Washington · HVAC licensing · official-source guide
Washington licenses HVAC through the Department of Labor and Industries, not a mechanical board. Every HVAC business must register as a construction contractor with L&I, and any work on equipment operated by electric current also requires an electrical contractor license with the HVAC/refrigeration 06A or restricted 06B specialty, plus certified electricians on the crew.
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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.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, known statewide as L&I, controls who may sell and perform HVAC work in Washington. There is no separate Washington HVAC contractor license issued by a mechanical board. Instead L&I requires two credentials that stack on top of each other. First, every construction contractor must register with L&I before it can bid, advertise, or perform work, and HVAC is one of the 63 contractor specialties L&I recognizes. Second, chapter 19.28 RCW makes it unlawful to advertise, offer to do work, submit a bid, or carry on the business of installing or maintaining equipment operated by electric current without an electrical contractor license issued by L&I. Almost every furnace, heat pump, rooftop unit, and walk-in cooler in Washington is equipment operated by electric current, so an HVAC company holding only contractor registration is limited to work that touches no electrical connection. The pairing most Washington HVAC firms carry is a specialty contractor registration plus an HVAC/refrigeration 06A electrical contractor license with a matching administrator certificate. Cities do not issue a competing HVAC license, but they do issue mechanical permits and a few run their own electrical inspection program under state authority. Knowing which of the two L&I credentials covers a given task is the difference between a clean inspection and a citation, and it also decides which of your technicians can be sent alone to a service call.
L&I splits registered construction contractors into two classifications, and the choice changes your bond and your reach. A general contractor may perform most types of construction work and may hire subcontractors across multiple specialties. A specialty contractor may only perform work in the specialty it registered in and may not hire subcontractors at all. HVAC is one of the 63 specialties L&I regulates, listed alongside roofing, painting, tree removal, and mobile home set-up. Registering as an HVAC specialty contractor costs less in bond, $15,000 against $30,000 for a general contractor, but it limits what you can sign your name to. An HVAC company that also wants to frame a mechanical room, patch roofing around a new curb, or take the whole tenant improvement needs the general classification. RCW 18.27.040 sets both bond figures. One trap catches owners who change their minds later: L&I states that your bond amount cannot be reduced for two years if you switch from general to specialty. To register you must first register the business with the Washington Department of Revenue, obtain the surety bond or an assignment of savings, buy general liability insurance, complete the Application for Contractor Registration, and pay the application fee of $150.20. L&I reports that mailed applications have been taking three to four weeks to process and activate, with the registration card arriving about two weeks later.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2
The HVAC/refrigeration 06A electrical specialty decides how much wiring your technicians may legally touch. WAC 296-46B-920 states that the 06A specialty is not limited by voltage, phase, or amperage. Within that scope an 06A holder may install, repair, replace, and maintain line voltage components inside HVAC and refrigeration equipment, including product illumination luminaires installed within and powered from the system, such as reach-in beverage coolers, frozen food cases, and produce cases, plus new or replaced factory authorized accessories like internally mounted outlets. The 06A may repair, replace, or maintain the internal components of the equipment disconnecting means or controller, so long as that disconnect or controller is not located inside a motor control center or panelboard. It may install short sections of raceway to give physical protection to low-voltage cable, and may repair, replace, or maintain line voltage flexible supply whips not over six feet in length. Class 2 low-voltage control wiring and HVAC telecommunications cabling are covered in all residential occupancies, in other occupancies with no more than three stories on or above grade, and in previously occupied and wired space regardless of height when the work stays restricted to the HVAC system. The 06A may also install a bonding conductor for metal gas piping to an existing accessible grounding electrode conductor when the termination is made outside panelboards and switchboards. The 06A may not install line voltage controllers or disconnect switches external to the equipment, and no unsupervised electrical trainee may work on any part of a system with a circuit rated over 600 volts.
