North Dakota · HVAC licensing · official-source guide
North Dakota issues no HVAC trade license. The Secretary of State, acting as registrar of contractors, licenses any contractor whose job exceeds $4,000 in cost, value or price, in one of four classes. Mechanical skill licensing is municipal: Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot run master and journeyman HVAC installer licenses tied to a shared reciprocity exam.
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North Dakota issues no heating, ventilation and air conditioning trade license. There is no state HVAC board, no statewide mechanical contractor license, and no state journeyman or master HVAC card. What the state licenses is contracting itself. The Secretary of State acts as registrar of contractors under North Dakota Century Code chapter 43-07. Any person engaged in the business of construction, repair, alteration, dismantling or demolition must hold a contractor license when the cost, value or price per job exceeds $4,000. That wording pulls in a furnace changeout, a rooftop unit swap, a duct retrofit and a walk-in cooler install exactly as it pulls in a bridge or a pipeline. The statute names subcontractors, general contractors, public contractors and nonresident contractors, so an HVAC company working under a general contractor needs its own license rather than shelter under someone else's. The trade skill side of HVAC is handled by cities instead of the state. Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot each run master and journeyman HVAC installer licensing through their building inspection offices, and they honor a shared reciprocity examination. That split is what catches HVAC contractors arriving from states with a single unified mechanical board. In North Dakota you carry a state contractor license sized to the dollar value of your jobs, plus a city license for the right to perform mechanical work inside that city. Neither one substitutes for the other, and holding only the state contractor license does not let you pull a mechanical permit in Bismarck.
Sourcessos.nd.gov 1ndlegis.gov 2bismarcknd.gov 3fargond.gov 4
North Dakota issues contractor licenses in four classes, and the class caps the value of any single contract project you may take. A Class A license carries no limit on the value of a single project and costs $450. Class B is capped at $500,000 per job and costs $300. Class C is capped at $300,000 per job and costs $225. Class D is capped at $100,000 per job and costs $100. Renewal fees are far lower: $90 for Class A, $60 for Class B, $45 for Class C and $30 for Class D. Most residential HVAC shops in North Dakota never write a single contract over $100,000, so Class D covers them. A commercial mechanical contractor bidding a school or a hospital mechanical package needs to look at the value of that one contract, not annual revenue, and buy the class that covers it. The cap is per job. If you hold Class D and sign a $140,000 mechanical contract, the license does not cover that project. You can move up at renewal by applying under a different class and paying the issuance fee for the class you want rather than the renewal fee. A nonprofit constructing or rehabilitating a single-family dwelling that will be given away or sold below appraised value to a low-income person is not charged a license or renewal fee. Twenty-five percent of the money collected funds administration of the chapter and the rest goes to the state general fund.
Sourcessos.nd.gov 1ndlegis.gov 2
Sort out the business entity before touching the contractor application. A sole proprietor may need a registered trade name, a general partnership may need a fictitious partnership name, and every other structure including a corporation or limited liability company must register with the Secretary of State. The name on the contractor application has to match the registered business name. The application itself runs through the FirstStop portal and is submitted under oath. It must contain a statement of your experience and qualifications as a contractor and specify the class of license you want. An applicant must be at least eighteen. Two attachments do the heavy lifting. The first is a certificate of liability insurance issued in the same name you are requesting for the contractor license, listing the North Dakota Secretary of State, 600 E Boulevard Ave, Dept 108, Bismarck, ND 58505 as the certificate holder. The second is proof of workers compensation: a current certificate of payment from Workforce Safety and Insurance if you have employees residing in North Dakota, or a letter of good standing from WSI if you do not and do not meet the tests of significant contact. The registrar may also require criminal history record information from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at your expense. The registrar has fifteen days from application to investigate eligibility, and no license issues until all documentation and the fee arrive. If the registrar declines, you get written notice and ten days to cure, then an appeal to the district court in your county of residence or in Burleigh County.
