Colorado 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.

Colorado has no state HVAC license at any level; the Department of Regulatory Agencies licenses electricians and plumbers but no mechanical, heating, air conditioning or refrigeration trade, and the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department's exam notice states plainly that 'Colorado does NOT have a state license for the building or mechanical trades.' Journeyman-level HVAC credentials exist only where a city or regional building department issues them. Denver issues Heating and Ventilating Journeyman and Refrigeration Journeyman certificates (4 years / 7,000 hours of field experience plus the ICC F31 Journeyman Mechanical exam, $40 for three years), and the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department in Colorado Springs and El Paso County issues a Heating Mechanic IV (HVAC Service Technician) license for technicians employed by a licensed mechanical contractor. Most other Colorado jurisdictions license only the contractor and require no card for employees. An out-of-state journeyman HVAC license is not recognized by Denver, which does not reciprocate certificates from other states, or by PPRBD, which accepts no out-of-state exams; the applicant must document experience locally and pass the ICC exam each jurisdiction uses. EPA Section 608 certification is required nationwide to handle refrigerants.