Pen-and-ink Texas scene: a low commercial building with rooftop air conditioning units, a tall pump jack and a ladder on one side, a windmill and a service truck on the other.

Texas HVAC license classes

which Texas
HVAC license
do you need?

Class A or B, two endorsements and one rule for every office.

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the short answer

Texas licenses HVAC contractors through the Department of Licensing and Regulation in two classes: Class A for equipment of any size, and Class B for systems up to 25 tons of cooling or 1.5 million BTU per hour of heating. Every license carries the environmental air conditioning endorsement, the commercial refrigeration endorsement or both, and each permanent office needs its own license holder.

every Texas HVAC license.

Two classes, two endorsements and the rules that come with them.

Class A: Each endorsed type of air conditioning and refrigeration contracting, on systems and equipment of any size or capacity.
Class B: The same work on systems up to 25 tons of cooling or 1.5 million BTU per hour of heating. Most residential and light commercial systems.
Environmental air endorsement: Comfort cooling and heating for people, within the class you hold.
Commercial refrigeration endorsement: Commercial refrigeration and process cooling or heating, like walk‑ins, racks and process loads, within the class you hold.
Technicians: Assist a licensed contractor with maintenance. Registration is a short filing with no exam. Certification has its own path and can count toward a contractor license.
Each permanent office: Needs a full‑time license holder assigned to the company, when the contract is signed and when the work is done. A license goes to one location.
Insurance for the license: General liability, filed on the department’s certificate. $300,000 per occurrence for Class A, $100,000 for Class B.
the TDLR insurance rule
City licenses: A state license is valid statewide. A city can ask for notice that you hold it, but can’t require its own license.

Sources: Texas Occupations Code chapter 1302, TDLR forms ACR-LIC-002 and ACR-LIC-009, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Last reviewed September 2026.

what’s different about
Texas HVAC licenses.

Gas is plumbing work.
An HVAC license alone doesn’t cover plumbing, and the gas line to a furnace is plumbing. Shops employ a licensed plumber or sub it out. We ask which.
Every office, a holder.
Each permanent office needs its own license holder. A second branch means a second license holder and a second address on the policy.

good to know.

Straight answers on Texas HVAC licenses.

What license does an HVAC contractor need in Texas?

An air conditioning and refrigeration contractor license from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, in Class A or Class B. Class A covers equipment of any size. Class B stops at the cooling and heating limits in state law. Each license carries one or both endorsements, and the department needs proof of general liability before it issues.

Should I hold Class A or Class B?

The department decides what you qualify for, and state law decides what each allows. Class A covers endorsed work on equipment of any size or capacity. Class B covers the same work up to the tonnage and heating limits in the statute, which takes in most residential and light commercial systems. Rooftop and mechanical work usually calls for Class A.

Do I need both endorsements?

Only if you do both kinds of work. Every license carries the environmental air conditioning endorsement, the commercial refrigeration and process cooling or heating endorsement, or both, and each has its own exam. Environmental air is comfort cooling and heating. Commercial refrigeration is the walk-in, the rack and the process load, with different claims.

Sources: Texas Occupations Code chapter 1302, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Last reviewed September 2026.

Insurance words, in plain English: waiver of subrogation · certificate of insurance · additional insured · primary and noncontributory · hold harmless agreement · contractual liability · completed operations · blanket endorsement