Moving to Alaska as a journeyman HVAC technician: every state's rule

Alaska does not issue a journeyman-level HVAC, refrigeration or mechanical license. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Mechanical Inspection Section issues Certificates of Fitness only in the plumbing and electrical trades (plus boiler operator and inspector certificates), and its license list contains no HVAC, refrigeration or sheet metal certificate. HVAC and refrigeration technicians work as employees of a registered mechanical contractor, whose work must be supervised by a person holding a Mechanical Administrator license from the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (treated here as the master level). The one adjacent state credential that does apply is the Plumber Gas Certificate of Fitness (8 AAC 90.135), which a technician needs to install fuel gas piping: 4,000 hours in the trade including 2,000 in fuel gas piping, a 70% exam, $50 application and $200 certificate fees, valid two years. EPA Section 608 certification is federal and required of anyone who handles refrigerants in Alaska. An out-of-state journeyman HVAC license therefore has nothing to transfer to in Alaska and is neither required nor recognized for employment, although 12 AAC 39.992 counts an equivalent journeyman certificate from another jurisdiction as journeyman experience when the holder later applies to become a mechanical administrator.