The quick answer
License required: installing or replacing HVAC equipment. Most construction work installing or replacing mechanical equipment in Florida requires a building permit before work begins, and permits are pulled by a licensed contractor.
Not the same thing: routine maintenance and service on existing equipment. Where exactly your local building department draws that line is worth confirming before you quote.
Permits are the tell
If you want one reliable rule for this trade, it is this: if the job needs a permit, it needs a licensed contractor. Installing or replacing mechanical equipment generally requires a building or mechanical permit before work begins, precisely so the work can be inspected for code compliance.
And the responsibility follows the permit. The permit holder — the contractor — is responsible for calling the required inspections at the appropriate stages. That is not an administrative detail; it is why the state cares who holds the license in the first place.
Service vs contracting
| The job | Licensed contracting? |
|---|---|
| Cleaning coils, changing filters, routine maintenance | Service |
| Diagnosing a fault on existing equipment | Service |
| Replacing a condenser, air handler, or full system | Yes |
| New system installation | Yes |
| Duct replacement or redesign | Yes |
| Anything requiring a mechanical permit | Yes |
| Handling refrigerant | EPA 608 certification, separately |
Scope and permitting are applied differently by individual building departments and change over time. Confirm with your local building department and the DBPR before quoting work you are unsure about.
Two credentials people confuse
Working in HVAC in Florida involves two entirely different things, and conflating them is the most common mistake in this trade:
You can hold EPA 608 and still be doing unlicensed contracting. See EPA 608 vs the Florida license for the full comparison.
What a service-only business gives up
There is a real business in maintenance and service, and plenty of people run one. But the ceiling is concrete:
- No changeouts. System replacement is the highest-ticket residential job in the trade, and it is permitted work.
- No permits in your name, so anything permitted gets handed off with the margin attached.
- You diagnose, someone else installs. You do the skilled part of the call and the other company invoices the equipment.
- Summer is capped. Peak season in Florida is failures and replacements, not filter changes.
Most service techs already know enough to pass the trade exam. What stops them is not the technical material — it is the code, load calculation and licensing-law content that field work never forces you to formalize.
Class A or Class B
Florida issues the air conditioning contractor license in two classes, and the difference is capacity: Class A is unlimited, while Class B is limited to 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 BTU of heating per system. Choose the class that matches the jobs you intend to take before you sit for the exam — see Class A vs Class B.
Getting licensed
The path runs through Chapter 489: four years of experience (which may include approved education credits), the Trade Knowledge exam, and a separate Business and Finance exam, plus the financial, insurance, and background requirements.
The Class A Trade Knowledge exam is 130 questions delivered in two open-book sessions of 65 scored questions each, with roughly 4.75 hours per session, administered by Professional Testing, Inc. for the DBPR and the CILB. You need 70% to pass each portion.
Stop handing off the changeouts
FLHVACPrep preps the Trade Knowledge exam: 341 practice questions across all 10 official content areas, every answer explained. Open book does not mean easy — it means knowing where to look, fast.