New Hampshire · HVAC licensing · official-source guide
New Hampshire issues no HVAC contractor license. The Mechanical Licensing Board, run by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, licenses the fuel gas fitting work HVAC companies do, through endorsements such as fuel gas installation technician and fuel gas service technician. Companies also need a mechanical business entity license, which requires proof of liability insurance.
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New Hampshire Mechanical Licensing Board, Office of Professional Licensure and CertificationState-level 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.
New Hampshire does not issue an HVAC contractor license. It does not issue a general contractor license either. The board an HVAC company in this state actually answers to is the Mechanical Licensing Board, administered by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification at 7 Eagle Square in Concord. The board's own page lists who it regulates: fuel gas fitters, plumbers, oil heating technicians on a voluntary basis, and business entities including corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships. RSA 153:29 spells out the endorsements the office prints on a mechanical license. There are nine of them, and not one says HVAC. So the practical question in New Hampshire is never whether you hold an HVAC license. It is which endorsements your technicians carry and whether your company holds a mechanical business entity license. A shop that installs propane and natural gas furnaces, boilers, gas water heaters and their venting is doing fuel gas fitting as RSA 153:27 defines it, and the people doing that work must be licensed for it. A shop that only installs electric heat pumps and ductwork touches a different set of rules, mainly local permits and the electrician license line. The OPLC board directory confirms there is no separate HVAC or mechanical contractor board in the state. Sell against that confusion. Most homeowners in Manchester or Nashua assume a state HVAC license exists, and the contractor who explains the real structure in plain language looks more credible than the one who says nothing.
RSA 153:27 defines fuel gas fitter as one of five roles, and RSA 153:29 requires the license to name which one applies. A fuel gas piping installer runs propane or natural gas piping from the point of delivery, meaning the outlet of the gas meter or the first stage regulator, to the appliances. A fuel gas installation technician installs that piping plus the residential and non residential heating equipment and water heating systems themselves, the venting, the combustion air, and the start up and safety checks. A fuel gas service technician does the servicing and repair side of the same equipment, which is why the rules load that endorsement with troubleshooting, control circuits, ignition safety systems and flue gas analysis. A hearth system installation and service technician handles gas hearth appliances and their venting. A domestic appliance technician is narrow on purpose: residential clothes dryers and their venting, cook tops, ranges, outdoor cooking equipment and pool heaters. A fuel gas trainee is the entry point and must work under direct supervision of a licensed fuel gas fitter. RSA 153:29 III is blunt about the boundary. No licensee may engage in any activity not covered by his or her specialty license. That means an installation technician who starts diagnosing a failed ignition module on a service call has stepped outside the endorsement. New Hampshire also requires the license to be available for inspection on request, so carry it. Decide deliberately which endorsements your payroll needs before you advertise the service lines that depend on them.
Pick endorsements by the jobs you quote, not by the job title. A company selling propane boiler replacements in the Lakes Region needs a fuel gas installation technician on the truck. A company selling annual heating tune ups and no heat calls needs a fuel gas service technician, because the service endorsement is the one whose rule adds troubleshooting electrical circuits and control devices, identifying safety and sensing devices, gas pressure measurement, ignition safety systems including the 100 percent pilot safety shut off, flue gas analysis and carbon monoxide detection. Mec 305.03 also lets a fuel gas piping installer step up to installation technician with 40 more hours of approved training plus the on the job hours, and Mec 305.04 lets an installation technician step up to service technician the same way, with 40 hours covering the troubleshooting and diagnostics subject matter. That ladder is how most New Hampshire shops grow a technician without starting over. Mec 305.02 adds a shortcut worth knowing: a New Hampshire licensed plumber in good standing qualifies for the fuel gas piping installer license once they complete the 60 hours of piping coursework. Gas fireplace and stove dealers need the hearth endorsement, which is separate and does not cover furnaces. Appliance service companies that only handle gas dryers, ranges and pool heaters can stay on the domestic appliance technician license, which is cheaper and shorter but legally boxed in. Map your service menu to endorsements first, then hire and train against that map.
