Nevada HVAC license requirements and insurance

Who it applies to

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

C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor: any business that installs or services refrigerated cooling in Nevada, on homes or on commercial buildings. The license belongs to the business

License	Who needs it	What it covers
C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor	Any business that installs or services refrigerated cooling in Nevada, on homes or on commercial buildings. The license belongs to the business	All seven C-21 subclassifications. They cover refrigeration, air-conditioning, sheet metal, maintenance, solar air-conditioning, chilled and hot water systems, and industrial piping
C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21)	A business that wants to do comfort cooling and heating only, without cold rooms and freezers	Install, repair, service and maintain equipment that controls the temperature in a building by evaporation, refrigeration or combustion
Small-job exception (it does not cover heating or cooling)	Nobody in this trade can use it. It is here because people expect it to apply	—

License

Who needs it

What it covers

C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor

Any business that installs or services refrigerated cooling in Nevada, on homes or on commercial buildings. The license belongs to the business

All seven C-21 subclassifications. They cover refrigeration, air-conditioning, sheet metal, maintenance, solar air-conditioning, chilled and hot water systems, and industrial piping

C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21)

A business that wants to do comfort cooling and heating only, without cold rooms and freezers

Install, repair, service and maintain equipment that controls the temperature in a building by evaporation, refrigeration or combustion

Small-job exception (it does not cover heating or cooling)

Nobody in this trade can use it. It is here because people expect it to apply

—

Who runs it

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

Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) issues HVAC licenses in Nevada.

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

Name	Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB)
Website	nvcontractorsboard.com
Look up a license	app.nvcontractorsboard.com
The law	Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) chapter 624
The rulebook	Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) chapter 624

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Getting licensed

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

Nevada has 3 licenses that matter to an HVAC contractor: C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor, C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21), Small-job exception (it does not cover heating or cooling). Each is below, with what you need before you apply.

License	Experience required	Training required	Exam
C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor	Four years as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in this trade, within the 15 years before you apply. Training at an accredited college can count for up to three of the four years	None required by the state. Federal refrigerant certification is separate	Yes, two exams run by PSI. One is the open-book business and law exam, which the board calls CMS. The other is the trade exam. You get three tries at each
C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21)	The same four years, in air-conditioning	—	The board sets which exams a classification needs, and an independent testing service runs them. Ask the board which apply to this subclassification
Small-job exception (it does not cover heating or cooling)	—	—	—

License

Experience required

Training required

Exam

C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor

Four years as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in this trade, within the 15 years before you apply. Training at an accredited college can count for up to three of the four years

None required by the state. Federal refrigerant certification is separate

Yes, two exams run by PSI. One is the open-book business and law exam, which the board calls CMS. The other is the trade exam. You get three tries at each

C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21)

The same four years, in air-conditioning

—

The board sets which exams a classification needs, and an independent testing service runs them. Ask the board which apply to this subclassification

Small-job exception (it does not cover heating or cooling)

—

What it costs

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

The government fees on this page add up to about $900 in Nevada. Add insurance, tools, and a vehicle to get the real number.

License	Application	First license	Renewal	Late renewal	Recovery fund fee
C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor	$300	$600	$600	$150	$200
C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21)	—	—	—	—	—

Added up

Government fees, added up	$900

Does not include the exam fees paid to PSI, fingerprinting, the EPA 608 test, the CPA's charge for your financial statement, the bond premium, workers' comp, tools or a vehicle

Our estimate

Insurance

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

Nevada sets no minimum liability insurance for this license. Customers and general contractors usually ask for $1,000,000 anyway. Workers' comp is required from the first employee.

Minimum liability insurance	None required by the state
Type of policy	None found. The board's pages list a bond, a qualifying person and workers' comp for an active license, and do not list liability insurance
Who this applies to	The state does not set a liability figure. Customers, builders and cities will still ask to see a policy
Who must be named on the certificate	Not applicable
Workers' comp required?	Yes
Workers' comp: what to know	Every contractor must show the board proof of workers' comp when applying. The proof can be a policy, a self-insurance certificate, or a signed statement that you have no employees.
Who can opt out	If you have no employees you can sign an affidavit instead of buying a policy. The affidavit also says you will not work as a subcontractor. If the board finds you working without cover, you get 30 days to fix it before the license is suspended.

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Money checks

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

What Nevada wants to see about your finances.

What you have to show	A financial statement with your application. The board uses it, with your experience, to set the largest job you may take on
How it works	Every Nevada license carries a monetary limit. It is the largest contract, or set of contracts, you may take on one site for one customer. You can ask the board to raise it for good, or for a single project.
Type of financial statement	For a limit up to $25,000 you can prepare the statement yourself and sign an affidavit. From $25,001 to $999,999 an independent CPA must compile it within 6 months or review it within a year. At $1,000,000 or more a CPA must review or audit it.

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Bonds

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

Nevada requires a bond. 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	Not listed yet
Instead of a bond	You can give the board a cashier's check instead. The board charges $200 every two years to hold it, and keeps the money for two years after the license ends.
Home improvement bond	On home improvement jobs you may not take a deposit above $1,000 or 10 percent of the price, whichever is less. Post a separate $100,000 consumer protection bond and that cap no longer applies.
Recovery fund fee	If you work on homes you also pay into the Residential Recovery Fund every two years. A harmed homeowner can be paid up to $40,000 from it.

