HVAC License Delaware: Master HVACR vs Master HVACR Restricted, and the Six Specialties (2026)

Delaware gives HVAC technicians a decision most states never ask them to make, and it is close to irreversible in practice: apply for a Master HVACR license, or a Master HVACR Restricted license limited to exactly one of six specialties.

Pick Restricted and you save nothing on the application fee. Both cost the same. What you give up is scope, and if you later want a second specialty you cannot simply add it. The Board's instruction is direct: if you wish to provide services in more than one of those specialties, you must apply for the full Master HVACR license, and if you already hold a Restricted license you must apply to upgrade to an unrestricted one.

That single choice is the center of HVAC licensing in Delaware, and almost no page-one guide explains it. Here is the whole system, verified against the Board's own pages and 24 Del. C. Chapter 18, as of September 2026.

Who regulates HVAC in Delaware

The Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, inside the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation (DPR). Statutory authority is 24 Del. C. Chapter 18, Subchapter III; rules are at Title 24, section 1800 of the Delaware Administrative Code.

Like plumbing, Delaware licenses only masters in the mechanical trades. There is no state journeyman HVAC license and no state apprentice HVAC license. You hold a Master HVACR or Master HVACR Restricted license, or you work under the supervision of someone who does.

All applications run through DELPROS, the state's online licensing portal.

The two license types

Master HVACR (unrestricted). Under the Board's definition, a Master HVACR licensee can design, install, construct, maintain, service, repair, alter or modify a product or equipment, including gas piping, in heating and air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation, or process cooling or heating systems.

Master HVACR Restricted. Same work, but limited to one of the following six specialties:

• Heating, Forced Air Systems, Ventilation, and Gas Piping
• Heating, Hydronic Systems and Gas Piping
• Commercial Hood Systems
• Refrigeration
• Air Conditioning
• Gas Piping

Two things about that list are worth sitting with.

First, gas piping appears three times: as its own standalone specialty, and bundled into both heating specialties. If gas piping is a meaningful part of your work, the specialty you pick determines whether you can touch it.

Second, the two heating specialties are split by system type, not by residential versus commercial. Forced air and hydronic are separate licenses. A Restricted licensee in forced air cannot work on a boiler-and-radiator system, and vice versa. In a state with Delaware's housing mix, older hydronic stock in Wilmington and northern New Castle County, newer forced-air construction downstate, that split has real commercial consequences.

If you are the sole license holder for a company, the Restricted license quietly caps what your company can bid.

Where HVAC ends and plumbing begins

The Board draws the line explicitly, and it draws it in both directions.

You need a Master Plumber license in addition to your Master HVACR or Master HVACR Restricted license if you design, install, construct, replace, service, repair, alter or modify the pipes, fixtures and other apparatus used for bringing the water supply into a building or removing liquid and water-carried wastes from a building.

Read that against what your HVACR license already covers. Gas piping in mechanical systems is inside the HVACR scope. Water supply and drain-waste-vent is not. So a technician replacing a gas furnace is on the HVACR license; the same technician repiping the condensate and domestic water for a combi boiler has crossed into plumbing.

Contractors doing full mechanical work in Delaware commonly carry both. See Plumbing License Delaware for the plumbing side, including the fact that Delaware has no journeyman plumber license either.

The electrical trap most HVAC guides miss

Here is a Delaware-specific gotcha that does not appear on any competing page-one result.

The Delaware Board of Electrical Examiners, a completely separate board under the same Division, issues Master Electrician Special and Limited Electrician Special licenses. The Board's own description of them: master special and limited special licenses limit practice to certain specialties such as elevators or HVAC.

Delaware, in other words, has a purpose-built electrical credential scoped to HVAC work. If your technicians are running new circuits, setting disconnects, or doing more than the low-voltage control and equipment-connection work incidental to the mechanical install, that work sits under the electrical statute (24 Del. C. Chapter 14) and a different board. Application fees on that side, from the Board of Electrical Examiners fee schedule updated July 1, 2026: Master Electrician $203, Master Electrician, Special $200, Limited Electrician $127, Limited Electrician, Special $127, Journeyperson Electrician $105, Residential Electrician $105, Apprentice Electrician $100.

Two boards, two statutes, two sets of renewals. Confirm the boundary with both boards before you scope a job. Electrician License Delaware covers that ladder in full.

