Moving to Alaska as a master HVAC technician: every state's rule

Alaska has no master HVAC license; its highest person-held HVAC credential is the Mechanical Administrator license issued under AS 08.40.210-08.40.490 by the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (CBPL), which is treated here as the master level. It is a supervisory license: a person may not act as a mechanical administrator without it, every registered mechanical contractor must hold or employ one, and the administrator is responsible for all mechanical work done under the contractor's license (AS 08.40.260, 08.40.280; 12 AAC 39.902). The license is issued in categories; the HVAC-related ones are Unlimited HVAC/Sheet Metal (UHVCS), Residential HVAC (RHVC), Unlimited Refrigeration (UR), Heating, Cooling and Process Piping (HCPP) and Mechanical Systems Temperature Control (CNTL), with plumbing categories (UCIP, RPHH) alongside. Qualification is by experience (for example four of the last six years as a journeyman or field superintendent in HVAC and sheet metal work for UHVCS, or two of the last four years as a journeyman for UR and RHVC, where a year means at least 1,500 hours) plus a PSI-administered examination passed at 70% within the prior 12 months, or by credentials for administrators licensed in another state. Fees are $150 to apply plus $200 for the license ($350); the license is biennial, expiring December 31 of odd-numbered years, and renews for $200 with an eight-hour Uniform Mechanical Code workshop per category. The administrator license does not by itself let the holder install fuel gas piping (that needs a DOLWD Plumber Gas certificate) or original control wiring (that needs an Electrical Administrator), and anyone handling refrigerants needs federal EPA Section 608 certification.