Rhode Island: HVAC contractor licensing, reciprocity and contract rules.

This page lists what Rhode Island publishes about licensing an HVAC or mechanical contractor and contracting with homeowners: who issues the licence, whether one is required statewide, the classes and qualifications, insurance or bond minimums, reciprocity with other states, renewal and continuing education, and the state's home-improvement contract statute if it has one.

It is built for owners of residential HVAC companies, especially those hiring across a state line or opening a second territory. Every entry is a snapshot of what the cited source published on the verification date; it is a research starting point, not legal advice.

Rhode Island, field by field.

Contractor licensing authority

Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT), Division of Professional Regulation, with the Mechanical Board of Examiners created by R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-27-2, issues the mechanical-trades (refrigeration/air conditioning) licenses under ch. 28-27; § 28-27-5(a) requires a license "issued by the department of labor and training under this chapter". Separately, the Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board (CRLB; Department of Business Regulation, Division of Building, Design & Fire Professionals, per the Board's homeowner summary) registers contractors who work on a "structure" — "Any commercial building; or ... Any building containing one or more residences and their appurtenances" (§ 5-65-1(19)) — under ch. 5-65.

HVAC licence required

Statewide, no dollar threshold — R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-27-5(a): "No person shall: (1) Engage in this state in the business of the mechanical trades as a master or as an employer of the mechanical trades; (2) Enter into contracts or agreements for the installation, maintenance, repair, or servicing in the mechanical trades; (3) Advertise or represent in any form or matter that they are masters or that they will install pipefitting or refrigeration/air conditioning, or air distribution systems or perform fire protection sprinkler work, unless the person possesses a valid license issued by the department of labor and training under this chapter"; masters must affix their master's license number to any advertisement, contract, bid and applicable permit (§ 28-27-5(a)). § 28-27-28(a)(2) requires a license to install, repair, replace, service, maintain or alter "refrigeration and air conditioning equipment", with no dollar or tonnage threshold; it carves out "factory manufactured domestic plug-in units or other package assemblies not requiring special wiring" beyond a standard household 16-amp, 220-volt circuit, "except for field hook up or checking by qualified licensed pipefitters/refrigeration technicians", limits "servicing" of such units to seasonal filter changes or general cleaning, and requires the bill to tell the consumer they are not paying for state-licensed masters or journeypersons. § 28-27-5(b): a master licensee needs no separate sheet metal license for sheet metal work "when AC air handling equipment is ten (10) tons or less or when heating equipment does not exceed 250,000 BTUs"; above those sizes the sheet metal work must be subcontracted to a licensed sheet metal contractor. § 28-27-29 exempts maintenance personnel of public utilities, hospitals, schools, cities, towns and the state, and plant maintenance departments, working on their employer's own premises. The contracting classes are Refrigeration Master Class I ("Unlimited as to restriction on work", 260-RICR-30-15-2.12(F)) and Refrigeration Master Class II ("Limited to installations up to 20-ton comfort cooling systems and installations up to 3-ton product cooling or up to l Horsepower freezing", 2.13(E)). A contractor working on a structure also holds a CRLB registration: "A person shall not undertake, offer to undertake, or submit a bid to do work as a contractor on a structure" without a current certificate of registration (§ 5-65-3(a)).

Licence classes & qualifications

Refrigeration Master Class I ("Can be self-employed", unlimited) requires having "held a Rhode Island Refrigeration Journeyperson I license for one (1) year or held a Refrigeration Master II license with the State of Rhode Island for one (1) year" (260-RICR-30-15-2.12(B); § 28-27-10(a)(3): a DLT certificate "specifying that person as a journeyperson licensed as such for a minimum of one year", or an affidavit or other reasonably satisfactory evidence of licensure in another state) plus the master examination; Refrigeration Master Class II (limited, 2.13(E)) requires having "held a Rhode Island Refrigeration Journeyperson Class II license for three (3) years" (2.13(B)). Refrigeration Journeyperson Class I ("Cannot be self-employed") requires a "Minimum of 10000 hours of on the job training with a minimum of 144 hours of trade related schooling per year" in a Rhode Island-approved registered apprenticeship (2.14(B); § 28-27-4.1: a "ten thousand (10,000) hour" registered apprenticeship program and a passed refrigeration technician examination); Refrigeration Journeyperson Class II requires a "Minimum of 4000 hours of on the job training with a minimum of 288 hours of trade related schooling" (2.15(B)); two years of schooling in an accredited institution recognized by DLT may be deducted from the apprenticeship (2.14(B), 2.15(B)). Test fee $75 for every class; initial license fees Refrigeration Master I $240, Master II $96, Refrigeration Journeyperson I $72, Journeyperson II $60 (§ 28-27-17(a)). The Master Mechanical Contractor license ($480, § 28-27-17(a)) requires 20 years or more as a contractor or in both trades, including 10 years as a Rhode Island Pipefitter Master I and 10 years as a Rhode Island Refrigeration Master I, proven by notarized résumé (2.6(A)(1)).

