Alabama certifies refrigeration contractors through the State Board of Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors, for work the statute defines by its purpose: controlling temperature, humidity, or both to satisfy the intended use of a specific space, other than for human comfort. The Refrigeration examination given by Prov runs 90 questions in 240 minutes, open book, at 70% to pass, and it keys code content to the International Mechanical Code 2021. The PassProfessor Alabama Refrigeration Contractor program prepares candidates for that separate license and its separate sitting. The companion guide is at /alabama-refrigeration-contractor-exam-guide/.
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Start with scope: what refrigeration means in Alabama law
Refrigeration, as Alabama defines it, is the use of mechanical or absorption equipment to control temperature, humidity, or both, in order to satisfy the intended use of a specific space, other than for human comfort. That closing phrase is the line that organises this whole credential. Comfort heating and cooling belongs to the companion heating and air conditioning certification, defined by its own work in the same chapter. Refrigeration contracting and servicing, installation, and repair — the business this license covers — is the commercial, product-and-process side of controlled temperature: the Board’s own guidance describes the examination as covering installation, service, and repair on commercial refrigeration equipment, with walk-in coolers, reach-in coolers, commercial refrigerators, and refrigerated storage as its working examples.
A certified refrigeration contractor is therefore a person engaged in the business of refrigeration contracting and servicing, installation, and repair, holding a separate license with its own examination. It is not a section of the heating and air conditioning license, not an endorsement added to it, and not a variant sitting of the same paper. Each certification in this Alabama pair is defined by its own work, and certification is required for the function performed. Candidates should begin preparation by sorting work the way the statute sorts it — by purpose and equipment — because scope questions in this trade are answered from those definitions, not from habit about which contractor usually gets the call.
The chapter’s exemptions mark the outer edge of that scope, recorded here as exemptions from the chapter, not as permissions granted to any licensee. The chapter does not apply to work on motor vehicles, residential refrigerators, or ice machines; nor to household appliances, farm equipment, or poultry operations as the statute describes them; nor to authorised government employees acting within their employment. Rule exemptions add retail sellers, a building owner working on the owner’s own building, and a regularly employed maintenance person working incidentally on the employer’s premises. Knowing where the chapter stops is part of knowing what the license covers.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Alabama Refrigeration Contractor: the certified refrigeration contractor credential |
| Authority | State Board of Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors |
| Examination vendor | Prov, Inc., under Candidate Information Bulletin AL CIB 2026.10.31, Version 1.0 |
| Examination | 90 questions / 240 minutes / OPEN BOOK / offered in English |
| Passing standard | 70% to pass, stated in that percentage form |
| Business content | 26 business and law items embedded inside the single examination; there is no separate business and law examination |
| Tested code key | International Mechanical Code 2021, with International Residential Code 2021 and NFPA 70 — National Electrical Code 2020 also on the list |
| Examination fee layer | No fee is paid to Prov; examination fees run to the Board |
| Companion guide | /alabama-refrigeration-contractor-exam-guide/ |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Board |
The IMC key: how this list differs from its sibling, as a stated fact of the pair
This examination keys the International Mechanical Code 2021. That is the only mechanical code edition keyed to any Alabama examination for this Board in the current bulletin, and it belongs to this license. The full tested list, stated here in its own right, is: the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29, Part 1926, in the form the bulletin lists it, with the OSHA construction standards permitted as a substitute and candidate printed versions permitted for this open-book sitting; the International Mechanical Code 2021; the International Residential Code 2021; the Board’s Laws, Rules and Regulations book as the bulletin lists it; the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, 14th edition; NFPA 70 — National Electrical Code 2020; and Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, 9th Edition. Every item on the list is marked open book.
The asymmetry with the companion examination is explicit and must stay explicit. The heating and air conditioning list contains no mechanical code and no fuel gas code in any edition, and keys its code content through the residential code alone. This list does the opposite on the mechanical point: it places the mechanical code at the centre of commercial refrigeration work — refrigerant piping, machinery, and the systems that serve cooled spaces — alongside the residential code and the 2020 electrical code. Candidates who carry one sibling’s library into the other sibling’s sitting have failed before the first question, whichever direction they travel. Inside this program, code exercises are therefore taught as mechanical-code exercises first, with the other listed books in their listed places.