Who can work without a license

§ 1820(c) lists the exemptions. An individual may provide HVACR or HVACR restricted services without holding a license if:

• The individual is an apprentice, journeyman, mechanic or other person providing such services under the supervision of a master HVACR or master HVACR restricted licensee who is that individual's employer, or who is employed full time by the same business entity as that individual.
• The individual is a homeowner performing HVACR services other than gas piping in or about their own home, where the home is not for sale and no part is for rent or lease.
• The individual is working on property used exclusively for agricultural purposes, having filed a permit application with the authorized inspection authority.
• The individual is providing services pursuant to § 1831, the emergency provision covering a business that has lost its sole license holder.

The first exemption is the one to memorize. Delaware does not just require supervision by a master. It requires that the supervising master be the worker's employer or a full-time employee of the same business entity. That is a statutory employment test, and it is written identically in the plumbing subchapter at § 1807(c)(1). We unpack what it does to a mechanical business in Delaware's Full-Time Employee Rule.

Penalties

§ 1820(d) sets fines directly in statute, identical to the plumbing side:

• First offense, not less than $1,500, not more than $3,000
• Second or subsequent offense, not less than $3,000, not more than $6,000

Justice of the Peace Courts have jurisdiction. Under § 1826(b), when the Board determines someone is providing HVACR services or using the title "master HVACR licensee" or "master HVACR restricted licensee" contrary to the chapter, the Board shall request that the Attorney General's Office issue a cease and desist order, prosecute, or both.

Qualifying for the license

§ 1821(a) sets the requirements. The experience piece gives you two routes.

Route 1, apprenticeship certificate plus 2 years. You hold a journeyman's certificate issued in any state following completion of an HVACR or HVACR-restricted apprenticeship program that meets or exceeds the Federal Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training Standards, and after receiving it you performed HVACR or HVACR-restricted services for 2 years under the supervision of a master HVACR licensee, master HVACR restricted licensee, or someone holding a similar level of licensure in another state.

The Board specifies that an acceptable "Journeyman Certificate" is one issued by a federally-approved HVACR apprenticeship program, such as the Delaware Department of Labor's. You submit a copy of the apprenticeship program's Certificate of Completion plus proof of the two years.

Route 2 to 7 years plus the bypass exam. You performed HVACR or HVACR-restricted services for 7 years under the supervision of a master licensee or equivalent out-of-state licensee, and then successfully completed the apprenticeship equivalency test approved by the Board and administered by a Delaware vocational-technical school.

For HVACR, the Board routes candidates differently than it does for plumbing. The Board reviews your experience, and if approved you are notified you may take the Apprenticeship By-Pass Exam offered by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Delaware in New Castle County, (302) 328-1111. Plumbing candidates are sent to the three county vo-tech schools instead. Same statutory concept, different administering body, do not assume the plumbing instructions apply to you.

The CFC certification requirement

§ 1821(a)(3) makes this a statutory condition of licensure, not an afterthought: the applicant must have been certified at the appropriate level for handling chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by a testing organization approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Board's application instructions narrow where it bites. You must submit a copy of your CFC certification card if you are applying for:

• Master HVACR
• Master HVACR Restricted, Refrigeration
• Master HVACR Restricted, Air Conditioning

If you are applying for a Restricted license in one of the heating specialties, commercial hood systems, or gas piping, the card is not on the Board's document list for those tracks. Applicants for the three refrigerant-handling tracks should have the card in hand before they start the application, because a missing EPA card stalls the file at the document stage.

If you want the general version of how a federal certification and a state license differ, see EPA 608 Certification vs. HVAC License.

The other qualifying conditions

§ 1821(a) also requires that the applicant has not received administrative penalties regarding their practice (with the Board able to determine after a hearing whether a particular penalty is grounds for denial), has no impairment related to drug or alcohol use that would limit safe practice, has no pending disciplinary proceedings or unresolved complaints in any jurisdiction, and has no criminal conviction record for a crime substantially related to providing HVACR services.

On that last point, § 1821(a)(7) provides that the Board, or between meetings the Board President or designee, shall waive the conviction bar if, after considering the factors in 29 Del. C. § 8735(x)(3), it determines a waiver would not create an unreasonable risk to public safety. § 1821(a)(8) excludes felony sexual offenses from that waiver path. § 1821(b) lets the Board waive the administrative-penalty and conviction paragraphs for good cause.

§ 1821(c) carries the same applicant protection as the plumbing subchapter: the application form may not require a photograph, or information related to citizenship, place of birth, length of state residency, or personal references.

