Nevada to Arkansas: master HVAC technician license reciprocity

Arkansas's highest HVAC credential is the HVACR license issued in four classes by the HVACR Licensing Board: Class A (unlimited), Class B (systems up to 25 tons cooling, 1,000,000 BTUH heating or 15 hp refrigeration), Class D (sheet metal ductwork) and Class E (refrigeration); Act 746 of 2025 repealed Class C and moved active Class C licenses to Class B. It is treated here as the master level because Ark. Code §17-33-303(a) issues it to the individual who designs, installs or services HVACR systems, and that person becomes the 'designated license holder' responsible for the work and for registering employees. A new applicant with no licensing background must be 18, show two years of experience as an HVACR contractor or employee (Board-approved education may substitute) through notarized employer affidavits, and pass the open-book class exam administered by Prov ($100, 70% to pass); the annual license fee is $200 for Class A and $150 for B, D and E, with $250,000 liability insurance and eight hours of continuing education per International Mechanical Code cycle. The Board states it has no reciprocal agreements with any other state, but its rules direct it to approve, without examination, apprenticeship, education or training, any applicant holding a license in good standing from a jurisdiction whose HVACR licensing laws are 'substantially similar', meaning one that has adopted a national model mechanical code and uses a comprehensive exam created and proctored by a national examination agency. Under §17-33-104 a state licensee needs no city or county license.

Nevada does not issue a master HVAC or master refrigeration license, and no county or city was found to issue a master-level HVAC card (Clark County and Las Vegas recognize a 'mechanical qualified individual', which is simply the person who qualifies a contractor's C-21 license with the State Board). The state-level credential is a classification C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Contracting license from the Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB), issued to a sole proprietor, partnership, corporation or LLC and qualified by a named individual rather than held by the mechanic personally, with subclassifications for refrigeration (C-21a), air-conditioning (C-21b), sheet metal, maintenance, solar, chilled and hot water systems and industrial piping. An out-of-state master HVAC licensee who only wants to work for an employer needs no Nevada license at all (apart from the local journeyman card in Clark County and Las Vegas). To contract, the qualifying individual must show four years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor within the past 15 years (NRS 624.260), pass the PSI-administered Nevada Business and Law exam and the C-21 trade exam within six months of filing (three attempts each), and the business must pay the $300 application fee and $600 biennial license fee, submit a financial statement, fingerprints and background check, and post a bond of $1,000 to $500,000 set by the Board, plus the Residential Recovery Fund assessment if it does residential work. Under licensure by endorsement (NAC 624.600 and 624.615) the C-21 trade exam and the experience certification are waived for a qualified individual who has held an active license with no discipline for the past four years in Arizona (CR-79 Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Including Solar, as the Board prints it), California (C-20 together with C-38), Connecticut (S-1 Unlimited Heating, Piping and Cooling), Louisiana (10 Mechanical Work statewide) or Tennessee (CMC Full Mechanical Contractor), documented with a License Verification Form from that state; the Business and Law exam is never waived, and no other state's chart contains an HVAC row. EPA Section 608 certification is a separate federal requirement for anyone who handles refrigerants.