Sourcessos.nd.gov 1ndlegis.gov 2
North Dakota does not have a private workers compensation market. Workforce Safety and Insurance is the sole provider and administrator, and state law does not allow private insurers to underwrite workers compensation in North Dakota. An HVAC contractor moving in from Minnesota or Montana cannot bring an existing policy across the border and satisfy the requirement. You open a WSI account. The law requires employers, with limited exceptions, to insure all employees before they begin working, and that includes full-time, part-time, seasonal and occasional workers. A service tech hired for one busy August counts. You may not deduct any portion of the premium from an employee's wages, and no agreement by an employee to waive rights to compensation under Title 65 is valid. Out-of-state mechanical contractors get pulled in by a significant contacts test. Coverage with WSI is required if any employee earns or would be expected to earn twenty-five percent or more of gross annual wage from that employer for services rendered in North Dakota, or if twenty-five percent of the employer's gross annual payroll is payable for services rendered in North Dakota, or if the employer hires an employee in North Dakota for work in North Dakota. Working uninsured is expensive in a predictable way. If you have employees and no active WSI account you are uninsured, you will be billed premium for the period you were not insured, and you may face penalties and interest for failing to secure coverage. The contractor license renewal also requires you to certify that WSI premiums are paid.
Because North Dakota has no state mechanical board, the cities built their own answer. The City of Fargo proctors what it calls the State of North Dakota Reciprocity Exams for both master and journeyman HVAC licenses. A successfully completed exam is valid in all participating jurisdictions within the state. The catch is stated in the same breath: a mechanical, fuel gas, or dual license must still be obtained in each jurisdiction where you are employed. Passing the test once does not hand you the right to work statewide. It hands you the right to buy a license in each city without retesting. Bismarck describes the same arrangement from its side. Its mechanical licensing exam allows reciprocity with the municipalities of Grand Forks, Fargo and Minot. Minot tells mechanical contractors to either hold a reciprocal license from an approved city or schedule a test with the City of Minot. Two disciplines run in parallel, mechanical and fuel gas, and they are separate exams. A technician can hold journeyman mechanical without holding journeyman fuel gas, which matters when the job is a gas furnace or a gas-fired rooftop unit rather than a split system. Plan this in order. Pass the reciprocity exam once in whichever city is convenient, keep the passing documentation, then apply city by city as your service area grows. Bismarck lets legacy license holders who tested before July 1, 2017 keep working in the Bismarck jurisdiction under a Mechanical Legacy license, but any legacy holder who wants to work outside the city or change class or discipline has to take the current exam.
Bismarck codifies mechanical contractor licensing in Chapter 4-10 of its building regulations. Anyone who undertakes or performs HVAC work, or any mechanical installation, alteration or repair with or for another, must obtain a mechanical permit from the city. Work must be done by a current master HVAC installer, by a journeyman under the direct supervision of a master, or by an apprentice under direct supervision and control of a master or journeyman. Experience thresholds are written into the ordinance. A master applicant needs at least two years, stated as 3,400 work hours, as a licensed journeyman HVAC installer licensed by Bismarck or another governmental jurisdiction, or must already be a master in a reciprocal jurisdiction. A journeyman applicant needs at least four years, stated as 7,600 work hours, of apprentice experience. Accredited trade school counts on a sliding scale: an applicant with at least 1,020 hours of HVAC or pipe fitting instruction multiplies course hours by 1 for a D, 1.5 for a C, 1.75 for a B and 2 for an A. Fees are set in section 4-10-10. Class A master costs a $35 application fee and $125 annually. Class B journeyman costs $35 plus $75 annually. Class C apprentice costs $15 plus $35 annually. The administrative fee and each year of exemption fee are $125 each, and the late fee is twenty percent of the application or annual fee. Licenses expire December 31 and go late after January 31. Every license holder owes four hours of continuing education per year. The apprentice to journeyman ratio is five to one, with at least one journeyman at each project under the direction of a master. Regular exams run in June and December, and a second failure means a six month wait.
