How to Get an HVAC License in California (2026 C-20 and C-38 Guide)

California does not issue a separate state HVAC technician license. The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) licenses heating, air conditioning and refrigeration work at the contractor level, through two specialty classifications: the C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning license and the C-38 Refrigeration license. You need one of them to contract for HVAC or refrigeration work priced at $1,000 or more, or for any job that needs a building permit. For the wider picture, start with the California contractor license requirements, and for every other state see how contractor licensing works in each state.

At a glance

• Issued by: the CSLB, as a C-20 (HVAC) or C-38 (refrigeration) specialty license.
• When you need it: any job of $1,000 or more in total contract price, or any job that needs a building permit.
• Experience: four years at journey level or higher in the classification, earned within the last 10 years.
• Exams: Law and Business plus the C-20 or C-38 trade exam, taken at PSI; the CSLB's December 2024 bulletin lists $51.43 each.
• Fees and bond: $450 to apply, $200 or $350 to issue the license, a $25,000 contractor's bond, renewal every two years.

When California Requires a C-20 or C-38 License

The small job exemption sits in Business and Professions Code section 7048. It covers work on one project whose aggregate contract price for labor, materials and all other items is less than $1,000, and only when the work does not require a building permit. Assembly Bill 2622 raised that figure from $500 to $1,000 effective January 1, 2025, and the section was amended again effective January 1, 2026 with the $1,000 figure unchanged.

The exemption never applies when a job is part of a larger operation or is split into smaller contracts to stay under $1,000. It also never applies to anyone who advertises as a contractor or employs another person to do or help with the work.

General contractors and electricians. The CSLB's heat pump fact sheet says a B General Building contractor may take the prime contract for an HVAC system heat pump but must subcontract the work to a C-20, unless the contract includes two or more unrelated trades other than framing or carpentry. A C-10 electrical contractor may do the panel upgrade but may not contract for the heat pump itself. The same structure governs the C-10 electrical license, the C-36 plumbing license and the B general building license.

C-20 or C-38: Which Classification Fits Your Work

Both classifications are defined in Title 16, Division 8, Article 3 of the California Code of Regulations. The C-20 covers warm-air heating systems and water heating heat pumps, ventilating systems, air conditioning systems, and the ducts, registers, flues, controls and air filters that go with them, including systems that use solar energy. The C-38 covers refrigerators, refrigerated rooms, insulated refrigerated spaces and their equipment and controls, for holding air, liquid or gas below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius).

Holding both. An original application covers one A, B or C classification. Once licensed, you can add the second with an additional classification application, which carries a $230 fee on the CSLB fee schedule.

CSLB Requirements for the C-20 and C-38

The requirements are the same for both classifications. Each license must have a qualifying individual, called the qualifier, who meets the experience rule and passes the exams on behalf of the business.

How to Prove Four Years of Journey Level Experience

The CSLB credits only experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee, contractor or owner-builder. A journeyman is a fully qualified worker who can perform the trade without supervision, or someone who has completed an apprenticeship. Time as a trainee, helper or apprentice does not count as journey level experience, and the CSLB's FAQ says office work does not count either.

Your experience goes on the Certification of Work Experience form (13A-11, revised 12/2024), filed with the application. A qualified person with firsthand knowledge of your work, such as an employer, foreman, fellow journeyman or union representative, signs it. The CSLB reviews a random three percent of applications, and claimed experience must be verifiable through payroll records and similar documents.

Education and apprenticeship credit. The CSLB can credit up to three of the four years, shown by official sealed transcripts or certificates:

The Two PSI Exams

The CSLB writes its exams and contracts with PSI to give them. Once the board accepts your application, it mails a Notice to Schedule, and you book and pay for each exam directly with PSI online or at (877) 392-6422. The CSLB's December 2024 industry bulletin (24-07) lists the PSI fee at $51.43 per exam, and each exam is paid for separately. The CSLB's exam pages and PSI's CSLB page print no newer amount, so confirm the fee on your Notice to Schedule or in your PSI account when you book.

Each exam allows three and a half hours and is closed book and multiple choice, with a calculator provided. Trade exams are given only in California and at PSI's Wilsonville, Oregon site.

Timing rules. You have 18 months from the date your application is accepted to pass every required exam, or the application is void and you start over with new fees. After a failed attempt you wait 21 calendar days to schedule again, and a passed exam stays good for five years. The CSLB does not publish a passing percentage, and a passing score report does not show a score.

