HVAC Company in Orlando: How to Check a License Before You Hire

Orlando has HVAC companies of every size, and whatever the size, each one needs the same thing before it may touch your system: a Florida contractor’s license that covers the work. This page shows what that license is, how to look it up yourself in a few minutes, and what else is worth settling before you agree to anything.

This site, Air Conditioning Repair Orlando, is a referral service: we take calls and connect callers with independent local HVAC companies, and we are not one ourselves. Our advice is the same for every company, including one we connected you with: look up the license and ask for proof of insurance yourself before work begins.

Who licenses HVAC companies in Florida

The Construction Industry Licensing Board licenses and regulates this trade. The board sits within the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, known as DBPR, and the license is a state license. The City of Orlando and Orange County issue permits. They do not issue this license.

The licensing statute is broad about what counts. It describes an air conditioning contractor as one who may install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend or design central air conditioning, refrigeration, heating and ventilating systems. Repair and maintenance are on that list beside installation, so the company that comes to fix a system needs the license just as much as the one that fits a new one.

The license classes

License	What the statute says it covers	What it means for a homeowner
Class A air conditioning contractor	Unlimited in the size of system	Covers any home and any commercial building
Class B air conditioning contractor	Limited to 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 Btu of heating in any one system	Far more than a house needs. The federal efficiency table for home air conditioners draws its line at 45,000 Btu per hour, which is 3.75 tons
Class C air conditioning contractor	Servicing only. Only a contractor who held this license on October 1, 1988 may hold one	A closed class. A Class C license is limited to servicing
Mechanical contractor	Unlimited, with a wider scope than Class A	Also covers home air conditioning

For a house, then, Class A, Class B and mechanical licenses all cover the work. The class tells you about the size of work a company may take on. It does not rank companies by quality.

Certified or registered

Each of those licenses comes in two forms, and the difference is where the contractor may work.

• Certified. The statute defines a certified contractor as one who holds a certificate of competency issued by the department and may contract in any jurisdiction in the state without having to meet that jurisdiction’s own competency requirements. DBPR says the occupation codes of certified contractors begin with the letter C.
• Registered. A registered contractor has registered with the department after fulfilling the competency requirements of a particular jurisdiction and, in the statute’s words, may contract only in such jurisdictions. DBPR says registered codes begin with R.

License numbers on Orlando HVAC companies’ websites commonly begin CAC or CMC, and the leading C marks a certified license. If a number begins with R, ask which jurisdictions the registration covers, because the City of Orlando and unincorporated Orange County are different ones. The City’s permitting guide asks a registered contractor for a surety bond and a competency card, on top of the state license, before it will issue a permit.

Looking a license up, one step at a time

1. Get the number. Florida law says a contractor’s registration or certification number shall appear in each offer of services, business proposal, bid, contract and advertisement. If a vehicle carries the company’s name, the number must be displayed with it. A company that cannot give you the number has told you something.
2. Open the state search. Go to DBPR’s license search. It offers four ways in: by name, by license number, by city or county, or by license type.
3. Search by license number. It avoids confusion between companies with similar names.
4. Read the record. Check three things: that the name on the record matches the company on your proposal, what type of license it is, and that the license is current.
5. Or ask DBPR. The department’s Customer Contact Center is listed on the search page, and DBPR also offers a mobile app for verifying a license by name or number.

Insurance and workers’ compensation

The board’s rule sets a floor. Air conditioning and mechanical contractors must maintain at least $100,000 of public liability insurance and $25,000 of property damage insurance, and they attest to it by signed affidavit when the license is issued and at each renewal. If the board audits a license holder, proof of coverage is due within thirty days of its request.

An affidavit to the state is not something you can see, so ask the company for a certificate of insurance. The board’s rule describes one: it is prepared by an insurance agency and shows the insurance company, the policy number and the dates the policy runs. Ask about workers’ compensation as well. The City of Orlando’s permitting guide lists proof of workers’ compensation insurance among the items a contractor must file before receiving a permit, which gives you a second reason to care that a permit is pulled.

The technician’s EPA certification

The state license is held by a person, the qualifying agent, on behalf of the business, and the technicians work under it. The technician at your door needs something else: federal rules under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act require anyone who connects gauges to a system, adds refrigerant or removes it to be certified. The EPA has four types of certification, three by type of equipment and a Universal one that covers all of them, and the credential does not expire. An apprentice may do this work without it only under the close and continual supervision of someone who is certified. It is reasonable to ask to see proof.

What a permit tells you about a company

Replacing air conditioning equipment needs a mechanical permit, from the City of Orlando inside the city limits and from Orange County in the unincorporated area around it. They are separate offices with their own procedures. How a company talks about the permit is one of the better tests you have.

• The company applies for it. Orange County says licensed contractors may apply for permits within the scope of their license. The City lists what a contractor must file first: the state license, a business tax receipt and proof of workers’ compensation insurance.
• The permit is on the proposal. The price should say that the permit and the inspection are included, or say what they cost.
• You are not asked to pull it yourself. Orange County lets a homeowner apply only for a primary residence, and the owner must complete an Owner-Builder Verification and accept all responsibility for adherence to code. A company that wants you to take out an owner-builder permit for its work is moving that responsibility onto you.
• Nobody says a replacement needs no permit. The small-job exemption in section 553.79(1)(g) of the Florida Statutes does not apply to mechanical work.
• You can check afterwards. The City’s permit lookup accepts a permit number or an address, and the City advises using it to make sure the permit’s status is final.