Fargo splits the work between two departments. Building Inspections runs the exams, and the Auditor's office issues the license. For the journeyman mechanical exam and the journeyman fuel gas exam, an applicant must show at least 6,000 hours of practical experience. Proof comes as a professional letter of qualifications on company letterhead, signed by an employer or a master, listing the type of work, the date range of employment and the exact number of hours worked. A certificate of education with a degree audit report or transcript also works, but education can only account for half the required hours, so hands-on proof is still needed. Journeyman exams cost $40, charged per exam appointment, so taking both the mechanical and fuel gas exams the same day still costs $40. Master applicants must show 6,000 hours of journeyman experience plus 4,000 hours of practical experience for a total of 10,000 hours. Master exams cost $125 per appointment on the same one-appointment rule. Exams are open book, four hours each, and cell phones go to the front desk. Fargo does not sell code books. As of January 1, 2026 the exams are based solely on the 2024 International Mechanical Code and the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code. A failed exam means thirty days before a retest. Fargo city license fees are separate from exam fees. A Journeyman Heating license costs $100 and is good for three years. A Master Heating license costs $125 per year. Both expire December 31, and applications are filed through the city permit portal.
Sourcesfargond.gov 1fargond.gov 2
Minot spells out the order of operations plainly for anyone setting up a mechanical business there. Handle the Secretary of State business and contractor requirements first, receive the state contractor license with its class letter, then apply for the city license. Building Safety tells mechanical contractors to either possess a reciprocal license from their own city or schedule a test with the City of Minot. Once the state license and the reciprocal are in hand, the city mechanical license is applied for through the city permit portal. Minot license fees are flat and identical on initial issue and annual renewal. Journeyman Gas Pipe costs $50 initially and $50 per year. Journeyman Heating is also $50 and $50. Master Gas Pipe costs $130 and $130. Master Heating costs $130 and $130. A Provisional Mechanical license costs $130 and $130. Tests are $75 each until a passing grade is achieved. Reciprocals do not require a Minot test but still require proof of a passed test from an approved city, so keep the exam certificate. Minot also seats a Heating and Air Conditioning Board of four members appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council: one city master HVAC installer, one city journeyman HVAC installer and two lay members with no connection to the trade, with the City Engineer as advisor. The board hears appeals from any interpretation by the Mechanical Inspector under Chapter 17 of the Minot Code of Ordinances, and its ruling binds both the inspector and the appealing contractor. The same board examines applicants for master and journeyman installer licenses and issues the certificate of competency.
Sourcesminotnd.gov 1minotnd.gov 2
North Dakota runs contractor licenses on a fixed calendar rather than an anniversary date. The contractor year is March second through March first, and every licensee must renew on or before March 1. The renewal is more than a fee payment. You must file a listing of each project, contract or subcontract you completed in North Dakota during the preceding calendar year that exceeded $50,000, along with the nature of the work on each. The registrar forwards that list to the state tax commissioner. You also certify that all payroll taxes, including North Dakota income tax, Workforce Safety and Insurance premiums and unemployment insurance premiums, have been paid at the time of renewal, and you supply a current certificate of liability insurance unless the registrar already holds a valid one. Renewal fees are $90 for Class A, $60 for Class B, $45 for Class C and $30 for Class D. Missing the deadline has teeth. A contractor who fails to file by March 1 is not in good standing and is deemed unlicensed within the meaning of section 43-07-02, which is the same status as never having applied. The registrar mails notice within sixty days after March 1. You then have until June 1 to renew by paying a $50 penalty fee, filing the application and paying the renewal fee. After June 1 an unrenewed license is expired. Changing class at renewal is allowed on payment of the issuance fee for the new class. A name change must be reported within ten days on a board form with a $10 fee.