Sourcesgc.nh.gov 1gc.nh.gov 2
New Hampshire sets the hours in Mec 305, and they differ sharply by endorsement. A fuel gas piping installer needs 60 hours of approved educational training on gas theory, pipe sizing, material selection, purging, pressure testing and leak checking, plus 1,000 working hours of on the job experience within 60 consecutive months. Up to 500 of those hours can come from documented oil fired equipment work. A fuel gas installation technician needs 100 hours of training and 1,000 working hours on the same 60 month clock, again with up to 500 hours creditable from oil heat experience. A fuel gas service technician is the heaviest of the gas licenses at 140 hours of training and 2,000 working hours within 60 consecutive months, with up to 750 hours creditable from oil fired work. A hearth system installation and service technician needs at least 60 hours of training and 2,000 hours of hearth specific field experience within 60 months. A domestic appliance technician needs 40 hours of training, 30 hours of factory authorized certification training on the specific appliances they will service, and 1,000 hours of field experience within 60 months. On the plumbing side, a journeyman plumber route requires 600 hours of educational training and 8,000 working hours of on the job experience. The rules require hours to be verified on a sworn affidavit signed by the employer, and the board will not credit hours earned performing work in violation of the licensing law. Track technician hours contemporaneously. Reconstructing five years of affidavits later is how applications stall.
Sourcesgc.nh.gov
RSA 153:29 gives the Mechanical Licensing Board authority to set the nature of the examinations for fuel gas fitter and plumber licenses, and allows the board to use an outside organization. In practice the board publishes a short list of approved schools and testing contacts on its education page. Board approved educational instruction for fuel gas licensing currently includes Advanced Trade School, Granite State Trade School, Heritage Training Academy, the HUOT Center, Manchester Community College, Manchester School of Technology, the National Propane Gas Association CETP program, the NH School of Mechanical Trades and UA Local Union 131. Gas fitter licensing exams are offered through Advanced Trade School, Granite State Trade School and NH Gasfitters Continuing Education Online. For plumbing, OPLC directs candidates to schedule the exam directly with an approved testing organization before submitting paperwork. The office is explicit that passing the exam does not guarantee approval for a license, because the applicant still has to satisfy the hours and character requirements in the rules. Passing scores for the plumbing exams are set in rule at 75 percent for the master plumber examination and 70 percent for the journeyman plumber examination. There is also a testing path back in for lapsed licensees. Anyone renewing a fuel gas fitting or plumbing license 365 days or more past expiration is treated as a new applicant, and for fuel gas only an exam through an approved educational provider is offered in place of the 140 hour course. Sequence matters: exam first, then the application packet.
OPLC publishes the Mechanical Licensing Board fee schedule, and the same figure applies to the application, the renewal and the reinstatement for each license type. A fuel gas fitting trainee pays $88.00. A fuel gas fitter at the piping installer, installation technician or service technician level pays $198.00. A hearth installer pays $198.00. A domestic appliance technician pays $176.00. A mechanical business entity pays $275.00. Voluntary oil heating technician certification pays $50.00. On the plumbing side an apprentice plumber pays $88.00, a journeyman plumber $198.00, a master plumber $330.00, and a plumber water treatment business $275.00. Budget the whole crew, not one license. A four technician shop running two service technicians, one installation technician and one trainee is looking at three license fees at $198.00 and one at $88.00, plus the $275.00 business entity fee, every two year cycle. Initial applications are paper and go to the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification at 7 Eagle Square, Concord, NH 03301, and the office accepts personal check, money order or cashier's check for paper applications. Renewals are online only through the OPLC portal. Reinstatements are paper and must be mailed with the fee. None of these figures includes the training hours, which you buy from the approved schools separately, or the exam. Treat license cost as a fixed operating line rather than a one time startup cost, because the renewal price matches the application price exactly.
Sourcesoplc.nh.gov 1oplc.nh.gov 2
Individual endorsements are not enough if you operate as a company. RSA 153:29-a lets the office license a corporation, partnership or limited liability company engaged in fuel gas fitting or plumbing, without an exam or continuing education of its own, provided at least one officer, member or designee holds an active license as a domestic appliance technician, hearth system installation and service technician, fuel gas piping installer, fuel gas installation technician, fuel gas service technician or master plumber. If that licensed person dies or withdraws, the company has 30 days to notify the board, and it may not act as a fuel gas fitter or plumber until another officer or designee is licensed. Mec 307.02 lists what the business application must include: proof of good standing with the secretary of state, proof of liability insurance, and a list of every licensed employee with full name and New Hampshire license number. So general liability is not optional here, it is an attachment to your license file. The rules also carve out a sole proprietor who employs no plumbing or fuel gas fitting technicians, who is exempt from the business licensing fee until they take on apprentices, trainees or licensed technicians. Separately, RSA 281-A:5 requires an employer subject to the workers compensation chapter to secure compensation, normally by carrying insurance with a carrier licensed to write it in New Hampshire and filing evidence of coverage. The moment you hire your first helper in Derry or Dover, that obligation attaches.
