Who issues the Texas HVAC license
Texas regulates air conditioning and refrigeration contracting from the state capital, not from city hall. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation issues the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor license, and TDLR states that contractors who install, repair, or maintain systems related to air conditioning, refrigeration, or heating must hold that license. TDLR also requires an ACR company to employ an ACR contractor in each permanent location, so a firm running branches in Houston and in Lubbock cannot cover both offices with one licensee. The license belongs to a person and is then assigned to the company that person works for. TDLR writes the license number as title, class, number, endorsement, for example TACL/A/000000/C, and that string is what a Texas property owner looks for on a truck door and on a written proposal. The program runs under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1302 and 16 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 75, both linked from the TDLR laws and rules page for this trade. One Texas rule matters more than most to a growing shop. Since September 1, 2021, Occupations Code Section 1302.304 has barred any Texas municipality from charging a registration fee to a TDLR-licensed air conditioning and refrigeration contractor, although cities may still collect building permit fees. TDLR takes mail at PO Box 12157 in Austin and answers licensing questions at (800) 803-9202 in state or (512) 463-6599.
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Class A and Class B, and what each one lets you sell
Texas splits the contractor license into two classes by equipment size. The Class A license allows you to work on any size unit. The Class B license allows you to work on cooling systems of 25 tons and under, and heating systems of 1.5 million BTUs per hour and under. That ceiling decides which jobs you can bid. A Class B holder can run residential change outs, small office splits, and most strip center rooftop packages that sit at or below 25 tons. A Class B holder cannot take the chiller at a hospital or the large built-up system at a distribution center on the edge of a Texas metro. If you want both classes, you apply for both, and TDLR issues a single document carrying two license numbers. Each of those licenses may only have one endorsement, and both licenses must share the same business affiliation and the same addresses. A Class B holder who wants to move up files the Notice of Change and Duplicate License Request form, pays the change fee of $25, takes the Class A exam and pays the examination fee of $74, and then has to raise insurance limits to the Class A minimums before the upgrade is finished. Choose the class before you build a sales pitch around it. Advertising work your class does not cover is treated as performing outside the license classification, which TDLR handles as a Class B violation carrying $1,000 to $3,500 and possible suspension.
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Endorsements: environmental air, commercial refrigeration, process cooling
A Texas ACR license carries an endorsement that states what kind of conditioning you are licensed to sell. TDLR uses three definitions. Environmental Air Conditioning means treating air to control temperature, humidity, cleanliness, ventilation, and circulation to meet human comfort requirements, and TDLR notes that environmental includes central air conditioning and heating. Commercial Refrigeration means using mechanical or absorption equipment to control temperature or humidity to satisfy the intended use of a specific space. Process Cooling or Heating covers controlling temperature, humidity, or cleanliness solely for production requirements or for the proper operation of equipment. TDLR limits the commercial refrigeration and process side to coolers, freezers, ice machines, and equipment that provides temperature and humidity controls. The endorsement codes that appear in your license number are E for Environmental Air Conditioning, R for Commercial Refrigeration and Process Cooling and Heating, and C for the combined endorsement covering both E and R. Each license may only have one endorsement, so the combined C code is how a single license covers both sides of the work. The endorsement you pick also picks your exam. TDLR offers separate contractor examinations named TX Environmental Air A, TX Environmental Air B, TX Commercial Refrigeration A, and TX Commercial Refrigeration B. Adding an endorsement later means the Notice of Change and Duplicate License Request form, a $25 change fee, and the relevant examination. A Texas restaurant group hiring for walk-in coolers is looking for the R or C code, not the E code.
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Experience TDLR will accept, and the four exceptions
TDLR sets two paths to eligibility and both are counted in months. The first path is at least 48 months of practical experience in air conditioning and refrigeration related work under the supervision of a licensed air conditioning and refrigeration contractor, earned in the past 72 months. The second path shortens that: hold a technician certification for the past 12 months and show at least 36 months of practical experience under a licensed ACR contractor within the past 48 months. Both paths are documented on an Experience Verification Form, and TDLR is direct about who fills it out. The person or persons who supervised the experience complete the form. The applicant does not. Multiple forms are allowed when the work spanned several supervisors, and the completed forms go in with the application. Four exceptions can substitute for practical experience. A degree, diploma, or certification in air conditioning and refrigeration qualifies. So does being a licensed engineer or holding a degree in mechanical engineering. Military training in air conditioning and refrigeration qualifies. So does employment by an industrial operation performing process cooling or heating work for that operation, which matters along the Gulf Coast refining and petrochemical corridor. TDLR keeps a separate page listing the exemptions to practical experience requirements. You must be at least 18 years old to apply for the contractor license, and the whole application, exam included, has to finish within one year of the date the application was filed.