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North Dakota's legislature mandated that the state building code consist of the International Building Code, International Residential Code, International Mechanical Code and International Fuel Gas Code. The Department of Commerce adopts and updates it in cooperation with the State Building Code Advisory Committee, which by statute includes a representative appointed by the North Dakota Association of Mechanical Contractors. On September 11, 2025 eligible cities and counties, together with eligible members of that committee, adopted the 2024 updates to the IBC, IRC, IMC and IFGC with proposed amendments, plus the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code and International Existing Building Code. The new North Dakota State Building Code took effect January 1, 2026. Fargo moved its HVAC exams to the 2024 IMC and 2024 IFGC on the same date. Commerce writes the code but does not enforce it. Enforcement belongs to the jurisdictions that elect to adopt and enforce building codes, and a city, county or township that so elects must adopt the state building code, though it may amend it to conform to local needs. Commerce notes that fully chartered home rule cities could adopt something else, but that every jurisdiction currently enforcing a building code has adopted the same individual codes that make up the state code. Two exemptions matter to mechanical work. Buildings that are neither heated nor cooled are exempt from the chapter, as are buildings used for agricultural purposes unless they are a place of human habitation or used by the public. That is why a cold storage shed and a working machine shed sit outside the code an HVAC contractor answers to.
Federal refrigerant rules apply in North Dakota no matter which city licenses your technicians, and they apply even in jurisdictions that run no mechanical licensing at all. EPA regulations at 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F, issued 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 into the atmosphere must be certified. Certification is by type. There is a Core section, Type 1 for small appliances, Type 2 for high-pressure equipment and Type 3 for low-pressure equipment, each with its own test topics. A residential HVAC technician working split systems and heat pumps is in Type 2 territory. A technician servicing a low-pressure centrifugal chiller in a Fargo office tower needs Type 3. EPA does not issue the certification cards itself. Certifying organizations run the programs, administer the tests and issue the cards, and EPA publishes the list of approved technician certification programs along with the steps for replacing a lost card. For a North Dakota HVAC contractor this is a hiring and documentation issue rather than a licensing one. Nothing in the Secretary of State contractor application or the Bismarck, Fargo and Minot license applications asks for it, so no state or city clerk will catch a lapse for you. Keep copies of each technician's card in the employee file, check the type against the equipment they are dispatched to, and confirm certification before a new hire touches a recovery machine.
Sourcesepa.gov
North Dakota attaches three separate consequences to unlicensed contracting, and the money one is usually the worst. First, a person acting in the capacity of a contractor without a license is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Second, whether or not criminal charges follow, the registrar may assess a civil penalty after written notice of intent, in an amount up to three times the license fee set in section 43-07-07. On a Class A license that is a ceiling of $1,350 on top of the license fee itself, and the civil penalty must be assessed and collected before any license is issued. Third, and most damaging to a working contractor, an unlicensed person may not maintain any claim, action, suit or proceeding in any court of this state related to that person's business or capacity as a contractor. You cannot sue to collect on the job. A separate offense, construction fraud, covers receiving payment by intentional deception, taking payment for materials and willfully failing to pay the supplier, and willfully abandoning a project after payment. Abandonment is presumed when a contractor fails to substantially commence work within sixty days of a written start date or ninety days of the contract date, or fails to complete within ninety days of a written completion date or one hundred eighty days of the contract date. Grading follows the money: under $10,000 is a class C felony, more than $10,000 up to $50,000 is a class B felony, and more than $50,000 is a class A felony. Returning all payment before charges are filed is a defense in defined circumstances.
