California HVAC license requirements and insurance

Who it applies to

1Who needs a heating and air conditioning license in California? What is this?

C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor: anyone who contracts to do heating, ventilation, or air-conditioning work in California that needs a contractor license. A sole owner, partnership, corporation, or LLC can hold it. The license names one qualifying individual who meets the board's experience and exam requirements and is answerable for how the company does its work

License	Who needs it	What it covers
C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor	Anyone who contracts to do heating, ventilation, or air-conditioning work in California that needs a contractor license. A sole owner, partnership, corporation, or LLC can hold it. The license names one qualifying individual who meets the board's experience and exam requirements and is answerable for how the company does its work	Fabricates, installs, maintains, services, and repairs warm-air heating systems and water heating heat pumps with their warm-air appliances. Also ventilating systems with blowers and plenum chambers, and air-conditioning systems with the air-conditioning unit. Also the ducts, registers, flues, humidity and thermostat controls, and air filters that go with them. Includes systems that use solar energy.

License

Who needs it

What it covers

C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor

Anyone who contracts to do heating, ventilation, or air-conditioning work in California that needs a contractor license. A sole owner, partnership, corporation, or LLC can hold it. The license names one qualifying individual who meets the board's experience and exam requirements and is answerable for how the company does its work

Fabricates, installs, maintains, services, and repairs warm-air heating systems and water heating heat pumps with their warm-air appliances. Also ventilating systems with blowers and plenum chambers, and air-conditioning systems with the air-conditioning unit. Also the ducts, registers, flues, humidity and thermostat controls, and air filters that go with them. Includes systems that use solar energy.

Who runs it

2Who issues HVAC contractor licenses in California? What is this?

Contractors State License Board (CSLB), part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs issues HVAC licenses in California.

See how this compares in every state: How to check a contractor's license, state by state

Name	Contractors State License Board (CSLB), part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs
Website	cslb.ca.gov
Look up a license	cslb.ca.gov
The law	Business and Professions Code division 3, chapter 9 (Contractors State License Law, sections 7000 and following)
The rulebook	Title 16 California Code of Regulations, division 8 (sections 810 and following)

Checked by a person against the official page

Getting licensed

3How to become an HVAC contractor in California What is this?

One license: the C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor. Here is what you need before you apply.

License	Experience required	Training required	Exam
C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor	Four years of work at journey level (a fully qualified worker who needs no supervision), or as a foreman, supervisor, contractor, or owner-builder, in the last ten years. Up to three of the four years can come from an apprenticeship, technical training, or a degree, but at least one year must be hands-on work. Someone who saw you do the work, such as an employer, foreman, fellow journeyman, union rep, or building inspector, must sign a Certificate of Work Experience.	None required beyond the experience above	Yes, two computer exams run by PSI Exams: a Law and Business exam and a C-20 trade exam. You get 3.5 hours for each, 18 months from the date your application is accepted to pass both, and can retake a failed exam after 21 days.

License

Experience required

Training required

Exam

C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor

Four years of work at journey level (a fully qualified worker who needs no supervision), or as a foreman, supervisor, contractor, or owner-builder, in the last ten years. Up to three of the four years can come from an apprenticeship, technical training, or a degree, but at least one year must be hands-on work. Someone who saw you do the work, such as an employer, foreman, fellow journeyman, union rep, or building inspector, must sign a Certificate of Work Experience.

None required beyond the experience above

Yes, two computer exams run by PSI Exams: a Law and Business exam and a C-20 trade exam. You get 3.5 hours for each, 18 months from the date your application is accepted to pass both, and can retake a failed exam after 21 days.

What it costs

4How much does an HVAC license cost in California? What is this?

The government fees on this page add up to about $800 in California. Add insurance, tools, and a vehicle to get the real number.

License	Application	Adding a license type	Both exams (paid to PSI)	Each exam (paid to PSI)	Fingerprints (state)	Fingerprints (FBI)	Fingerprint scanning fee	First license, company or partnership	First license, sole owner	Renewal, company or partnership	Renewal, sole owner	Late renewal, company or partnership	Late renewal, sole owner
C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor	$450	$230	$102.86	$51.43	$32	$17	Varies by location	$350	$200	$700	$450	$1,050	$675

License

Application

Adding a license type

Both exams (paid to PSI)

Each exam (paid to PSI)

Fingerprints (state)

Fingerprints (FBI)

Fingerprint scanning fee

First license, company or partnership

First license, sole owner

Renewal, company or partnership

Renewal, sole owner

Late renewal, company or partnership

Late renewal, sole owner

C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor

$450

$230

$102.86

$51.43

$32

$17

Varies by location

$350

$200

$700

$450

$1,050

$675

Added up

Government fees, added up	$800

Does not include the $25,000 bond premium, the workers' comp policy every C-20 must carry, the EPA 608 test, live scan rolling fees, tools, a vehicle, or city permits and business licenses

Our estimate

Insurance

5How much HVAC insurance do you need in California? What is this?

