Oregon trade license reciprocity

Oregon issues a statewide General Journeyman Electrician (J) license through the Building Codes Division. An applicant without a reciprocal license must document either an approved apprenticeship, or 576 classroom hours plus 8,000 hours of on-the-job experience earned outside Oregon, or 16,000 out-of-state on-the-job hours, and then pass the Oregon journeyman exam. Oregon has signed journeyman reciprocity agreements with Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming; qualifying holders of those licenses are licensed without taking the Oregon exam. Licenses renew every three years on October 1 and require 24 hours of continuing education.

Oregon does not use the title "master electrician"; its closest equivalent is the General Supervising Electrician (S) license, which authorizes the holder to design, plan and lay out electrical work, sign permits, and direct, supervise or control the installation or alteration of an electrical service. It is treated here as the master level. An applicant must hold or qualify for the Oregon General Journeyman license, document an additional 8,000 hours of journeyman-level experience, and pass the Oregon supervising exam. Oregon has signed supervising-level reciprocity agreements with Arkansas and Utah only; master electricians from other states go through the standard application and exam. Licenses renew every three years on October 1 with 24 hours of continuing education.

Oregon does not license HVAC technicians or journeymen. The Building Codes Division licenses individuals only in the electrical, plumbing, boiler, elevator and manufactured dwelling trades, and no state HVAC, mechanical or refrigeration certificate exists, so an out-of-state HVAC journeyman license has nothing to transfer to and is not needed to work as an employee of a licensed contractor. The credential most HVAC/R technicians in Oregon hold is the Limited Maintenance Electrician (LME), an electrical license that lets its holder repair and maintain existing electrical installations in operable plants, commercial buildings and institutions (no new installations or service work); it requires an approved Oregon apprenticeship or, for training earned outside Oregon, 288 classroom hours plus 4,000 on-the-job hours or 8,000 on-the-job hours, a 2-hour 28-question open-book exam and a $100 fee, and it renews every three years with 8 hours of continuing education. The LME has no reciprocity (Oregon's electrical reciprocity covers only the general journeyman and supervising licenses), so an arriving technician documents out-of-state hours and sits the LME exam. Employers doing HVAC/R maintenance also hold the division's Limited Maintenance Specialty Contractor HVAC/R (LHR) business license, and anyone handling refrigerants needs federal EPA Section 608 certification. Gas piping and boiler work fall under separate plumbing and boiler licenses.

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.