Sourcesndlegis.gov
North Dakota does not impose a blanket statewide rule forcing an HVAC license number onto every truck and every advertisement, but there are firm places it must show. Section 43-07-24 requires a contractor applying for a building permit to supply the permit issuing official with that contractor's license number, and the official enters the number on the permit. A homeowner acting as general contractor on their own property, even when exempt from licensing, must supply the license number of each subcontractor doing work covered by the permit before inspection. The Attorney General's consumer guidance goes further on paper you hand the customer: the contractor's business information and license number should appear on the contract, and the contract should include the name and license number of any subcontractors and how they will be paid. There is one hard criminal line worth knowing if your HVAC company also touches water piping. Where a plumbing license is required, no person offering plumbing contracting services may advertise as a plumbing contractor, master plumber or journeyman plumber unless the person employs a licensed journeyman plumber or is a licensed master plumber, and any such advertisement must contain the appropriate license number. A first conviction is a class B misdemeanor with a fine capped at $100 and no imprisonment. A second conviction is a class A misdemeanor with a fine up to $1,000. A third or subsequent conviction carries a fine up to $1,000 or up to thirty days, or both. Separately, a company conducting temporary or transient business in North Dakota needs a Transient Merchant license from the Attorney General, a $200 application fee and a bond, and every representative must carry a copy.
Sourcesndlegis.gov 1attorneygeneral.nd.gov 2ndlegis.gov 3attorneygeneral.nd.gov 4
The public lookup is FirstStop, the Secretary of State's business and licensing portal, where anyone can search contractors registered in North Dakota and see whether a license is in good standing. The Attorney General's consumer page tells homeowners to do exactly that before hiring, and to also check the Attorney General's list of licensed transient merchants when the contractor is not originally from the local area. By statute the registrar keeps a complete indexed record of applications, licenses, current-year certificates, revocations and expirations, open to public inspection during office hours, and on request supplies city and county enforcement officials with a list of licensed contractors. The Secretary of State accepts complaints against contractors. A verified complaint under section 43-07-14 can charge abandonment after a deposit, diversion of funds received for a specific contract, fraudulent or deceptive acts or misrepresentation injuring one or more persons in a total amount exceeding $3,000, false or misleading statements in an application, failure to refund an advance payment after abandonment is presumed, or engaging in work without any trade or professional license required by local, state or federal law. That last item is the one an HVAC contractor should read twice: skipping a Bismarck or Fargo mechanical license is grounds for a complaint against the state contractor license. After an adjudicative proceeding the registrar may suspend or revoke, order a civil penalty of not more than $1,000, order restitution of not more than $5,000, and suspend for up to sixty months. A revoked licensee may not be relicensed for a period of up to five years.
Sourcesfirststop.sos.nd.gov 1sos.nd.gov 2attorneygeneral.nd.gov 3ndlegis.gov 4
The Secretary of State is explicit that a contractor license does not cover specialized trade licensing, and points HVAC contractors toward the State Electrical Board, the State Plumbing Board, the Department of Environmental Quality for asbestos abatement and the Attorney General for transient merchant licensing. Plumbing in North Dakota is defined narrowly: installation, maintenance, extension, alteration and removal of piping, fixtures, appliances and appurtenances connected with bringing water into and using it in buildings, and removing liquids and water-carried wastes. Hydronic and refrigerant piping is not what that definition reaches, but condensate and makeup water can be. The board licenses master and journeyman plumbers and registers apprentices, and a license is required in any location with a public system of waterworks or sewerage. Statutory ceilings on plumbing fees are $200 for a master certificate and license and $100 for a journeyman, with renewals expiring December 31 and continuing education of at least two credit hours, set at two to four hours within a two-year period. A state plumbing license works anywhere in the state except in cities requiring a municipal license in addition. Electrical work is separate again. The State Electrical Board examines applicants and holds jurisdiction over all electrical installations. A licensee acting as a contractor must show public liability insurance with policy limits of at least $500,000. The exemptions in section 43-09-16 cover installing a nonelectrical system and cover appliance dealers connecting appliances to an existing receptacle, which means dropping a new circuit for a condensing unit is electrical work requiring the electrical license.
