Montana to Virginia: master HVAC technician license reciprocity

Virginia issues a statewide Master HVAC tradesman license to individuals through the Board for Contractors' Tradesmen Program at DPOR. Under 18VAC50-30-39 a first-time applicant qualifies for the PSI master exam ($125) with one year of practical experience as a licensed journeyman, three years as a Virginia residential HVAC tradesman, or nine years of verified practical experience in the trade; the application fee on the 2026 form is $171.75 including the technology fee. A current journeyman or master HVAC license from another state is itself an accepted qualification to sit the master exam, and a licensee who has held an out-of-state license for at least one year may apply through Universal License Recognition and receive the master license without the Virginia trade exam. The Board's only HVAC reciprocity agreement is an examination reciprocity agreement with the Maryland HVACR Board covering journeyman and master licenses; the electrical agreements with Alabama, DC, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia do not extend to HVAC. The master tradesman license is a personal qualification; contracting for work over $1,000 requires a separate Class A, B or C contractor business license from the same Board. EPA Section 608 certification is required federally to handle refrigerants.

Montana has no master HVAC, master mechanical, refrigeration or HVAC contractor license; MCA Title 37 chapter 70 (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) is repealed and the Department of Labor & Industry runs no HVAC program. The nearest state credential is the construction contractor license that every contractor with employees must hold from January 1, 2026 under MCA Title 37 chapter 45 (formerly the $70 construction contractor registration under MCA 39-9): it is issued to the business on proof of workers' compensation compliance with no examination, experience or trade qualification, and a sole operator with no employees instead obtains a $125 Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate, for which 'a test is not required'. Licensed electricians and plumbers are exempt from that chapter, which is why Montana's larger cities license those two trades by their state cards but treat HVAC firms as ordinary contractors: Missoula issues a contractor business license (expires February 28) on $300,000 liability insurance, background checks and state registration, with a $3,000 bond only for gas fitting; Great Falls issues a 'Mechanical' contractor license type for $45 a year on proof of state registration or ICEC, $1,000,000 liability insurance and, for gas fitting, a city-licensed gas fitter of record; Billings and Bozeman require only a city business license ($75 in Bozeman). Boiler operation is separately licensed by the state under MCA 50-74 (six engineer classes, exam-based, no reciprocity provision), and mechanical permits under the state-adopted International Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes are open to any permit applicant. A master HVAC or HVAC contractor license from another state therefore transfers to nothing in Montana; the holder who wants to run an HVAC business applies for the state construction contractor license (or ICEC), a city business/contractor license where required, and keeps federal EPA Section 608 certification for refrigerant work.