West Virginia to Alabama: master HVAC technician license reciprocity

Alabama's HVAC credential is the Certified Heating and Air Conditioning Contractor certification (with a parallel Certified Refrigeration Contractor certification for commercial refrigeration) issued by the Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors. It is treated here as the master level because it is earned personally by examination: under rule 440-X-3-.04 an individual must satisfy every requirement, and when a partnership, corporation or LLC is certified the certificate is issued in the name of the person in responsible charge together with the business name. A new applicant must show 3,000 hours of work experience (the exam application asks for notarized employer affidavits covering at least two years within the past five years, with W-2 forms) or graduation from an approved HVAC or refrigeration curriculum, then pass the open-book Prov exam ($175; 115 questions, 70% to pass). Active certification costs $220 per year and requires a business name and a $20,000 performance bond; inactive status is $110 with no bond; four hours of continuing education are required each year after the first, and renewal is due by December 31. The Board accepts licenses by reciprocity from Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, South Carolina (Residential Building Commission or Contractor's Board), Texas, West Virginia and Louisiana when the applicant passed an equivalent exam with at least 70%; there is no business and law exam, and §34-31-28(d) prohibits counties and municipalities from requiring further local testing of certified contractors.

West Virginia does not issue a master HVAC license. The Division of Labor's HVAC Technician license is a single-tier, full-scope credential (see the journeyman level), so a master HVAC mechanic from another state applies for the same HVAC Technician license, with the exam waived under 42CSR34 section 15 or the RECAP Act, and there is no higher personal credential to transfer to. The state-level credential above the technician is the HVAC contractor license from the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board (W. Va. Code 30-42), required of any person who contracts for HVAC work costing $5,000 or more on residential or $25,000 or more on commercial projects; it is issued to the business entity (including a sole proprietorship) and qualified by a full-time employee or member of responsible management who passes the HVAC classification trade exam and the Contractor Licensing Act (Business and Law) exam, which every applicant must pass. The Contractor Licensing Board waives its HVAC trade exam under reciprocity agreements with Alabama (HVAC classification, effective May 1, 2018), Ohio (HVAC classification including the Business and Law exam, effective May 10, 2018) and Tennessee (HVAC classification, effective December 17, 2020), using a verification form completed by the origin board, and it accepts NASCLA scores and may accept other accredited national exam scores; in every case the workers, including the qualifier if they do the work, must also hold Division of Labor technician licenses, and a licensed HVAC contractor pays no technician license fee. EPA Section 608 certification is a separate federal requirement.