Utah HVAC Contractor License — Requirements, Fees & Exam

Utah licenses the contractor (the business and its qualifying individual), not individual HVAC technicians. 4,000 hours (H100 - HVAC Contractor (statewide HVAC license; formerly S350)) — verified from official sources.

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) - Construction Services Commission (Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act) (official site) and last verified July 24, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

Who must be licensed - Utah licenses the HVAC CONTRACTOR, not each technician: A person engaged in the construction trades as a contractor 'shall become licensed under this chapter before engaging in that trade or contracting activity in this state unless specifically exempted from licensure under Section 58-1-307 or 58-55-305' (Utah Code 58-55-301(1)(a)). The statutory classification for HVAC is the 'HVAC contractor' license (58-55-301(2)(l)), issued by rule as the H100 - HVAC Contractor classification. A 'contractor' is 'any person who for compensation OTHER THAN WAGES AS AN EMPLOYEE undertakes any work in the construction, plumbing, or electrical trade for which licensure is required' (58-55-102(17)); an 'employee' providing labor for a licensed contractor with taxes withheld and workers' compensation/unemployment provided by the employer (R156-55a-102(4)) is therefore NOT a contractor and needs no individual state HVAC license. Utah does not issue an individual HVAC journeyman or master license - unlike its electrician and plumber trades - so the credential is held at the business level through the H100 Qualifier. The state license plus the local business license are the only licenses required; local governments may not impose additional trade licensing (58-55-301(1)(b)-(c)).
H100 Qualifier - experience: The individual qualifier must produce satisfactory evidence of two years of full-time paid HVAC-specific experience (Utah Code 58-55-302(3)(n)(i)), defined by rule as 4,000 hours over no more than five years as an employee of one or more contractors licensed as H100, B100, S350, P200, or P201, with at least 90% of the workload directly HVAC work and supervised free of conflicts of interest (R156-55a-302g(2)). Alternatively, the qualifier may be a Utah-licensed journeyman plumber, master plumber, residential journeyman plumber, or residential master plumber (R156-55a-302g(2)(a)(ii)).
Examinations and pre-licensure courses: The H100 Qualifier must pass the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination and the Utah HVAC written examination (minimum 70%) before the petition is submitted (R156-55a-302g(3)). The qualifier must also complete a 25-hour pre-licensure course and a 5-hour business-and-law course taught by an approved pre-licensure course provider (Utah Code 58-55-302(1)(e)(iii)-(iv); R156-55a-302f); HVAC contractor is expressly listed among the classifications required to complete the 5-hour business-and-law course.
Insurance and financial responsibility: Before the license issues, the applicant must file proof of public liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000 total, naming the Division as certificate holder and in force for the duration of licensure, and either workers' compensation insurance or an affidavit of no employees supported by a valid Workers' Compensation Coverage Waiver from the Utah Labor Commission (Utah Code 58-55-302(2)(b); R156-55a-302d). The applicant must also demonstrate financial responsibility (58-55-302(1)(e)(i), 58-55-306): the Division may review judgments, tax liens, collection and bankruptcy history, financial statements and tax returns, and a current credit report of the applicant, qualifier, and owners.
Registrations and background check: The applicant must file proof of registration with the Utah Department of Commerce, the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, the Unemployment Insurance Division (Department of Workforce Services), the State Tax Commission, and the IRS (Utah Code 58-55-302(2)(b)(iii)). The applicant (or, for a business entity, the qualifier and each individual with a 10% or greater voting interest) must consent to and complete a criminal background check (58-55-302(1)(e)(vii)).
Natural-gas work requires a Certified Natural Gas Technician: HVAC work relating to natural gas may be performed only by a Certified Natural Gas Technician (R156-55a-301g(2)(b)(iii), (4); 58-55-308). Installation, repair, maintenance, cleaning, or replacement of a residential or commercial gas appliance or combustion system - including the gas piping, combustion-air vents, exhaust venting, or altitude derating - requires training and certification under R156-55a-308b, and this requirement reaches even persons otherwise exempt from contractor licensure (58-55-308(2)(b)).
Renewal, continuing education, and financial responsibility at renewal: Licenses run on a two-year renewal cycle ending November 30 of odd-numbered years (Utah Code 58-55-303(1); R156-55a-303a; R156-1-308a); the current period ends November 30, 2027. At renewal a contractor must show continuing financial responsibility and complete six hours of approved continuing education (58-55-303(2); 58-55-302.5). For an HVAC contractor, at least three of the six hours must relate directly to installing, repairing, or replacing an HVAC system, at least one hour must be energy conservation, at least three hours must be 'core' education, and at least three hours must be live in-class (R156-55a-303b; 58-55-302.5(2)(f)).
Reciprocity / licensure by endorsement: Utah has no general HVAC-license reciprocity table. An out-of-state applicant may seek licensure by endorsement under Utah Code 58-1-302 (for which the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination is not required, R156-55a-302a(3)); the HVAC trade examination and the HVAC-specific experience/qualifier requirements still apply as provided by rule.

