California to Idaho: journeyman HVAC technician license reciprocity

Idaho issues a statewide HVAC Journeyman certificate of competency through the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Board at the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL); a journeyman works in the employ and under the direction of a licensed HVAC contractor. A new applicant pays a $35 application fee and qualifies either by completing 576 hours of instruction at a board-approved apprenticeship program plus 8,000 hours of supervised installation work while registered as an Idaho apprentice, or by documenting 16,000 hours of supervised HVAC installation work, and in both cases must pass the PSI-administered journeyman exam ($75) within a year of applying; the license costs $150 and renews for $75 every three years. DOPL also issues Specialty Journeyman and Limited Heating Specialty Journeyman certificates for hearth appliances, oil furnaces and gas piping. The HVAC board's FAQ states that Idaho has no reciprocal licensing agreement for HVAC. An out-of-state journeyman can instead use Idaho's universal licensure statute (Idaho Code 67-9409), under which the board must license a person holding a current, unrestricted license elsewhere who demonstrates competency, but may still require the Idaho exam; the HVAC application form itself offers no endorsement box, so applicants should contact DOPL before filing. EPA Section 608 certification is required nationwide to handle refrigerants.

California does not issue a journeyman, technician or mechanic license for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning or refrigeration work. The only state HVAC credentials are contractor classifications issued by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) to a business: C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor and C-38 Refrigeration Contractor (systems below 50°F). Under Business and Professions Code §7053 the Contractors State License Law does not apply to a person who does the regulated work as an employee for wages, so HVAC technicians employed by a C-20 or C-38 contractor work without any personal state license; California's personal certification program for electricians (Labor Code §108) has no HVAC counterpart, and no city or county HVAC mechanic license was found in the largest jurisdictions (Los Angeles issues mechanical permits to licensed contractors and lists no HVAC technician license). An out-of-state journeyman or HVAC technician license therefore has nothing to transfer to in California and is neither required nor recognized for employment. The federal EPA Section 608 technician certification still applies to anyone who services equipment containing refrigerants. A technician who wants to contract independently must obtain a C-20 or C-38 license, described at the master level.