Sourcesapp.leg.wa.gov
Washington also issues a restricted version, HVAC/refrigeration restricted 06B, and it exists for residential and light commercial service work. WAC 296-46B-920 caps the 06B at systems whose primary electrical power connection does not exceed 250 volts single phase or 120 amps. Under that ceiling the 06B may install, repair, replace, and maintain line voltage components within HVAC and refrigeration equipment, and may handle Class 2 low-voltage control wiring and telecommunications in all residential occupancies and in non-residential occupancies with no more than three stories on or above grade. The 06B may not install line voltage controllers or disconnect switches external to the equipment, with one narrow exception. When HVAC or refrigeration equipment is being replaced, the 06B may remove and replace a surface mounted disconnecting means enclosure with a like-in-kind enclosure rated not more than 20 amperes and 120 volts using the existing wiring method, and may install up to ten feet of raceway for physical protection, provided the raceway does not terminate in a panelboard. The 06B is also barred from integrated building control systems other than HVAC systems, and from single stand-alone line voltage equipment such as heat cable, wall heaters, radiant panel heaters, and baseboard heaters. The practical read for a Washington service company is simple. If your trucks only see single family homes and small commercial split systems, the 06B may cover the work. If you quote rooftop units and three phase equipment, your people need the 06A.
Sourcesapp.leg.wa.gov
A license on the company does not cover the person holding the screwdriver. RCW 19.28.161 states that no person may engage in the electrical construction trade without a valid master journey level electrician, journey level electrician, master specialty electrician, or specialty electrician certificate of competency issued by L&I. For an HVAC firm that means every technician performing covered electrical work holds either an 06A or 06B specialty electrician certificate, or holds an electrical training certificate and works under the direct supervision of a certified electrician in that same specialty. The supervision has to match. A certified 06A specialty electrician may supervise a trainee learning 06A work, but an electrician certified in a different specialty may not. Trainees must obtain the electrical training certificate from L&I and renew it every two years. At each renewal the holder gives L&I an accurate list of Washington electrical industry employers for the prior two years and the hours worked for each, and must show 48 hours of approved classroom training covering chapter 19.28 RCW, the National Electrical Code, or electrical theory, or equivalent training taken inside an approved apprenticeship. RCW 19.28.271 adds a rule that catches crews on job sites. The individual must have the certificate of competency, temporary permit, or training certificate in his or her possession along with photo identification while doing the work, and L&I may require by rule that the credential be worn and visibly displayed.
Table 945-1 in WAC 296-46B-945 sets the work experience an HVAC technician must log before Washington will let him test, and it gives two separate numbers for each specialty. For the HVAC/refrigeration 06A certificate, 4,000 hours of work experience makes you eligible for the examination and 4,000 hours are required for certification. For HVAC/refrigeration restricted 06B, 1,000 hours makes you eligible to test and 2,000 hours are required for certification. Those hours must be worked under the direct supervision of an appropriate electrician in the matching specialty, for an employer who keeps at least one qualifying certified electrician on staff. Washington lets a technician climb from the restricted card to the full one. The rule credits the 2,000 hours required for 06B certification toward the 4,000 hours required for 06A certification. That credit does not run further, so 06B hours cannot be applied toward the general journey level electrician examination. Applicants must be at least 16 years old and must complete basic trainee classes sized to the specialty: 24 hours where 2,000 or more but fewer than 4,000 hours of work experience is required, and 48 hours where 4,000 or more hours is required. An electrician arriving from another state applies under RCW 19.28.181, which requires evidence in a form prescribed by L&I affirming qualifications equivalent to those in RCW 19.28.191, and the L&I fee schedule prices a reciprocal electrician application the same as a specialty application.
Sourcesapp.leg.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2app.leg.wa.gov 3app.leg.wa.gov 4
L&I prepares the electrician competency examinations in coordination with the state electrical board and may contract a professional testing agency to develop, administer, and score them. RCW 19.28.201 requires the department to administer the examination at least four times a year to people eligible to take it. The specialty electrician examination, which is what an 06A or 06B candidate sits, is built to determine whether the applicant has the varied general knowledge of technical information and practical procedures identified with specialty electrician status, and whether the applicant is sufficiently familiar with the applicable electrical codes and the L&I rules on electrical installations. A person may take the examination as many times as necessary without limit, and the examination fee is paid to the agency administering the test before each attempt. An HVAC company that wants its own electrical contractor license needs a second credential on the wall. RCW 19.28.041 requires the license applicant to designate someone holding a master journey level electrician certificate, a master specialty electrician certificate in the specialty applied for, or an administrator certificate in that specialty. Master level examinations include questions on safety, the state electrical code, and electrical theory. Contractor registration under chapter 18.27 RCW involves no competency examination at all, which is why registration by itself tells a Washington homeowner nothing about whether the crew can wire a heat pump correctly.
