Hawaii’s C-52 Ventilating and Air Conditioning Contractor is a specialty contractor classification under HRS Chapter 444, licensed to a contracting entity or sole proprietor through its responsible managing employee. The examination runs in two written parts — Part I Business and Law and Part II Trade — each 80 questions in 180 minutes, closed book, with 75% to pass each part. Hawaii has no statewide mechanical code; the trade part keys to its bulletin-printed reference list, headed by the International Mechanical Code, 2018, as an exam reference only. The PassProfessor Hawaii C-52 Ventilating & A/C Contractor program prepares the RME candidate for that structure exactly as Hawaii publishes it.
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A contractor license held by a business, earned by a person
Hawaii does not license an individual air conditioning tradesperson. Under HRS Chapter 444, the Contractors License Board — inside the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs — licenses the contracting entity or sole proprietor, and the license is qualified by a responsible managing employee, the RME: the individual who holds the classification experience and passes the examinations. The license issues to the entity through its principal RME. Candidates looking for a Hawaii journeyman air conditioning license will not find one: neither HRS Chapter 444 nor HAR Title 16, Chapter 77 create any journeyman, apprentice, technician, or helper license for air conditioning or refrigeration work — journey-worker licenses exist in Hawaii only for electricians and plumbers, under a different chapter and board. Unlicensed individuals do the work only as wage employees of a licensed contracting entity, and the RME is never a journeyman by another name.
That structure shapes everything that follows. The application is filed for the entity and for the RME, each paying separately, and the experience gate is measured on the individual applicant or RME. The entity must designate a principal RME in residence in the State, who signs or initials all contracts and is held responsible for violations; an RME may serve more than one entity only on Board approval under the rules’ ownership and family conditions.
The examinations at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Hawaii C-52 Ventilating & A/C Contractor — specialty contractor “C” classification |
| Regulator | Contractors License Board (CLB), Professional and Vocational Licensing Division (PVL), Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) |
| Examination vendor | PSI Services LLC, from January 2023; Board approval is required before registration |
| Structure | Two written parts — Part I Business and Law (common) and Part II Trade (C-52) — each 80 questions, 180 minutes, closed book |
| Passing standard | 75% to pass each part |
| Trade outline | General Knowledge and Code Requirements 34, Load Calculations 6, Control 10, Ducting and Insulation 8, Piping 8, Safety OSHA 4, Equipment 10 |
| Code position | No statewide mechanical code exists; IMC 2018 appears on the trade reference list as an exam reference only |
What C-52 authorises — and where its edges run
The classification scope, as published in Exhibit A to the contractor rules, authorises the C-52 licensee to fabricate, assemble, and install warm-air heating and air cooling systems — including heating and cooling solar systems — complete ventilating systems, and complete air conditioning systems, including piping, controls other than electrical, instrumentation, building automation, energy management, and the trenching, backfilling, patching, and surface restoration done in connection with installing those systems. It includes the thermal and acoustical insulation necessary to maintain heat, sound, or both within those systems, and heat pumps related to the air conditioning system.
Electrical work is carved out of C-52 — controls are within scope only other than electrical. Fuel-gas piping sits in the plumbing classification, not in C-52. A specialty licensee automatically holds the subclassifications of its own specialty, without examination or additional fees — but a general engineering (“A”) or general building (“B”) licensee does not acquire C-52 automatically, and work outside the classifications held is unlicensed activity. A license is required not only to perform the work but to act, assume to act, advertise, or bid as a contractor. The one general relief is narrow: the chapter does not apply to a project whose aggregate contract price for labor and materials is not more than $1,500 — unless a building permit is required, or the work is part of a larger project or split to evade the chapter.
Two parts, two sittings, two pass marks
Hawaii examines C-52 candidates in two written parts, never blended into one sitting. Part I is the Business and Law examination: a single common examination, not specific to any classification, testing general knowledge of the building, safety, health, labor, and lien laws of the State and the basic administrative principles of the contracting business. Part II is the Trade examination for the C-52 classification. All approved applicants take Part I; a candidate already licensed who is adding C-52 takes only Part II.
