Moving to Louisiana as a journeyman HVAC technician: every state's rule
Louisiana does not issue a statewide journeyman HVAC technician license, so there is no reciprocity to speak of. Here is what that means in practice.
Louisiana journeyman HVAC technician
Licensed by cities and counties
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.
How local licensing works in Louisiana
How local licensing works. The Contractors Licensing Law (La. R.S. 37:2150.1 et seq.) regulates contractors: a mechanical contractor is anyone who contracts for air conditioning, refrigeration, heating, plumbing, ventilation, boiler or piping work valued at $10,000 or more, and the LSLBC licenses the business through a designated qualifying party. Individual mechanics and technicians are licensed, where at all, by parish or city ordinance, and R.S. 37:2156.1(I) preempts local examination or certification of the employees of a statewide-licensed mechanical contractor when they work for that contractor.
New Orleans. The Department of Safety and Permits issues a Class 'B' Journeyman Mechanical Contractor License covering mechanics (air conditioning and refrigeration) and gasfitters. A mechanic applicant must be 18 or older and submit a passing ICC Official Results Report for exam G31 National Journeyman Mechanical (unofficial stamped reports are not accepted), a driver's license or state ID, a passport-style photo taken within the last 3 to 6 months, the mechanical license application and a signed Journeyman Acknowledgement. The license costs $55 per year, expires on the holder's birthday (delinquent fee $5 per month; a license delinquent more than two years requires retesting with ICC), and the journeyman must be employed by and work under the supervision of a Class 'A' Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor. The city page states no experience-hour requirement and no reciprocity for other jurisdictions' licenses; an out-of-state journeyman who has already passed the ICC G31 exam can apply on that score.
Jefferson Parish. The Department of Inspection and Code Enforcement requires that installation or replacement of air conditioning and heating equipment, including any condenser, be filed by a Jefferson Parish licensed mechanical contractor; the parish issues a $200 trade contractor license to a license holder/qualifying party whose checklist includes the state license. No separate journeyman mechanic card or reciprocity rule was found on the parish site.
Shreveport. The city requires every HVAC contractor performing work in the city to hold a city contractor's registration and the state license for work over $10,000, and refers HVAC journeyman and master testing to the International Code Council or the LSLBC.
Baton Rouge and Lafayette. No official page describing a journeyman mechanic license or exam was located for the City of Baton Rouge/East Baton Rouge Parish or Lafayette Consolidated Government; their permit pages cover permitting and inspection only. Applicants should contact the local building official.
Out-of-state holders. No parish or city page reviewed publishes reciprocity or endorsement for journeyman HVAC licenses from other states. The LSLBC's reciprocity (trade-exam waiver for anyone who passed another state's exam) applies only to its contractor license.