Moving to Colorado as a journeyman HVAC technician: every state's rule
Colorado does not issue a statewide journeyman HVAC technician license, so there is no reciprocity to speak of. Here is what that means in practice.
Colorado journeyman HVAC technician
Licensed by cities and counties
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.
How local licensing works in Colorado
How local licensing works. There is no state HVAC board; each city, county or regional building department decides whether to license mechanical workers and contractors under its own building code, and most use ICC National Standard exams administered through Pearson VUE ($100 per exam). Passing an ICC exam is not itself a license, and jurisdictions decide individually whether to honor it.
Denver. Community Planning and Development issues person-held Heating and Ventilating Journeyman and Refrigeration Journeyman certificates. Each requires 4 years (at least 7,000 hours) of field installation experience through an apprenticeship or on-the-job training, proven by notarized letters from employers or clients covering projects completed within the last 10 years, plus a passing letter for the ICC #F31 National Standard Journeyman Mechanical exam submitted within 90 days of application approval. The certificate fee is $40 and it renews every 3 years. Denver states that it 'does not accept or reciprocate contractor licenses and/or certificates from other counties or states.'
Colorado Springs and El Paso County (Pikes Peak Regional Building Department). PPRBD issues individual Heating Mechanic licenses: Heating Mechanic I (Fitter) for gas piping after 1 year of experience, and Heating Mechanic IV (HVAC Service Technician) for repairing and servicing HVAC equipment while employed by a licensed Mechanical Contractor A, B, C or D. Applicants pay a $50 application fee and a $10 annual license fee, pass the ICC National Standard Journey Mechanical exam (W31) where applicable, and hold combustible gas indicator and carbon monoxide detection instrument certificates; the Licensing Committee and Board of Review approve each application after a judicial record check. PPRBD accepts only ICC exams passed on or after January 1, 2016 and states that 'no out-of-state exams will be accepted.' Heating Mechanic IV renewal requires 6 hours of approved technical training.
Other jurisdictions. Denver's and PPRBD's pages were the only individual HVAC worker licenses verified for this entry; other Colorado jurisdictions (for example Aurora, Fort Collins, Boulder County and Jefferson County) generally license mechanical contractors only and were not checked for journeyman cards.
Out-of-state holders. Neither Denver nor PPRBD publishes a reciprocity or endorsement path for journeyman licenses from other states. An arriving journeyman should expect to document experience with notarized letters and pass the ICC journeyman mechanical exam for each jurisdiction that licenses individuals.