Mississippi’s commercial HVAC credential is the HVAC specialty classification held as a Certificate of Responsibility. PSI examines it in an open-book HVAC sitting of 80 questions in 4 hours at 70% to pass, plus the mandatory Mississippi Law and Business Management examination. Mississippi has no mandatory statewide code edition. This guide maps the credential, both sittings, and a study sequence built on the published outlines.
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The credential at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Mississippi HVAC Specialty Contractor |
| Regulator | Mississippi State Board of Contractors |
| Credential | Certificate of Responsibility, commercial track |
| Trade examination | HVAC — 80 questions, 4 hours, open book, 70% to pass |
| Companion examination | Mississippi Law and Business Management — 50 questions, 2 hours, open book, 70% to pass |
| Tested references | Listed references only, including IMC 2021 and IFGC 2021 as examination references |
| Adopted layer | No mandatory statewide code edition exists |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Board or PSI |
Two tracks, one board — never merge them
Mississippi licenses contractors on two tracks administered by the same Board, and confusing them is the most expensive category error available in this state. The commercial track runs under Title 31, Chapter 3 and the Board’s rules at 30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 802, and issues the Certificate of Responsibility. The residential track runs under Title 73, Chapter 59 and Pt. 803. This guide covers only the commercial HVAC specialty classification. Residential HVAC — its examination, its reference editions, and its fee layer — belongs to the other track, and nothing from that layer is imported here.
The commercial system classifies by application. The major classifications are Building Construction; Highway, Street and Bridge Construction; Heavy Construction; Municipal and Public Works Construction; Electrical Work; and Mechanical Work. A contractor performing work outside the major classifications must qualify as a specialty contractor. HVAC is a specialty classification, with PSI’s scope line: all aspects of heating and cooling including fuel gas systems and appliances as well as associated equipment and ductwork. An applicant is classified only for the work requested and may not bid or perform work outside the classifications held.
Scope follows dollars. The commercial definition excludes contracts under fifty thousand dollars, prime, sub, or sub-sub, public or private. Above that floor, a certificate is required, bids over fifty thousand dollars must carry the certificate number on the outside of the bid envelope or container (or a statement that the bid did not exceed that figure), and knowingly bidding without a certificate is a misdemeanour carrying a fine of up to one thousand dollars, imprisonment of up to six months, or both. Two carve-outs remove work from the commercial track: residential projects of fifty or fewer families and not more than three storeys, and small commercial projects of not more than 7,500 square feet and two storeys undertaken by a residential licensee. The only sub-threshold figures for specific trades in this chapter belong to fire protection work, not to HVAC — candidates should not import a lower HVAC threshold from secondary summaries, because the statute contains none.
The boundary examinations, stated once and clearly
The Mechanical Work major classification is examined by the Mechanical Contractor examination: 100 questions, 4 hours, open book, 70% to pass, serving a scope that expressly includes plumbing work alongside heating, cooling, and refrigeration. Only a minority of its items sit in HVAC-family areas; the majority is plumbing, drainage, and isometric content, and its reference list adds the International Plumbing Code, 2021 and NFPA 13, 2019 to the HVAC list. This program does not prepare for that examination and claims no coverage of it.
Residential HVAC is examined at 80 questions, 4 hours, open book, 70% to pass, for residential HVAC work only, under the residential chapter — under which any subcontractor performing HVAC work on a residential project must be licensed regardless of dollar amount. Its reference set differs from the commercial set in editions that matter, including its fuel gas and duct-standard editions. Those differences are exactly why the two examinations must never be studied as one paper with two names.
Other HVAC-family specialty sittings exist in the bulletin — refrigeration and boiler and insulation examinations among them — and they are separate credentials with separate scopes. They are named here only so a candidate does not mistake them for this program’s target.
Administration: Board first, then PSI
Eligibility is the Board’s decision. The applicant applies to the Board on the commercial application; the Board notifies PSI of eligibility and PSI emails a confirmation notice. Scheduling before that confirmation is not allowed. The Board reviews applications weekly. Examinations are delivered by PSI; the Mississippi site is in Jackson, and Mississippi candidates may also test at other PSI centres in the region.
At the centre, candidates present one form of identification bearing signature and photograph, with the name exactly matching the application, and should arrive thirty minutes prior. Scores are reported immediately on screen: a pass brings a successful notification and performance summary, a failure brings an unsuccessful notification and a diagnostic report by examination type, and reports are printable from the online account. The standard, in the bulletin’s own words, is that in order to pass the examinations, you must achieve a minimum score of 70%, stated per examination as 70% to pass. That percentage form is the only form used in this guide; it is never converted into a raw correct-count for either sitting.
The scored counts are 80 for HVAC and 50 for Law and Business. One to ten experimental items — generally approximately ten percent of the number of questions — may also be administered. They are unscored but count against examination time. A candidate who notices more items than the scored count has not been given a longer scored paper; the experimental block is part of the published design.
