How to Get a Florida Mechanical Contractor License

Section 489.105(3)(i) defines a mechanical contractor as one whose services are unlimited in installing, maintaining, repairing, fabricating, altering, extending, or designing central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, and ventilating systems. The definition then adds duct work, "boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems, lift station equipment and piping," and a long piping list: pressure and process piping, pneumatic control piping, gasoline tanks and pump installations, standpipes, air piping, vacuum line piping, oxygen lines, nitrous oxide piping, ink and chemical lines, fuel transmission lines, and liquefied petroleum and natural gas fuel lines within buildings.

It carries the same limited electrical allowances as the air-conditioning classes: power wiring on the line or load side of the dedicated existing disconnect on single-phase systems, dedicated HVAC circuit repairs, low-voltage control wiring, and a condensate drain to an approved disposal. Excavation incidental to the work is included. The exclusions are short: potable water lines or connections to them, sanitary sewer lines, swimming pool piping and filters, and electrical power wiring.

All four air-conditioning and mechanical categories sit next to each other in s.489.105(3). Reading them together shows exactly what each step up buys you:

• Class B air-conditioning, s.489.105(3)(g): limited to 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 Btu of heating in any one system. Its piping language covers piping and insulation of pipes, vessels, and ducts, with no mention of boilers or pressure and process piping.
• Class A air-conditioning, s.489.105(3)(f): no capacity limit. Its text already includes boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems, pressure and process piping, and pneumatic control piping. It excludes gas fuel lines within buildings, except disconnecting or reconnecting gas appliances on changeouts.
• Mechanical, s.489.105(3)(i): the Class A scope plus lift station equipment and piping, gasoline tanks and pumps, standpipes, air, vacuum, oxygen, nitrous oxide, ink, and chemical lines, fuel transmission lines, and LP and natural gas fuel lines within buildings.
• Class C air-conditioning, s.489.105(3)(h): servicing only, and closed to anyone not already licensed as Class C on October 1, 1988.

If your work is heating and cooling, including chillers, boilers, and large commercial systems, a Class A license covers it with no capacity cap. Mechanical adds work for a different set of customers. Hospitals and surgery centers need oxygen, nitrous oxide, and vacuum piping. Industrial plants run compressed air, chemical, and fuel transmission lines. Fuel stations need gasoline tanks and pump piping, and utilities need lift stations. Commercial kitchens and buildings with gas-fired equipment need someone licensed to run the gas lines inside the building, beyond disconnecting and reconnecting an appliance.

So decide by your customer list. A residential or light commercial HVAC shop gets nothing it will use from the extra scope and would study two extra reference books for it. A contractor who bids hospital, plant, or campus work may lose jobs without it. The plumbing contractor definition in s.489.105(3)(m) reaches much of the same work. It includes natural gas and LP lines, medical gas systems, air and vacuum piping, and gasoline piping and tank installations, so read both definitions against your actual jobs.

Mechanical candidates sit two parts, each open book with a 70% passing score and each passed on its own. The trade exam is the same length as the Class A exam. The weight moves: the DBPR's Mechanical content outline, revised August 2017, puts 28% of the exam into mechanical systems and components that the Class A outline does not include, and gives the core HVAC installation area 12% where the Class A outline gives it 23%.

Exam fees are a $135 Professional Testing, Inc. registration plus a Pearson VUE seat fee per part ($80 each per PTI's 2026 packet): about $295 if you register both parts together, and $215 to retake either one. The DBPR's construction FAQ states that all portions must be completed within four years of your first attempt. Our license cost breakdown totals the rest of the bill.

• Mechanical trade knowledge: 130 questions, 7.5 hours. Class A is also 130 questions in 7.5 hours; Class B is 80 in 5 hours.
• Business & Financial Management: 120 questions, 6.5 hours, the same exam every Florida construction trade takes.
• Outline areas (each may vary by plus or minus 3%): pre-installation and design engineering 9%, ductwork and HVAC materials 9%, installation of refrigeration and HVAC systems 12%, installation of mechanical systems 14%, HVAC equipment and components 9%, mechanical equipment and components 14%, maintenance analysis 9%, maintenance service 5%, safety and equipment 9%, excavating 2%, energy management 5%, indoor air quality 3%.
• The two mechanical areas cover large mechanical systems, boilers and steam, lift stations and their pumps, gasoline and chemical handling, oxygen and vacuum systems, standpipes, ammonia and crude oil lines, and transmission lines.

The DBPR's 2026 Mechanical reference list is the Class A list with two additions: NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities (2021 edition, chapters 3 and 5 plus annexes A and C), and the Florida Building Code, Fuel Gas (2023). Everything else is shared, including the Florida Building Code Mechanical and Energy Conservation volumes, the Pipefitters Handbook, the SMACNA duct standards, NFPA 90A, 90B, and 96, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Technology, the Contractors Manual, and OSHA 29 CFR 1926. Bring an architect's scale as well.

The markup rules match the other trade lists. Pen or highlighter underlining is allowed; handwritten or typed notes are not, and removable tabs such as Post-it flags are not. Permanent tabs carrying only chapter or page headings are fine. Our books and tabs guide covers how to tab a set for speed.

Section 489.111(2) requires you to be 18 and of good moral character, then meet one of its experience routes. Rule 61G4-15.001(1)(a) adds that the board accepts experience gained under a contractor properly licensed in the category you are applying for, or in a category that covers its full scope.

That second condition matters for HVAC techs. A Class A air-conditioning license doesn't cover the full mechanical scope, so years spent under a Class A contractor may not be read the same way as years under a mechanical contractor. We could not find the board's position on this in writing. Ask the DBPR how it will treat your history before you pay for exams.

There is also no shortcut from Class A. Section 489.111(2)(c) lists upgrade routes for residential to building or general, Class C to Class B or A, Class B to Class A, and the pool categories. None of them leads to mechanical, so a Class A contractor applies through the regular routes and sits the full Mechanical trade exam.

• Four years of active experience as a skilled worker or foreman, with at least one of those years as a foreman.
• A baccalaureate degree in the appropriate field plus one year of proven experience in the category. Rule 61G4-15.001(4)(b) names mechanical engineering as the qualifying degree for the mechanical classification.
• Combinations of college credit and field years: one year as a foreman with three years of college credit, or shorter mixes of skilled-worker time, foreman time, and credit.

Section 489.115(5) requires an affidavit of workers' compensation, public liability, and property damage insurance, and for initial certification a credit report plus evidence of financial responsibility. Section 489.115(6) adds a statewide criminal history check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The DBPR's credit standard is a FICO score of 660 or higher; under Rule 61G4-15.006, an applicant below 660 completes a board-approved 14-hour financial responsibility course.

For the trade exam, most HVAC candidates can lean on field experience for the HVAC areas and have to build the mechanical areas from the books. Work the Fuel Gas code and NFPA 99 until you can find a gas pipe sizing table or an oxygen piping requirement under the clock. For Business & Finance, lien law and contractor accounting are unfamiliar ground for most tradespeople; our Business & Finance exam guide breaks it down.

No sugarcoating about our own coverage: the LicenseReady mechanical course is marked in development. Our HVAC bank covers the areas the Mechanical outline shares with Class A, and our Business & Finance bank covers that exam in full. The mechanical systems, mechanical equipment, and excavating areas, about 30% of the trade outline, have no dedicated questions yet, so we don't sell the mechanical course bundle until they exist and clear review. You can still study what's there free. Start with the free readiness quiz to see where you stand on Business & Finance and the HVAC core.