Requirements, license levels, and the issuing authority, sourced from Arizona's official board.
In the Arizona heat, air conditioning work is heavily inspected and the C-39/CR-39 split is enforced: a residential-only licensee taking commercial rooftop work is contracting outside their classification. The technician-level credential that actually belongs to the worker here is EPA 608, not the state license.
| Requirements | ARIZONA LICENSES THE CONTRACTING BUSINESS THROUGH A QUALIFYING PARTY, NOT THE INDIVIDUAL TRADESPERSON. There is no state journeyman card in Arizona: a license is held by a business, and a named QUALIFYING PARTY supplies the experience and sits the examination on its behalf. A worker is not licensed by the state; the company they work for is. EXPERIENCE (A.R.S. 32-1122). The qualifying party must have a MINIMUM OF FOUR YEARS of practical or management trade experience in the relevant kind of work, AT LEAST TWO OF WHICH must fall within the last ten years, so old experience alone does not qualify. Up to two years of accredited technical training may substitute, but substitution may never exceed half the requirement. Prior service as a qualifying party in Arizona in the same classification waives the documentation. The registrar may reduce the four years where custom and usage in a particular craft show the requirement to be excessive. AGE. A license may not be issued to a minor, to a partnership with a minor partner, or to a corporation with a minor as a corporate officer. EXAMINATION. A written examination covering the kind of work contracted for, plus general knowledge of the state's building, safety, health and lien laws, the administrative principles of the contracting business and the registrar's rules. It must have been taken NOT MORE THAN TWO YEARS before the application. The registrar may waive it where the qualifying party held the same classification within the last five years. BOND. A contractor's bond must be filed in the amount set for the classification and the anticipated annual gross volume, and maintained. A RESIDENTIAL contractor must additionally pay an assessment into the Registrar's Residential Recovery Fund, or post a surety or cash bond of $200,000. CLASSIFICATION. Air conditioning and refrigeration is licensed under the 39 classifications, C-39 commercial, CR-39 residential and the dual L-39. FEDERAL LAYER. Separately from the ROC license, EPA Section 608 technician certification is required to purchase or handle regulated refrigerants, in Type I, II, III or Universal. It is federal, applies in every state, and does not expire, and unlike the ROC license it belongs to the individual technician rather than to the business. |
| Reciprocity | No published reciprocity for the 39 classifications; the only examination relief is for a qualifying party who held the same Arizona classification within the previous five years. EPA Section 608 certification, by contrast, is federal and transfers into Arizona without re-qualifying. |
| Renewal | ROC license fees are quoted for a two-year license and renewal follows that cycle. EPA Section 608 certification does not expire. The contractor's bond and, for residential work, the Recovery Fund assessment must be maintained continuously. |
| Notes | In the Arizona heat, air conditioning work is heavily inspected and the C-39/CR-39 split is enforced: a residential-only licensee taking commercial rooftop work is contracting outside their classification. The technician-level credential that actually belongs to the worker here is EPA 608, not the state license. |
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Sources: roc.az.gov, roc.az.gov, roc.az.gov, roc.az.gov. Always confirm current requirements with the issuing authority.
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