Law and Business exam. Every applicant takes it. It covers business organization and licensing (13 percent), business finances (15), employment requirements (20), insurance and liens (12), contract requirements and execution (21), public works (5) and safety (14).

The C-20 study guide covers exams scheduled on or after April 1, 2026; its references include the 2025 California Mechanical Code and ACCA Manuals J, D and S.

The C-38 study guide covers exams scheduled on or after April 1, 2024; its references include the 2025 California Mechanical and Electrical Codes. For how vendor scheduling works, see scheduling your contractor exam with PSI, Prov and Pearson VUE.

What It Costs to Get Licensed

These are the board and vendor fees the CSLB publishes. Section 7137 caps the exam fee at the cost of giving it, paid directly to the vendor.

Notes on the fee table

• First try total. A sole owner who passes both exams the first time pays $801.86 in fixed CSLB, PSI and fingerprint processing fees, using the PSI fee from the December 2024 bulletin, before the Live Scan site's own fee, the bond premium and insurance.
• Online filing. The CSLB's sole owner application adds a 2.3 percent card processing charge when you apply online.
• Veterans. Section 7137 gives veterans who were not dishonorably discharged a 50 percent reduction on the initial license fee.
• Retakes and no shows. Every retake is a new PSI fee. Cancel at least two days before your appointment or you forfeit the fee.

The Licensing Steps in Order

1. Pick the classification. Decide on the C-20 or the C-38 for the original application; add the other later if your work needs it.
2. Set the business structure and the qualifier. Decide who qualifies the license: the owner, an officer or member, or a responsible managing employee.
3. Document the experience. Complete the Certification of Work Experience form with your certifier.
4. File the application. Submit it to the CSLB with the $450 application fee.
5. Complete Live Scan. After acceptance the CSLB sends a fingerprinting packet for everyone on the application.
6. Schedule and pass both exams. Book with PSI from the Notice to Schedule and pass within 18 months.
7. Answer the Bond and Fee letter. File the $25,000 bond, the workers' compensation certificate or exemption, the asbestos open book exam and the initial license fee, all together to avoid delays.
8. Receive the license and track the renewal. The license runs two years from the end of the month it was issued.

Bond, Insurance and Workers' Compensation

Contractor's bond. Section 7071.6 requires a $25,000 contractor's bond to issue, renew or keep a license active. The CSLB also accepts a cashier's check or bank certified check for $25,000 in place of a surety bond.

Bond of qualifying individual. When the qualifier is a responsible managing employee, or a responsible managing officer who owns less than 10 percent of the voting stock, a second $25,000 bond is required under section 7071.9.

LLC licenses. A limited liability company also files a $100,000 employee and worker bond under section 7071.6.5 and carries at least $1,000,000 in aggregate liability insurance when five or fewer people are listed on the license (section 7071.19). See contractor insurance requirements by state for other states.

Workers' compensation. California requires employers to carry workers' compensation even with one employee. Under section 7125, every active C-20 contractor must carry a policy or a certificate of self-insurance whether or not it has employees, alongside the C-8, C-22, C-39 and D-49 classifications. A C-38 contractor with no employees can still file an exemption until January 1, 2028, the date Senate Bill 1455 set for the rule to reach every classification.

Renewal and Keeping the License Active

A California contractor license expires two years from the last day of the month it was issued, under section 7140. At each renewal the current qualifier files a statement confirming they still serve as the qualifier. A late renewal carries a delinquency fee equal to half the renewal fee.

An inactive license needs no contractor's bond; reactivating it costs $450 for a sole owner and $700 for any other entity.

EPA Section 608 Is a Separate Federal Requirement

The C-20 and C-38 let a business contract for the work. Handling refrigerant is separate: EPA rules under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act require technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release refrigerant to be certified.

Apprentices are exempt while a certified technician closely supervises them, and the EPA does not issue the cards itself. See EPA 608 certification versus an HVAC license.

City Business Licenses in Long Beach and Across Southern California

The CSLB license covers the whole state, but cities still issue permits and collect business license taxes. Long Beach, for example, has a Business License Division that licenses and permits every business operating in the city, so check each city's office before your first job there.

How the License Attaches to Your Company

Section 7068 sets who may qualify a license. A sole owner qualifies personally or through a responsible managing employee (RME); a corporation qualifies through a responsible managing officer (RMO) or an RME; an LLC qualifies through an RMO, a responsible managing manager or member, or an RME. The qualifier must be qualified in the same classification the company is applying for.