Washington bills an HVAC company on two tracks and you pay both. Contractor registration is $150.20 for the application and $150.20 again at each renewal, whether you renew online, by mail, or in person, and reinstatement after a suspension costs $70.90. The electrical fees sit in WAC 296-46B-909. An electrical contractor license, initial application or renewal, is $353.90 filed in person, by mail, or by fax, and $306.20 when the renewal is completed fully through the online web process. Reinstating a suspended general or specialty electrical contractor license adds $71.50. A specialty electrician application, which includes the original certificate and application processing, is $114.60, of which $44.20 is nonrefundable once the application is submitted. The journey level or specialty electrician examination is $80.30 for a first test or a retest when L&I administers it. A master electrician or administrator first-time examination is $106.70 and the retest is $125.00. An electrical administrator original certificate other than telecommunications is $160.00. Renewals run $106.40 by mail or $92.60 online for a specialty electrician certificate, and $202.20 by mail or $175.70 online for a master electrician or administrator certificate. Late renewal roughly doubles those figures, to $212.90 and $185.30 for an electrician and $404.50 and $351.40 for an administrator. An initial electrical training certificate for an HVAC apprentice is $56.00 by mail or $48.10 online.
Sourceslni.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2
Two separate bonds apply to a Washington HVAC business, and contractors regularly buy only one. RCW 18.27.040 requires a continuous contractor surety bond of $30,000 for a general contractor or $15,000 for a specialty contractor, filed with L&I and written by a surety meeting chapter 48.28 RCW. The alternative L&I accepts is an assignment of account, posted as cash, a certificate of deposit, a time deposit, or a money market account at a bank, savings and loan association, or credit union with a branch in Washington. The bond must carry the bond number and the exact business name on file with L&I, and the original uncorrected document is required rather than a photocopy. Separately, RCW 19.28.041 requires the electrical contractor license application to be accompanied by a bond of $4,000 naming the state of Washington as obligee, or a cash deposit or other negotiable security acceptable to the department. On insurance, L&I requires proof of general liability coverage of either a $50,000 property damage policy plus a $200,000 public liability policy, or a $250,000 combined single limit policy, and certificates are not accepted by email or fax. If the surety bond or the insurance policy is cancelled, RCW 18.27.060 suspends the contractor registration automatically on the effective date of the impairment, and L&I must notify the contractor within two days. Penalties L&I collects under this chapter are deposited in the homeowner recovery account.
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Nothing important in Washington renews annually, which trips up owners who budget on a calendar year. A certificate of contractor registration under RCW 18.27.060 is valid for two years and must be renewed on or before the expiration date. Electrical contractor licenses expire 24 calendar months after the day of issue under RCW 19.28.041, and L&I may issue a shorter first term only to spread expirations evenly across the months. Electrician certificates of competency run on a third clock entirely. RCW 19.28.211 states that the certificate expires on the holder's birthday and is renewed every three years. Continuing education is annual in arithmetic even though the renewal is not. WAC 296-46B-970 requires at least eight hours of approved continuing education for each year of the prior certification period, so a three-year 06A cycle means 24 hours. At least eight of those hours must cover changes in the currently adopted code, and four hours must cover the currently adopted chapter 19.28 RCW and its related WAC. The classes do not have to be spread across separate years. Washington also lets an applicant count up to four completed hours of approved behavioral health and wellness training toward the total, covering topics such as recognizing signs of distress, suicide prevention, and substance use disorder awareness. Credit is not given twice for the same approved class, and L&I accepts proof of a qualifying course completed in another state.
Sourcesapp.leg.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2app.leg.wa.gov 3app.leg.wa.gov 4
Washington regulates contractor advertising more tightly than most owners expect, and the rules sit in RCW 18.27.100. All advertising that shows your name or address must show your current contractor registration number. All contracts, correspondence, cards, signs, posters, papers, and documents that show your name or address must use the name and address exactly as registered with L&I. Every material used to directly solicit business from retail customers who are not businesses must carry the current registration number. The statute carves out signs on motor vehicles and on-premises signs, which do not count as advertising for this purpose, and it exempts advertising by airwave transmission from the number requirement while still subjecting broadcast and electronic advertising to the department subpoena power over who bought the ad. Using a false or expired registration number to buy an advertisement is both a violation of this section and a gross misdemeanor under RCW 18.27.020. One rule surprises nearly every Washington HVAC marketer. The statute says no contractor shall advertise that he or she is bonded and insured because of the bond required to be filed and the sufficiency of insurance provided under this chapter. The phrase bonded and insured, common on trucks in other states, is not a safe claim in Washington when it points at the state minimums. A violation found by the director after a hearing carries a penalty of up to $10,000, and penalties do not apply to a violation determined to be an inadvertent error.
