Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Oregon's official board.
Two-tier structure (CCB business license + BCD individual work license) is the distinguishing feature. Federal EPA Section 608 certification required to handle refrigerants.
| Requirements | Two credentials sit on top of each other and neither is an individual competency exam for HVAC work. BCD LIMITED MAINTENANCE SPECIALTY CONTRACTOR HVAC/R (LHR): authorises the holder to maintain, service, repair or replace commercial and industrial electrical products that use fuel or other forms of energy to produce heat, power, refrigeration or air conditioning. Requirements: register the business name with the Oregon Secretary of State; hold an active Construction Contractors Board license and give the CCB number on the application; employ a full-time signing supervisor appropriate to the license type, who signs the application. Fee $75.00, with no exemptions. NO EXAMINATION is required for the LHR and the holder is exempt from continuing education. BCD processing is typically 1-3 business days. Bonding and insurance are set by the CCB, not by BCD. CCB CONTRACTOR LICENCE (the business license that actually lets an HVAC firm contract). Every license needs a Responsible Managing Individual who has completed 16 hours of pre-license training in business practices and law from a CCB-approved provider and passed the CCB examination. The examination is delivered by PSI, is OPEN BOOK, and is 80 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours with 70% required to pass; the test fee is $60 each time it is taken. Bond and liability insurance are set by endorsement. Residential endorsements: Residential General Contractor $500,000 per occurrence in liability insurance; Residential Specialty Contractor - the usual HVAC endorsement - $20,000 bond and $300,000 per occurrence; Residential Limited Contractor $15,000 and $100,000; Residential Developer $25,000 and $500,000. Commercial endorsements: Commercial General Contractor Level 1 $80,000 bond, $2 million aggregate and 8 years of construction experience; Commercial General Contractor Level 2 $25,000, $1 million aggregate and 4 years; Commercial Specialty Contractor Level 1 $55,000, $1 million aggregate and 8 years; Commercial Specialty Contractor Level 2 $25,000, $500,000 per occurrence and 4 years. A contractor whose contracts on a single public works project exceed $100,000 must also obtain a public works bond. Experience for the commercial endorsements counts years worked as a licensed contractor, journeyman, foreperson or supervisor, or as any other employee engaged in construction work for a licensed contractor; an apprenticeship may substitute for part of it, a four-year degree in a construction-related field or business or economics for up to two years, and an associate's degree in construction or building management for up to one year. CONFLICT ON THE RESIDENTIAL GENERAL BOND, both recorded: the CCB's Guide to becoming a licensed contractor shows the Residential General Contractor bond as $25,000, while the State of Oregon license directory entry for the same endorsement states a $20,000 residential bond. CCB application fee: the license directory gives $250.00 for the Residential General Contractor two-year license, while the CCB guide says the construction contractor application fee is authorised up to $400 for a two-year license and marks its own cost table as current as of summer 2021. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is required to handle refrigerants; it is not an Oregon credential. |
| Reciprocity | The Building Codes Division does publish a reciprocal licenses page, but it covers only electrical and plumbing credentials: General Journeyman Electrician (J) with Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming; General Supervising Electrician (S) with Arkansas and Utah; and Journeyman Plumber (JP) with Idaho and Montana. No mechanical, HVAC or HVAC/R license appears anywhere on that page, so Oregon publishes no reciprocity route for the HVAC trades despite licensing categories such as the Limited Maintenance Specialty Contractor HVAC/R (LHR). |
| Renewal | BCD LHR license renews every three years on July 1, and the holder is exempt from continuing education. CCB contractor licenses are two-year licenses and continuing education must be completed before the renewal application and fee are submitted. A BCD license that has been expired for more than one year cannot be renewed - the holder must retest. |
| Notes | Two-tier structure (CCB business license + BCD individual work license) is the distinguishing feature. Federal EPA Section 608 certification required to handle refrigerants. |
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Sources: apps.oregon.gov, www.oregon.gov, www.oregon.gov, apps.oregon.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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