California sets no minimum liability insurance for this license. Customers and general contractors usually ask for $1,000,000 anyway. Workers' comp is required always.

Minimum liability insurance	None required by the state
Type of policy	None required by the state for a sole owner, partnership, or corporation
Minimum liability insurance for an LLC	$1,000,000
About LLC insurance	An LLC must carry liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 if it has five or fewer people on record with CSLB. Add $100,000 for each extra person, up to $5,000,000. The insurer must be licensed in California or an eligible surplus line insurer.
Who this applies to	Only licenses held by an LLC
Who must be named on the certificate	CSLB. Name the board as the certificate holder on the workers' comp certificate, and take the policy out in your licensed business name, not your own name
Workers' comp required?	Yes, always. Every active C-20 licensee must have a Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or a Certificate of Self-Insurance on file with CSLB, whether or not they have employees.
Who can opt out	None for C-20. The no-employee exemption other trades can file is not open to C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39, or C-61/D-49 licensees. From January 1, 2028, no trade can file it.

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·6 official pages

Money checks

6Does California check your credit for an HVAC contractor license? What is this?

California does not check your credit for this license.

Credit score you need	None
If your score is lower	Nothing to do. The board does not list a credit score or a financial statement among its license requirements
About the bond	The $25,000 contractor bond is its own requirement, not a test of your finances. It protects customers if you do not finish the work

Checked by a person against the official page·cslb.ca.gov

Bonds

7Does an HVAC contractor need a bond in California? What is this?

California requires a bond of $25,000. A bond is a promise, backed by an insurance company, that customers can be paid if you do not finish the job.

Does the state require a bond?	Yes
Amount	$25,000
Bond for the qualifying person	$25,000
Bond for LLC employees	$100,000

A bond (a promise, backed by an insurance company, that customers and workers can be paid if you break the rules) of $25,000 must be on file before the license is issued, or a $25,000 cashier's check instead. If the license is qualified by a Responsible Managing Employee, or by an officer who owns less than 10 percent of the company, a second $25,000 Bond of Qualifying Individual is needed. An LLC also needs a $100,000 employee and worker bond. The bond must come from a surety licensed by the California Department of Insurance.

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·3 official pages

Federal rules

8Federal rules that also apply What is this?

Rules from the US government that apply to an HVAC contractor in California on top of the state's own.

EPA refrigerant certification	Anyone who maintains, services, repairs, or disposes of equipment that could release refrigerant must hold EPA Section 608 certification, on top of the C-20. There are four types. Type I for small appliances, Type II for high-pressure systems (most home and light commercial AC), Type III for low-pressure chillers, and Universal for all three. The EPA does not run the test or issue the card. You take it through an EPA-approved certifying organization.
Expires	No

EPA refrigerant certification

Anyone who maintains, services, repairs, or disposes of equipment that could release refrigerant must hold EPA Section 608 certification, on top of the C-20.
There are four types.
Type I for small appliances, Type II for high-pressure systems (most home and light commercial AC), Type III for low-pressure chillers, and Universal for all three.
The EPA does not run the test or issue the card.
You take it through an EPA-approved certifying organization.

Expires

No

Taken from the linked page, not separately checked

·2 official pages

Showing your number

9Where must a California HVAC contractor show the license number? What is this?

In California: your license number must appear in every construction contract, subcontract, and call for bid, and in every form of advertising. Advertising means business cards, contract proposals, signs, billboards, vehicle lettering, brochures, flyers, newspaper and magazine ads, radio and TV, websites, online posts, and directories.

The rule	Your license number must appear in every construction contract, subcontract, and call for bid, and in every form of advertising. Advertising means business cards, contract proposals, signs, billboards, vehicle lettering, brochures, flyers, newspaper and magazine ads, radio and TV, websites, online posts, and directories.
On your vehicles	Show the business name and license number on every commercially registered vehicle where it can be seen, in letters at least 72-point type, or three quarters of an inch high and wide
If you forget	Leaving the number out of your advertising brings a civil penalty of $100 to $1,000 for a first offense. The vehicle rule sets no fine of its own, but the board can act against your license

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·4 official pages

Tax

10Does an HVAC contractor charge sales tax on labor in California? What is this?

Whether California taxes your labor, your materials, or neither.