Proving your experience

Experience is documented on the Board's Verification of Employment form, completed by your supervisor, submitted by affidavit on Board-approved forms.

If your supervisor will not or cannot complete it, you may substitute a W-2 or an affidavit of the employer or an officer of the employing company, along with a written statement explaining why the form is unavailable. For self-employment periods, submit Schedule C. Acceptance is at the Board's discretion.

You also arrange State/Jurisdiction Licensure Verification sent directly to the Board from every state or jurisdiction where you hold or have ever held a license, including cities and counties. The Board flags Pennsylvania specifically: HVACR licenses there are not issued by a state board, so if your only current license came from a Pennsylvania municipality or other local jurisdiction, you must apply by examination. It also notes that if a license covered an HVACR business and all its employees rather than you as an individual, you do not need a verification for that business.

The exams: ABC Delaware, then ProV

Delaware runs a two-vendor sequence.

ABC Delaware administers the Apprenticeship By-Pass Examination for both trades where the Board requires it. After the exam, ABC sends results to the Board. Once passing results are received and verified, Board staff forward your registration to the licensure exam vendor.

ProV Exam (Prov) administers all required licensure examinations for the Plumbing and HVACR trades. ProV contacts you from a ProV email address within roughly 1 to 2 weeks of receiving your registration, with a Candidate Information Bulletin covering scheduling, permitted testing materials, the testing criteria breakdown for each licensure exam, and the exam challenge and hand-score request processes. The Board explicitly warns candidates to check their spam folder.

ProV formats:

• In-person at four Delaware locations across Wilmington, Newark and Dover, by appointment, generally 2 to 5 days per week at 8:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and/or 1:00 p.m. depending on facility.
• Online through Examroom, by appointment, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on a compatible computer system.

§ 1822(a) requires the written standardized exam to be offered at least quarterly.

70%, and the three-strikes lockout

The passing score is 70%.

And then the rule that costs people a year: under Board Regulations 2.2.2 and 3.1.6, plumbing and HVACR applicants who fail to receive a passing score after three attempts must reapply as a new applicant and obtain the Board's approval to sit again, and may not reapply until one year has passed from the date they last took the examination.

Three failures triggers a twelve-month lockout plus a fresh application and Board review. § 1822(b) is the statutory hook that authorizes the Board to set those conditions.

After passing, allow up to two weeks for the Board office to receive your official score. Once received and all requirements are validated, the license issues and you get an email covering renewal and CE.

Delaware HVAC license fees

From the DPR Board fee schedule, last updated January 5, 2026. All fees process through DELPROS by credit or debit card; the Division does not accept mailed cash, checks or money orders, and all processing fees are non-refundable.

• Master HVACR, $173
• Master Restricted HVACR, $173
• Plumber or HVACR Temporary, $40
• Commercial Hood System Examination, $50
• Service Request, Inactive License Status Change, $45
• Service Request, Verification of Licensure, $35
• Service Request, Verification of Licensure with Exam Scores, Hours or History, $45
• Service Request, Request for Roster, $45
• Service Request, CE Course Approval as a Provider, $45

Note the Restricted license costs exactly the same as the unrestricted license, $173. There is no price advantage to narrowing your scope, only a scope disadvantage. If you meet the requirements for the full Master HVACR, there is no fee reason to take the Restricted route.

Note also the separate $50 Commercial Hood System Examination fee, which sits outside the application fee.

Renewal amounts are not published in advance; you are notified at the time of renewal. Renewing after expiration adds a late fee equal to 50% of the renewal fee.

Under § 1824, the Division recomputes fees at the beginning of each licensure biennium, which is why stale HVAC fee figures circulate so widely for this state.

Board fees are set by the Division of Professional Regulation and change each biennium. Verify in DELPROS or with the Board before budgeting.

Renewal, CE and inactive status

§ 1825(b) makes the license renewable biennially, on payment of the fee, submission of the renewal form, and proof of any CE the Board requires.

First-renewal CE is prorated by when your license issued within the licensure period:

• On or after 11/1 of even years but before 11/1 of odd years, 3 hours
• On or after 11/1 of odd years but before 7/1 of even years, 0 hours
• On or after 7/1 of even years to 11/1 of even years, 5 hours

All subsequent renewals require 5 hours, unless you hold dual licenses, where Section 5 of the Board's Rules and Regulations governs. Given how many Delaware mechanical contractors carry both a Master HVACR and a Master Plumber license, that dual-license clause is worth reading before you assume five hours covers you.

