Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Florida's official board.
Refrigerant work requires federal EPA Section 608 certification. The 14-hour CE figure is the standard CILB requirement; confirm current hour breakdown per cycle.
| Requirements | ELIGIBILITY. Section 489.111, Florida Statutes: at least 18 years old, of good moral character, and a total of at least four years of active experience as a worker who learned the trade by serving an apprenticeship as a skilled worker, at least one year of it as a foreman; college coursework may substitute in fixed combinations - one year as foreman plus three years of college; one year skilled worker plus one year foreman plus two years college; or two years skilled worker plus one year foreman plus one year college. A certified Class C may sit for Class B after three years, and a certified Class B may sit for Class A after one year. Class B is limited to 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 BTU of heating in any one system; Class A is unlimited. CILB APPLICATION AND FEES, from DBPR's certified contractor application: the initial certification fee is $245 when applying between May 1 of an EVEN year and August 31 of an ODD year, and $145 when applying between September 1 of an ODD year and April 30 of an EVEN year - the fee is prorated against the biennial cycle, so the month of application changes the price. Payable to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Electronic fingerprints are required of every applicant, along with proof of satisfaction of liens, judgments and discharge of bankruptcy where applicable. An active-status applicant must also submit a credit report carrying a FICO-derived credit score from a nationally recognised agency, with a public records statement showing local, state and federal records were checked; if the score is below 660 the applicant must complete a 14-hour Board-approved financial responsibility course. Financial responsibility is met where the credit report shows no outstanding judgments, liens or unsatisfied bankruptcies. General liability insurance minimums: $300,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage for General and Building contractors; $100,000 public liability and $25,000 property damage for all other categories, plus workers' compensation insurance or a filed exemption, obtained within 30 days after the license issues if not already held. CILB EXAMINATIONS. Division II contractors - every specialty including plumbing and air conditioning - must pass two examinations, Business and Finance and the General Trade Knowledge paper for the specialty. All construction examinations are OPEN BOOK and multiple choice, and the minimum percentage score needed to pass is 70 percent. Only books on DBPR's approved reference list may be brought in, they must remain as published, underlining and highlighting are allowed but photocopies are not without prior written authorisation, and permanently attached tabs may carry only normal chapter or page headings. Registration and scoring run through Professional Testing, Inc.; scheduling and delivery through Pearson VUE. Applications must be received no later than 30 days before the examination date. A candidate who passes and later applies in an additional category may be exempt from retaking the Business and Finance part. Business and Finance is 120 scored questions in 6.5 hours (the Service Pool version is 60 questions in 3.5 hours), delivered daily by computer. AIR CONDITIONING TRADE EXAMINATIONS, from DBPR's Examinations at a Glance table, all delivered daily by computer and all open book: Air Conditioning 'A' 130 scored questions in 7.5 hours; Air Conditioning 'B' 80 scored questions in 5 hours; Mechanical Contractor 130 scored questions in 7.5 hours; Sheet Metal 80 scored questions in 5 hours; Gas Line 80 scored questions in 5 hours; Solar 80 scored questions in 5 hours; Rooftop Solar Heating Installation Specialty 50 scored questions in 2.5 hours; Pollutant Storage 80 scored questions in 5 hours. The examination fee is paid to the testing vendor and is not published on the DBPR examination-information pages checked on 2026-09-07. |
| Reciprocity | DBPR offers endorsement/reciprocity pathways with certain states for qualified applicants. |
| Renewal | Licenses expire August 31 of even-numbered years (biennial); 14 hours of continuing education per biennium (standard CILB requirement). |
| Notes | Refrigerant work requires federal EPA Section 608 certification. The 14-hour CE figure is the standard CILB requirement; confirm current hour breakdown per cycle. |
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Sources: www2.myfloridalicense.com, www2.myfloridalicense.com, www.myfloridalicense.com, www.leg.state.fl.us. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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