Utah to South Carolina: master HVAC technician license reciprocity

South Carolina has no 'master HVAC' license. The highest person-held HVAC credential is the Contractor's Licensing Board's Qualifying Party certification in the Air Conditioning (AC), Heating (HT), Refrigeration (RG) or Packaged Equipment (PK, up to 25 tons and 500,000 BTU per unit) classification of the Mechanical Contractor license: the individual passes the South Carolina technical exam for each classification through PSI and the South Carolina Business Management & Law for Commercial Contractors exam, documents two years of experience within the past five (or a PHCC Academy of North Carolina heating and air-conditioning apprenticeship), and is certified as the qualifying party for a licensed entity (which may be a sole proprietorship); the certification stays with the person, who 'is not a licensed contractor' alone. The license itself is issued to the business, with a $350 licensure fee and a financial statement or surety bond sized by license group (Mechanical Group 2, jobs to $100,000: working capital $10,000 or net worth $15,000, or a $15,000 bond). A residential-only alternative is the Residential Builders Commission's Residential HVAC Installer and Repairer license ($135 application, $220 license), issued to the individual after one year of residential HVAC experience and the residential technical plus Business Management and Law exams. South Carolina has technical-exam waiver agreements, listed in the Board's Technical Exam Waiver Agreement List (revised May 2026), covering HVAC classifications for Alabama (Heating and Air Conditioning, Refrigeration), Georgia (Unrestricted Conditioned Air), Louisiana (Statewide Mechanical), North Carolina (Heating Groups 1, 2 and 3), Ohio (HVAC, packaged equipment only), Tennessee (CMC and CMC-C), Texas (Class A and Class B air conditioning and refrigeration) and Utah (HVAC, warm air heating, refrigerated air conditioning and refrigeration exams passed before May 2017), plus the MASC/CAGC HARV Master Mechanical card. Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina licenses obtained by exam and held for a year also waive the technical exam for the residential license. Every waiver applicant must still pass the South Carolina Business Management & Law exam. Licensees from other states take the South Carolina technical exam. EPA Section 608 certification is a separate federal requirement.

Utah has no master HVAC license. The state credential for HVAC work is the H100 HVAC Contractor classification (formerly S350) issued by DOPL to a business entity or sole proprietorship, not to the technician personally, so a master HVAC licensee from another state who only wants to work for an employer needs no Utah license at all. To contract independently the applicant's business applies for an H100 license with a qualifier who passes the H100 written trade exam and the Utah Business and Law exam (both through Prov), holds a Certified Natural Gas Technician certificate from the Rocky Mountain Gas Association or an equivalent, and documents 4,000 hours of HVAC employment in the past 5 years with W-2, K-1 or tax returns (an active Utah plumber license is an accepted alternative); the qualifier must also complete a 25-hour pre-licensure course and the 5-hour Business and Law course. The business registers with the Division of Corporations, carries general liability insurance of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate (the March 2026 application form still reads $3 million aggregate) and workers' compensation, and pays $50 per qualifier plus $175 per classification and a $1 surcharge. Utah has no HVAC reciprocity agreements, but DOPL grants licensure by endorsement to a contractor licensed for at least one year in good standing in a jurisdiction DOPL has determined equivalent, with at least 50% common ownership, and an endorsed applicant needs no additional courses or examinations; licenses from other jurisdictions can still be used to document part of the experience and exam requirements.