Washington enforces on two fronts and the numbers are not symbolic. Under RCW 18.27.020 it is a gross misdemeanor to advertise, offer to do work, submit a bid, or perform any work as a contractor without being registered, to do any of that while your registration is suspended or revoked, to let an unregistered contractor work under your registration, or to subcontract to or use an unregistered contractor. After a citation, each day worked is a separate gross misdemeanor, and each worksite is a separate gross misdemeanor. The same conduct is also an infraction under RCW 18.27.200, again counted separately per day and per worksite. RCW 18.27.340 sets the money. A contractor found to have committed an infraction is assessed not less than $200 and not more than $10,000, and failure to register specifically carries a fine of not less than $1,200 and not more than $10,000. L&I may reduce the failure to register penalty, but never below $600, and only if the person registers within 10 days of receiving the notice of infraction on a first offense. On the electrical side, RCW 19.28.271 makes it unlawful to employ an individual who holds no certificate of competency, temporary permit, or training certificate, with a penalty of not less than $50 or more than $500 per violation and each day counted separately. Equipment installed by an uncertified person does not receive an electrical work permit and electrical service will not be connected to operate it.
Sourcesapp.leg.wa.gov 1app.leg.wa.gov 2app.leg.wa.gov 3app.leg.wa.gov 4
L&I runs a free public tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business at secure.lni.wa.gov/verify. A Washington customer can search by name, by contractor or tradesperson license number, by workers compensation account, or by Washington UBI number. The record shows whether the registration is active or suspended and whether the surety bond or assignment of account and the general liability insurance on file are current. That last part carries more weight in Washington than registration status alone, because RCW 18.27.060 suspends a registration automatically the moment the bond or the insurance policy is cancelled. L&I tells contractors to run their own listing through the tool before renewing, to confirm the bond amount and insurance are up to date and the registration is not suspended. Use the same habit on every subcontractor you hire, because subcontracting to or using an unregistered contractor is itself a gross misdemeanor under RCW 18.27.020. Washington also requires a written handoff. L&I requires the Model Disclosure Statement Notice to Customer on all residential jobs of $1,000 or more and on commercial projects from $1,000 to $60,000. Printing your L&I registration number and the verify address on your estimates does the same work the disclosure does, and it answers the homeowner question about legitimacy before a competing bidder gets to raise it.
Sourcessecure.lni.wa.gov 1lni.wa.gov 2app.leg.wa.gov 3app.leg.wa.gov 4
Washington does not run its own refrigerant technician program, so the federal rule applies on top of the L&I credentials. 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 be certified. EPA does not issue the certification cards itself. Approved certifying organizations administer the tests and issue the cards. The testing breaks into a Core section plus three equipment types: Type 1 for small appliances, Type 2 for high-pressure systems, and Type 3 for low-pressure systems. A technician who passes Core plus all three holds Universal certification. For a Washington HVAC business this means a service technician can hold a valid 06A specialty electrician certificate from L&I and still be prohibited from opening a refrigerant circuit without the federal card. The two credentials do not substitute for each other, and neither agency issues the other one. EPA publishes steps for replacing a lost Section 608 technician certification card and a list of certifying organizations that reissue them, which is worth saving before a technician needs it on a Friday afternoon. Keep a copy of every card in the employee file, because the card is the only proof the technician is allowed to recover refrigerant on your jobs.
Sourcesepa.gov
Washington adopts and amends the International Mechanical Code statewide through chapter 51-52 WAC, so mechanical permits for furnaces, ducted systems, and ventilation come from the local building department applying a state code. Electrical permits are a separate item and, outside cities that run their own inspection programs, come from L&I. The state electrical inspection fees in WAC 296-46B-906 show how HVAC work actually gets priced. A thermostat and its associated cable controlling a single piece of utilization equipment, or a single furnace and air conditioner combination, is $59.50 for the first thermostat and $18.30 for each additional thermostat inspected at the same time. Class 2 or 3 low-voltage systems and telecommunications are $69.10 for the first 2,500 square feet or less and $18.30 for each additional 2,500 square feet or portion of it. A new single or multifamily residential service or feeder rated 0 to 200 amps is $129.40, while the commercial equivalent at 101 to 200 amps is $157.60. An inspection appointment requested outside normal working hours adds a surcharge of $151.10, and telling L&I the work is ready when it is not costs $59.50. High volume plant service accounts can look at the annual electrical permit, priced by the number of plant electricians on site. Put these figures in the bid rather than absorbing them after the job closes.