A bond is a promise, backed by an insurance company, that customers can be paid if you do not finish the job or do it badly. The board sets your amount one license at a time, anywhere from $1,000 to $500,000. It looks at your license type, your monetary limit, your finances and your experience. The bond must run with no gaps.

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Federal rules

8Federal rules that also apply What is this?

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

EPA refrigerant certification	Anyone who maintains, services, repairs or scraps equipment that could release refrigerant must hold EPA Section 608 certification. There are four kinds. Type I is small appliances, Type II is high-pressure systems, Type III is low-pressure systems, and Universal covers all three. The card does not expire. Nevada does not issue it, and the C-21 license does not replace it.

Checked by a person against the official page·epa.gov

Showing your number

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

In Nevada: every bid and every contract must show your license number and the monetary limit on your license.

On quotes, contracts, and invoices	Every bid and every contract must show your license number and the monetary limit on your license
On ads	Every ad must show your company name and your license number. The law counts signs, vehicles, print, radio and TV, websites and directory listings as ads
On your vehicles	Each commercial vehicle registered in your name shows your name and license number, in letters and numbers about 1.5 inches high
If you forget	A first offense is a misdemeanor, with a fine of $1,000 to $4,000 and up to six months in jail. A second is a gross misdemeanor, $4,000 to $10,000. A third is a felony, $10,000 to $20,000. The board can also charge an administrative fine of $1,000 to $50,000. After a hearing it can order you to stop the ad, and if you do not comply within five days it can ask for the phone number in the ad to be cut off

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Tax

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

In Nevada, no sales tax on your labor when the job is a contract to improve a building. The law leaves the price of labor for installing or applying property out of the taxed amount. The rest of the rules are below.

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

Who pays tax on materials	You. Nevada treats a contractor as the final user of everything bought to improve a building. You pay sales tax when you buy condensers, furnaces, ductwork and refrigerant. If the seller did not charge it, you owe the same amount as use tax.
Labor	No sales tax on your labor when the job is a contract to improve a building. The law leaves the price of labor for installing or applying property out of the taxed amount
The exception that catches people out	Repairing something that is part of the building counts as improving it, so the same rule applies. The exception is work on an item that stays separate property, such as repairing a piece of equipment. There, show the parts and the labor as separate prices, or the tax falls on the whole bill
Homes versus businesses	No difference. The rule covers any building, home or business
New buildings versus repairs	No difference. The rule names building, remodeling, altering, adding to and repairing, and treats them all the same way
Do you register to collect tax?	If you only do contract work and never sell goods over the counter, you do not need a seller's permit. You report any unpaid tax on a Consumer Use Tax return
Tax rate	6.85 percent is the state base rate. Counties add to it. Clark County is 8.375 percent and Washoe County is 8.265 percent

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Getting paid

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

If you are not paid in Nevada, a lien on the property is your backstop, but only if your notice goes out on time: any time after you start, but your lien only reaches back 31 days before the day you give it (notice given on April 10 covers work from March 10 onward). Hand it to the owner or send it by certified mail.

The order things have to happen in, counted in days

Day 0
Your first day on the job
The clock starts here.
Day 31
Send your notice
Any time after you start, but your lien only reaches back 31 days before the day you give it (notice given on April 10 covers work from March 10 onward). Hand it to the owner or send it by certified mail
Day 90
File your lien
Record the lien within 90 days after the job is complete or after your last work or delivery, whichever is latest (last day June 1 means record by August 30). If the owner records a notice of completion, you have 40 days from that recording

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	Anyone who was not hired by the property owner, such as a subcontractor or a supplier. If the owner hired you directly you do not have to send it. Someone who supplies only labor does not either. It is called a notice of right to lien
Send your notice by	Any time after you start, but your lien only reaches back 31 days before the day you give it (notice given on April 10 covers work from March 10 onward). Hand it to the owner or send it by certified mail
File your lien by	Record the lien within 90 days after the job is complete or after your last work or delivery, whichever is latest (last day June 1 means record by August 30). If the owner records a notice of completion, you have 40 days from that recording
About home jobs	On a home job you must first serve a 15-day notice of intent to lien on the owner and the prime contractor. Serving it adds 15 days to your recording deadline.

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Keeping it

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

The C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor renews every two years. No training hours are required.

License	Renewal	Training hours each renewal
C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor	Every two years	—
C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21)	Every two years	—

License

Renewal

Training hours each renewal

C-21 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning contractor

Every two years

—

C-21b Air-Conditioning (a narrower license inside C-21)

Every two 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 Nevada What is this?

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

Heating and cooling are split across two licenses in Nevada. Refrigerated air-conditioning is C-21. Furnaces, ducts and swamp coolers on their own are C-1f, a piece of the plumbing and heating license.
A shop that only services existing units can hold the small C-21d license. It stops short of swapping a whole condenser or changing how a system is designed.
The $1,000 handyman exception that Nevada gives other trades is closed to refrigeration, heating and air-conditioning work. A paid tune-up needs a contractor license behind it.
Your C-21 license carries a monetary limit, and no single cooling job may go above it. The board sets that limit, and your bond of $1,000 to $500,000, from your financial statement.
A subcontractor's lien reaches back only 31 days from the day the owner gets the notice of right to lien. On a house you also owe a 15-day warning before you record.

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14Where these numbers come from

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