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The exam, run through PSI
Texas runs the contractor examination through PSI, and you cannot schedule until TDLR clears you. The order is fixed. Submit the application with proof of qualifications first. TDLR staff verify that you meet the eligibility requirements. Once that is confirmed, PSI emails you an eligibility notice with instructions for registering and scheduling the examination. The test you sit for depends on the class you applied for and the endorsements you selected on the application. TDLR lists four contractor endorsement examinations: TX Commercial Refrigeration A, TX Environmental Air A, TX Commercial Refrigeration B, and TX Environmental Air B. Applicants for the Certified Technician credential take a separate TX ACR Certified Technician Examination instead. Failing is recoverable and the turnaround is short. TDLR says you may schedule a retake with PSI within 24 to 48 hours of a failed exam, and you may keep retaking the written exam until your application expires. The application expires one year from the date it was submitted, and after that you file a new application before you can test again. TDLR points candidates to the Candidate Information Bulletin for the passing score, the number of questions, the time allowed, the reference material list, exam fees, and exam site locations, and publishes a Spanish version as well. TDLR also posts air conditioning and refrigeration exam statistics by fiscal year, so you can see pass and fail rates before you sit down.
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What the license actually costs
Texas keeps the state fees small compared with the insurance you have to carry. A new Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Application costs $115, and the license is valid for one year from the date of issue. An applicant who already holds an equivalent license from another state or municipality files the same application and pays the same $115, which TDLR describes as non-refundable. Renewal costs $65 per year. Changes carry their own fees. Adding an endorsement to an existing license runs $25 with the Notice of Change and Duplicate License Request form. Changing business information on the license is also $25, and TDLR spells out that doing both at once totals $50, plus a new certificate of insurance when the business name changes. Upgrading from Class B to Class A costs the $25 change fee plus a $74 examination fee. Requesting a waiver of insurance while keeping the license active carries no fee on the renewal page, though the FAQ directs a licensee who wants to hold an active license while out of the industry to mail the form with a $25 revision fee. On the workforce side, a technician registration application is $20 and a certified technician application is $50, each valid one year. Budget the recurring items as an annual $65 renewal plus eight hours of approved continuing education, and budget the insurance separately because it is the larger number.
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Insurance minimums, and the waiver that blocks public work
Texas does not finish your license until the insurance is on file. After you pass the examination you submit a Certificate of Insurance showing both the license holder name and the business name, and you must maintain commercial general liability insurance at all times while the license is active. The policy has to come from an insurance provider authorized to sell liability insurance in Texas. The minimums scale with the class. A Class A license requires $300,000 per occurrence for property damage and bodily injury, $600,000 aggregate for property damage and bodily injury, and $300,000 aggregate for products and completed operations. A Class B license requires $100,000 per occurrence, $200,000 aggregate, and $100,000 products and completed operations aggregate. If you hold both classes, one policy can satisfy both as long as it meets the Class A minimums. There is a waiver, and it has teeth. A licensee who no longer provides services to the public, or who is employed under another contractor, can request a waiver of insurance and keep the license active by filing the Notice of Change and Duplicate License Request form with a supporting explanation and confirmation of employment. A licensee holding that waiver may not perform or offer to perform ACR contracting for the general public. TDLR treats failing to maintain insurance, buying it from an unauthorized carrier, refusing to show proof, or contracting with the public while holding a waiver as Class C violations carrying $2,000 to $5,000 and up to revocation.
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Renewal, the eight CE hours, and late fee multipliers
A Texas ACR contractor license runs one year and renewal has two parts. You complete eight hours of continuing education, including one hour of instruction in Texas state law and rules that regulate the conduct of licensees, and you submit the renewal application with the $65 fee. TDLR advises starting roughly 30 to 60 days before expiration so the license does not lapse mid-process. The coursework only counts if the provider is approved by the department. Repeating the same course does not add hours, and hours from a non-approved provider do not count at all. Reporting is the provider's job, not yours, but you can confirm your hours on the Continuing Education Course Search site, and you must keep your completion certificates for one year and hand them to the department on request. If the license expires, you stop working. TDLR states plainly that you may not engage in air conditioning and refrigeration contracting while your license is expired. Late renewal is priced in multiples. Expired 90 days or less costs one and one half times the normal renewal fee. Expired more than 90 days but less than 18 months costs two times the normal fee. Expired at least 18 months but less than three years requires executive director approval on a written request form and still costs two times the fee. For a late renewal the continuing education must have been completed within the one year period immediately before the renewal date.
