Michigan HVAC Contractor License — Requirements, Fees & Exam

Michigan licenses the contractor (the business and its qualifying individual), not individual HVAC technicians. PSI exam — verified from Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) — Bureau of Construction Codes, Licensing Section (Mechanical) (official site) and last verified July 22, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

Work classifications: A separate classification is required for each type of work: 1(a) Hydronic heating and cooling and process piping (includes residential boilers); 2(b) HVAC equipment (includes ductwork, gas piping and venting); 3(c) Ductwork; 4(d) Refrigeration; 5(e) Limited heating service; 6(g) Unlimited heating service; 7(f) Limited refrigeration and air conditioning service; 8(h) Unlimited refrigeration and air conditioning service; 9(i) Fire Suppression; and 10(j) Specialty License (Solar Heating and Cooling; Solid Fuel Equipment and Vented Decorative Gas Appliances; LP Distribution Piping; Fuel Gas Piping; Fuel Gas Piping and Venting). A license and a passing exam are required for each classification sought.
Adding a classification — prerequisite classifications: An existing licensee may add a classification by having held the prerequisite classification for at least 3 years immediately preceding the application. The prerequisites are not all HVAC equipment (b). Per MCL 339.5807(1)(b)(i)-(iv) and LARA's BCC-11 table: (c) ductwork requires (b) HVAC; (e) limited heating service requires (b) HVAC; (f) limited refrigeration and air conditioning service requires (b) HVAC or (d) refrigeration; (g) unlimited heating service requires (b) HVAC or (e) limited heating service; (h) unlimited refrigeration and air conditioning service requires (b) HVAC, (d) refrigeration, or (f) limited refrigeration and air conditioning service; (j) specialty (any specialty classification) requires (b) HVAC.
Contractor-only regime: Michigan licenses mechanical CONTRACTORS at the state level: MCL 339.5807(2) directs the department to issue a "mechanical contractor's license" with one or more work classifications, and LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes lists Mechanical Contractor as the only mechanical credential. There is no state mechanical journeyman, technician, or apprentice license (unlike the electrical and plumbing trades, which have journeyman and apprentice tiers). A worker employed by a licensed mechanical contractor needs no personal state mechanical license; that worker builds the 3 years/6,000 hours of experience and then applies for the contractor license.
Experience documentation: Under the experience route (MCL 339.5807(1)(a)), the application must include a statement signed under penalty of perjury by each present or former mechanical contractor employer certifying at least 3 years or 6,000 hours of performance in each classification sought, with beginning/ending dates, length of time, the employer under which the work was performed, the title of the individual signing, and specific work details (heating/cooling BTU ratings, venting and duct systems, fuel types, refrigerant types, equipment, and fire suppression systems where applicable). An applicant who instead qualifies under the held-license route (MCL 339.5807(1)(b)) does not file a 6,000-hour statement for the added classification.
Education credit: A completed 2-year HVAC program (recognized trade school, community college, or university, or a 2-year HVAC program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor) is credited toward the 3 years or 6,000 hours of experience required under the experience route, up to a maximum of 1 year or 2,000 hours (MCL 339.5807(5)).
Federal EPA Section 608 (context, not a Michigan license): Anyone who handles refrigerants must hold federal EPA Section 608 Technician Certification. This is a FEDERAL requirement under the U.S. Clean Air Act, separate from and not a substitute for the Michigan mechanical contractor license.

Legal basis

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) — Bureau of Construction Codes, Licensing Section (Mechanical) administers HVAC contractor licensing in Michigan. Every figure below is verified against the board’s own official pages and dated. Who must personally hold a credential — the contractor, the business, or the individual worker — is set out under Requirements.

What it’s called

In Michigan the state credential is an HVAC contractor license, not an individual technician license. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs licenses the CONTRACTOR — the business and its qualifying individual — not the technicians it employs. A search for a “Michigan HVAC license” maps to that contractor license; a technician working under a licensed contractor needs no separate state license. Separately, the federal EPA Section 608 certification (to handle refrigerants) is a nationwide requirement, not a state HVAC license. “HVAC license,” “AC license” and “HVAC certification” are common informal names for the state contractor credential.