RCW 19.28.010 lets any Washington city or town enact and enforce an ordinance requiring an equal, higher, or better standard of construction and materials than the state chapter, provided the city requires its electrical inspectors to meet the qualifications set for state electrical inspectors. Seattle is the clearest example for an HVAC contractor. Seattle publishes its own Seattle Electrical Code and Seattle Mechanical Code, and the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections issues both permits. Seattle states that any professional applying for electrical permits must have a Washington State electrical contractor license and a Seattle business license, so the L&I credential is necessary but not sufficient inside the city. Seattle also slices the work more finely than some jurisdictions. A Seattle mechanical permit covers installing new heating, venting, and air conditioning equipment and kitchen hood exhaust systems, but it does not cover plumbing, sprinklers, gas lines, refrigeration, or boiler pressure vessels, each of which requires a separate permit. Timing differs too. Seattle issues many electrical permits the same day you apply online, while for most mechanical projects the city tells applicants to plan on about nine weeks from application to issued permit, with simple subject-to-field-inspection mechanical permits available within 24 hours. Seattle notes that you may need a business license if the project is in Seattle even when your office sits outside the city. Confirm the local rule before you promise an install date built on L&I turnaround times.
These are common details other guides publish about Washington, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. L&I registers HVAC as one of its 63 construction contractor specialties rather than issuing a separate mechanical license. Any HVAC work that involves installing or maintaining equipment operated by electric current also requires an electrical contractor license under chapter 19.28 RCW, normally the HVAC/refrigeration 06A or the restricted 06B.
The 06A specialty is not limited by voltage, phase, or amperage. The 06B may not perform electrical work where the primary power connection to the HVAC or refrigeration system exceeds 250 volts single phase or 120 amps. If you sell three phase rooftop equipment, your technicians need the 06A.
Table 945-1 in WAC 296-46B-945 requires 4,000 hours of supervised work experience to be eligible for the 06A examination and 4,000 hours for certification. The 06B needs 1,000 hours to test and 2,000 hours for certification, and those 2,000 hours can be credited toward the 06A total.
Only if nobody in the company touches covered electrical work. RCW 19.28.041 makes it unlawful to advertise, bid, or carry on the business of installing or maintaining equipment operated by electric current without an electrical contractor license. Most HVAC service and replacement work falls inside that description.
RCW 18.27.040 sets a continuous surety bond of $15,000 for a specialty contractor and $30,000 for a general contractor. An assignment of account at a bank, savings and loan, or credit union with a Washington branch is the accepted alternative. The electrical contractor license carries its own separate $4,000 bond.
Yes. RCW 18.27.100 requires the current registration number on all advertising that shows your name or address, and on all materials used to directly solicit business from retail customers who are not businesses. Signs on motor vehicles and on-premises signs are excluded from that number requirement.
Not when the claim points at the state minimums. RCW 18.27.100 says no contractor shall advertise that he or she is bonded and insured because of the bond required to be filed and the sufficiency of insurance provided under chapter 18.27 RCW. A violation can carry a penalty of up to $10,000.
Contractor registration is valid for two years. The electrical contractor license expires 24 calendar months after issue. An electrician certificate of competency expires on the holder's birthday and renews every three years, with at least eight hours of approved continuing education for each year of the prior period.
Working unregistered is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 18.27.020, counted separately for each day after citation and each worksite. RCW 18.27.340 sets a fine of not less than $1,200 and not more than $10,000 for failure to register, reducible to no less than $600 if you register within 10 days on a first offense.
Through the L&I Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business tool at secure.lni.wa.gov/verify. Searching by name, license number, workers compensation account, or UBI number returns registration status plus whether the bond and general liability insurance on file are current, which matters because a lapse suspends registration automatically.
Yes. EPA rules at 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F require certification for technicians who maintain, service, repair, or dispose of equipment that could release ozone depleting refrigerants. A Washington 06A certificate does not cover it, and EPA does not issue the cards itself. Approved certifying organizations test and issue them.
RCW 19.28.181 requires an electrician from another jurisdiction to provide evidence in a form prescribed by L&I affirming qualifications equivalent to those in RCW 19.28.191. The L&I fee schedule includes a reciprocal electrician application priced with journey level and specialty applications. Contractor registration itself has no examination, so out-of-state firms simply register.
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