Florida Mechanical Contractor License: Scope and Requirements

Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(i) defines the mechanical contractor as one whose services are unlimited in central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating and ventilating systems, boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems, and lift station equipment and piping. That lift-station and fuel-piping language is what separates the class from the Class A air-conditioning contractor at 489.105(3)(f).

Scope element	Mechanical — 489.105(3)(i)	Class A air-conditioning — 489.105(3)(f)
Central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, ventilating	“unlimited”	“unlimited”
Lift station equipment and piping	in the definition	not named
Fuel and specialty lines	standpipes, air, vacuum, oxygen and nitrous oxide lines	not named
Gas fuel lines within buildings	listed in scope	excluded, except changeout disconnects and reconnects

The statutory scope at Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(i)

The definition is one long paragraph, an enumerated list of systems and piping rather than of buildings:

(i) “Mechanical contractor” means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the execution of contracts requiring the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, and ventilating systems, including duct work in connection with a complete system if such duct work is performed by the contractor as necessary to complete an air-distribution system, boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems, lift station equipment and piping, and all appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection therewith, and any duct cleaning and equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling of the system; to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, piping, insulation of pipes, vessels and ducts, pressure and process piping, pneumatic control piping, gasoline tanks and pump installations and piping for same, standpipes, air piping, vacuum line piping, oxygen lines, nitrous oxide piping, ink and chemical lines, fuel transmission lines, liquefied petroleum gas lines within buildings, and natural gas fuel lines within buildings; to replace, disconnect, or reconnect power wiring on the line or load side of the dedicated existing electrical disconnect switch on single phase electrical systems; to repair or replace power wiring, disconnects, breakers, or fuses for dedicated HVAC circuits with proper use of a circuit breaker lock; to install, disconnect, and reconnect low voltage heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning control wiring; and to install a condensate drain from an air-conditioning unit to an existing safe waste or other approved disposal other than a direct connection to a sanitary system.

The scope of work for such contractor also includes any excavation work incidental thereto, but does not include any work such as potable water lines or connections thereto, sanitary sewer lines, swimming pool piping and filters, or electrical power wiring. A mechanical contractor may test and evaluate central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, and ventilating systems, including duct work; however, a mandatory licensing requirement is not established for the performance of these specific services.

Quoted from Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(i).

Whether an installation falls inside this scope is for DBPR, the board and the local building official to determine.

Where the mechanical scope exceeds Class A air-conditioning

Both paragraphs open identically — services “unlimited in the execution of contracts requiring the experience, knowledge, and skill” to work on central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating and ventilating systems and boilers. Three differences follow. Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(i) names lift station equipment and piping, which 489.105(3)(f) does not. It runs the piping list past Class A’s “pressure and process piping, and pneumatic control piping” to standpipes, air, vacuum, oxygen, nitrous oxide, ink and chemical lines. And it puts liquefied petroleum and natural gas fuel lines within buildings in scope, where 489.105(3)(f) excludes them apart from changeout disconnects and reconnects. The air-conditioning side of that comparison is licensed as three separate classes, set out on Florida’s three air-conditioning classes.

Otherwise the two track each other, down to identical exclusions for potable water, sanitary sewer, swimming pool piping and filters, and electrical power wiring.

Mechanical is one of the trades 489.113(3) reserves

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3) opens: “A contractor shall subcontract all electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool, and air-conditioning work, unless such contractor holds a state certificate or registration in the respective trade category, however:” — then seven lettered exceptions, qualified further by 489.113(2). Mechanical sits in that reserved list, so the duty falls on a licensed contractor holding no mechanical certificate. The full text of the duty and all seven exceptions is at when mechanical work must be subcontracted. Whether an arrangement meets those conditions is for DBPR, the board and the local authority to determine.

The examinations for a mechanical certification

DBPR’s Bureau of Education and Testing states that “Division II contractors (all other specialties) must pass two examinations: Business and Finance and General Trade” knowledge, against three for the Division I classes. For the mechanical class those two are Business and Finance at 120 questions over 6.5 hours and the Mechanical Contractor trade knowledge examination at 130 questions over 7.5 hours, both administered daily in computer-based format. At 130 questions it matches Air Conditioning “A” as the longest of the trade examinations listed on DBPR’s schedule.

Qualifying by degree under 61G4-15.001(4)(b)

Rule 61G4-15.001(4) sets the baccalaureate degree appropriate to each classification for applicants proceeding under Fla. Stat. 489.111(2)(c)1. Paragraph (b) groups “Sheet Metal; Class A and B Air Conditioning; Residential Solar Water Heating; Mechanical Classifications” and names one degree for all four: Mechanical Engineering — narrower than paragraph (a), which accepts civil engineering, building construction or architecture for the Division I classes. The rule text is published at Rule 61G4-15.001.

Financial responsibility, insurance and fees

Rule 61G4-15.006 is not written per class, so it reaches a mechanical applicant unchanged: its financial stability ground for refusal is failure to show “a credit score, FICO derived, of 660 or higher,” and one below that threshold “shall meet the financial stability requirement by completion of a 14-hour financial responsibility course approved by the Board.” DBPR sets every category other than general and building at $100,000 public liability and $25,000 property damage. Fees are prescribed by action rather than by category; the figure for a mechanical filing is the one on the category’s own form, indexed on DBPR’s Construction Industry forms page.

Common questions

What does a Florida mechanical contractor license cover?

Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(i) makes the class unlimited in central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating and ventilating systems, boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems, lift station equipment and piping, and an enumerated list of process and fuel piping. It excludes potable water lines, sanitary sewer lines, swimming pool piping and filters, and electrical power wiring.

Is a mechanical contractor license the same as an air-conditioning license?

No. Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(f) defines the Class A air-conditioning contractor and 489.105(3)(i) the mechanical contractor as separate categories; the mechanical paragraph adds lift station equipment and piping, a longer piping list, and gas fuel lines within buildings that Class A excludes. Both are among the trades reserved by 489.113(3).

How long is the Florida mechanical contractor examination?

The Mechanical Contractor trade knowledge examination runs 130 questions over 7.5 hours in daily computer-based format, per DBPR’s examination schedule. It is taken alongside Business and Finance, 120 questions over 6.5 hours, because Division II classes sit two examinations rather than the three required of Division I.

Which board regulates the mechanical contractor class?

The Construction Industry Licensing Board. Fla. Stat. 489.107(4)(b) places the categories at 489.105(3)(d) through (p) — mechanical among them — within board Division II.

Related pages

The board that certifies mechanical contractors covers its structure; the Division II class scopes side by side places mechanical among the other trade classes; how Florida licenses its contractors frames the wider scheme.

This page summarizes Florida law and is general information, not legal advice. Verify class scope, examination details and the current application form for a category with the Florida DBPR before acting.