Legal basis

Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) - Construction Services Commission (Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act) administers HVAC contractor licensing in Utah. 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

Utah issues an HVAC CONTRACTOR license, not an individual HVAC technician license. The statutory/official name is the ‘HVAC contractor’ classification (Utah Code 58-55-301(2)(l)), issued by rule as the H100 - HVAC Contractor license (renamed from S350 - HVAC Contractor effective January 1, 2026). Searches for a ‘Utah HVAC license,’ ‘AC license,’ ‘HVAC contractor license,’ ‘S350 license,’ or ‘H100 license’ all map to this contractor classification, held by the business through an individual ‘H100 Qualifier.’ Utah does NOT issue an individual HVAC journeyman or master license (its journeyman/master credentials exist only in the electrical and plumbing trades), so an employed HVAC worker needs no personal state HVAC license - the license belongs to the contracting business. Two related credentials are commonly confused with it: the ‘Certified Natural Gas Technician’ certification (Utah Code 58-55-308; R156-55a-308b), which is a Utah requirement for the gas-line and gas-appliance portion of HVAC work; and EPA Section 608 certification, which is a separate FEDERAL refrigerant-handling credential held by the individual technician and is neither issued by nor a substitute for the Utah HVAC contractor license.

License types & fees

Type	Experience	Exam	Fee
H100 - HVAC Contractor (statewide HVAC license; formerly S350)	Held by the contracting business (a person, sole proprietorship, or entity) through an individual 'H100 Qualifier.' The qualifier must show two years of full-time paid HVAC-specific experience - defined by rule as 4,000 hours completed over no more than a five-year period as an employee of one or more contractors licensed as H100, B100, S350, P200, or P201, where at least 90% of the qualifier's workload was directly HVAC work under proper supervision - OR instead be a Utah-licensed journeyman plumber, master plumber, residential journeyman plumber, or residential master plumber (Utah Code 58-55-302(3)(n); Utah Admin. Code R156-55a-302g(2)).	The H100 Qualifier must pass BOTH the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination and the Utah HVAC written examination with a score of at least 70% (R156-55a-302g(3)). A failed exam may be retaken no sooner than 30 days after each of the first three failures, then no sooner than six months after any further failure (R156-55a-302a).	The DOPL license fee is set by the department under Utah Code 63J-1-504 and is published only on DOPL's fee schedule, which sits behind a Cloudflare bot-verification wall that no free automated client can reach; the exact license-fee dollar amount is omitted here rather than guessed. Verifiable cost components: public liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per incident / $2,000,000 total naming the Division as certificate holder; workers' compensation insurance (or a Labor Commission coverage waiver if no employees); the 25-hour pre-licensure course and 5-hour business-and-law course through an approved provider (Associated General Contractors of Utah, Associated Builders and Contractors Utah, or the Utah Home Builders Association); the two examinations; a criminal background check; and a Division financial-responsibility review. Scope (R156-55a-301g): fabrication and installation of complete warm-air heating, air conditioning, and ventilating systems; installation of refrigeration equipment; and attaching a condensate drain to a preexisting receptacle - excluding electrical and plumbing trade work, and excluding gas-line work unless the qualifier and technician are Certified Natural Gas Technicians.
H100 Qualifier (the individual the HVAC contractor must employ)	An individual designation, not a stand-alone contractor license: an H100 licensee 'may only employ an H100 Qualifier ... to act as qualifier' (R156-55a-301g(3)(a)). The qualifier meets the 4,000-hour HVAC experience path (or holds a qualifying Utah plumbing license) and passes the two examinations above. As of Jan 1, 2026 the classification was renamed from S350 to H100; an 'Interim H100 Qualifier' (someone registered as the qualifier for an active S350 license as of April 1, 2026) may act as qualifier until November 30, 2027, by which date the qualifier must become a Certified Natural Gas Technician (or document equivalent gas licensure) to continue (R156-55a-302g(1)).	Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination + Utah HVAC written examination (70%), per R156-55a-302g(3).	The fee is set by DOPL under Utah Code 63J-1-504; the current dollar amount appears only on DOPL's own fee schedule and is omitted here rather than guessed.
Certified Natural Gas Technician (required for the gas-line portion of HVAC work)	A companion certification, not the HVAC contractor license itself. An HVAC contractor's scope does NOT include gas-line work unless the qualifier and the technician performing it are Certified Natural Gas Technicians (R156-55a-301g(2)(b)(iii)). Under Utah Code 58-55-308(2) and R156-55a-308b, any person - including a licensee and a person otherwise exempt under 58-55-305 - who installs, modifies, maintains, cleans, repairs, or replaces the gas piping, combustion-air vents, exhaust venting, or altitude derating of a residential or commercial gas appliance or combustion system must first complete the required training and certification.	Training and examination as specified by Division rule (R156-55a-308b). Exemptions from the certification (58-55-308(3)): a person who has passed an equivalent test or completed an approved gas-appliance apprenticeship, or a person working under one-to-one immediate supervision of a certified natural gas technician.	Set by DOPL under Utah Code 63J-1-504; the current dollar amount appears only on DOPL's own fee schedule and is omitted here rather than guessed.

