Heating and cooling # HVAC licensing and certification Two different things are involved. EPA Section 608 certification is federal and required to purchase or handle refrigerant. HVAC contractor licensing is set by each state, and sometimes by county or city, so we publish no national figure — we show you how to verify your own jurisdiction instead. **Jurisdiction notice. **Efficiency standards, refrigerant rules, incentives, and licensing are set federally, by region, and by state, and they change. This page reflects EPA Section 608 rules as of 2026-08-17. Verify before purchasing. ## What is federal: Section 608 certification Only Section 608 certified technicians may purchase refrigerants intended for use with stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. The restriction covers ozone-depleting substances and non-ozone-depleting substitutes — including HFCs — in cylinders, cans or drums. Wholesalers must record the purchaser's name, the date of sale and the quantity. - **Core** — Required foundation for every certification type. - **Type I** — Small appliances. - **Type II** — High-pressure appliances — the category that covers residential central air conditioners and heat pumps. - **Type III** — Low-pressure appliances. - **Universal** — All three types. For residential central air conditioning and heat pump work, Type II is the relevant category. It is a fair question to ask a contractor: what certification do the technicians coming to my house hold? ## Why we publish no state-by-state licensing table Because we have not verified it state by state, and publishing it unverified would be exactly the kind of content this site exists to correct. Requirements vary in whether a licence is needed at all, what it covers, how many hours of experience it takes, and which exam applies — and some states delegate to the county or city. When we do publish it, it will carry each primary state source and its verification date, like everything else here. ## How to verify a contractor licence - Find the contractor licensing board for your state, or its department of labour or consumer affairs. - Search the licence number printed on the bid, not the company name. - Confirm the licence is current and that it covers the work being done. - Ask for proof of insurance separately. Licensed and insured are not the same thing. - Confirm who pulls the building permit. That is set by your local building department. [How to read a bid, and the red flags](https://hvacbuddy.shop/hiring/). ## What should you know about refrigerant? Refrigerant circulates in a sealed loop. It is not consumed the way fuel or oil is, so a system that is low on charge **has a leak**. Adding refrigerant without finding and repairing that leak treats the symptom, vents the new charge over the following weeks, and costs you the same money again next season. It is also regulated. Only Section 608 certified technicians may purchase refrigerants intended for use with stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. The restriction covers ozone-depleting substances and non-ozone-depleting substitutes — including HFCs — in cylinders, cans or drums. Wholesalers must record the purchaser's name, the date of sale and the quantity. There is one exception that confuses people: small cans of refrigerant for *vehicle* air conditioning are still sold without certification. That exception is for cars and does not extend to the equipment in your house. For new equipment, the 700 GWP limit in force since January 1, 2025 is why current systems ship with R-454B (GWP 465) or R-32 (GWP 675) rather than R-410A (GWP 2088). R-410A inventory built before 2025 can still be legally installed — EPA removed the installation deadline on May 21, 2026. [The full timeline](https://hvacbuddy.shop/refrigerants/). ## Which efficiency numbers can you actually compare? If you are comparing efficiency figures, check which generation they belong to first. On January 1, 2023 DOE changed the test procedure and renamed three metrics: SEER became **SEER2**, EER became **EER2**, and HSPF became **HSPF2**. The current procedure measures at a higher external static pressure, much closer to what equipment meets once installed in a real house on real ductwork. DOE is explicit about the consequence: "Although SEER2, HSPF2, and EER2 ratings are similar to ratings using the original metrics, they are not directly comparable. Compliance with the new standards for each model must be determined based on its measured SEER2, HSPF2, or EER2." In practice: a SEER figure from a 2019 article cannot tell you whether a quote reading SEER2 is good, bad or identical. That is why we publish no conversion factor. We do not publish a SEER-to-SEER2 conversion factor. DOE states that ratings on the new metrics are "not directly comparable" to ratings on the original metrics, and that compliance must be determined from the measured SEER2, EER2 or HSPF2 value. Approximate multipliers circulate widely, but they vary by equipment type and configuration, and using one to compare an old article's number against a number on today's quote is how homeowners end up believing they were offered less efficiency than they were. Compare like with like: ask for the SEER2 figure, and check it against the AHRI certificate. The nationwide minimum for a split-system air conditioner is 13.4 SEER2, and for a split-system heat pump 14.3 SEER2 with 7.5 HSPF2. [What each metric measures](https://hvacbuddy.shop/efficiency/) · [minimums by region and state](https://hvacbuddy.shop/efficiency/standards/). ## How is the right equipment size decided? Nearly every persistent comfort problem traces back to equipment size, and size is decided before the first box arrives. The standard is the ACCA **Manual J** load calculation (ANSI/ACCA 2 Manual J - 2016), which totals the heat gain and loss of your specific house: orientation, window area and type, insulation levels, air infiltration, internal gains, and your local design temperature. What a Manual J is *not*: square feet per ton, and not the old unit's tonnage. The first ignores everything that makes one house different from another. The second assumes whoever sized the old equipment got it right, and propagates their error for another fifteen years. Oversized equipment reaches the setpoint and shuts off before it has dehumidified, so the house ends up cold and clammy at the same time. Every start is also the hardest moment in a compressor's life, so wear accelerates. And you pay for the surplus capacity twice — once to buy it and again to run it. Ask for the completed Manual J in writing, not the claim that one was done. [What it contains and how to read it](https://hvacbuddy.shop/sizing/manual-j/). ## What should a bid show you? Three bids rarely quote the same job, so comparing headline price compares three different things. The one that was done properly shows its work, and you can check it line by line: - Model numbers for the outdoor unit, indoor coil, and air handler or furnace. - The **AHRI reference number** for that exact combination. A rating applies to a matched system, not to an outdoor unit on its own. - The SEER2 and, on a heat pump, the HSPF2 of that combination. - The Manual J result the sizing came from. - The measured static pressure and any duct work included. - The permit, and who pulls it. - Labour warranty, separate from parts, and whether registration is required. [The full red-flags checklist](https://hvacbuddy.shop/hiring/). ## How can you verify any of this yourself? Everything regulatory on this site traces to a primary source and carries the date it was read: DOE for efficiency standards, EPA for refrigerants and Section 608, the IRS for tax credits, and ACCA for load calculation. The sources for this page are listed at the end with the date each was consulted. If you find a different figure elsewhere, check two things before deciding which to believe: whether the page says which generation its efficiency metric belongs to, and whether it carries a visible review date. Most of the outdated content in this category fails both tests. Sources (2) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — [Refrigerant Sales Restriction (Section 608)](https://www.epa.gov/section608/refrigerant-sales-restriction) (accessed 2026-08-17) - U.S. Department of Energy — [Central Air Conditioners — Conservation Standards guidance (Final, October 5, 2022)](https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/pdfs/2023_CAC_Standards_FAQ_10-5-2022_Final.pdf) (accessed 2026-08-17) By [HVACBuddy Editorial Team](https://hvacbuddy.shop/authors/editorial-team/). Last reviewed: 2026-08-18. Verified: 2026-08-17 HVACBuddy publishes independent information. We do not install or service equipment, we do not dispatch contractors, and we do not sell leads. Nothing here is engineering, tax, or legal advice.