License types & fees

Type	Experience	Exam	Fee
Mechanical Contractor License (initial, per work classification)	Eligibility is DISJUNCTIVE. MCL 339.5807(1) requires good moral character, the article 2 requirements, and "1 or more of the following": (a) a minimum of 3 years or 6,000 hours of experience in the work classification sought, or an equivalent of that experience acceptable to the board; OR (b) currently holding, and having continuously held for at least 3 years immediately preceding the application, an active license in a qualifying work classification (see "Adding a classification"). An applicant qualifying under route (b) does not also have to document 6,000 hours in the classification being added. Under route (a), the application must include a statement signed under penalty of perjury from each contractor of record who is a present or former mechanical contractor employer, indicating a minimum of 3 years or 6,000 hours of performance in EACH work classification for which the applicant is seeking a license. A completed 2-year (or equivalent) HVAC program at a recognized trade school, community college or university, or a 2-year HVAC program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor, is credited toward the route (a) experience requirement, but the credit may not exceed 1 year or 2,000 hours (MCL 339.5807(5)). Experience acquired while serving in the armed forces counts as experience for purposes of subsection (1) where the applicant provides a form DD214, form DD215, or other form satisfactory to the department showing separation with an honorable discharge or under honorable conditions (general), together with an affidavit or letter signed by a commanding officer, supervisor, or military superior with direct knowledge of the service describing the applicant's experience in 1 or more classifications (MCL 339.5807(3)-(4)).	Must take and pass a PSI examination for each work classification desired.	$300.00 initial license/classification fee, non-refundable, paid at time of application. Under MCL 339.5417 the department waives the initial license fee for an applicant who meets 1 of three requirements: (a) is actively serving in the armed forces or uniformed services; (b) served in the armed forces or uniformed services and provides a form DD214, form DD215, or other form satisfactory to the department showing separation with an honorable character of service or under honorable conditions (general) character of service; or (c) is a dependent of a member of the armed forces, a dependent of a member of the uniformed services, or a dependent of a veteran, with proof of dependency acceptable to the department. Exam fees are paid separately to PSI.
Adding a classification to an existing Mechanical Contractor License	This is route (b) of MCL 339.5807(1): the applicant must currently hold, and have continuously held for at least 3 years immediately preceding the application, an active license in the prerequisite work classification. HVAC equipment (b) is NOT the prerequisite for every classification. Per MCL 339.5807(1)(b)(i)-(iv), and the identical table published in LARA's BCC-11 application and its mechanical licensing notice: holding (b) HVAC equipment allows adding (c) ductwork, (e) limited heating service, (f) limited refrigeration and air conditioning service, (g) unlimited heating service, (h) unlimited refrigeration and air conditioning service, or (j) specialty; holding (d) refrigeration allows adding (f) or (h); holding (e) limited heating service allows adding (g); holding (f) limited refrigeration and air conditioning service allows adding (h). Qualifying instead under route (a), with 3 years or 6,000 hours of documented experience in the classification being added, remains the alternative for an applicant who does not hold a prerequisite classification.	Must take and pass the PSI examination for the added classification.	$300.00 to add a classification in the first year of the license cycle, $200.00 in the second year, $100.00 in the third year (non-refundable).

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

Michigan’s mechanical licensing law (Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407, Article 8 — the successor to the Forbes Mechanical Contractors Act) states its own exception list in the license-requirement section itself: MCL 339.5809(1) requires a mechanical contractor’s license ‘Except as provided in subsection (3) or (4) and section 819.’ The carve-outs from the MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR license: (1) EMPLOYEES — the requirement is satisfied at the firm level: work may not be performed ‘unless the person, if the person is an individual, or an employee of the person has received a mechanical contractor’s license’ (MCL 339.5809(1)). One licensed individual (the designated contractor of record, MCL 339.5809(2)) covers the business; the technicians and installers it employs hold no state mechanical license, because Michigan issues none for individuals below contractor level. (2) OWNER-OCCUPANTS OF SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGS (MCL 339.5819): an individual who owns a single-family dwelling that is, or on completion will become, his or her place of residence may PERSONALLY install a heating or refrigerating system in that dwelling — but must affirm ownership and occupancy in the permit application, secure the required permits from the municipal enforcing agency, and obtain the required inspection after the installation is completed and the equipment placed in operation. This is Michigan’s only homeowner carve-out: it covers a single-family residence only (not rentals, not 2+ family buildings), the owner personally, and installation of heating or refrigerating systems. (3) THERMOSTAT WORK BY ALARM-SYSTEM LICENSEES (MCL 339.5809(4)): a person registered as a system provider under the security alarm systems act (2012 PA 580) or licensed as a security alarm system contractor (1968 PA 330) needs no mechanical license — and no local license or permit — ’to perform work … in connection with the installation, maintenance, replacement, or servicing of a thermostat for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system or a hydronic heating and cooling system.’ (4) CHARITABLE PROJECTS (MCL 339.5809(3)) — a permit-flexibility rule, NOT an unlicensed-work exemption: when work in a licensed classification is performed WITHOUT COMPENSATION by a person licensed under the article for or on behalf of a charitable organization, the owner of the property may obtain the required permit; it applies only to reconstruction, renovation, or remodeling of 1- to 4-family dwellings, and the person doing the work must still be licensed. (5) FACILITY MAINTENANCE CREWS (MCL 339.5809(5)): ‘If a contractor of record regularly employs a qualified maintenance crew to perform mechanical contracting work regulated under this article in a facility, this article does not require that the contractor of record perform work in that facility’ — the provision that lets an industrial or institutional facility’s in-house maintenance crew operate under a contractor of record without the licensee personally doing the work. Two scope boundaries complete the picture: the license requirement attaches only to installations, alterations, or servicing of the Sec. 807(2) work classifications ’that are regulated under the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act’ (MCL 339.5809(1)) — work outside the construction code’s reach is outside the licensing law; and municipalities are PREEMPTED from layering local licenses on top: ‘A municipality shall not establish or maintain local licensing requirements for the work classifications described in section 807(2) or work described in section 809(4)’ (MCL 339.5811).