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Registered technicians and certified technicians
Texas registers the people who work under you, and the rules shape how you hire. Any person who assists a licensed ACR contractor in performing air conditioning and refrigeration maintenance or repair work must register as a technician. Registration costs $20, the applicant must be at least 16 years old, and the registration is valid one year. Technicians work under the supervision of a licensed ACR contractor and may not advertise air conditioning and refrigeration services under their own name. Certified technician is the higher voluntary tier and it costs $50 with a minimum age of 18, also valid one year. Two routes qualify someone. One is 24 months of ACR related work under the supervision of a licensed ACR contractor, verified by that supervisor rather than by the applicant. The other is completing a department approved certification training program consisting of 2,000 hours of combined instruction and practical experience, with the application reaching TDLR within 48 months of finishing the program. Military experience can be combined with or used as part of the experience requirement with a Military Supplemental Application Form. Only people who hold the designation may call themselves certified technicians, and TDLR treats using that title without meeting the requirements as a Class B violation carrying $1,000 to $3,500. Holding a certified technician credential for 12 months also shortens the contractor experience path from 48 months to 36.
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Advertising and license display rules Texas actually enforces
Texas does not leave license display to custom. TDLR publishes a penalty schedule that names each display failure and prices it. Leaving the license number out of an advertisement that requires it is a violation of rule 75.71(h). Leaving department information off a proposal, invoice, contract, or the sign displayed in your place of business violates 75.71(i), as does omitting the license number from a proposal or invoice, or omitting the company name, address, and phone number from those documents. Failing to display, or incorrectly displaying, the company name and license number on vehicles that require it violates 75.71(g), and so does failing to display the company name and license number on a job site sign visible from the street. TDLR groups all of these as Class A advertising and public notice violations with a penalty range of $500 to $1,000. Failing to provide an invoice to the consumer sits one tier higher as a Class B records violation at $1,000 to $3,500. Two practical consequences follow for a Texas shop selling work. Your TACL number belongs on the website, the truck lettering, the yard sign, and every estimate and invoice, not just on the wall of the office. And your technicians cannot advertise air conditioning and refrigeration services themselves, because TDLR restricts advertising to the licensed contractor.
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What unlicensed HVAC work costs in Texas
TDLR sorts air conditioning and refrigeration violations into four classes and publishes the money attached to each. Class A runs $500 to $1,000. Class B runs $1,000 to $3,500 and can carry up to a one year full suspension. Class C runs $2,000 to $5,000 and ranges from a one year probated suspension up to revocation. Class D is $5,000 and revocation. Performing or offering to perform air conditioning or refrigeration contracting without a license is a Class C unlicensed violation citing Occupations Code Sections 1302.251(a) and 1302.252(a). Collecting a fee for air conditioning or refrigeration work performed without a license is separately listed under 1302.252(b). Note the phrase offering to perform. In Texas the advertisement itself can be the violation, before a single unit is installed. Related Class C entries cover subcontracting an entire job to an unlicensed person, subcontracting system design to an unlicensed person, using helpers who are not registered or certified technicians, and knowingly performing work on behalf of an unlicensed company. Working while your license is expired, or after renewal has been denied, is a Class B violation. So is performing work outside the classification or the endorsement your license carries. Class D covers failing to comply with a previous order, obtaining a license by fraud or false representation, falsifying documents submitted to the department, cheating on an examination, and failing to cooperate with a complaint investigation.
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The city layer: notification, permits, and permit agents
Holding the TDLR license is the start of the city conversation, not the end of it. TDLR lists engaging in air conditioning contracting in a city without notifying that city of your license as a Class A administrative violation under Occupations Code Section 1302.262(a), priced at $500 to $1,000. So before you run ads in a new Texas municipality, tell that municipality you hold the license. A second Texas requirement catches growing companies. TDLR lists failing to furnish municipalities a list of authorized agents who may pull permits under the license as a Class A violation under rules 75.70(a)(6) and 75.71(a)(5). If your service manager or a dispatcher pulls permits in your name, that person has to be on the list you gave the city. Permits themselves sit higher in the penalty schedule. Failing to obtain a permit is a Class B mechanical integrity violation at $1,000 to $3,500, citing Occupations Code Sections 1302.401(a)(2) and 1302.401(b)(1) along with rule 75.100(e)(1). Failing to comply with a municipal code or ordinance is a Class C violation at $2,000 to $5,000. What a city cannot do is charge you for the privilege of registering. Occupations Code Section 1302.304 has prohibited municipal registration fees for TDLR-licensed ACR contractors since September 1, 2021, while leaving building permit fees intact.