What the examination covers
Prov accounts for all 90 questions. The trade areas carry 64 questions and the embedded business areas carry 26, in proportions that differ from the companion examination’s block in both size and distribution.
General Knowledge — 14 questions. The shared knowledge base of refrigeration work: principles of mechanical and absorption temperature control, terminology, and the working facts of the commercial equipment this license serves.
Systems and Sizing — 14 questions. System selection and sizing judgement for cooled spaces whose intended use — storage, display, process — drives the load and the equipment choice.
Piping — 13 questions. Refrigerant and associated piping: materials, arrangement, and installation practice as the mechanical code key and trade references present it.
Maintenance and Troubleshooting — 13 questions. Maintaining installed commercial systems for operation, systematic fault finding, and parts replacement within a piece of equipment.
Electrical Applications for Refrigeration Systems — 8 questions. The electrical work of refrigeration systems, keyed to the National Electrical Code 2020: circuit protection and wiring answered from that edition.
Plan Reading — 2 questions. Reading plans for commercial refrigeration installations and extracting what a service or installation decision depends on.
Embedded business and law — 26 questions. Licensing Laws 4, Estimating 3, Payroll and Employment Taxes 3, Financial Management 3, Risk Management 2, Project Management 2, Safety and Environmental 2, Labor Laws 2, Contracts 2, Lien Laws 2, and Business Organization 1. These items sit inside this examination. There is no second sitting and no standalone Alabama business and law examination for this credential, and the companion examination’s larger business block is not this block; the two embedded sets differ and are prepared separately.
Who must be certified, and the person who stands behind a business
No person may advertise, solicit, bid, obtain permits, do business as, or perform the function of a certified contractor unless the person in responsible charge is a certified contractor, and no certified contractor may permit the use of his or her license by any other person. Business certification runs through that person: a regularly employed person — an actual employee, not an independent contractor, averaging thirty or more hours per week — or an owner, partner, or corporate officer, with the skill, knowledge, and experience to supervise, direct, manage, and control the entity’s work. Certification issues in that person’s name and includes the business organisation’s name.
Eligibility in current law is stated in one sentence, shared across this Board’s certifications: an applicant is eligible if the applicant has completed 3,000 hours of work experience, as defined by the Board, or is a graduate of an approved heating, air conditioning, or refrigeration curriculum. Any person or legal entity applying for a refrigeration license must satisfy all licensure requirements before the license issues. Chapter 31 creates no journeyman, technician, master, or apprentice class in current law.
Fees, the bond, and what is not required — in this package’s own right
Fees run to the Board, in separate instruments, and no vendor fee is paid to Prov. Under Rule 440-X-3-.10 the Board charges for this license are: the written examination, $175; the practical examination, $375; initial certification and annual renewal for an active license, $220 per license; initial certification and annual renewal for an inactive license, $110; the late fee for a renewal received after December 31, $250; and the Continuing Education Deficiency fee, $25. Examination fees are in addition to certification, renewal, inactive, and late fees, fees are submitted with the application, and no part of a fee is refunded. A dishonored check fee and a printed certification card fee also appear in the same rule as their own instruments. This schedule is printed here in full for this license, not borrowed by cross-reference from any companion page, because candidates for this credential budget from this page.
Every applicant for this certification must provide a performance bond in the amount of $20,000 to the Board, and proof of bond may be required annually during renewal. That is the required bond amount recorded in the Board’s rule and current guidance for this license. Separately: no general liability insurance dollar minimum for this certification appears in the statute or rules as pulled. This program states none and invents none; risk management is examined business content inside the sitting, which is where the sources place it.
