Texas · HVAC
Official board service
Use the official TDLR License Search (www.tdlr.texas.gov) with the guidance and status reference below.
TDLR’s search accepts a numeric license number, a personal name in last-name, first-name order, or a business name. Optional license-type and city filters are available. If searching by expiration date, use month, day and four-digit year without separators (MMDDYYYY). The page is labeled Active Licenses only, so it does not provide an all-status search.
Read the license class and endorsement as well as whether the credential is current. TDLR says these determine the work the contractor may perform, the applicable examination, and the required insurance. Class A permits work on units of any size. Class B is limited to cooling systems of 25 tons or less and heating systems of 1.5 million BTUs per hour or less. Endorsement E covers Environmental Air Conditioning; R covers Commercial Refrigeration and Process Cooling and Heating; C combines E and R. Environmental air conditioning concerns temperature, humidity, cleanliness, ventilation and circulation for human comfort, including central heating and cooling. Process cooling or heating instead addresses production requirements or equipment operation. These are the official credential-scope definitions; this guide has not queried an individual license record or assumed that every field appears in the public result layout.
For a Texas air-conditioning and refrigeration license holder seeking reciprocity with Georgia or South Carolina, TDLR’s FAQ says to contact TDLR and request a letter of good standing. Contact the receiving state directly for its reciprocal application forms and license requirements. This is the documented outbound verification route for those two reciprocal states; the FAQ section does not state a fee, turnaround time or delivery method for that letter. Applicants coming into Texas from Georgia or South Carolina are directed to TDLR’s separate Out of State Applicants guidance.
TDLR labels this search Active Licenses only, so it is not a complete historical-license search. If a license is not found, the page directs users to Customer Service at (800) 803-9202. Check the input format before asking for help: license-number searches accept numbers only, expiration dates use MMDDYYYY, and individual names use Last, First order. The form also provides optional license-type, city and county filters. Those separate fields and the active-only scope matter when comparing a missing result with an older credential or a different name or location.
TDLR identifies Georgia and South Carolina as reciprocal states for air-conditioning and refrigeration contractor licensing. A Texas license holder applying to either state should request a letter of good standing from TDLR and obtain the receiving state’s forms and requirements directly. A Georgia or South Carolina license holder applying into Texas should follow TDLR’s Out of State Applicants instructions. TDLR also says it accepts air-conditioning and refrigeration experience from states or municipalities with licensing requirements substantially equivalent to Texas; this experience provision should not be read as a reciprocal agreement with every state. Within Texas, the FAQ distinguishes municipal registration fees from building permit fees: municipalities may not charge registration fees to TDLR-licensed air-conditioning and refrigeration contractors under the cited provision, but may collect building permit fees.
Credential reference
TDLR’s contractor-renewal category permits late renewal at one and one-half times the normal renewal fee. The contractor may not engage in air-conditioning and refrigeration contracting while the license is expired.
TDLR’s contractor-renewal category requires executive-director approval and a fee of twice the normal renewal fee. The official page links the required expired-license renewal request form; contracting with an expired license is prohibited.
TDLR’s contractor-renewal category permits late renewal at twice the normal renewal fee. The license remains expired until renewed, and the agency says not to engage in contracting with an expired license.
TDLR’s FAQ describes this as a renewal restriction requiring resolution with the Attorney General’s Child Support Division and a release received by TDLR before renewal. An existing license may not be used after its expiration date; the nonrenewable notice does not extend it. For this child-support restriction, the FAQ gives 365 days from expiration to obtain the release and apply for late renewal, after which it says the license cannot be late renewed.
Provenance