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Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin specifics
Each large Texas metro runs its own front door. Houston requires a licensed contractor working inside city limits to register the state license with the jurisdiction and buy a permit for the work, under the Houston amendments to the 2021 Uniform Mechanical Code. Registration takes Form CE-1307, a copy of the state license card, official photo identification, and a certificate of insurance naming the licensee and license number as insured, with the City of Houston Mechanical Section listed as certificate holder. Houston lists processing time at 24 hours and a one year valid period with renewal required. On the job side, altering an existing HVAC system in Houston requires a mechanical permit valid 180 days, with a fee of 2 percent of total job cost plus $47.00 and a $33.56 administrative fee. Dallas requires a mechanical contractor registration through Building Inspection, and the city states that mechanical certificates of registration expire when the state license expires, with the license holder appearing in person for the original registration with the current pocket license and photo identification. San Antonio processes a Texas Mechanical Contractor Registration through its BuildSA portal under city code Chapter 10 Section 10-114, and requires registrants to keep a general liability certificate on file with the building official listing The City of San Antonio, 1901 S Alamo St., as certificate holder, with coverage amounts verified through TDLR. Austin issues Mechanical Change Out and Mechanical Repair stand alone permits through its AB+C portal and requires contractor registration with the city first.
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Reciprocity and moving a license into Texas
Texas has formal agreements with exactly two states. TDLR states that Texas reciprocates with South Carolina and Georgia. A Texas licensee heading to either state contacts TDLR and requests a letter of good standing, then works with the Georgia Board of Conditioned Air Contractors or the South Carolina Residential Builders Commission for their forms and requirements. Someone already licensed in South Carolina or Georgia who wants a Texas license goes through the TDLR out of state applicants process. Everyone else follows a review rather than a straight swap. If you hold the equivalent of an ACR contractor license from another state or municipality, you file the standard Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Application with the non-refundable $115 fee, and you include a copy of the current license, a list of the requirements you met to obtain it, the date it was issued, and how long you have held it. TDLR reviews that package against the Texas requirements and decides how much of the Texas process still applies, which can include taking a Texas licensing examination. Experience travels better than the license itself. TDLR accepts air conditioning and refrigeration related experience earned in states or municipalities whose licensing requirements are substantially equivalent to those of Texas. The Texas insurance minimums apply either way once the license is active, and the class you request still sets which limits you must carry.
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EPA Section 608 sits on top of the Texas license
The TDLR license is state law. Refrigerant handling is federal law, and both apply on the same Texas job. 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. EPA describes four certification areas: Core, Type I for small appliances, Type II for high-pressure equipment, and Type III for low-pressure equipment. EPA does not issue the certification cards itself, and points technicians to approved certifying organizations both to certify and to replace a lost card. Nothing in the Texas license substitutes for that certification, and nothing in the federal certification substitutes for the TDLR license. A crew in Texas needs the contractor license held by the company, a registration or certification for each technician, and Section 608 certification for whoever touches refrigerant. Texas adds its own refrigerant condition. TDLR states that a refrigerant or refrigerant substitute may be used in environmental air conditioning systems in Texas if it is classified as nonflammable under Safety Classification A1 of ASHRAE Standard 34, recognized by EPA as nonflammable A1 by rule or notice of acceptability, and classified as acceptable under the EPA SNAP program. TDLR gives R438A as a refrigerant that meets those conditions.
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How a Texas customer checks your license
Assume the homeowner checks. TDLR runs a public License Data Search that returns active licenses only, and it is the page a Texas property owner lands on when they want to confirm a contractor. The search takes either a license type or a license number. Two entries in the license type list matter to this trade: Air Conditioning Contractors and A/C Technicians. The site also offers downloadable license files, which is how larger Texas property managers and home warranty companies screen vendor lists in bulk rather than one lookup at a time. Because the search returns active licenses only, an expired license reads to a customer as no license at all. That is a sales problem before it is a compliance problem, and it is one more reason to renew ahead of the expiration date rather than at it. TDLR also publishes disciplinary actions and complaint statistics for air conditioning and refrigeration contractors, so an enforcement order follows the license in public. Make the lookup easy to complete. Put the full license number in the TACL format on your website, on estimates, and on invoices, because a customer holding TACL/A/000000/C can verify you in one search, while a customer holding only a company name may not find you at all. TDLR also takes consumer complaints against licensed and unlicensed operators through the same site.
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