Hawaii to Delaware: master HVAC technician license reciprocity

Delaware issues a person-held Master HVACR license through the Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners in the Division of Professional Regulation (the electrical trade is regulated by a separate board). A Master HVACR licensee may design, install, service and alter heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation and process systems including gas piping; a Master HVACR Restricted license covers one specialty (forced-air heating with ventilation and gas piping, hydronic heating with gas piping, commercial hood systems, refrigeration, air conditioning, or gas piping). Employees work under a master's supervision without their own license. A new master needs a journeyman certificate from a federally-registered apprenticeship plus 2 years under a master, or 7 years under a master plus the ABC Delaware Apprenticeship By-Pass exam, then passes the ProV-administered Master HVACR exam (100 questions, 4 hours, open book, 70%, $100) and pays the $173 application fee; a CFC (EPA 608) card is required. Out-of-state masters are licensed by reciprocity without a Delaware exam under 24 Del. C. § 1823: the Board has published that Connecticut and Maryland standards are substantially similar (no experience proof) and that fourteen other jurisdictions are not (7 years of licensed practice required); all other states are evaluated case by case. Licenses renew biennially with 5 hours of continuing education from 2026.

Hawaii issues no master HVAC or master refrigeration license. The highest HVAC credential is a Contractors License Board specialty license in classification C-52 Ventilating and Air Conditioning (warm-air heating, cooling, ventilating and air-conditioning systems, including heat pumps) or C-40 Refrigeration (below 50°F), issued to a sole proprietor or to a contracting entity that qualifies through a responsible managing employee (RME); an RME holds a personal license number but may contract only for the employing entity and the principal RME must live in Hawaii while the license is active, so the credential functions as a business license rather than a master's card. A master HVAC licensee who only wants to work for an employer needs no Hawaii license. To contract, the sole proprietor or RME must document at least four years of supervisory experience as a foreman, supervising employee or contractor within the past ten years with three notarized experience certificates and a project list, file the $50 application with a CPA financial statement, credit report and tax clearance for Board review at a monthly meeting, then pass the PSI-administered Part I Business and Law and Part II trade exams within six months of approval; on passing, the licensee provides liability insurance (at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence bodily injury and $50,000 property damage), workers' compensation coverage, a Hawaii place of business and the license fee, and renews by September 30 of even-numbered years ($338 entity or sole proprietor, $208 RME for 2026-2028). The Board's FAQ states that Hawaii has no reciprocity agreements with any state and that all applicants must meet the same licensing and examination requirements; an out-of-state contractor or master license is accepted only as supporting proof of experience, and HAR §16-77-41 waives the exam solely for someone who already passed the Hawaii exam in the same classification within four years. The 2018 FAQ listed the exam fee at $75 per part and initial license fees of $663 (entity or sole proprietor) and $438 (RME) in the first year of the biennium, which the current form no longer prints. EPA Section 608 certification remains a separate federal requirement for handling refrigerants.