1.2 The 14 Work Classification Examinations, Scope of Work & Experience Standards

The 14 Work Classification Examinations, Scope of Work & Experience Standards

Michigan does not issue a generic "HVAC license." It issues one mechanical contractor license carrying one or more classifications, and you sit a separate examination for each classification you want. Getting the classification map right is worth real points, because scope-boundary questions are written directly from the statutory definitions on LARA's application form.

There is a wrinkle that trips up almost everyone. MCL 339.5807(2) lists ten classifications, lettered (a) through (j). The tenth, (j) specialty, is not a single credential — it is an umbrella covering five separately examined specialty classifications. So the statute says ten, and PSI's fee schedule and content outline list fourteen examinations. Both numbers are correct; they are counting different things.

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The Statutory List (MCL 339.5807(2))

The five specialty classifications under (j) are: a. solar heating and cooling; b. solid fuel equipment and vented decorative gas appliances; c. LP distribution piping; d. fuel gas piping; and e. fuel gas piping and venting.

Nine standard classifications plus five specialty classifications equals the fourteen examinations PSI publishes.

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Statutory Scope Definitions

These are the definitions printed on LARA form BCC-11. Learn the boundary language, not just the title.

(a) Hydronic heating and cooling and process piping — includes the installation of residential boilers

"The application of equipment and systems which provide air conditioning by the controlled forced circulation of fluids or vapors in pipes." This is the boiler, chiller, and process-piping classification; its reference list is the only one that includes ASME B31.3.

(b) HVAC equipment — includes ductwork, gas piping and venting

"The application of equipment and systems to provide air conditioning for occupants of buildings and structures. HVAC does not include the installation of portable self-contained refrigeration equipment and window type air conditioners of not more than 1 1/2 horsepower."

Read the parenthetical carefully. A contractor holding only (b) may install the duct distribution system and the fuel gas piping serving the equipment. PSI even titles the exam "HVAC Equipment (includes ductwork and gas piping)." The separate (c) ductwork and (d) fuel gas piping specialty credentials exist for firms that do only that scope — a sheet metal shop or a gas piping specialist — not as add-ons an HVAC equipment contractor must also carry.

(c) Ductwork

"The air distribution arrangement for supply, return and exhaust in air conditioning systems and in non-air conditioning systems, the materials and methods of which are specified in the Michigan Mechanical Code. Ductwork includes flues, vents and chimneys." The last sentence is easy to miss and is testable.

(d) Refrigeration

"The use of equipment and systems including refrigeration piping, employing the refrigeration cycle to generate low temperatures for other than air conditioning equipment and systems." Supermarket refrigeration, industrial refrigeration, preservation of biological materials, and food storage. Excluded: portable self-contained units such as refrigerators and dehumidifiers of not more than 1.5 horsepower, and equipment otherwise exempted from the Michigan Mechanical Code.

(e) Limited heating service

This is the definition candidates most often get wrong, because it is a set of parallel thresholds, not a single BTU number. Limited heating service means servicing:

• gas-designed sectional boilers having inputs of not more than 1,000,000 Btu, using a combustion safeguard designed to shut off the main gas supply 10 or fewer seconds after pilot flame failure; and
• all other gas-fired or solid fuel equipment and systems limited to input ratings of less than 400,000 Btu per unit; or
• oil-fired equipment designed for No. 1 or No. 2 fuel oil with a maximum firing rate of less than five gallons per hour per unit; or
• electric furnaces and boilers using kilowatts equivalent to those fossil-fuel Btu figures.

(g) Unlimited heating service

"The servicing of heating equipment and systems without restrictions concerning thermal capacity or grade of fuel oil or type of fuel."

(f) Limited refrigeration and air conditioning service

"The servicing of refrigeration equipment and systems and air conditioning equipment and systems employing the refrigeration cycle unlimited capacity utilizing group one refrigerants as listed in the Michigan Mechanical Code." The limit here is the refrigerant safety group, not tonnage. A contractor holding (f) can work on a 100-ton chiller as long as it runs a Group A1 refrigerant.

(h) Unlimited refrigeration and air conditioning service

"...unlimited as to thermal capacity or type of refrigerant." This is the credential that adds refrigerants outside group one.

(i) Fire suppression

"The integrated combination of a fire alarm system and fire suppression equipment which as a result of predetermined temperature, rate of temperature rise, products of combustion, flame, or human intervention will discharge a fire extinguishing substance over a fire area."