Retake timing is governed by the six-month eligibility window: applicants have six months from the date of eligibility to take the examinations, retests are unlimited inside that window with a fee each time, and failure to pass inside six months means reapplying with the Board. Cancellation or rescheduling without forfeiting the fee requires notice two days before the scheduled date, and voice mail is not an acceptable cancellation. PSI holds unused funds for rescheduling for up to one year from initial registration; a missed appointment or late cancellation forfeits the registration and fee.
The HVAC outline, read as a study map
The outline sums to 80, and its weights should drive study time. Load Calculations (10) and Ducts (10) are the twin peaks — together a quarter of the paper, both computational, both unforgiving of approximate method. Manual J for residential loads, Manual N for small commercial loads, and Manual D for duct design are therefore not supporting references; they are the paper’s centre. Fuel Gas Systems (9) and LP Gas Systems (5) form the second cluster: fourteen items on fuel supply in its two forms, keyed to the fuel gas code on the list and to NFPA 58 for liquefied petroleum gas. Refrigerants and Refrigeration (6) follows, keyed principally to the refrigeration textbook on the list.
The long tail is where balanced preparation wins the remaining margin: Heating and Cooling Principles (3), Controls (3), Hangers and Supports (3), Chimneys, Flues and Vents (3), Piping (4), A/C and Heat Pump Equipment (4), Furnaces and Heaters (4), Boilers and Hydronics (4), Safety (4), Combustion Air (2), Evaporative Cooling (2), Insulation (1), Sound, Vibration and Seismic Control (1), Testing, Adjusting and Balancing (1), and Machine Room (1). Single-item blocks are easy to skip and expensive to miss in aggregate: seven blocks of one or two items still total eleven questions.
The Law and Business outline (50) is: Licensing 5, Estimating and Bidding 7, Lien Law 1, Financial Management 5, Tax Laws 5, Labor Laws 5, Project Management 5, Contracts 6, Business Organization 2, Risk Management 4, and Environmental and Safety 5, referenced to the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Mississippi edition — 5th edition or 6th edition in the transition the bulletin records, with only the 6th edition referenced from October 1, 2023. It is mandatory for every contractor, commercial or residential, and it is the one sitting reciprocity never waives.
References and the no-statewide-edition rule
The tested list for the commercial HVAC examination is: Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning; 29 CFR Part 1926 (OSHA), with latest available amendments; International Mechanical Code, 2021; International Fuel Gas Code, 2021; NFPA 58, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code, 2020; HVAC Duct Construction Standards, Metal and Flexible, 2005, 3rd edition (SMACNA); Manual J, Eighth Full Edition; Manual N, Fifth Edition, 2008; Manual D, 2016 (ACCA); the ACCA Ductulator; and Pipefitters Handbook, 3rd edition.
Mississippi has no mandatory statewide code edition. That sentence is the guide’s most important code fact. The 2021 mechanical and fuel gas codes appear here because the bulletin lists them as examination references — the examinations are based only on the listed editions for code questions, and only those editions are allowed into the testing site. They are not an adopted Mississippi code, and field work in any given place answers to the edition that place has adopted locally. Study therefore separates two questions that other states merge: what does the listed examination edition say, and what has the jurisdiction for this job adopted? The first governs the sitting; the second governs the work.
The textbook transition on the list is dated: Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning 20th, 21st, or 22nd editions were accepted until August 1, 2026; starting August 1, 2026, only the 22nd edition is used. Candidates sitting after that date should study and bring the 22nd edition.
Book handling differs sharply from some neighbouring programmes and should be practised accurately: references may be highlighted, underlined, and indexed before the session, and tabbed with permanent tabs only — temporary tabs such as sticky notes are not allowed and must be removed. References may not be written in, and a candidate caught writing in them during the exam has them confiscated and is reported. No additional papers, loose or attached, are allowed. A silent, nonprinting, non-programmable calculator is permitted. For non-code references, answers may be based on earlier or later editions at the candidate’s own risk. Conflict rules run in a fixed order: a legal requirement overrides any other reference; where two legal requirements conflict, the state-specific one overrides the national one; listed-reference information overrides other sources.
Qualifying the firm and clearing the application gates
The certificate is exercised through a qualifying party: an owner, officer, member of the executive staff, or responsible managing employee who takes the examinations, with proof of employment by W-2 or check stub. One qualifying party may serve no more than three separate entities without appearing before the Board for special permission. Departure triggers immediate duties — written notice to the Board at once, and a successor qualifying party who must successfully complete the required examinations within 90 days — because the certificate is granted on the stipulation that the qualifying party remains with the firm.
The application itself carries gates a study plan cannot fix after the fact. A CPA-prepared reviewed or audited financial statement completed within the prior twelve months. Net worth of at least twenty thousand dollars for specialty applicants — the major-classification figure is higher and is not this program’s figure. A certificate of insurance evidencing general liability coverage of at least three hundred thousand dollars per occurrence and six hundred thousand dollars aggregate. Experience in the classifications requested, shown by at least three jobs. Mississippi sales and use tax and income tax identification numbers, without which no certificate or renewal issues. Against that background the Board weighs the statutory factors — experience and ability, character, prior-contract performance, financial condition, equipment, personnel, work completed and on hand, ability to perform, defaults, and examination results — and false information in an application terminates the certificate or application and bars reissuance for five years.