Mechanical licenses in New Hampshire run on a two year cycle. RSA 310:8 makes licenses issued by the office valid for two years from issuance, except apprentices licensed for one year, and Mec 403 sets expiration on the last day of the month the license was issued, two years out. Mechanical business entity licenses follow the same two year pattern. Continuing education is required and it is code focused. Mec 404.01 requires no fewer than 6 hours of continuing education for each plumbing or fuel gas fitting endorsement in every two year cycle, from a board approved seminar provider. OPLC states the same requirement as 3 hours of code update every year, totaling 6 hours per two year renewal cycle, and applies it to every licensee except apprentice and trainee registrations. If you hold more than one endorsement, read that rule carefully, because the hours attach to each endorsement. Renewals are online only through the OPLC portal, and you cannot renew an expired license there. RSA 310:8 III says holders of an expired license are not authorized to practice until reinstated, and an expired license lapses one year from expiration. Under a year expired, you file a paper renewal with the reinstatement fee. Past a year, you file the paper initial licensure application instead, and OPLC treats you as a new applicant. Put the expiration month of every technician's license on a calendar with a 90 day warning. A lapsed service technician in the middle of a New Hampshire January is an expensive scheduling problem.
New Hampshire has a reciprocity route and it is statutory. RSA 310:17 requires the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification to issue a license to a professional who presents evidence of an active license in good standing from another jurisdiction, provided that jurisdiction's requirements are substantially similar to New Hampshire's as determined by the executive director in consultation with the boards. Applicants for licensure by endorsement must undergo a criminal history records check if one is otherwise required for initial applications in that profession, and anyone licensed this way falls under the jurisdiction of the New Hampshire board. OPLC implemented HB 594 of 2023 effective May 3, 2024, and its reciprocity page lists the license types covered. For the Mechanical Licensing Board under RSA 153:27-38 the covered types are journeyman plumber, master plumber, domestic appliance technician, fuel gas installation technician, fuel gas piping installer, fuel gas service technician, and hearth system installation and service technician. That list is the whole gas side of the license, so a Massachusetts or Maine gas fitter moving north has a defined path rather than a rebuild from hours zero. Two cautions. Reciprocity gets you the individual license; it does not get your company the mechanical business entity license, which still needs the secretary of state good standing proof, the liability insurance proof and the employee list. Reciprocity also does not waive the continuing education obligation once you are licensed here. Plan for the endorsement to be granted and the business paperwork to trail it by weeks.
Oil is still a live fuel in New Hampshire housing stock, and the state treats oil heat differently from gas. RSA 153:16-b directs the Mechanical Licensing Board to establish a voluntary certification program for individuals who install residential and non residential heating equipment systems, water heating systems or appliances using heating oil, and for individuals who service and repair that equipment. Mec 700 carries the program rules, whose stated purposes include giving the public a way to recognize qualified heating installers and service personnel and giving employers a formal structure to train and test employees. The certification fee is $50.00 for application, renewal and reinstatement alike. Voluntary does not mean consequence free. Mec 701.02 says no person shall hold himself or herself out as a certified heating installer or heating equipment service personnel unless the certification was obtained under these rules, and RSA 153:16-b IV makes falsely claiming the certification through advertising, signage or verbal representation a violation for a natural person and a misdemeanor for any other person. So an oil company that puts certified heating technicians on its truck lettering without the certificates behind it has created an enforcement problem, not a marketing advantage. There is also a crossover benefit worth claiming. The fuel gas rules let documented oil fired equipment experience count toward the gas endorsements, up to 500 hours for the piping installer and installation technician licenses and up to 750 hours for the service technician license. Oil technicians converting to gas work should document that history before applying.
Nothing in the New Hampshire mechanical license covers refrigerant. That is federal. 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 ozone depleting refrigerants be certified. EPA does not issue the certification cards itself; approved certifying organizations administer the tests and issue cards, and EPA publishes the list of programs and the process for replacing a lost card. The certification types are structured by equipment: Type 1 for small appliances, Type 2 for high pressure equipment, Type 3 for low pressure equipment, and Universal for all three. For a New Hampshire HVAC company this creates a two document reality on every technician. The gas furnace and boiler side of the work is governed by an OPLC endorsement under RSA 153. The air conditioning, heat pump and refrigeration side is governed by a federal Section 608 card. Neither substitutes for the other, and a technician who holds only one is limited to half your service menu. Heat pump retrofit work funded through New Hampshire utility programs makes this sharper, because a crew installing ductless heat pumps needs Section 608 certification even in a house with no gas service at all. Keep copies of both the state license and the Section 608 card in the technician file, and put the card type in your dispatch notes so you never send a Type 1 technician to a low pressure chiller.
