Michigan HVAC license requirements and insurance

To work for yourself as an HVAC contractor in Michigan, you need the Mechanical Contractor license. The state sets no minimum liability insurance, and workers' comp is required once you have employees. The state does not ask for a bond.

Checked by the Trades by State editor on 2026-09-16 Based on 23 official pages, listed at the bottom Something wrong? Tell us

License you need: Mechanical Contractor Renew Every 3 years, expires August 31
Insurance you must carry: No state minimum customers usually ask for $1,000,000
Workers' comp: Required as soon as you hire anyone
Credit score: None found or take a 14-hour course
To protect your pay, send notice by: Send a Notice of Furnishing (the form that tells the owner you are on the job) within 20 days of your first day supplying labor or material (first day on the job on March 1 means notice by March 21). It goes to the designee and the general contractor named in the Notice of Commencement, or to the owner if no designee is named.

Turn this into a checklist

1 What stands out in Michigan for an HVAC contractor What is this?

The things people get wrong or do not expect about Michigan, in a few sentences.

Michigan has no journeyman or technician HVAC license. The only license is the mechanical contractor license, and your employees work under it. Each of the 10 work classifications, like HVAC equipment, ductwork, or refrigeration, needs its own 3 years or 6,000 hours of experience and its own exam.
The license runs in three-year blocks and costs $300. Every mechanical contractor license in the state expires on the same date, 31 August of the third year, so the license you buy is not three years from the day you apply but whatever is left of the block.
The state asks for no liability insurance, no bond, and no continuing education to keep a mechanical contractor license. Workers' comp is separate. You must carry it once one person works 35 hours a week for 13 weeks in a year, or once 3 people work at the same time.
A 2-year HVAC program at a school counts for up to 1 year or 2,000 hours of the 3 years of experience. Military service with an affidavit from your supervisor can count too.
For sales tax you are the customer, not the seller. You pay 6 percent when you buy the furnace or condenser and you charge the homeowner no tax on the job. The rule is the same for a house or a shop, and for a repair or a new build.
If a builder hired you rather than the owner, send a Notice of Furnishing within 20 days of your first day on the job, and record any lien within 90 days of your last day.

Checked by a person against the official page

·7 official pages

2 Who issues HVAC contractor licenses in Michigan? What is this?

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction Codes, Mechanical Division (LARA BCC) issues HVAC licenses in Michigan.

Name	Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Construction Codes, Mechanical Division (LARA BCC)
Website	https://www.michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/bcc/sections/licensing-section/exam-lic/mechanical-examination-licensing-registration-application-information
Look up a license	https://aca-prod.accela.com/LARA/GeneralProperty/PropertyLookUp.aspx?isLicensee=Y&TabName=APO
The law	Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407, Article 8 (MCL 339.5801 to 339.5819)
The rulebook	Skilled Trades Regulation Rules, R 339.5101 and following (mechanical classifications in Part 8, R 339.5161)

Taken from the linked page, not separately checked

3 Michigan HVAC contractor license requirements and fees What is this?

Michigan has 1 license type that matter to an HVAC contractor. The Mechanical Contractor needs 3 years or 6,000 hours in each classification you apply for, working for a licensed mechanical contractor whose license covers that classification, and shown with an experience statement from your employers. A 2-year HVAC program at an accredited school counts for up to 1 year or 2,000 hours. Honorably discharged veterans can use a DD214 and an affidavit from their military supervisor. To add a classification later you must have held the related classification for 3 years.

Mechanical Contractor

Anyone who installs, alters, or services heating, cooling, refrigeration, or ductwork for pay, or pulls a mechanical permit. Your workers do not need their own license. A company must name a licensed mechanical contractor as its contractor of record.

What you can work on

Only the work classifications printed on your license.
There are 10, and you pick the ones you need.
Hydronic heating and cooling and process piping.
HVAC equipment.
Ductwork.
Refrigeration.
Limited heating service.
Unlimited heating service.
Limited refrigeration and air conditioning service.
Unlimited refrigeration and air conditioning service.
Fire suppression.
Specialty (solar heating and cooling, solid fuel and vented decorative gas appliances, LP distribution piping, fuel gas piping, fuel gas piping and venting).