Each part stands on identical published mechanics: 80 questions, 180 minutes, closed book, and each part must be passed on its own — the rule states the standard for every Hawaii contractor examination in one sentence: a grade of seventy-five per cent shall be a minimum passing grade for each part of any examination (HAR §16-77-44). There is no averaging across parts. Up to 10 experimental, unscored questions may be administered on an examination, their time not counting against examination time — the published 80-question counts are the scored counts. Because both parts are closed book, nothing on either reference list may be carried into the room. No hands-on practical, drawing, or performance component is published for either part. Part I is treated here as structure and boundary only, its detailed content belonging to the catalog’s business and law family. It must not be under-prepared: it carries the same counts, clock, and 75% standard as the trade part.
Inside Part II: the C-52 trade outline
The trade part’s 80 scored questions divide as the bulletin prints them: General Knowledge and Code Requirements carries 34 — close to half the paper, reflecting this examination’s unusual code position, examined below. Control carries 10 and Equipment carries 10. Ducting and Insulation carries 8 and Piping carries 8. Load Calculations carries 6 — a compact block where calculation items cannot be rescued by recognition. Safety OSHA carries 4.
The study references behind that outline — for preparation, none allowed in the examination center — are the International Mechanical Code, 2018; Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 21st edition; ACCA Manual N, 5th edition (2008); SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards, Metal and Flexible, 4th edition (2020); and 29 CFR Part 1926 (OSHA). The next section explains why treating the first entry as anything more is the most consequential error available to a Hawaii candidate.
No statewide mechanical code: the fact that organises this examination
Hawaii has no statewide mechanical code. No statute or rule in the licensing frame adopts the International Mechanical Code or the Uniform Mechanical Code as a statewide code for private construction, and HRS Chapter 444 and HAR Chapter 16-77 contain no mechanical-code adoption at all — contractor licensing is not keyed to a state mechanical code. Building regulation runs through the State Building Code process under HRS Chapter 107 and through county adoption and enforcement; the State Building Code exists and the counties enforce adopted codes, but no single statewide mechanical edition exists that a candidate could be examined against as field law. The illustration the sources give is Honolulu, where the treatment is expressly guidance-only: provisions in the International Mechanical Code are not adopted by the Honolulu code but may be considered for guidance — one county’s position, stated as one county’s position; this page states no field mechanical-code edition for Hawaii at all.
The examination consequence follows. The C-52 trade part keys to the classification scope in Exhibit A, the licensing frame of HRS Chapter 444 and HAR Chapter 16-77, and the bulletin’s printed reference list — on which the International Mechanical Code, 2018 appears as an exam reference only, not as an adopted code, because Hawaii has none. The General Knowledge and Code Requirements block, the largest on the paper, is exactly where merging those layers gets punished.
The gate: four supervisory years, documented three ways
Every individual applicant or RME must have had, within the past ten years immediately preceding application, not less than four years of supervisory experience as a foreman, supervising employee, or contractor in the C-52 classification, describing on-site supervision and direction of employees in the classification. Technical or business administration training may count as experience up to a maximum of one year — that cap is the whole of the training credit. The applicant must be at least 18 years old and of good reputation for honesty, truthfulness, financial integrity, and fair dealing. Proof is documentary: not less than three notarised certificates, plus a Chronological History of Projects Form — the Project List — for the classification.
Insurance is a prerequisite at issuance, at rule minimums: workers’ compensation coverage, plus liability and property-damage coverage of at least bodily injury $100,000 each person and $300,000 each occurrence, and property damage $50,000 each occurrence, plus any Board-imposed bond. Board pre-approval is mandatory before PSI registration, and the approval letter states the date by which the examinations must be passed. Hawaii has no reciprocity agreements with any other state — out-of-state experience may be documented toward the four-year gate while both Hawaii examinations must still be passed, and the only waiver is for an applicant who previously qualified by written examination in Hawaii in the same classification, within the four-year windows the rules state. Federal EPA Section 608 certification is not a condition of the C-52 license in any source in the fact base.