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

Utah licenses HVAC as a CONTRACTOR classification, and Utah Code 58-55-305 (‘Exemptions from licensure’) lists who may perform construction-trades work without a chapter-55 license, in addition to the general professional-licensing exemptions in Section 58-1-307. The HVAC-critical point is that Utah’s small-jobs exemption does NOT reach HVAC. Under 58-55-305(1)(h)(i) a person may do ’the alteration, repair, remodeling, or addition to or improvement of a building with a contracted or agreed value of less than $7,000, including both labor and materials,’ without a contractor license; but 58-55-305(1)(h)(ii)(F) provides that on such a project ‘installation, repair, or replacement of a heating, ventilation, or air conditioning system (HVAC) … must be performed by an HVAC contractor licensed by the division’ - so the $7,000 exemption never authorizes unlicensed HVAC work. The same subsection carves back electrical and plumbing work (must use licensed electrical/plumbing contractors, 58-55-305(1)(h)(ii)(A)), gas-appliance/combustion work (must be performed by a person certified under 58-55-308(2), 58-55-305(1)(h)(ii)(B)), fire-protection and alarm work, and radon mitigation; and if the total project value exceeds $3,000 the person must file a one-time affirmation of public liability insurance and, if applicable, workers’ compensation (58-55-305(1)(h)(ii)(H)). Other listed exemptions, quoted or summarized to the end of their operative clauses: (1)(a) an authorized federal representative or a state/political-subdivision employee ‘when working on construction work of the state or the subdivision, and when acting within the terms of the person’s trust, office, or employment’; (1)(b) work incidental to irrigation/drainage-district construction and to ‘farming, dairying, agriculture, livestock or poultry raising, metal and coal mining, quarries, sand and gravel excavations, well drilling … hauling to and from construction sites, and lumbering’; (1)(c) ‘public utilities operating under the rules of the Public Service Commission on work incidental to their own business’; (1)(d) a ‘sole owner of property’ building no more than one residential structure per year (and no more than three per five years) on the owner’s own property ‘for the sole owner’s noncommercial, nonpublic use,’ or incidental structures like a shed, carport, or detached garage - but a person other than the owner who builds a residential structure must be licensed if otherwise required; (1)(e) a person building or renovating a residential building ‘for noncommercial, nonpublic use’ who ‘works without compensation other than token compensation’ and ‘under the direction of the property owner’; (1)(f) a seller of personal property that may be affixed to real property ‘who has contracted with a person, firm, or corporation licensed under this chapter to install, affix, or attach that property’; (1)(g) a contractor bidding on a federal-aid highway project who ‘before undertaking construction under that bid, … is licensed under this chapter’; (1)(i) ‘a person practicing a specialty contractor classification or construction trade which the director does not classify by administrative rule as significantly impacting the public’s health, safety, and welfare’ (by rule R156-55a-301an this covers DEQ-regulated lead and asbestos removal and Fire-Marshal-regulated fire-alarm installation); (1)(j) ‘owners and lessees of property and persons regularly employed for wages by owners or lessees of property or their agents for the purpose of maintaining the property … when doing work upon the property’; (1)(k) a person doing ‘minor plumbing work that is incidental … to the repair of a fixture or an appliance’ provided no modification is made to existing culinary water, soil, waste, or vent piping or to a gas appliance or combustion system (first-time installation of a fixture/appliance is not exempt); (1)(l)-(o) certain water-conditioner installers and electrician-type utility/railroad/solar workers; (1)(p) a construction-trades student in an approved program where finished work is inspected and a licensed contractor pulls the permits; (1)(q) ‘a delivery person when replacing any of the following existing equipment with a new gas appliance, provided there is an existing gas shutoff valve at the appliance: (i) gas range; (ii) gas dryer; (iii) outdoor gas barbeque; or (iv) outdoor gas patio heater’; and (1)(r)-(s) certain elevator maintenance and elevator apprentice/helper work. Note that even where a person is exempt under 58-55-305, any gas-appliance or combustion-system work still requires natural-gas-technician certification under 58-55-308(2)(b).

