Oregon to Rhode Island: master HVAC technician license reciprocity

Rhode Island's master-level HVAC credential is the Refrigeration Master Class I (RM1), the unlimited refrigeration/air-conditioning master license issued by DLT to an individual after passing the master examination; a Master Class I may be self-employed and, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-27-4, a master refrigeration contractor performs refrigeration/air conditioning work through a regular place of business personally or through employed journeypersons. The Refrigeration Master Class II (RM2) is the limited version (comfort cooling to 20 tons, product cooling to 3 tons, 1 hp freezing). A Rhode Island applicant must have held a Rhode Island Refrigeration Journeyperson I license for one year (or a Master II for one year; Master II requires three years as a Journeyperson II). Rhode Island has no reciprocity agreements and no exam waiver, but R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-27-10(3) and DLT regulation § 2.12.C allow an applicant whose out-of-state law designates them a refrigeration/air-conditioning contractor or master to sit the Rhode Island master exam directly on the strength of that license, or, where the origin state has no Master Class I license, on a notarized resume showing six years' experience including one as a contractor. Fees are a $75 application fee and a $240 two-year license fee for Master I ($96 for Master II); the DLT fee table also lists a 'Contractor Master Refrigeration' at $240 and a no-test Master Mechanical Contractor ($480) reserved for those with ten years each as Pipefitter Master I and Refrigeration Master I. Licenses renew every two years on the licensee's birthday.

Oregon has no master HVAC or mechanical contractor license and no HVAC trade exam. Anyone who contracts for heating or air conditioning work must hold a Construction Contractors Board (CCB) license, a business registration issued in residential or commercial endorsements after the firm's Responsible Managing Individual completes 16 hours of pre-license training and passes the PSI business-practices exam ($60, 70% to pass); the business registers with the Secretary of State, posts the surety bond and general liability insurance set for its endorsement, and pays $400 for a two-year license. A contractor that maintains, services, repairs or replaces commercial and industrial fuel- or energy-using heating, refrigeration or air conditioning products also obtains the Building Codes Division's Limited Maintenance Specialty Contractor HVAC/R (LHR) license ($75, three years, no exam), which requires an active CCB license and a full-time signing supervisor who holds an appropriate electrical license such as the LME. Neither the CCB nor the LHR license evaluates or credits an out-of-state master HVAC license, and the CCB publishes no reciprocity; a master HVAC licensee from another state who only wants to work for an employer needs no Oregon license, while one who wants to contract independently completes the CCB process from scratch. EPA Section 608 certification applies to anyone handling refrigerants.