The sitting and staying certified
The sitting is computer-based through Prov — sixteen testing locations in Alabama, sittings at Prov centers elsewhere in the United States, and remote sittings from home — graded immediately upon completion, with results forwarded to the licensing authority and no penalty for guessing. Open-book handling rules, identification, scheduling, and rescheduling are treated in depth in the companion guide.
Holding the credential runs on an annual clock. A license is current only during the calendar year in which it is issued and expires December 31 each year. Every certified contractor completes at least four hours of continuing education every year, may carry over up to four hours to the following year, and submits proof before November 1 annually; continuing education is not required for the first year of certification. Display duties require the certification number and company name on all documentation, advertising, and vehicles, prominent and legible on vehicles, at least two inches in height, on at least two sides. Lapse, deficiency, inactive status, and reactivation are treated in full in the guide.
The route, in order
Sort the intended work by the statute’s scope line first: commercial refrigeration beyond human comfort belongs to this credential. Establish eligibility under the 3,000-hour or approved-curriculum route and assemble the Board’s application documentation. Apply to the Board and pay the Board’s written examination fee as its own instrument. Prepare through the mechanical code key — International Mechanical Code 2021 at the centre, with the residential code, the 2020 electrical code, the federal safety reference, and the technology text in their listed places — and prepare the 26 embedded business items as part of the same sitting. Sit the 90-question, 240-minute, open-book examination through Prov and reach 70% to pass. Complete certification with the $20,000 performance bond and the active certification fee, then hold the credential on its annual renewal and continuing education clock. The fuller route is in the companion guide at /alabama-refrigeration-contractor-exam-guide/.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
A scope-led program, keyed to the mechanical code. The program opens where the statute opens: with the scope definition and the commercial equipment it covers, then builds its code work around the International Mechanical Code 2021 — piping, systems, and sizing for cooled spaces — with electrical applications prepared from the 2020 electrical code and troubleshooting practised as a method, not a collection of anecdotes. The embedded business block is prepared inside the same program and the same timed practice, in this examination’s own distribution. Every item is written from scratch against primary sources; no item is drawn from another provider’s material.
Alabama delta throughout. The Board’s certification structure, the person-in-responsible-charge framework, the exemption boundary that marks this scope’s edge, the Board fee instruments, the bond, annual renewal, and the four-hour continuing education rule are taught as the operating system the credential lives in after the sitting.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the State Board of Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors, and this program is not a Board course. Completing it confers no certification and no exemption; the Board alone certifies, and candidates register for examinations through the Board and Prov.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Alabama Refrigeration Contractor program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Our catalog now includes preparation for this Alabama credential in preparation; leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
What work does the refrigeration credential cover?
Refrigeration contracting and servicing, installation, and repair: using mechanical or absorption equipment to control temperature, humidity, or both for the intended use of a specific space, other than for human comfort — in practice, commercial equipment such as walk-in coolers, reach-in coolers, commercial refrigerators, and refrigerated storage.
Is this a separate license from heating and air conditioning?
Yes. It is a separate license with its own examination — 90 questions in 240 minutes — not a section or endorsement of the companion license.
What score passes?
70% to pass, stated in that percentage form in the Prov bulletin for this examination.
Which mechanical code does this examination key?
The International Mechanical Code 2021. It is the only mechanical code edition keyed to any Alabama examination for this Board in the current bulletin, and it belongs to this license.
Is there a separate business and law examination?
No. Business and law content — 26 items across eleven areas, in this examination’s own distribution — is embedded inside the single 90-question examination.
What fee is paid to Prov?
None. No examination fee is paid to Prov; the Board’s written examination fee is $175, paid as a Board instrument.
What bond is required?
A performance bond of $20,000 to the Board. Proof of bond may be required annually during renewal.
Is a general liability insurance minimum required for certification?
No dollar minimum appears in the statute or rules as pulled, and this page states none.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Board?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Board alone certifies contractors.
Where is the fuller guide?
At /alabama-refrigeration-contractor-exam-guide/, the companion exam guide to this program page.
When does enrollment open?
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.