Experience required

3 years or 6,000 hours in each classification you apply for, working for a licensed mechanical contractor whose license covers that classification, and shown with an experience statement from your employers.
A 2-year HVAC program at an accredited school counts for up to 1 year or 2,000 hours.
Honorably discharged veterans can use a DD214 and an affidavit from their military supervisor.
To add a classification later you must have held the related classification for 3 years.

Training required

None required. No continuing education to renew.

Exam

Yes, one written exam per classification, run by PSI at five test centers, 75 percent to pass. Exams may include questions on the Skilled Trades Regulation Act and the state construction code act.

Fees

Exam, per license type	$100
First license	$300
Renewal	$300
Late renewal	$100

Renewal

Every 3 years, expires August 31

Training hours each year

Taken from the linked page, not separately checked

·7 official pages

4 How much insurance does an HVAC contractor need in Michigan? What is this?

Michigan sets no minimum liability insurance for this license. Customers and general contractors usually ask for $1,000,000 anyway. Workers' comp is required once you have employees.

Minimum liability insurance	None required by the state
Type of policy	None required by the state to hold the license. The sections of the mechanical article read for this record say nothing about insurance. Customers and builders will still ask for it.
Who this applies to	Nobody, as a state licensing rule
Who must be named on the certificate	None
Workers' comp required?	Yes, once you regularly have 1 employee working 35 hours or more a week for 13 weeks or longer in the past 52 weeks, or 3 or more employees at one time, part-timers included
Who can opt out	A sole proprietor is not an employee and is not covered. Partners, corporate officers, and LLC member-managers count as employees but can exclude themselves with form WC-337 (Notice of Exclusion). The form only works if everyone in the business can be excluded and you use no subcontractors. It is not valid until the agency stamps it. If you hire a subcontractor with no coverage, you are on the hook for their workers' injuries.

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·5 official pages

5 Does Michigan check your credit for an HVAC contractor license? What is this?

Michigan does not check your credit for this license.

Credit score you need	None found
If your score is lower	None. The state does not run a credit or money check for a mechanical contractor license as far as the sections read for this record show.

Checked by software against the official page·legislature.mi.gov

6 Does an HVAC contractor need a bond in Michigan? What is this?

Michigan does not require a state bond for this license. Some cities ask for one before they issue permits.

Does the state require a bond?	No
Amount	Not listed yet

The state does not ask for one to issue the license. Some cities ask for a bond (a promise, backed by an insurance company, that the city or customer can be paid if you do not finish the job) before they let you pull permits. Check with the city where you work.

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·2 official pages

7 Federal rules that also apply What is this?

Rules from the US government that apply to an HVAC contractor in Michigan on top of the state's own.

EPA refrigerant certification	Anyone who services, repairs, maintains, or disposes of equipment that could release refrigerant must hold EPA Section 608 technician certification, on top of the state license. Since 2018 this covers most substitute refrigerants such as HFCs too. Type I is small appliances, Type II high-pressure, Type III low-pressure, Universal all three. You pass a test from an EPA-approved certifying organization. The certification does not expire.

EPA refrigerant certification

Anyone who services, repairs, maintains, or disposes of equipment that could release refrigerant must hold EPA Section 608 technician certification, on top of the state license.
Since 2018 this covers most substitute refrigerants such as HFCs too.
Type I is small appliances, Type II high-pressure, Type III low-pressure, Universal all three.
You pass a test from an EPA-approved certifying organization.
The certification does not expire.

Checked by a person against the official page

·2 official pages

8 Where must a Michigan HVAC contractor show the license number? What is this?

In Michigan: the state does not make you put the number on ads, quotes, invoices, or trucks. The mechanical article has no display rule like the plumbing article's business sign. Nobody may advertise for mechanical work without a license. A draft rule change (Rule 115, open for comment in July 2026) would add a new requirement. The license number would have to appear on the written job document that lists payment terms and the work to be done.

