North Carolina heating classes, side by side.

It depends on the systems you install. The Board defines Group 2 as forced air heating and cooling with cooling capacity in excess of fifteen tons in any building, and Group 3 as the same work at fifteen tons or less. A residential and light commercial shop lives in Group 3; a shop that sets packaged rooftop units on a shopping center holds Group 2. Many shops hold both, along with Group 1 for boilers and hydronics. The Board decides what a shop qualifies for. We read the combination on the record, because it tells the underwriter the range of work better than any description does.

The building. Class I covers the work in any building, residential, commercial, or industrial. Class II limits it to single-family detached dwellings only. Heating Group 1 and Heating Group 3 each have both classes; Heating Group 2, the above-fifteen-ton license, does not split that way. For a coverage review the class matters because a Class II license describes a residential service and changeout business, while Class I opens the commercial and multifamily work that brings certificates, additional insured requests, and larger contracts.

No. The Board’s license definitions and its FAQ describe the groups and classes, the exam, and the qualified individual at each place of business, and they name neither a bond nor a liability policy as a condition of the license. General liability comes from the market: property managers, general contractors, and municipal permit desks ask for it, and most contracts name a limit. Workers’ comp is a separate state rule that starts at the third regular employee. So the license and the insurance answer to different authorities here, which is unusual and worth knowing.

Not this Board’s licensees, on their own. The Board’s definitions list a Special Plumbing and Heating designation that allows limited electrical work incident to plumbing, heating, and air conditioning work, and they say plainly that it is issued by the North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors rather than by this Board. So the shop either holds that separate license, employs someone who does, or subcontracts the electrical. We ask which, because the answer changes the underwriting questions and the certificates we collect.

Not what you must carry. North Carolina asks for no bond and no policy as a license condition, and workers’ comp starts at the third regular employee whatever your class. What the class changes is the work we quote and the questions the underwriter asks. A Group 2 shop brings rooftop units, cranes, and commercial contracts. A Group 3 Class II shop brings occupied homes and service calls. A shop holding several groups brings both, and the submission has to say how the revenue splits.

The Board publishes a license lookup showing the firm, the classes it holds, its status, and the qualified individuals listed for each place of business, and it is the same record we pull before a quote. General contractors and municipal permit desks use it when they vet a bid, which is why a license that lapses or loses its qualified individual shows up as a stopped job rather than a letter. The sources on this page link to the Board’s definitions and FAQ, where the rules behind the lookup are stated.