Fees, the six-month window, and the biennial clock
The fee layers are separate instruments and are never merged here. The PVL application fee is $50 per application, non-refundable, payable to Commerce and Consumer Affairs; a separate application and fee are required for each contracting entity and each RME, and an additional-classification application is likewise $50. The PSI examination fee is $80 per part for C-52 — each part paid separately, non-refundable and non-transferable, valid for one year from payment. No initial-license fee total is printed on this page: the only published totals in the fact base are dated figures that do not reconcile with the rule components, so the initial total is confirmed from PVL at the appropriate time — which is how PVL’s own current application packets present it.
Applicants must pass the required examinations within six months of approval; an applicant who does not pass within six months must file a new application and application fee. Within the window, testing is unlimited, an unsuccessful candidate may be able to retest within two business days, and rescheduling or cancelling without forfeiting the fee requires notice two days before the appointment, by a channel other than voicemail or email.
The license then runs on a fixed biennial cycle: all licenses, regardless of issuance date, renew by September 30 of each even-numbered year, and failure to pay and submit by that date is an automatic forfeiture without a hearing, effective October 1, after which the licensee may not practise. For the October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2028 period, the published on-time renewal figures are $338.00 for a contractor entity (active), $338.00 for a sole proprietor (active), $208.00 for an RME (active), and $160.00 for any license on inactive status. A forfeited license may be restored on all documents and fees plus a penalty within sixty days from September 30 — on or before November 30 of the renewal year — and failure to restore inside that window terminates the license. Renewal conditions include continued qualification, a current state tax clearance issued within six months whose tax name matches the PVL license name exactly, and continuous insurance at the stated minimums. One burden Hawaii does not impose: no continuing education requirement applies to these licenses.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
The trade part, weighted as the bulletin weights it. General Knowledge and Code Requirements first, because the paper puts 34 of its 80 questions there; then Control and Equipment; then ducting, insulation, and piping; then the dense Load Calculations block, drilled as worked calculation; and Safety OSHA against the federal construction standards.
The Hawaii framework as a subject, not a preface. The entity-and-RME structure, the classification boundaries, the $1,500 handyman line and its permit carve-out, the four-supervisory-years gate, the six-month window, and the biennial renewal date — while Part I’s detailed content is covered as structure and boundary here and belongs to the catalog’s business and law family.
The code discipline Hawaii demands. The International Mechanical Code, 2018 is a book on a printed reference list, in a state with no statewide mechanical code, where at least one county treats that book as guidance only — the three facts the deciding block of this examination tests apart.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Contractors License Board, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, or PSI. Completing this program confers no license; the Board alone licenses.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Hawaii C-52 Ventilating & A/C Contractor 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. The companion guide, the Hawaii C-52 Ventilating & A/C Contractor exam guide, walks the route in full.
Frequently asked questions
What does C-52 authorise?
Fabricating, assembling, and installing warm-air heating and air cooling systems and complete ventilating and air conditioning systems — including piping, non-electrical controls, instrumentation, building automation, energy management, related trenching and restoration work, necessary insulation, and related heat pumps. Electrical work is carved out; fuel-gas piping sits in the plumbing classification.
What score passes?
75% to pass each part — a grade of seventy-five per cent as the minimum passing grade for each part (HAR §16-77-44). Parts are not averaged.
Does Hawaii have a statewide mechanical code the examination follows?
No statewide mechanical code exists. The trade part keys to its bulletin-printed reference list, on which the International Mechanical Code, 2018 appears as an exam reference only; in Honolulu its provisions are expressly guidance only.
How much experience does the RME need?
Not less than four years of supervisory experience as a foreman, supervising employee, or contractor in the C-52 classification, within the past ten years. Training may count for up to one year.
How long do I have to pass after approval?
Six months from approval; an applicant who does not pass within that window must file a new application and application fee. Within the window, testing is unlimited.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Hawaii Contractors License Board or PSI?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Contractors License Board, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, or PSI. The Board alone licenses contractors.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.