Texas trade license reciprocity

Texas issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). A new applicant needs 8,000 hours of on-the-job training under a master electrician (TDLR's application page specifies a Texas-licensed master) and must pass the PSI-administered journeyman exam, which is open book on the 2023 NEC. TDLR has signed journeyman reciprocity agreements with ten states; a qualifying licensee from one of those states is licensed without taking the Texas exam. Licenses are valid for one year and renewed annually.

Texas issues a statewide Master Electrician license through TDLR. A new applicant must have held a journeyman electrician license for at least two years, have 12,000 hours of on-the-job training under a master electrician (TDLR's application page specifies a Texas-licensed master), and pass the PSI-administered master exam. TDLR has master-level reciprocity agreements with seven states, four of them added between December 2025 and June 2026; qualifying licensees are licensed without the Texas exam. Licenses are valid for one year and renewed annually.

Texas has no journeyman HVAC license in the usual sense; the person-held credential for an employee who does air conditioning and refrigeration work is the Registered ACR Technician registration issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Anyone who assists a licensed ACR contractor with non-exempt maintenance or repair work must register: the applicant must be at least 16, file a one-page application with a $20 fee and answer a criminal history questionnaire, and there is no exam, no experience requirement and no continuing education. The registration is valid one year and is renewed for $20. TDLR also offers a voluntary Certified ACR Technician credential for technicians with 24 months of supervised experience or a TDLR-approved 2,000-hour training program who pass a PSI exam ($50 application, $60 exam, renewed for $35); it is not required to work. Because the registration is not an examined license, an out-of-state journeyman or technician license has nothing to transfer to: every technician must register with TDLR regardless of licenses held elsewhere, and all work must be performed under a Texas-licensed ACR contractor. Technicians who handle refrigerants also need federal EPA Section 608 certification.

Texas's highest HVAC credential is the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor license issued to an individual by TDLR, so it is mapped here to the master level. The license comes in Class A (units of any size) and Class B (cooling up to 25 tons and heating up to 1.5 million Btu/h) with Environmental Air Conditioning, Commercial Refrigeration and Process Cooling or Heating endorsements. A new applicant must be 18, document 48 months of practical ACR experience under a licensed contractor in the past 72 months (or 12 months as a certified technician plus 36 months of experience, with substitutions for HVAC/R degrees, engineering licenses and military training), pay a $115 application fee, pass the PSI exam for each class and endorsement ($74 Class A, $60 Class B, 70% to pass) within one year of filing, and file proof of commercial general liability insurance ($300,000 per occurrence/$600,000 aggregate for Class A; $100,000/$200,000 for Class B). The license is valid one year, renews for $65 and requires 8 hours of continuing education a year; a company must employ a licensed contractor at each permanent location. TDLR has reciprocity agreements with Georgia and South Carolina only; licensees from every other state or municipality apply under TDLR's substantial-equivalence review and may be required to take the Texas exam.