See how this compares in every state: Can you charge sales tax on labor? The rule in 25 states

Materials	You are the consumer of materials (ducts, pipe, wire, refrigerant line, anything that loses its identity once installed). You pay sales tax when you buy them and do not charge the customer tax on them.
Fixtures (things attached to the building)	You are the retailer of fixtures (items that stay recognizable after installation). Publication 9 and Regulation 1521 list air-conditioning units, furnaces, boilers, and heating units as fixtures. You charge the customer sales tax on the unit. In a lump-sum contract the tax is worked out on what the unit cost you.
Installation labor	No sales tax
Homes versus businesses	Same rules for a home and a business
New buildings	Same rules as repair and remodel
Repairs	In a lump-sum repair you pay tax on the parts and charge the customer nothing. If you bill the parts separately from the labor, or you replace the whole unit, you charge the customer tax on the parts or unit.
When you quote one total price	You pay tax on materials at cost and report tax on fixtures at your cost. Listing materials, labor, and tax separately on the invoice does not turn a lump-sum contract into a time-and-material one.
When you bill time and materials	You are still the consumer of materials unless you bill sales tax on a marked-up materials charge, or the contract passes title to the materials before installation and states their price separately. Then you are the retailer and charge tax on the materials.
Seller's permit	Needed, because selling and installing a furnace or AC unit makes you a retailer of fixtures.
Tax rate	7.25 percent statewide, plus district taxes of 0.10 to 2.00 percent in many cities and counties

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·4 official pages

Getting paid

11Getting paid: lien and notice deadlines for a California HVAC contractor What is this?

If you are not paid in California, a lien on the property is your backstop, but only if your notice goes out on time: within 20 days of your first day of work on the job (first day on January 10 means notice by January 30). A late notice still counts, but only for work done in the 20 days before you served it and after.

The order things have to happen in, counted in days

Day 0
Your first day on the job
The clock starts here.
Day 20
Send your notice
Within 20 days of your first day of work on the job (first day on January 10 means notice by January 30). A late notice still counts, but only for work done in the 20 days before you served it and after.
Day 90
File your lien
If the owner hired you, record the lien within 90 days of the project being finished, or within 60 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation, whichever comes first (project finished March 1 with no notice recorded means lien by May 30). If a contractor hired you, the 60 days becomes 30 days.

Each day count is counted from the day the rule beside it names, which is not always the same day. Read the sentence under each one.

Who has to send a notice	Everyone who wants to keep the right to file a lien, except workers paid by the hour. If you were hired by the property owner, you only need to send the notice to the construction lender, if there is one. If you were hired by a contractor, send it to the owner, the direct contractor, and any lender.
Send your notice by	Within 20 days of your first day of work on the job (first day on January 10 means notice by January 30). A late notice still counts, but only for work done in the 20 days before you served it and after.
File your lien by	If the owner hired you, record the lien within 90 days of the project being finished, or within 60 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation, whichever comes first (project finished March 1 with no notice recorded means lien by May 30). If a contractor hired you, the 60 days becomes 30 days.

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·4 official pages

Keeping it

12How do you renew an HVAC license in California? What is this?

The C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor renews every two years for an active license. An inactive license renews every four years. No training hours are required.

License	Renewal	Training hours each year
C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor	Every two years for an active license. An inactive license renews every four years	—

License

Renewal

Training hours each year

C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Contractor

Every two years for an active license. An inactive license renews every four years

—

Renewal fees are in what the license costs. The official page for each license is linked under how you get it.

Watch out

13What catches people out in California What is this?

The things people get wrong or do not expect about California, in a few sentences.

A C-20 contractor must have workers' comp insurance even with no employees. It is one of five classifications that cannot claim the no-employee exemption, alongside concrete, asbestos abatement, roofing, and tree service. A license qualified by a responsible managing employee is in the same position.
There is one contractor license, not a journeyman and master ladder. Four years in the last ten at journey level, or as a foreman, supervising employee, contractor, or owner-builder. Then two exams, a $25,000 bond, and the C-20 is issued to you or your company.
The state sets no liability insurance minimum for a sole owner or corporation. An LLC must carry at least $1,000,000.
A furnace or air-conditioning unit is a fixture for sales tax. You charge the customer tax on the unit. Ductwork is a material, so you pay tax when you buy it and charge the customer nothing on it.
If you were hired by a general contractor, send a preliminary notice within 20 days of starting or you can only lien for work done in the 20 days before you finally send it.
Anyone who handles refrigerant needs the federal EPA Section 608 certificate on top of the C-20. It never expires.

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·6 official pages

14Where these numbers come from

The labels under each table are explained on how to read a page.