Wyoming 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.

Wyoming issues no master HVAC, mechanical or refrigeration license and no HVAC contractor license; the State Fire Marshal's electrical program is the only state trade licensing, and its LM-H Limited Technician license covers only HVAC electrical wiring. The master-level credential exists only in city ordinances: Cheyenne's Master or Qualified Supervisor license for HVAC and refrigeration (8,000 apprentice hours plus 6,000 journeyman hours and an ICC/NICET/NASCLA exam), Casper's Mechanical Master (apprenticeship or four years plus five years as a journeyman or master, ICC G29-N), Laramie's master mechanical, refrigeration or gas service certificate of qualification (three, two and two further years respectively, city exam), and Gillette's Master HVAC Mechanical license (five years of approved experience plus the ICC exam). In each of these cities a contractor doing HVAC work must employ or be a master (Cheyenne 'qualified supervisor or master', Gillette and Casper 'Master of Record'), and the contractor license itself is a separate business license with fees ($200-$300 initial in Cheyenne and Casper, $150 in Gillette) and insurance. Rock Springs registers contractors for $125 with proof of insurance and tests no one. No city publishes reciprocity with other states' master HVAC or HVAC contractor licenses; Casper and Gillette reciprocate only with other Wyoming jurisdictions, Cheyenne's Board has discretion but no partner list, and Laramie may waive its exam for a certificate from any governmental agency whose exam is judged at least equal. A master arriving from another state should expect to present or take the ICC National Standard Master Mechanical exam (G29-N) and apply separately in each city.