HVAC licensing in Texas

For the traveling tech there is nothing to reciprocate, and that is good news: Texas reaches the worker through a $20 TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION — no exam, valid one year, working under a licensed ACR contractor's supervision. Whatever card you hold elsewhere, you register and work; the practical gate is having that supervising contractor, not the credential.

The CONTRACTOR level is where reciprocity lives, and it is narrow and directional: TDLR's live page names South Carolina and Georgia — license held at least a year, a good-standing letter proving it was EXAM-EARNED (grandfathered licenses do not qualify), $115. Texas↔SC runs live in both directions; Georgia's inbound side has been suspended since 2022, so the Georgia leg currently works one way.

Not established — the technician application, contractor application and ACR FAQ were all read live, and none says whether work may begin while an application processes. Do not assume; the registration is cheap and fast enough that the honest plan is simply to have it before the start date.

No exam at the technician level — that is the point of the registration model. The exam sits on the ACR CONTRACTOR license: Class A (any size) or Class B (cooling to 25 tons, heating to 1.5 million BTU/hr), one endorsement per license (environmental air conditioning, commercial refrigeration, or process cooling/heating), $115 application, one year to complete all requirements. Your personal floor is EPA 608.

Texas runs no apprentice license — the $20 technician registration IS the entry credential, and it is the same credential the 20-year veteran files. Register, work supervised, done.

The state program is the story in Texas — TDLR's ACR program governs statewide. Municipal permitting applies job to job as everywhere.

The line is clean and favors travelers: technicians register ($20, no exam, may not advertise), contractors license (exam-gated, Class A/B plus endorsement), and ACR companies must employ an ACR contractor in each permanent location. Contract directly — advertise, bid, invoice — and you have crossed to the license side of the line.