVAC contractor may present itself, and subsection 4 is the short version: all advertising by a licensed contractor must include the name of the contractor's company and the number of the contractor's license. The statutory definition of advertising is broad enough to read before you order truck wraps. It includes any sign, card or device, the permitting or allowing of any sign or marking on a motor vehicle, anything in a building or structure, newspaper, magazine or airway transmission, anything on the Internet, and any directory listing under contractor with or without limiting qualifications. Van doors, website footers, yard signs, print coupons and online directory profiles all carry the number or they are out of compliance. Subsection 1 makes it unlawful for anyone, including a person exempt under NRS 624.031, to advertise as a contractor without a license in the appropriate classification. Subsection 2 requires an unlicensed advertiser to state in the advertisement that they are not licensed. Subsection 3 bans false or misleading statements of material fact in contractor advertising. Subsection 5 bans advertising with a license number that does not correspond to a valid license issued to you. After notice and a hearing the Board may order you to cease the advertising and to have the telephone number in it disconnected, and may ask the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to force the disconnection if you do not comply within five days. Homeowners check you through the Board's public license search, which accepts a license number, a company name, or a principal or qualified individual name, and through a separate disciplinary search.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1app.nvcontractorsboard.com 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3
Contracting without an active Nevada license is a crime and the penalties climb with each offense. NRS 624.750 punishes a first offense as a misdemeanor with a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $4,000, plus up to six months in county jail. A second offense is a gross misdemeanor with a fine of not less than $4,000 and not more than $10,000, plus up to 364 days. A third or subsequent offense is a category E felony with a fine of not less than $10,000 and not more than $20,000 and one to four years in state prison. Those maximum fines may be exceeded by an enhancement of up to 10 percent of the value of the contract entered into in violation of NRS 624.700 where the person commenced work or received money. Separately, NRS 624.710 lets the Board impose an administrative fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $50,000 for each violation, in addition to any other penalty. A bid or contract made without a license is deemed void from the beginning under NRS 624.700, and NRS 624.320 bars an unlicensed contractor from bringing or maintaining an action in Nevada courts to collect compensation for work requiring a license. The same penalty ladder covers unlawful advertising under NRS 624.720 and unlawful use, assignment or transfer of a license under NRS 624.305, which cancels and revokes the license automatically. Working beyond the scope of your classification is cause for discipline under NRS 624.3015.
The contractor license is not the only registration an HVAC company needs in Nevada. NRS 76.100 requires a state business license from the Secretary of State before a person conducts business in the state. The fee is $200, except that a corporation organized under NRS chapter 78, 78A or 78B, or a foreign corporation required to file an initial or annual list under chapter 80, pays $500. An entity that files an initial or annual list obtains the business license at the time of that filing, and everyone else obtains it before conducting business. The Board's own process depends on this. You cannot complete a contractor license application without a Nevada Business ID issued by the Secretary of State, and you cannot register for the Board's online renewal portal without a Business ID matching the one already on file with the Board. If you will operate under a name other than your registered legal name, a filed fictitious name certificate is requested during the application. Above that state layer, NRS 624.035 preserves the power of the governing body of any county or incorporated city to require an additional contractor license within that political subdivision, subject to additional standards that are reasonable and necessary for the protection of the public there. That statute is the legal hook behind separate local business licensing in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Reno, Sparks and the unincorporated parts of Clark and Washoe counties. Confirm the requirement in every jurisdiction where you plan to pull mechanical permits before you bid there.
Sourcesleg.state.nv.us 1leg.state.nv.us 2nvcontractorsboard.com 3nvcontractorsboard.com 4
The Nevada license controls who may contract for HVAC work. A separate federal rule controls who may touch the refrigerant. EPA regulations at 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F, under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act, require technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release refrigerants into the atmosphere to be certified. Certification means passing an EPA approved test administered by an EPA approved certifying organization, and the tests are specific to the type of equipment the technician seeks to work on. EPA defines a technician as an individual who attaches and detaches hoses and gauges to and from an appliance to measure pressure within the appliance, 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 covers servicing small appliances. Type II covers servicing or disposing of high pressure and very high pressure appliances other than small appliances and motor vehicle air conditioners. Type III covers 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 obtain Universal certification, because the core test must be proctored for that. Apprentices are exempt while closely and continually supervised by a certified technician. This is a technician credential rather than a company license, and it sits on top of your C-21 or C-1 classification.
Sourcesepa.gov
These are common details other guides publish about Nevada, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. NRS 624.700 requires an active license before you contract for the work, and the small-job exemption in NRS 624.031 does not reach work of a type performed by a heating or air-conditioning contractor. There is no dollar threshold below which HVAC work goes unlicensed in Nevada.
C-21 is refrigeration and air-conditioning under NAC 624.380 and covers refrigeration based equipment and its ductwork. C-1f, under NAC 624.190, covers fabrication and installation of systems for heating, evaporative cooling and circulation of air. A C-1e sheet metal holder may not install equipment that uses refrigeration as an integral part of the system.
Sometimes. NAC 624.600 lets the Board waive the examination where the applicant or qualified employee passed a contractor licensing exam offered by an endorsing state and approved by the Board, or one accredited by the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies that the Board finds substantially equivalent. Otherwise you sit the Nevada trade exam.
You will not know until the license is approved. NRS 624.270 sets the range at $1,000 to $500,000, and the Board fixes the amount with reference to your financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of your operations. The Board notifies you of the amount before the license is issued.
Yes. NRS 624.720 requires all advertising by a licensed contractor to include the company name and the license number, and the statute defines advertising to include the permitting or allowing of any sign or marking on a motor vehicle, plus Internet content and directory listings under contractor.
It is automatically suspended on the renewal date under NRS 624.283. You then have six months to file an application for renewal and pay a reinstatement fee if you are otherwise in good standing with no complaints pending. After six months the Board may cancel it, and you would start over with an original application.
NRS Chapter 624 and NAC Chapter 624 do not impose a continuing education requirement as a condition of renewal. Renewal turns on the renewal application and fee, a continuous bond, industrial insurance or the statutory affidavit, and financial responsibility if the Board asks you to demonstrate it.
Through the Board's public contractor license search, which searches by license number, company name, or principal or qualified individual name and accepts partial and wildcard entries. The Board also runs a separate disciplinary search covering actions taken against licensees.
No. NRS 624.220 makes the monetary limit the maximum contract you may undertake on one or more contracts at a single construction site for a single client, and NRS 624.3015 makes bidding above it cause for discipline. A single project increase must be requested in writing at least five working days before you submit the bid.
NAC 624.130 charges $600 to issue or renew a license, plus $150 if the renewal application is filed late. Residential contractors also pay the Recovery Fund assessment, which NRS 624.470 caps at $200, $500 or $1,000 per biennium depending on the monetary limit on the license.
Yes, where they handle refrigerant. EPA rules under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act require technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of refrigerant containing equipment to pass an EPA approved test. Type I, Type II, Type III and Universal credentials do not expire, and supervised apprentices are exempt.
No. NRS 624.320 bars an unlicensed person from bringing or maintaining an action in Nevada courts to collect compensation for work requiring a license, and NRS 624.700 deems the bid or contract void from the beginning. Getting licensed afterward does not repair the contract.
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