(j) Specialty

"A license to perform work within limits established by the board in one of the work classifications set forth below, for the installation and servicing of" solar heating and cooling; solid fuel equipment and vented decorative gas appliances; LP distribution piping; fuel gas piping; and fuel gas piping and venting.

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Examination Matrix

The pattern is easy to remember: the four service classifications are closed book; everything else is open book. Only HVAC Equipment is 150 questions, 3 hours, and $100.

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Worked Scope Scenario

A firm bids a complete new commercial building: a gas-fired packaged rooftop unit, the full sheet metal supply and return distribution, the gas line from the meter to the unit, the Type B vent for a separate make-up air heater, and a hydronic boiler serving perimeter fin-tube.

• Rooftop unit, duct system, gas line, and venting → all inside (b) HVAC equipment, because the classification expressly includes ductwork, gas piping, and venting.
• Boiler and hydronic distribution piping → (a) hydronic heating and cooling and process piping. That is the classification the firm is actually missing.
• Servicing that boiler later at, say, a 900,000 Btu input → (g) unlimited heating service, because (e) limited heating service caps non-sectional gas-fired equipment at less than 400,000 Btu per unit.

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The Prerequisite Ladder for Adding Classifications

MCL 339.5807(1)(b) offers a second route to examination eligibility: instead of documenting fresh experience, an applicant may qualify by currently holding, and having continuously held for at least the 3 years immediately preceding the application, an active license in a qualifying classification. LARA prints the same ladder on the application:

Notice how much (b) unlocks. HVAC equipment is the gateway classification in Michigan, which is exactly why its examination is nearly three times the size of the others.

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Experience Standards (MCL 339.5807)

An applicant is not eligible for a work classification examination unless the applicant meets the Article 2 requirements, is of good moral character, and meets at least one of the eligibility routes:

Route 1 — documented experience

A minimum of 3 years or 6,000 hours of experience in the work classification sought, or an equivalent acceptable to the board. Except for equivalent experience, the applicant must supply a statement signed under penalty of perjury from each contractor of record that is a present or former mechanical contractor employer. The statement must show a minimum of 3 years or 6,000 hours of performance in each work classification sought and must include a detailed and specific description of the work: beginning and ending dates, length of time performed, the employer, and the title of the person signing. LARA's application adds that the description must cover heating and cooling BTU ratings, venting and duct systems, fuel types, refrigerant types, equipment types, and fire suppression systems where applicable.

Nothing in the statute requires the statement to be notarized, and nothing in Article 8 imposes a high school diploma or a minimum applicant age.

Route 2 — an existing license plus the prerequisite ladder above.

Military experience (MCL 339.5807(3)–(4))

"Experience" includes armed forces service where the applicant provides a DD214, DD215, or another form satisfactory to the department showing separation under honorable or general-under-honorable conditions, plus an affidavit or letter from a commanding officer, supervisor, or military superior with direct knowledge describing the applicant's experience in one or more classifications.

Education credit (MCL 339.5807(5))

If the applicant shows satisfactory evidence of completing a 2-year (or equivalent) HVAC program from a recognized trade school, community college, or university, or a 2-year HVAC training program approved by the US Department of Labor, the department shall credit that program toward the 3 years / 6,000 hours. The credit "must not exceed 1 year or 2,000 hours" — so at least 2 years or 4,000 hours must still come from work experience.

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Contractor of Record (MCL 339.5809 and 339.5815)

Michigan's term is contractor of record, not "qualifying officer."

• MCL 339.5809(1) — a person may not perform installations, alterations, or servicing in an Article 8 classification unless that person (or an employee) holds an unrevoked, unsuspended mechanical contractor's license classified and limited under section 807, and has secured the appropriate permit from the enforcing agency.
• MCL 339.5809(2) — a person performing that work must designate a license holder as the contractor of record and notify the department in writing.
• MCL 339.5809(3) — charitable exception: if a licensee performs the work without compensation for a charitable organization, the property owner may pull the permit. This applies only to reconstruction, renovation, or remodeling of 1- to 4-family dwellings.
• MCL 339.5809(4) — a registered security alarm system provider or licensed security alarm system contractor does not need an Article 8 license to install, maintain, replace, or service a thermostat for an HVAC or hydronic system.
• MCL 339.5809(5) — if a contractor of record regularly employs a qualified maintenance crew in a facility, Article 8 does not require the contractor of record to personally perform work there.
• MCL 339.5815 — when the designated contractor of record ceases to be an employee or officer, the business has 90 days to designate a licensed replacement and notify the department in writing. The same 90-day clock applies to a buyer who purchases the business of a licensed sole practitioner who was also the contractor of record.