North Dakota treats a contractor as the consumer of the materials it installs, and the Tax Commissioner uses an HVAC example to make the point: a contractor who purchases a furnace and then installs it in a home must pay sales tax on the furnace. Real property means land, buildings and items attached to them. Tangible personal property means the equipment and materials you buy. Once you incorporate tangible personal property into real property, the tax liability is yours at purchase, not your customer's at invoice. There is an alternative path. A contractor who does not pay sales tax at purchase can pay use tax instead by giving the seller a Contractor's Certificate, which requires a sales and use tax permit, and then reporting those purchases as items subject to use tax on the sales and use tax return for the period when the purchases were made. City and county sales and use tax applies to the property you purchase, so the local rate where you buy matters. Installing equipment owned by someone else does not shift the burden: the contractor who installs tangible personal property into real property owes the tax unless the owner already paid it. Working for a government agency, hospital, school or other tax-exempt institution does not exempt you either, because the tax attaches to your purchase price. On billing, the tax you paid can be passed to the customer as a materials cost, but it cannot be itemized as a sales tax charge on the customer's invoice. Equipment bought out of state earns credit for tax paid elsewhere, with the difference owed to North Dakota if that state's rate was lower.
Sourcestax.nd.gov
These are common details other guides publish about North Dakota, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. There is no state HVAC trade license and no state mechanical board. The Secretary of State licenses contractors generally, in four classes, once a job exceeds $4,000 in cost, value or price. Master and journeyman HVAC installer licensing is run by cities such as Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot.
It is per job, measured by cost, value or price. If a single HVAC job exceeds $4,000 you must hold a contractor license from the Secretary of State. The statute reaches construction, repair, alteration, dismantling and demolition, and names subcontractors and nonresident contractors, so working under a general contractor does not exempt you.
Pick by the largest single contract you expect to sign, not by annual revenue. Class D is capped at $100,000 per job and costs $100. Class C is capped at $300,000 and costs $225. Class B is capped at $500,000 and costs $300. Class A has no cap and costs $450.
For mechanical work, yes, in cities that license it. Fargo states that a successfully completed reciprocity exam is valid in all participating jurisdictions, but a mechanical, fuel gas, or dual license must still be obtained in each jurisdiction where you are employed. The exam travels. The license does not.
At least 6,000 hours of practical experience, proven with an employer letter on company letterhead signed by an employer or master listing work type, date range and exact hours. A certificate of education plus transcript also counts, but education can cover only half the hours. Master applicants need 10,000 hours total.
Bismarck says its mechanical exam allows reciprocity with Grand Forks, Fargo and Minot. Minot says reciprocals do not require a Minot test but still require proof of a passed test from an approved city, and you then apply for the Minot mechanical license. Master Heating there costs $130 initially and $130 per year.
The contractor year runs March second through March first, so renewal is due on or before March 1 every year regardless of when you first licensed. Miss it and you are deemed unlicensed. You have until June 1 to renew by paying a $50 penalty fee plus the renewal fee. After June 1 the license is expired.
No. Workforce Safety and Insurance is the sole provider, and state law does not allow private insurers to underwrite workers compensation in North Dakota. If any employee earns twenty-five percent or more of annual wages for work in the state, or twenty-five percent of payroll is for North Dakota services, you must open a WSI account.
Yes. Section 608 certification is federal, under 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F, and applies to any technician who maintains, services, repairs or disposes of equipment that could release ozone depleting refrigerants. No North Dakota city or state license application checks it, so track cards yourself by type.
It is a class A misdemeanor. The registrar may also assess a civil penalty of up to three times the applicable license fee, collectible before any license issues. Worst of all, an unlicensed contractor may not maintain any claim, action, suit or proceeding in a North Dakota court related to that contracting business, so you cannot sue to collect.
Not by a general statewide advertising rule for HVAC. It must be given to the permit issuing official when you apply for a building permit, and the Attorney General tells consumers the license number should appear on the contract. If you advertise plumbing services without a plumbing license, that carries its own criminal penalty.
Through FirstStop, the Secretary of State portal, which shows registered contractors and whether a license is in good standing. The Attorney General also tells homeowners to check the transient merchant list when a contractor is not local. The registrar keeps an indexed public record of licenses, revocations and expirations.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.