North Dakota to Idaho: master HVAC technician license reciprocity

Idaho has no master HVAC title; its highest credential is the HVAC Contractor certificate of competency, which is issued as a card in the name of the individual who passes the board's contractor examination and is therefore mapped here to the master level (an HVAC business must hold or employ a certificate holder, and Specialty Contractor and Limited Heating Specialty Contractor certificates cover gas piping, hearth appliances and oil furnaces). An individual applicant must already hold an active Idaho HVAC Journeyman license, or a business applying as an entity must employ at least one Idaho-licensed HVAC journeyman. The applicant pays a $35 application fee, passes the PSI-administered HVAC contractor exam ($75, using the DOPL Contractors' Business and Law Reference Manual as a reference), provides a $2,000 compliance bond, and pays the $225 license fee; the certificate renews for $150 every three years. Idaho's HVAC board states that it has no reciprocal licensing agreement. A contractor licensed in another state may apply under Idaho's universal licensure statute (Idaho Code 67-9409), which requires the board to license a person with a current, unrestricted out-of-state license who demonstrates competency, but allows it to require the Idaho exam; since DOPL publishes no separate procedure for HVAC, applicants should expect to take the contractor exam. EPA Section 608 certification is required nationwide to handle refrigerants.

North Dakota issues no master HVAC, mechanical or refrigeration license and has no state mechanical board. The only state-level credential an HVAC contractor needs is the Secretary of State contractor license, a business license for any job over $4,000 (Class D up to $100,000 for $100, up to Class A over $500,000 for $450) that requires liability insurance and workers' compensation verification but no trade exam. The master-level credential is the city master HVAC/mechanical installer license: Fargo's Master Heating license (10,000 hours including 6,000 as a journeyman, exam, $125 per year, liability insurance naming the city), Bismarck's Class A Master HVAC Installer (3,400 hours as a licensed journeyman, exam with 80% to pass, $125 per year), Grand Forks' Master Mechanical Installer (exam with 80%, $170 per year, $5,000 city bond, state contractor license) and Minot's Master Heating/HVAC Installer (board exam, $130 per year). A master exam passed in one of the testing member cities is accepted by the other North Dakota licensing members through the state mechanical reciprocity program, but each city issues its own license. No city recognizes an out-of-state master or contractor license outright; Bismarck's ordinance counts journeyman experience licensed by any governmental jurisdiction toward master exam eligibility, so an out-of-state master generally qualifies to sit a city master exam on the strength of documented experience and then licenses city by city. EPA Section 608 certification applies federally.