What an RME must be. The law defines an RME as a bona fide employee, permanently employed by the company and actively engaged in the licensed work. Actively engaged means working 32 hours a week, or 80 percent of the hours the business operates, whichever is less.

Supervision and control. Section 7068.1 makes the qualifier responsible for supervising and controlling the company's construction operations. A qualifier may act for more than one firm only with at least 20 percent common ownership or a similar tie, and never for more than three firms in one year; a violation is a misdemeanor.

When a qualifier leaves. Under section 7068.2 the company must notify the CSLB and replace the qualifier within 90 days, or the license is automatically suspended. The replacement application costs $230.

The company side of the answer. Many HVAC businesses have the crews and customers but no one who meets the four year rule, or they lose their qualifier and face that 90 day clock. The lawful answer is a licensed HVAC professional who joins as a full time W-2 employee, serves as the company's RME and genuinely supervises the work. The Licensing Company, led by founders Marshall Schofield and Jeremiah Jaskulski, places qualified professionals in exactly that role; read what a qualifying agent is, the California RME and RMO guide and the HVAC contractor qualifying agent overview, or hire a qualifying agent.

Working Without a License

Section 7028 makes contracting without a license a misdemeanor. A first conviction carries a fine of up to $5,000, up to six months in county jail, or both. A second conviction brings a fine of 20 percent of the contract price, 20 percent of the payments received, or $5,000, whichever is greater, and at least 90 days in jail in most cases.

Section 7071.6 also lets the board require a double bond from an applicant previously convicted or cited for unlicensed contracting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a C-20 and a C-38 license in California?

The C-20 covers warm-air heating, ventilating and air conditioning, including furnaces, heat pumps and ducts. The C-38 covers refrigeration held below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, such as refrigerated rooms and insulated spaces. Both need four years of experience and the Law and Business exam, with a different trade exam for each.

Does California have an HVAC technician license?

No. California licenses HVAC at the contractor level through the CSLB's C-20 and C-38 classifications. Technicians who handle refrigerant still need federal EPA Section 608 certification.

How much does it cost to get an HVAC license in California?

The CSLB charges $450 to apply and $200 (sole owner) or $350 (any other entity) to issue the license. The CSLB's December 2024 bulletin lists PSI's fee at $51.43 per exam, and Live Scan adds $32 and $17 plus the site's own fee. You also need a $25,000 bond and, for a C-20, workers' compensation.

Can I get a C-20 without four years of experience?

Not personally. Education or apprenticeship can replace up to three of the four years, but at least one year must be practical work. Your company can instead be qualified by an RME who meets the requirements and works for it full time.

Do I need a C-20 to install a heat pump in California?

Yes, on any job that needs a license. The CSLB names the C-20 for HVAC system heat pumps, and the C-20 or C-36 plumbing classification for heat pump water heaters.

For how HVAC licensing compares nationally, see how to get an HVAC contractor license, or compare the Texas HVAC license and the Florida HVAC license.

Next Step for California HVAC Companies

If your company needs a C-20 or C-38 qualified now, call 615-219-2110 or hire a qualifying agent to talk through the right structure for your business.

Sources

All retrieved 2026-09-29.

• CSLB, C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning classification
• CSLB, C-38 Refrigeration classification
• CSLB, List of All CSLB Fees
• CSLB, Apply for a Sole Owner License
• CSLB, Step 3: Qualifying Experience for the Examination
• CSLB, Certification of Work Experience form 13A-11
• CSLB, Frequently Asked Questions About Journey Level Experience
• CSLB, Public Information Center Frequently Asked Questions
• CSLB, Examinations Frequently Asked Questions
• CSLB, Step 5: My Original Exam Application Was Accepted
• CSLB, Industry Bulletin 24-07 on SB 1455
• CSLB, C-20 Examination Study Guide
• CSLB, C-38 Examination Study Guide
• CSLB, Law and Business Examination Study Guide
• CSLB, Fast Facts on Heat Pump Water Heaters and HVAC Heat Pumps
• CSLB, Workers' Compensation Requirements
• CSLB, Bond Requirements
• CSLB, Bond Alternatives
• PSI, CSLB Contractor Exam
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7048
• California Legislature, AB 2622 (2024) chaptered text
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7028
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7068
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7068.1
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7068.2
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7071.6
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7071.6.5
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7071.9
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7071.19
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7137
• California Legislature, Business and Professions Code 7140
• U.S. EPA, Section 608 Technician Certification
• eCFR, 40 CFR 82.161 Technician certification
• City of Long Beach, Business Licenses