Most Texas comfort-air work lives under one line: cooling systems of 25 tons and under, heating systems of 1.5 million BTU/hour and under, measured per individual unit. The Texas ACR Contractor — Environmental Air Class B license is built for exactly that work. Licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, it pairs the environmental air conditioning endorsement with the Class B limit, and its PSI examination carries 100 scored items in 170 minutes, open book — with the rule’s standard stated in one sentence: “A passing grade is 70%.” The PassProfessor program for this credential prepares candidates for that sitting and for the discipline of the line itself.
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The line, stated exactly
The Class B scope limit is the whole identity of this license, so it is stated first and stated precisely. A Class B license is limited to cooling systems of 25 tons and under and heating systems of 1.5 million BTU/hour and under (§ 1302.253, and 16 TAC § 75.22(c)). The limit applies per complete individual unit: in a building or complex with multiple units, the combined capacity may exceed 25 tons or 1.5 million BTU/hour, so long as each individual unit does not. That per-unit reading is what makes Class B a working license rather than a small-jobs licence — a property running ten 20-ton rooftop units is ten in-scope units, not one 200-ton system — and it is also what makes the line easy to cross without noticing, the first time a single replacement unit arrives nameplated above it. Performing or offering work outside the license’s classification or endorsement is a violation, so the measurement habit is part of the trade this license practises.
The endorsement half of the credential is environmental air conditioning: treating air to control temperature, humidity, cleanliness, ventilation, and circulation to meet human comfort requirements (§ 1302.002(11)). Air for occupants — homes, shops, offices, restaurants, schools — within the per-unit line. Texas licenses refrigeration for product and process under a different endorsement, carried by different PassProfessor programs; this program never blends the two. The license number encodes the combination — title, class, number, endorsement code, with E for environmental air conditioning and C for a holder of both endorsements — the term is 1 year, licenses are not transferable, and a Class B licensee may upgrade an endorsement to Class A by passing the Class A examination for that endorsement (§ 75.22(d)). Class B is therefore both a destination and a platform: many contractors hold it for a career of in-line work, and some sit the Class A examination later from exactly this base. The companion guide at /texas-acr-contractor-environmental-air-class-b-exam-guide/ works through the line’s applications, the eligibility gate, and the code layers in full.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Texas ACR Contractor — Environmental Air Class B |
| Regulator | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1302 and 16 TAC Chapter 75 |
| Scope | Environmental air conditioning endorsement; Class B — cooling 25 tons and under, heating 1.5 million BTU/hour and under, per individual unit (§ 75.22(c)) |
| Examination vendor | PSI Services LLC — scheduling only after TDLR approves eligibility (Candidate Information Bulletin © 2026, updated July 9, 2026) |
| Examination | 100 scored items + 5 non-scored items / 170 minutes + 10 minutes / open book, computer-based |
| Passing standard | “A passing grade is 70%” — 16 TAC § 75.21(b), stated verbatim |
| Tested codes | Effective September 1, 2026: the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code, the 2024 International Mechanical Code, and the 2024 Uniform Mechanical Code |
| PSI examination fee | $60 |
| TDLR application fee | $115 (contractor application layer) |
| Renewal | $65 per 1-year term; 8 hours of continuing education including 1 hour of Texas law and rules |
| Language | English and Spanish at no additional cost |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation |
A smaller sitting, the same architecture
The Class B examination is its own sitting with its own published mechanics — not a shortened copy of any other Texas paper. It carries 100 scored items plus 5 non-scored items; the non-scored items are not scored, and extra time is allotted for them. Time follows the same split: 170 minutes for the scored examination, plus 10 minutes for the non-scored items. Counts and times are never merged into single totals on this page, because the bulletin publishes them split. The examination is open book, restricted to references on the PSI Examination Reference Material List, candidate-supplied: highlighting, underlining, and notes are permitted before the session, tabs must be permanent index tabs, and there is no writing or marking during the session and no temporary tabs or loose paper. Its technical references include Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 22nd edition, 2025; the ADI Duct Size Calculator; and, for the environmental examinations, ACCA Manual D (2014), Manual J (8th edition, version 2.50, 2016), and Manual S (2014) — the load and duct apparatus for sizing work that must land, unit by unit, under the class line.
