Louisiana to Arkansas: journeyman HVAC technician license reciprocity

Arkansas has no journeyman HVAC license; the person-held credential for an employee who performs heating, air conditioning or refrigeration work is the HVACR Registrant registration issued by the Department of Labor and Licensing. Ark. Code §17-33-303(c) lets an individual perform HVACR work under a Class A, B, D or E license holder by registering with the department; the $25 annual registration fee is the license holder's responsibility, and every licensee must make sure each HVACR employee holds a current registration or license. Registration is not credential-based: the application asks for no experience, education, exam or prior license and is tied to the employer's designated license holder, so it must be obtained by everyone regardless of any journeyman or technician license held in another state, and no out-of-state license shortens or replaces it. A registrant may work only for an HVACR licensee; under §17-33-104 a registered individual cannot be required to obtain any city or county license, though local permits and inspections apply. The Board has no reciprocal agreements with any state at any level. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is separately required of anyone who handles refrigerants.

Louisiana does not issue a statewide journeyman or technician license for heating, air conditioning or refrigeration work. The only state HVAC credential is the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) commercial contractor license in the Mechanical classification (or its Heat, Air Conditioning, Ventilation, Duct Work and Refrigeration subclassification), required for any mechanical project of $10,000 or more and issued to the contracting business or sole proprietor on the strength of a qualifying party who passed the trade exam; the LSLBC's FAQ and Types of Licenses pages list no journeyman, master or technician license. Journeyman mechanic licensing exists only where a city or parish ordinance creates it: New Orleans issues a Class 'B' Journeyman Mechanical Contractor License ($55 per year) to applicants who pass the ICC G31 National Journeyman Mechanical exam and work under a Class 'A' air conditioning and refrigeration contractor, Jefferson Parish requires air conditioning and heating equipment to be installed or replaced by a parish-licensed mechanical contractor, and Shreveport registers contractors and refers journeyman and master testing to the ICC or the LSLBC. Under La. R.S. 37:2156.1(I), however, employees of a statewide-licensed mechanical contractor cannot be required to pass any local examination or certification as a condition of working for that contractor, so a local journeyman card matters mainly to technicians working for contractors below the state threshold or outside the state system. None of these jurisdictions publish reciprocity for out-of-state journeyman licenses; the portable credential in practice is the ICC journeyman mechanical exam. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is required of anyone who handles refrigerants.