Sourcesepa.gov
This is the rule most New Hampshire HVAC companies violate without knowing it. Mec 606.01 says a mechanical licensee, certificate holder or business entity that displays its business name on the exterior of a vehicle and represents services using the terms mechanical, plumbing, heating, fuel gas or propane shall also display the appropriate mechanical license number. The number must be in legible type at least 2 inches in height, and it must appear on the front left and front right side of the vehicle, or in the area where the name or offer of service is displayed. If your wrap says heating anywhere on it, the license number is required. Mec 606.02 extends the same idea to everything else you run. Licensees and business entities using visual advertising to advertise licensed services must display their license numbers on televised advertising, billboards, advertising in the press, visual advertising on the internet, visual advertising in movie theatres, and advertising on business cards and stationery. Visual advertising on the internet is the phrase that catches most modern marketing: your website, your Google Business Profile posts, your paid search landing pages and your social ads. For audio, licensees advertising through sound must state the license number at least once in every instance of radio advertising, auditory television advertising, auditory advertising on the web and auditory advertising in movie theatres. Put the number in your site footer, in your ad templates, on estimate forms and on the trucks, then stop thinking about it.
Sourcesgc.nh.gov
New Hampshire regulates the claim, not just the work. Mec 607.01 lists prohibited actions for fuel gas fitting and plumbing licensees, apprentices and trainees, certified oil heating and water treatment technicians, seminar providers and mechanical business entities. They may not deny services by reason of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, religion or disability. They may not let any other individual or entity use their license or certificate to get permits or for any other purpose, which rules out the common arrangement where an unlicensed installer pulls permits under a friend's number. Licensees may not subcontract plumbing or fuel gas fitting work to any unlicensed individual or entity. They may not misrepresent to customers or to the public, in advertising or otherwise, the services they are properly licensed and qualified to perform. And they may not misrepresent additional services or materials not reasonably required for the work without written authorized customer notification and approval, which is a direct constraint on upselling during a no heat call. On titles, RSA 153:16-b IV makes falsely claiming oil heating certification a violation or a misdemeanor, and RSA 310:13 reaches anyone who advertises as engaging in a profession licensed by the office without holding the license. Practical translation: advertise the endorsement you hold. A hearth technician should not market furnace service. An installation technician should not market diagnostics. Write your service pages to the endorsements on file and you remove the exposure entirely.
RSA 310:13 is the teeth. Anyone not licensed or otherwise authorized who advertises as engaging in a profession licensed by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, engages in activity requiring professional licensure, or in any way holds themselves out as qualified to do so, is engaged in unlawful practice. The same applies to anyone who continues after notice that a license has been suspended or revoked. The office may request to see the license of anyone advertising or performing licensed work, at the place of business or where the business is being conducted. After notice and an opportunity to be heard, the board may impose a fine not to exceed the greater of the gain or economic benefit derived from the violation, or up to $10,000 for each offense. Each violation is a separate offense. The board, the attorney general, or a prosecuting attorney of any county or municipality where the unlawful practice occurred may seek an injunction, available without bond, and that remedy sits on top of any civil, criminal or regulatory penalty. There are narrow exceptions in RSA 153:36. A homeowner may perform fuel gas fitting in an existing single family stand alone structure they own and occupy as a primary residence, but still must follow the technical standards and the code, application and inspection requirements. Utility work under 49 CFR Part 192 is exempt, as is supervised work by students in approved vocational programs. None of those exceptions protect a contractor.
Sourcesgc.nh.gov 1gc.nh.gov 2
RSA 153:35 lets the building inspection department or any officer designated by the administrative authority of a city or town enforce the Mechanical Licensing Board rules, so the local inspector is a real party in this. The permit mechanics differ by city, and the three largest New Hampshire markets each do it their own way. Manchester runs permits through Planning and Community Development and issues a distinct Heating Permit alongside separate Electrical and Plumbing permits. Manchester's applications can be filled out online but must be printed, signed and mailed with fees, and the city states it does not currently accept applications electronically. Its plumbing permit page notes that multi family dwellings, non owner occupied single family dwellings and commercial projects require a licensed New Hampshire plumber, and the electrical page requires a licensed New Hampshire master electrician for the same categories. Nashua's Building Safety Department issues trade permits with separate Mechanical forms for commercial and residential work, plus a residential gas piping sketch, and takes permit requests by email to the permits address. Concord's Code Administration moved to a Citizen Self Service permit portal with Residential Mechanical and Commercial Mechanical permit types and published fee schedules for building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical. Build a per city checklist before you sell a job. Quoting a Manchester furnace swap on Nashua's process costs you days you told the customer you did not need.