Texas sets no separate Business and Law examination for ACR contractors. Texas Laws and Rules is a scored subject area inside this examination, carrying 5 questions on the Environmental Air Class B outline, referenced to the Texas ACR License Law (Occupations Code Chapter 1302), the Texas ACR License Rules (16 TAC Chapter 75), and OSHA 29 CFR Part 1904. That 5-question cell is the one outline weight this page prints, because it is the one outline weight the Texas fact record verifies for this examination. No other weight is borrowed, scaled, or inferred from any other Texas examination — a discipline the guide maintains throughout, and one worth copying in preparation itself: study the verified anchors, not imported numbers.
Three code layers — never one “Texas edition”
The tested layer, quoted from the PSI bulletin banner as published: “Effective September 1, 2026, the examinations will be referenced to the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code, the 2024 International Mechanical Code, and the 2024 Uniform Mechanical Code.” Preparation keys to the 2024 editions of those three codes. The applicable-code layer is separate: rule § 75.110 carried the 2021 editions through August 31, 2026 and was amended to adopt the 2024 editions effective September 1, 2026 — an alignment that happened by published amendment on a stated date, not by assumption. The municipal layer is separate again: the practice standard in a municipality is the code that municipality adopted by ordinance, and where none has been adopted, the rules supply residential and commercial defaults. A Class B contractor’s daily work sits in the municipal layer; the examination sits in the tested layer; the applicable-code layer stands between them. Earlier edition listings in older bulletin material are superseded and are not restated here.
The same gate — no Class B discount
Candidates sometimes assume the limited class carries a lighter entry gate. The statute states no separate, lower experience gate for Class B: the contractor gate is the gate for both classes as sourced. An applicant must be at least 18 years old and meet one route — 48 months of practical ACR-related experience under the supervision of a licensed ACR contractor in the preceding 72 months, or a technician certification held for the preceding 12 months plus 36 months of practical experience in the preceding 48 months — with equivalent out-of-state experience creditable as the executive director determines. Education converts at the published rates: a qualifying 4-year degree or diploma counts as 24 months; a qualifying 2-year program counts as 12 months; every 2,000 apprenticeship hours count as 12 months; verified military and specified governmental ACR experience also qualify. Experience is documented on an Experience Verification Form completed by the supervising person, not the applicant, and TDLR background-checks every applicant.
Sequence and clock: file the approved-form application, satisfy eligibility as of the filing date, pass the examination, submit the required fees, and submit proof of insurance after passing — with all requirements completed within 1 year of the application filing date. Scheduling with PSI opens only after TDLR approves eligibility. A contractor holding endorsements of different classes receives a separate license number per endorsement with concurrent expirations on a single document, and may hold only one endorsement per license under the same business affiliation and addresses.
Dollars by layer, insurance at Class B levels
At the TDLR application layer, the contractor application fee is $115. At the examination layer, PSI charges $60 for this examination; cancelling or rescheduling without forfeiting the fee requires notice 2 days before the scheduled date, and late arrival, a missed sitting, a late cancellation, or lack of proper identification forfeits it. At the renewal layer, on-time renewal is $65 for the 1-year term; late renewal runs at the published multipliers — expired 90 days or less, 1.5 times the renewal fee; more than 90 days but less than 18 months, 2 times; at least 18 months but less than 3 years, 2 times with executive director approval — and no ACR contracting may be done on an expired license.
Class B insurance minimums — printed here, in the Class B package, at Class B levels only — are $100,000 per occurrence, $200,000 aggregate, and $100,000 aggregate for products and completed operations (§ 75.40(b)), maintained as the rule requires, with proof submitted after passing. Where a licensee holds both Class A and Class B licenses, a single policy satisfies both if it meets the higher class’s minimums (§ 75.22(g)). A licensee who does not contract with the public may request a written insurance waiver, and then may not perform or offer ACR contracting with the general public.