Fees

Utah DOPL license fees are set by the department under Utah Code 63J-1-504 and are published only on the DOPL fee schedule at dopl.utah.gov, which is served behind a bot-verification wall that blocks automated retrieval of the page. Because the license-fee dollar figure cannot be confirmed against a live official source, it is omitted here rather than guessed; applicants should read the current fee on DOPL’s fee schedule or application in a normal browser. What IS verifiable from primary sources are the required cost components an HVAC-contractor applicant must budget for beyond the DOPL license fee: public liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000 total; workers’ compensation insurance (or a Labor Commission waiver if there are no employees); the 25-hour pre-licensure course and the 5-hour business-and-law course through an approved provider; the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination and the Utah HVAC written examination fees (paid to the exam vendor); a criminal background check; and, for gas-line work, the separate Certified Natural Gas Technician training and certification. A Division financial-responsibility review is also part of qualifying. (Fee-waiver programs for low-income and recently discharged military applicants exist across DOPL professions but were not confirmed for this classification on a live official source and are not stated here as fact.)

Exam

Utah licenses HVAC at the business level (the H100 - HVAC Contractor classification), and the examinations are taken by the individual H100 Qualifier who stands behind the license. The qualifier must pass two examinations: the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination (the general contractor business/law exam) and the Utah HVAC written examination, on which a score of at least 70% is required, both before the qualifier petition is submitted (Utah Admin. Code R156-55a-302g(3)). A failed examination may be retaken no sooner than 30 days after each of the first three failures and no sooner than six months after any subsequent failure (R156-55a-302a(2)). Separately, the qualifier must complete a 25-hour pre-licensure course and a 5-hour business-and-law course through an approved provider (Utah Code 58-55-302(1)(e)(iii)-(iv)). An applicant seeking licensure by endorsement under Section 58-1-302 is not required to take the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination (R156-55a-302a(3)).

Renewal & continuing education

Two-year renewal cycle established by rule, expiring November 30 of odd-numbered years (Utah Code 58-55-303(1); Utah Admin. Code R156-55a-303a referencing R156-1-308a). The current licensing period ends November 30, 2027. At renewal the contractor must show continuing financial responsibility (58-55-306) and completion of six hours of approved continuing education (58-55-303(2); 58-55-302.5). A license that becomes, or is transferred to, a reportable unincorporated entity is subject to automatic suspension 60 days later unless renewed (58-55-303(1)(c)). A license that expires may be reinstated under Section 58-1-308, and a license suspended or revoked carries additional reinstatement conditions including a new financial-responsibility review (58-55-303(5)). Six hours of approved continuing education per two-year renewal cycle for a contractor licensee (Utah Code 58-55-302.5(1); Utah Admin. Code R156-55a-303b(1)). Structure: at least three hours must be ‘core’ continuing education (construction codes, laws, job-site safety/OSHA, regulations, finance/bookkeeping, energy conservation, business practices) and the remaining three may be professional or core; at least three hours must be live in-class attendance and up to three may be distance learning. For an HVAC contractor specifically, at least three of the six hours must be continuing education directly related to the installation, repair, or replacement of a heating, ventilation, or air conditioning system (58-55-302.5(2)(f); R156-55a-303b(1)(b)), and at least one of the six hours must cover energy conservation (R156-55a-303b(1)(d)). Courses must be offered by a provider specified in 58-55-302.5(2) (for HVAC contractors this includes the Utah Plumbing & Heating Contractors Association and the Utah Mechanical Contractors Association).