Sourcesgc.nh.gov 1manchesternh.gov 2nashuanh.gov 3concordnh.gov 4
Two things finish the picture. First, the code you install to. RSA 155-A:1 defines the New Hampshire building code as the adoption by reference of a named set of model codes, including the International Mechanical Code, the International Plumbing Code, the International Building Code, the International Residential Code and the International Energy Conservation Code, together with the National Electrical Code, as reviewed by the state building code review board and ratified by the legislature. The Mechanical Licensing Board publishes the adopted code edition set separately and updated its adopted codes effective July 1, 2024. Second, the electrical boundary. The OPLC Electricians' Board states that an active and valid New Hampshire electrician license is required to work with 30 volts or higher, and that apprentices must register with OPLC. That line matters on every heat pump and furnace changeout where a technician wants to land the disconnect. Either carry the electrician license in house or subcontract it to someone who does. Finally, verification. OPLC maintains a public license verification search at forms.nh.gov, linked from the Mechanical Licensing Board page, and RSA 153:29 IV requires the license itself to be available for inspection on request. Tell customers where to look and hand them your license number before they ask. In a market where no HVAC contractor license exists, being the company that volunteers a verifiable number is a real differentiator.
Sourcesgc.nh.gov 1oplc.nh.gov 2oplc.nh.gov 3forms.nh.gov 4gc.nh.gov 5
These are common details other guides publish about New Hampshire, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. The Office of Professional Licensure and Certification lists no HVAC or mechanical contractor board. The Mechanical Licensing Board licenses fuel gas fitters, plumbers, voluntary oil heating technicians and mechanical business entities. RSA 153:29 names the nine endorsements, and none of them is HVAC.
A fuel gas installation technician endorsement. RSA 153:27 defines that role as installing piping from the gas meter or first stage regulator plus the heating and water heating equipment itself. Mec 305.03 requires 100 hours of approved training and 1,000 working hours within 60 consecutive months.
Scope. The service technician endorsement covers servicing and repair, and its rule adds troubleshooting control circuits, safety and sensing devices, gas pressure measurement, ignition safety systems, flue gas analysis and carbon monoxide detection. It requires 140 training hours and 2,000 working hours. RSA 153:29 III bars work outside your endorsement.
OPLC charges the same amount for application, renewal and reinstatement. A fuel gas piping installer, installation technician or service technician license is $198.00. A hearth installer is $198.00. A domestic appliance technician is $176.00. A trainee is $88.00. A mechanical business entity license is $275.00.
Yes, if you operate as a corporation, partnership or limited liability company doing fuel gas fitting or plumbing. RSA 153:29-a covers the business entity license. The application requires proof of good standing with the secretary of state, proof of liability insurance, and a list of every licensed employee with their New Hampshire license number.
Every two years. RSA 310:8 makes licenses valid for two years from issuance. Mec 404.01 requires no fewer than 6 hours of continuing education per endorsement each two year cycle from a board approved provider, which OPLC describes as 3 hours of code update every year.
On vehicles showing your business name with the words mechanical, plumbing, heating, fuel gas or propane, in type at least 2 inches high on the front left and front right sides. Also on televised ads, billboards, press ads, visual advertising on the internet, business cards and stationery, and stated once in any radio or audio advertising.
RSA 310:13 treats it as unlawful practice, including advertising as licensed without holding the license. The board may impose a fine up to the greater of the economic benefit gained or $10,000 for each offense, with each violation a separate offense. Courts may also enjoin the activity without bond.
There is a defined path. RSA 310:17 requires OPLC to license holders of an active out of state license in good standing where the requirements are substantially similar. The reciprocity list covers fuel gas installation technician, service technician, piping installer, hearth technician, domestic appliance technician, and journeyman and master plumber.
Only if you touch refrigerant. EPA rules at 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F, under Clean Air Act Section 608 require certification for technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release ozone depleting refrigerants. Add a heat pump or air conditioning line to your services and the requirement applies.
The program is voluntary under RSA 153:16-b, and the fee is $50.00. It is not a license to do the work. But no one may hold themselves out as a certified heating installer or service person without it, and falsely claiming it in advertising or signage is a violation, or a misdemeanor for a business.
It varies by city. Manchester issues a separate Heating Permit through Planning and Community Development, printed and mailed with fees. Nashua's Building Safety Department issues Mechanical trade permits with separate residential and commercial forms. Concord uses a Citizen Self Service portal with Residential Mechanical and Commercial Mechanical permit types.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.