The permit process itself, with the inspection points and the split between the two offices, is set out on our page about AC installation in Orlando.

Deposits and paperwork

Florida law puts a clock on a contractor who takes a large deposit for work on a home. If the initial payment is more than 10 percent of the contract price, the contractor must apply for the necessary permits within 30 days of the payment and start the work within 90 days after the permits are issued. The exceptions are just cause, or a longer period that you agreed to in writing. Keep the date and a record of whatever you pay.

A proposal for a new system should let you check the job without taking anyone’s word for it. Look for:

• The company’s legal name and its license number
• The manufacturer and model numbers of the outdoor and indoor units, their capacity and the SEER2 rating
• What happens to the ducts: reused, sealed, tested or replaced
• The drain line, the overflow protection and the thermostat
• Who does any electrical work that an air conditioning license does not cover
• The permit, the inspection and removal of the old equipment
• The warranty on parts and the warranty on labor, each in writing
• The payment schedule

One piece of paperwork you may not need: the City of Orlando’s permit application notes that a Notice of Commencement is not required to repair or replace an existing heating or air conditioning system for less than $15,000.

Comparing quotes from more than one company

OUC, the municipal utility, recommends obtaining multiple quotes for any work you are considering, and it is good advice for anything larger than a repair. Quotes only compare when they describe the same job, so line them up by capacity, rating, duct work and what is included.

Pay attention to how each company arrived at the size. University of Florida extension guidance says not to use a contractor who wants to size a system solely on the square footage of the house, and ENERGY STAR says a contractor should work from the actual characteristics of the home and not just a rule of thumb. Florida’s energy code goes further and ties equipment size to a calculated load. Ask each company to show you its calculation.

Lists and rankings, and what they leave out

• OUC’s Preferred Contractor Network. OUC describes it as a list of qualified repair and service companies, with categories that include HVAC, duct repair and insulation, whose members have provided proof of insurance and a license. It is a starting list for OUC customers, and OUC itself recommends getting several quotes.
• Duke Energy’s trade allies. Duke Energy registers contractors as trade allies of its rebate program. Being on that list concerns the program, and it is no substitute for the state record.
• Review sites and best-of lists. These rank companies by ratings and review counts. A rating tells you how past customers felt. It does not tell you the license class, whether the license is current or whether a permit was pulled.
• This site. We connect you with an independent local company. We do not rank companies or publish ratings, and we leave the choice to hire with you.

Contractors without a license, and storm season

Acting as a contractor in Florida without being certified or registered is a first degree misdemeanor, and a repeat offense is a third degree felony. The law is harsher when it matters most: during a state of emergency declared by the Governor, a first offense is a third degree felony.

That matters after a hurricane. The Atlantic season runs from June 1 to November 30, and in a hurricane-season reminder that is still on its website DBPR warns that contractors may travel from out of state into areas hit by a disaster. Its guidance is that a contractor licensed elsewhere still needs a Florida license to work on a Florida home, and that you should verify the license before hiring or signing. Suspected unlicensed contracting can be reported to DBPR through its complaint page.

Work that does not need a contractor’s license

The statute carves out a few things. A person who sells, services or installs heating or air conditioning units of up to 3 tons that have no ducts and a factory-installed cord and plug is exempt, which covers plug-in units. Owners may act as their own contractor on a one-family or two-family residence that is for their own occupancy or use and not offered for sale or lease, provided they supervise the work directly and onsite themselves. Neither exemption touches the federal rule: handling refrigerant still takes a certified technician.

Questions to ask an HVAC company before it comes out

• What is your license number, and is it certified or registered?
• Is there a charge to come out and diagnose, and is it credited if I go ahead?
• Will the cause and the price be put in writing before anything is replaced?
• Do the technicians who come out hold EPA certification to handle refrigerant?
• Can you send a certificate of insurance?
• For a replacement: will you do a load calculation, and will you pull the permit?
• Which electric utility’s rebates do you handle paperwork for, OUC or Duke Energy?
• What warranty do you give on labor, and for how long?
• How large a deposit do you ask for, and when is the balance due?

Signs to slow down

• No license number on the proposal, the website or the vehicle
• A license record under a different name from the one on the contract
• Pressure to decide on a replacement before you have seen the diagnosis in writing
• A size chosen from square footage alone
• A request for most of the price up front, or for cash only
• A suggestion that the permit can be skipped to save time
• A knock on the door after a storm from a crew with out-of-state plates

Finding an HVAC company for your part of Orlando

A certified license is good anywhere in Florida, so the practical question is whether a company works in your area and knows its permit office. Within the city that means anywhere from Mills 50, Ivanhoe Village and Downtown South to Lake Como, Dover Shores, Engelwood Park, Rosemont, MetroWest, Vista East and Lake Nona.

If your address is in Winter Park, Maitland, Apopka, Altamonte Springs or Kissimmee, which are separate cities, or in an unincorporated community such as Pine Hills or Conway, say so when you call. The contractor’s state license is the same. The permit office is not.

Your questions, answered