CE is entered in the DELPROS Continuing Education tab. Do not upload certificates unless you have been notified you were selected for audit. The Board runs random audits under Section 9.0 of its rules; only then do you upload a certificate signed by the course presenter or a designated official of the sponsoring organization for each course.

§ 1825(c) caps the late-renewal window at one year past the renewal date. § 1825(d) allows inactive status for no more than five years, with reactivation requiring an application, the reactivation fee, and proof of CE.

Discipline

§ 1827 lists the grounds, including fraud or material deception to acquire a license, allowing another person to use your license, aiding or abetting an unlicensed person to represent themselves as licensed, illegal or incompetent or negligent service, consumer fraud, restraint of competition or price-fixing, and violating any provision of the chapter or its regulations.

§ 1828 sanctions run from letter of reprimand through censure, probation, suspension, revocation, and an administrative penalty not to exceed $500 per violation. A finding requires the affirmative votes of five or more Board members (§ 1829(b)), and appeal lies to Superior Court within 30 days.

The Board may also temporarily suspend a license pending hearing, on written order of the Secretary of State or designee with the Board chair's concurrence, where a complaint presents a clear and immediate danger to public health, safety or welfare, with at least 24 hours' notice, a maximum of 60 days in effect absent a continuance, and a right to request an expedited hearing within 5 calendar days of notification.

Your license is not a contractor license

A Master HVACR license is a personal credential. It does not authorize a business to contract in Delaware.

For that you need a Delaware Division of Revenue contractor business license under 30 Del. C. Chapter 25, different agency, different statute. Under § 2502(a) the fee is $75, valid until January 1 and renewed annually on or before December 31. It must be obtained prior to or in conjunction with executing a contract, and on competitively bid contracts over $50,000 you must have initiated the application before or with your bid (before the general contractor's bid, if you are a sub).

The Division of Revenue will not issue it until you have complied with § 375 of Title 30, filed a certificate of notice from the Delaware Department of Labor, and filed a certificate of insurance showing workers' compensation coverage or qualified self-insurer status.

You then owe gross receipts tax on construction receipts, the Division publishes the contractor rate at 0.6537% (.006537), with the first $100,000 per month exempt ($300,000 quarterly). Monthly filers pay by the 20th of the following month; quarterly filers by the last day of the first month after the quarter ends. New licensees file quarterly through their first calendar year, then the Division performs a lookback and may change the frequency. Payments to licensed subcontractors are deductible with a written agreement and Form 1280; architects, engineers, equipment rental, hauling, utilities, operating expenses and taxes paid to other jurisdictions are not.

Nonresident contractors must additionally post a surety or cash bond equal to 6% of the total of all contracts exceeding $20,000 for Delaware construction, and whoever contracts with them must file Form 5060 with the Department of Finance within 10 days, on penalty of up to $10,000 per occurrence.

Gross receipts rates, exclusions, thresholds and bond percentages are set by the Delaware Division of Revenue and by statute and change. Verify with the Division before filing or bidding.

And the sentence the Division of Revenue prints in its own contractor guidance, which is the cleanest description of Delaware's two-layer system in any state publication:

"The Business License Issued by the Division of Revenue is not a regulatory license and the issuance of such license does not attest to the qualifications of the applicant to perform the activity described on such license."

The $75 license means you registered. The Master HVACR license means you are qualified. Only one of them attaches to a person, and it is the one the state actually cares about.

Local codes still apply

§ 1832 preserves the ability of any county, municipality or other governmental entity to adopt and enforce plumbing, HVACR or fuel gas codes that do not conflict with Chapter 18. Check permit and inspection requirements with the local jurisdiction on top of the state license.

What this means for a Delaware HVAC company

Three facts, stacked:

1. Delaware licenses only masters in HVACR. There is no journeyman tier your company can lean on.
2. Your technicians' legal right to work depends on a master who is their employer or a full-time employee of the same business entity (§ 1820(c)(1)).
3. § 1831 puts a hard clock on losing that person: written notice to the Board within 7 days, an emergency Board meeting within 10 days, and at most a 100-day temporary license for a replacement who must be an owner or employee and who must sit the next available exam. When the 100 days expire with no license holder employed, the entity must cease and desist.

A Delaware mechanical company without a Master HVACR in-house is on a hundred-day countdown. Most owners hold the license themselves. Those who cannot need a licensed master who joins the business as a full-time W-2 employee, the only relationship § 1820(c)(1) contemplates.