Insurance / bond minimum

DLT refrigeration license: no bond or liability-insurance dollar minimum is published in ch. 28-27 or 260-RICR-30-15-2; rule 2.7(C)(2)(d)-(e) (Contractor Master: Limited License) requires applicants to "supply a copy of the current Workers Compensation insurance policy of the entity to be licensed" and "a copy of the current general liability insurance policy of the entity to be licensed" without stating an amount. CRLB registration: public liability and property damage insurance of not less than "five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) combined single limit, bodily injury and property damage" (§ 5-65-7(a)) and workers' compensation insurance under ch. 29 of title 28 (§ 5-65-7(b)); proof is shown at registration and renewal and "Failure to maintain insurance shall invalidate registration" (§ 5-65-7(c)). The Board's homeowner summary restates "at least $500,000 in general liability insurance".

Reciprocity

None published as reciprocity agreements. 260-RICR-30-15-2.12(C)–2.15(C) allow a holder of an out-of-state license in the same class to sit for the Rhode Island examination ("An out of State Master Class I Refrigeration license will allow the applicant to be tested for the Refrigeration Master Class I Rhode Island license", 2.12(C)); where the other state has no equivalent license, the applicant files a notarized résumé showing six years' experience (one year as a contractor for Master I, 2.12(C); three years as a contractor for Master II, 2.13(C)) or five years as a Refrigeration Journeyperson for the journeyperson classes (2.14(C), 2.15(C)); § 28-27-10(a)(3) accepts "an affidavit or other reasonably satisfactory evidence showing the laws of another state" licensed the applicant as an alternative to the one-year Rhode Island journeyperson certificate, and § 28-27-11(a)(3) accepts proof of a journeyperson license issued by another state as a qualification for the journeyperson exam.

Renewal & continuing education

DLT licenses expire on the licensee's birthday: licenses issued to holders born in odd years "shall expire on the birthday of the individual qualifying for the license in odd years", those issued to holders born in even years expire on that birthday in even years, and "all licenses may be renewed on or before their expiration date, upon payment of the appropriate fee" (§ 28-27-17(c)); renewal fees equal the initial fees (Refrigeration Master I $240, Master II $96, Journeyperson I $72, Journeyperson II $60; § 28-27-17(a)); a license lapsed less than two years is reinstated on payment of all fees due, otherwise the applicant is subjected to re-examination (260-RICR-30-15-2.3(A)(14)). No continuing-education requirement appears in the ch. 28-27 section index or in 260-RICR-30-15-2 (rule 2.6(A)(2) requires evidence of "periodic schooling of a general nature" for Master Mechanical Contractor applicants only). CRLB registration is "valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance" (§ 5-65-8); new applicants show "five (5) hours of preregistration education units" and renewal applicants "two and one-half (2.5) hours of continuing education units", which residential contractors maintain as a condition of registration (§ 5-65-5(e)-(f)).

Home-improvement contract rule

R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 5-65 (Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board): § 5-65-3(o) — "All work performed, including labor and materials, in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be accompanied by a contract in writing"; the contract "shall include consumer disclosures and information required pursuant to regulations promulgated by the board" and the statutory "NOTICE OF POSSIBLE MECHANIC'S LIEN" to the homeowner; failure "may result in a one-thousand-dollar fine ($1,000) against the contractor", who must also indemnify the owner against lien claims by persons not in privity unless the owner has not paid; a lien notice given under § 34-28-4.1 satisfies this requirement (§ 5-65-3(p)). § 5-65-3(p) — "Contracts entered into must contain notice of right of rescission as stipulated in all pertinent Rhode Island consumer protection laws and/or § 5-65-27, if applicable", and "The contractor must stipulate whether or not all the proper insurances are in effect for each job contracted." § 5-65-27 — a contract originating from an in-home solicitation (any transaction at the consumer's primary residence, including telephonic or online, except those initiated by the consumer, § 5-65-27(a)(4)) of an "elderly person" (defined by reference to § 42-66-4.1; the Board's homeowner summary states "consumers aged 60 and older") must give the consumer, absent an emergency, "three (3) days within which to cancel" (§ 5-65-27(b)); the contractor gives notice at signing under the caption "Notice of Cancellation" with the statutory wording (cancellation by registered or certified mail "not later than midnight three (3) days following the consumer's signing the agreement, excluding Sunday and any holiday on which regular mail deliveries are not made") (§ 5-65-27(c)); if the agreement fails to conform and the consumer has given notice by registered mail, the contractor "shall, within twenty (20) days, return any deposit", failing which the consumer may recover "double damages" (§ 5-65-27(d)). The statute contains no initial-box or consumer-education-materials clause. The Board's homeowner summary (approved March 8, 2023, "For distribution to homeowners as required by law") restates the right to a written contract for work over $1,000 and to receive the summary before work starts, the $500,000 insurance requirement, the three-day cancellation right for consumers aged 60 and older and the contractor's "Responsibility to provide a registration number". The Board's consumer information sheet also points to the door-to-door sales notice in § 6-28-4 for agreements not signed at the seller's place of business: a "Notice to buyer" in ten-point bold type directly above the buyer's signature, including the right to cancel by registered or certified mail "posted not later than midnight of the third calendar day after the day on which the buyer signs the agreement, excluding Sunday and any holiday on which regular mail deliveries are not made" (§ 6-28-4(a)). No deposit cap located in ch. 5-65.