The rule	The state does not make you put the number on ads, quotes, invoices, or trucks. The mechanical article has no display rule like the plumbing article's business sign. Nobody may advertise for mechanical work without a license. A draft rule change (Rule 115, open for comment in July 2026) would add a new requirement. The license number would have to appear on the written job document that lists payment terms and the work to be done.
If you forget	Advertising without a license counts as false advertising under the act. Working without a license is a misdemeanor. A first offense is up to $500 or 90 days in jail. A second is up to $1,000 or 1 year. A third is a felony, up to $25,000 or 5 years.

The rule

The state does not make you put the number on ads, quotes, invoices, or trucks.
The mechanical article has no display rule like the plumbing article's business sign.
Nobody may advertise for mechanical work without a license.
A draft rule change (Rule 115, open for comment in July 2026) would add a new requirement.
The license number would have to appear on the written job document that lists payment terms and the work to be done.

If you forget

Advertising without a license counts as false advertising under the act.
Working without a license is a misdemeanor.
A first offense is up to $500 or 90 days in jail.
A second is up to $1,000 or 1 year.
A third is a felony, up to $25,000 or 5 years.

Checked by software against the official page

·4 official pages

9 Does an HVAC contractor charge sales tax on labor in Michigan? What is this?

In Michigan, no sales tax on your labor. The rest of the rules are below.

See how this compares in every state: Sales tax on labor for plumbers and HVAC contractors by state

Labor on homes (repairs and remodels)	No sales tax on your labor
Repairs and remodels on businesses	No sales tax on your labor. Michigan treats a house and a business the same.
Labor on new buildings	No sales tax on your labor. Michigan treats new work and repairs the same.
Materials, when you quote one total price	You pay 6 percent sales or use tax when you buy the furnace, condenser, ductwork, and parts, and you charge the customer no tax. You are the final consumer of what you install.
Materials, when you list them separately	Same as a lump sum job. If you regularly hold yourself out as a retailer and collect sales tax on equipment you sell, the state then treats you as a retailer for those sales. Do not itemize and charge tax unless you mean to be a retailer.
Equipment that is not part of the building	The Treasury manual decides whether an item is part of the building using attachment, function, and intent, and lists many items. A window unit or portable equipment sold without installation is a retail sale. Check the manual's chart for the item.
Sales tax license	Not needed unless you also sell goods over the counter. You register for use tax instead if you buy materials without paying tax.
Tax rate	6 percent state rate

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·2 official pages

10 Getting paid: lien and notice deadlines for a Michigan HVAC contractor What is this?

If you are not paid in Michigan, a lien on the property is your backstop, but only if your notice goes out on time: send a Notice of Furnishing (the form that tells the owner you are on the job) within 20 days of your first day supplying labor or material (first day on the job on March 1 means notice by March 21). It goes to the designee and the general contractor named in the Notice of Commencement, or to the owner if no designee is named.

Who has to send a notice	A subcontractor or supplier hired by the contractor, not by the property owner. A contractor working straight for the owner does not need to send it.
Send your notice by	Send a Notice of Furnishing (the form that tells the owner you are on the job) within 20 days of your first day supplying labor or material (first day on the job on March 1 means notice by March 21). It goes to the designee and the general contractor named in the Notice of Commencement, or to the owner if no designee is named.
File your lien by	Record the claim of lien with the register of deeds in the county where the property is within 90 days of your last day supplying labor or material (last day on March 1 means record by May 30). Serve a copy on the designee within 15 days of recording.

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·3 official pages

11 How much does it cost to become an HVAC contractor in Michigan? What is this?

The government fees on this page add up to about $400 in Michigan. Add insurance, tools, and a vehicle to get the real number.

Government fees, added up	$400

Does not include insurance premiums, the EPA Section 608 test, tools, a vehicle, city permits, or extra classifications ($100 exam each)

Our estimate

12Where these numbers come from

The labels under each table are explained on how to read a page.