Start with What Is a Qualifying Agent? if the concept is new. If you need a licensed master placed in your company, Hire a Qualifying Agent explains how the W-2 placement works. If you hold the license and are weighing whether to serve, see Become a Qualifying Agent.

Frequently asked questions

Does Delaware have a journeyman HVAC license? No. The Board issues Master HVACR and Master HVACR Restricted licenses to individuals and nothing below them. A "journeyman certificate" in Delaware means a completion certificate from a federally-approved apprenticeship program such as the Delaware Department of Labor's. It cuts your path to the master license from seven years to two and lets you work legally under supervision, but it is not a state license.

What is the difference between Master HVACR and Master HVACR Restricted? Scope. Unrestricted covers heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation and process cooling or heating, including gas piping. Restricted limits you to exactly one of six specialties: forced-air heating with ventilation and gas piping; hydronic heating with gas piping; commercial hood systems; refrigeration; air conditioning; or gas piping. To work in more than one, you need the unrestricted license, and an existing Restricted holder must apply to upgrade.

Should I apply for Restricted or unrestricted? Both application fees are $173, so there is no cost saving in choosing Restricted. Restricted makes sense when you genuinely work in one specialty and cannot yet document experience across the full scope. If you qualify for the unrestricted license, the unrestricted license is strictly more useful, particularly if you are, or expect to become, the sole license holder for a company, since your restriction becomes the company's ceiling.

Do I need EPA 608 certification for a Delaware HVAC license? Yes for the refrigerant-handling tracks. § 1821(a)(3) requires certification at the appropriate level for handling CFCs by an EPA-approved testing organization, and the Board requires a copy of your CFC certification card for Master HVACR, Master HVACR Restricted, Refrigeration, and Master HVACR Restricted, Air Conditioning. Have the card before you start the application on those tracks.

How much does a Delaware HVAC license cost? The Board's application fee is $173 for either Master HVACR or Master Restricted HVACR, per the January 2026 fee schedule, plus ProV exam costs and, if the Board requires it, the ABC Delaware Apprenticeship By-Pass Exam. Commercial hood system candidates pay a separate $50 examination fee. On the business side, the Division of Revenue contractor license is $75 annually plus gross receipts tax, and nonresident contractors post a 6% bond on contracts over $20,000. All figures are set by the agencies and change, verify before budgeting.

What does it cost to bring in a qualifying agent for a Delaware HVAC company? There is no published rate, because there is no standard situation. It depends on which license class you need (unrestricted versus a specific Restricted specialty), how fast you need it in place, the risk and volume of the work, whether it is one state or several, and how long the arrangement runs. Because § 1820(c)(1) requires the master to be a full-time employee of the business, this is a real employment relationship with real payroll, not a fee for the use of a license number. It is quoted per situation, Consultation Packages is where to start.

Can my company use a Master HVACR who works somewhere else? No. § 1820(c)(1) exempts your unlicensed technicians only where the supervising master is their employer or is employed full time by the same business entity. A master who works full time for another company does not satisfy that test, and § 1827(a)(1) makes allowing another person to use your license grounds for discipline.

Do I need a plumbing license too? If you touch water supply into a building or liquid and water-carried waste removal from it, yes, the Board says a Master Plumber license is required in addition. Gas piping for mechanical equipment stays inside the HVACR scope. See Plumbing License Delaware.

Do I need an electrical license too? Possibly, depending on how far your crews go. Delaware's Board of Electrical Examiners issues Master Electrician Special and Limited Electrician Special licenses that limit practice to specialties such as HVAC, a credential built for exactly this overlap. Confirm the boundary with both boards before scoping work. Electrician License Delaware covers that ladder.

Related Delaware guides: Plumbing License Delaware · Electrician License Delaware · Delaware's Full-Time Employee Rule · Delaware Contractor Licensing State Guide · All State Guides

Sources verified September 3, 2026: Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, Master HVACR and Master HVACR Restricted Licensure, Examinations, Fee Schedule (updated January 5, 2026), Continuing Education and Audit Information; Board of Electrical Examiners main page and Fee Schedule (updated July 1, 2026); 24 Del. C. Chapter 18, Subchapters III and IV; 30 Del. C. Chapter 25; Delaware Division of Revenue, "Tax Tips for Contractors and Real Estate Developers Conducting Business in Delaware." Fees, rates and requirements are set by the Boards, the Division of Revenue and the General Assembly and are subject to change, verify before relying on any figure.