Fees

Initial mechanical contractor license/classification: $300.00 (non-refundable, due at application). Adding a classification to an existing license: $300.00 in year 1 of the license cycle, $200.00 in year 2, $100.00 in year 3. Renewal: $300.00 every 3 years, with a $100.00 late fee if not renewed before expiration. Examination fees are paid separately to PSI. Under MCL 339.5417, the initial license fee is waived for an applicant who is actively serving in the armed forces or uniformed services; who served and shows separation with an honorable character of service or under honorable conditions (general) character of service on a DD214/DD215 or other form satisfactory to the department; or who is a dependent of a member of the armed forces, a dependent of a member of the uniformed services, or a dependent of a veteran and provides acceptable proof of dependency.

Exam

Examinations are administered by PSI (not by the state). Approved applicants are contacted by PSI to schedule at one of five PSI testing centers in Michigan, available six days a week; applicants choose the center and day. A separate exam must be passed for each work classification. Exams may include questions from the Skilled Trades Regulation Act (2016 PA 407), the Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code (1972 PA 230), and the applicable Michigan Mechanical Code. All examination fees are paid directly to PSI at the time the exam is scheduled.

Renewal & continuing education

Mechanical contractor licenses are renewed every 3 years, by August 31 (not all licenses expire in the same year). Renewal is $300.00; a $100.00 late fee applies after expiration. A license expired more than 3 years requires re-application and re-testing. None. LARA states: “You are not required to take code update courses for your mechanical contractor license.”

How to apply

Applications are handled by Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) — Bureau of Construction Codes, Licensing Section (Mechanical). Start at the official application page .

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a state license to do HVAC work in Michigan?

Michigan licenses the mechanical CONTRACTOR, not the individual technician. LARA’s Bureau of Construction Codes issues a mechanical contractor license with separate work classifications (such as HVAC equipment, refrigeration, and heating service), and there is no state mechanical journeyman, technician, or apprentice license. A worker employed by a licensed mechanical contractor does not need a personal state mechanical license; they gain the required experience on the job and then apply for the contractor license themselves. Anyone handling refrigerants still needs federal EPA Section 608 certification.

How much experience do you need for a Michigan mechanical contractor license?

There are two routes, and you only need one of them (MCL 339.5807(1) says an applicant must meet “1 or more of the following”). Route (a): a minimum of 3 years or 6,000 hours of experience in each work classification you apply for, working for a licensed mechanical contractor, documented by statements signed under penalty of perjury by your employer(s). A completed 2-year HVAC program from a recognized school or a U.S. Department of Labor-approved program is credited toward that requirement, up to a maximum of 1 year or 2,000 hours. Route (b): you already hold, and have continuously held for at least 3 years, an active license in a prerequisite classification — in which case you do not have to document another 6,000 hours in the classification you are adding.

How much does a Michigan mechanical contractor license cost?

The initial license/classification fee is $300.00, non-refundable and due at application. Adding a classification later costs $300.00 in the first year of the license cycle, $200.00 in the second, and $100.00 in the third. Renewal is $300.00 every three years. Examination fees are paid separately to PSI. Under MCL 339.5417 the initial license fee is waived for active-service members; for those who separated with an honorable character of service or under honorable conditions (general); and for dependents of service members and of veterans who can prove dependency.

Is there an exam for the Michigan mechanical contractor license?

Yes. You must take and pass an examination for each work classification you seek. Exams are administered by PSI at one of five testing centers in Michigan, six days a week, and the exam fee is paid to PSI when you schedule.

How often do you renew, and is continuing education required?

Mechanical contractor licenses are renewed every three years, by August 31, for $300.00 (a $100.00 late fee applies after expiration); not all licenses expire in the same year. LARA states that you are not required to take code update courses for your mechanical contractor license. A license expired more than three years requires re-application and re-testing.

Do I still need EPA certification to handle refrigerants in Michigan?

Yes. Anyone who handles refrigerants must hold federal EPA Section 608 Technician Certification. That is a separate federal requirement under the U.S. Clean Air Act and is not part of, or a substitute for, the Michigan mechanical contractor license.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Michigan.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: July 22, 2026.

LicensingAtlas states licensing and certification requirements categorically from official sources. It is a reference, not legal or career advice, and requirements change frequently — confirm details with the issuing board before you act.