Renewal also requires 8 hours of department-approved continuing education, including 1 hour of Texas law and rules — completed within the current license term for a timely renewal, or within the 1-year period immediately before the renewal date for a late one; the same course earns no credit twice, and the certificate is retained for 1 year. TDLR advises beginning renewal 30 to 60 days before expiration.
Sitting day, results, retakes — and working the line
Arrive 30 minutes early with one valid government-issued photo identification matching the TDLR eligibility record; only non-programmable, silent, battery-operated calculators without paper-tape printing or an alphabet keyboard are allowed. The score appears on screen immediately, an official report is printed at the site, and a candidate who does not pass receives a diagnostic report by subject area. The examination is available in English and Spanish at no additional cost. Retakes may be scheduled with PSI within 24 to 48 hours of a failed sitting, without limit through the eligibility period — 1 year from application submission — after which a fresh application is required.
In the field, the general practice rules apply to this license as sourced for licensees: cooling capacity is nominal tonnage at a 40°F suction and 105°F condensing basis; control wiring of 50 volts or less may be installed and serviced; fuel-gas piping work is limited to the run between the appliance and the existing piping system at an existing shut-off valve, without altering existing piping, stops, or valves; system testing needs no contractor license while system balancing does; and a mini-split is not within the portable, self-contained exemption. Federal EPA Section 608 technician certification is a separate federal credential and a separate PassProfessor program; no source retrieved makes it a condition of this license. The sourced examination is computer-based through PSI, with no hands-on component stated in the record.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
The Environmental Air Class B examination as published. Our catalog now includes preparation built on this sitting’s verified structure: comfort-air work as the endorsement defines it, the Manual J, Manual D, and Manual S sizing apparatus that keeps individual units inside the class line, and the Texas Laws and Rules block at its published weight of 5 — keyed to the 2024 mechanical, fuel gas, and uniform mechanical code editions the examination references from September 1, 2026. Every item is written from scratch against primary sources.
The line as a working discipline. The program treats the 25-ton and 1.5-million-BTU-per-hour line — and its per-individual-unit reading — as examinable law, not as a footnote, because the license is defined by it.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and this program is not a TDLR course. Completing it confers no license and no eligibility; TDLR alone licenses and approves eligibility, and examinations are scheduled through PSI. The companion guide at /texas-acr-contractor-environmental-air-class-b-exam-guide/ carries the fuller account.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Texas ACR Contractor — Environmental Air Class B program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Class B limit, exactly?
Cooling systems of 25 tons and under and heating systems of 1.5 million BTU/hour and under, applied per complete individual unit (§ 75.22(c)): combined capacity across multiple units in a building may exceed the line so long as each individual unit does not.
How is the Class B examination structured?
100 scored items plus 5 non-scored items, in 170 minutes plus 10 minutes, open book and computer-based through PSI, scheduled only after TDLR approves eligibility.
What score passes?
The rule states it verbatim: “A passing grade is 70%” (§ 75.21(b)).
Is there a separate Texas Business and Law examination?
No. Texas Laws and Rules is a scored subject area inside this examination, carrying 5 questions on the Class B environmental outline.
Is the experience requirement lower for Class B?
No lower gate is stated in the sources. The contractor gate — 48 months in the preceding 72, or the technician-certification alternate route — applies as sourced to both classes.
Can a Class B licensee move up to Class A?
Yes — by passing the Class A examination for that endorsement (§ 75.22(d)).
What does it cost, layer by layer?
TDLR’s contractor application fee is $115. PSI charges $60 for this examination. On-time renewal is $65 per 1-year term, with late renewal priced at the published multipliers.
What insurance must a Class B licensee carry?
$100,000 per occurrence, $200,000 aggregate, and $100,000 aggregate for products and completed operations (§ 75.40(b)). Proof is submitted after passing the examination.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with TDLR or PSI?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. TDLR alone licenses and approves eligibility, and PSI delivers the examinations.
When does enrollment open for the PassProfessor program?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.