How to apply

Applications are handled by Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) - Construction Services Commission (Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act). Start at the official application page .

Frequently asked questions

Does Utah require an HVAC license?

Yes. Utah licenses HVAC at the state level as a contractor license through the Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) under the Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act. The classification is the H100 - HVAC Contractor license (Utah Code 58-55-301(2)(l)), and no one may engage in HVAC contracting without it unless exempt (58-55-301(1)(a)). Utah licenses the contracting BUSINESS, not each technician: a ‘contractor’ is someone working for compensation other than wages as an employee (58-55-102(17)), so an employee of a licensed HVAC contractor needs no individual state HVAC license. There is no individual HVAC journeyman or master license in Utah.

What is the H100 HVAC Contractor license, and what happened to the S350 license?

H100 - HVAC Contractor is Utah’s HVAC contractor classification. Effective January 1, 2026, DOPL renamed the legacy S350 - HVAC Contractor specialty to H100; anyone holding an active S350 license as of January 1, 2026 is deemed to hold an H100 license for the rest of the licensing period ending November 30, 2027 (Utah Admin. Code R156-55a-301g(4)). The individual who qualifies the license is the ‘H100 Qualifier.’ A person who was the qualifier for an active S350 license as of April 1, 2026 (an ‘Interim H100 Qualifier’) may continue until November 30, 2027, by which date they must become a Certified Natural Gas Technician to keep qualifying.

What experience and exams does Utah require for an HVAC contractor?

The H100 Qualifier must show two years of full-time paid HVAC-specific experience - by rule, 4,000 hours over no more than five years working for one or more Utah HVAC/building/plumbing contractors with at least 90% of the work directly HVAC - or instead hold a Utah plumbing license (journeyman/master/residential). The qualifier must pass the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination and the Utah HVAC written examination (at least 70%), and complete a 25-hour pre-licensure course and a 5-hour business-and-law course (Utah Code 58-55-302; R156-55a-302g).

How much does a Utah HVAC contractor license cost?

The DOPL license fee is set under Utah Code 63J-1-504 and published only on DOPL’s fee schedule, which is behind a bot-verification wall that automated tools cannot read, so this record does not state the dollar figure rather than risk quoting a stale or invented number - check the current fee on dopl.utah.gov in a normal browser. Beyond the license fee, budget for public liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per incident / $2,000,000 total, workers’ compensation insurance (or a coverage waiver if you have no employees), the 25-hour and 5-hour pre-licensure courses, both examination fees, a criminal background check, a financial-responsibility review, and - if you do gas-line work - separate Certified Natural Gas Technician certification.

Does Utah require continuing education to renew an HVAC contractor license?

Yes. HVAC contractor licenses renew every two years (the period ends November 30 of odd-numbered years; the current one ends November 30, 2027). At renewal the contractor must show continuing financial responsibility and complete six hours of approved continuing education. For an HVAC contractor, at least three of the six hours must relate directly to installing, repairing, or replacing an HVAC system, at least one hour must be energy conservation, at least three hours must be core education, and at least three hours must be live in-class (Utah Code 58-55-302.5; R156-55a-303b).

Do I need a separate certification to work on gas lines and gas furnaces in Utah?

Yes. An HVAC contractor’s scope does not include gas-line work unless the qualifier and the technician are Certified Natural Gas Technicians (R156-55a-301g(2)(b)(iii)). Installing, repairing, maintaining, cleaning, or replacing a residential or commercial gas appliance or combustion system - the gas piping, combustion-air vents, exhaust venting, or altitude derating - requires natural-gas-technician training and certification under Utah Code 58-55-308 and R156-55a-308b, and that requirement even reaches people otherwise exempt from contractor licensing. Separately, EPA Section 608 refrigerant certification is a federal requirement for handling refrigerants and is not a Utah license.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Utah.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: July 24, 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.