Fees: four instruments, four layers
Candidates budget correctly only when the four instruments stay separate. The PSI examination fee is $120 for one examination portion and $240 for two portions, charged per registration whether first attempt or repeat, and not refundable or transferable. The Board commercial application fee is $400, including one classification, plus $100 for each additional classification; it is non-refundable, and applications not completed within 180 days are destroyed. The Construction Education Fund fee, under Section 31-3-14(1), is an additional $200 paid by every certificate holder at application and at renewal, deposited for construction education and craft training. Commercial renewal is $400 per year; late renewal is $450, being the renewal plus the fifty-dollar late fee in the Board’s fee schedule; and a certificate expired 180 days or more requires a fresh application. Ancillary Board figures — $100 per additional classification, $50 per examination waiver, $50 for a name change, $25 for a status change — belong to their own instruments. Residential-track dollars belong to the residential layer and are not this program’s fees. No total in this guide merges the four layers into a single cost figure, because the Board never charges them as one.
After the sittings: the certificate year
Original certificates and renewals expire one year from issuance. A timely renewal application plus the privilege tax extends the current certificate until the Board grants or denies renewal, and the holder bears the duty to renew annually whether or not the Board sends notice. While a certificate is inactive, the annual renewal fee remains due, though insurance proof and a balance sheet are not required. No continuing-education requirement for renewal was found in the sources pulled for this guide, and the point is recorded only in that form — as an absence in the sources, not as a numbered rule.
Practice duties continue between renewals. The holder must disclose, in boldfaced conspicuous type immediately before the contract’s signature space, whether the holder carries general liability insurance, on signing a contract or initial agreement. Revocation requires a finding that the contractor or qualifying party is not responsible, and suspension pending investigation likewise follows a hearing on not less than ten days’ notice by certified or registered mail with an opportunity to present evidence. The Board may cite anyone performing work without a valid certificate.
Reciprocity deserves a careful final word, because it is the route most often overstated. It waives the trade examination only, for a fee of $50 per exam waived, on proof through a Reciprocity Verification Form completed by the home-state board — and only with boards holding agreements with Mississippi. Every reciprocity applicant still takes the Mississippi Law and Business Management examination and meets every other Board requirement. The agreements carry trade-specific carve-outs: at least one listed board’s waiver excludes HVAC entirely, others can waive HVAC while withholding broader mechanical work, and only the listed terms for the applicant’s own board govern that applicant. The applications also carry cover sheets for military-family licensure and for universal recognition of occupational licences; both state expressly that recognition is not automatic and depends on a Board determination of similar scope and standard. No practical component for the HVAC or Law and Business examinations is stated in the sources for this guide.
A study sequence for a textbook-keyed paper
First, the track sort. Fix the commercial specialty identity, the fifty-thousand-dollar threshold, and the two boundary examinations until no scenario blurs them. Second, the calculation core. Work load calculation and duct design from the listed ACCA manuals until the method is automatic — those blocks are a quarter of the trade paper. Third, fuel work in both forms. Study fuel gas and LP gas as a paired cluster, from the listed fuel gas code and NFPA 58. Fourth, the textbook systems. Refrigeration, equipment, furnaces, boilers, and controls from the listed refrigeration textbook and handbook, in outline order. Fifth, the Law and Business sitting as its own paper. Give the NASCLA Mississippi guide its own timed preparation; it is mandatory, separately timed, and separately passed. Sixth, timed mixed practice under the real book rules — permanent tabs only, nothing written in during the sitting, listed editions only for code questions.
For the program overview, see the companion page: Mississippi HVAC Specialty Contractor Exam Preparation.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this guide keep repeating that Mississippi has no statewide code edition?
Because it changes how every code question must be answered. The listed 2021 editions govern the sitting as examination references; field work answers to local adoption. Treating the examination list as a state adoption produces wrong answers in both places.
Which sitting should I prepare first?
Both are required and separately passed. Most candidates build the trade paper first — its calculation blocks need the longest runway — while giving the Law and Business paper its own dedicated, timed preparation rather than treating it as an appendix.
May I write in my books during the examination?
No. Books may be highlighted, underlined, indexed, and permanently tabbed before the session, but writing in them during the exam results in confiscation and a report. Temporary tabs must be removed before the sitting.
What if my qualifying party leaves mid-year?
The firm must notify the Board in writing immediately, and a successor qualifying party must pass the required examinations within 90 days of the departure.
Does reciprocity ever waive the Law and Business examination?
No. Reciprocity waives the trade examination only, board by board and trade by trade, and every applicant still sits the Mississippi Law and Business Management examination.
Are the experimental items part of my score?
No. One to ten experimental items may be administered, are not scored, and count against examination time. The scored counts remain 80 and 50.
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