North Carolina licenses Heating Group No. 2 Contractor work through the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating, and Fire Sprinkler Contractors. Heating, group number two is an integral system for heating or cooling a building, producing conditioned air, with a mechanical refrigeration capacity in excess of 15 tons. The PassProfessor North Carolina Heating Group H2 program prepares candidates for the Heating Group No. 2 Contractor examinations and the North Carolina rules layered on them.
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What this credential certifies
The North Carolina Heating Group H2 credential — in full, the Heating Group No. 2 Contractor license — certifies the holder to contract for the large integral conditioned-air systems that sit above North Carolina’s tonnage line. It is one of three separate Heating Group licenses issued by the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating, and Fire Sprinkler Contractors under North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 87, Article 2, and the Board’s rules at 21 NCAC 50. The three groups are three licenses, not three levels of one license, and this program is built for the second group only: the group defined by capacity in excess of 15 tons.
That single line organises everything about this credential. The work it covers is commercial in character even before any job is described — rooftop and built-up systems, multi-unit assemblies serving shared space, and ducted distribution at a scale where load, airflow, and refrigeration capacity are design questions, not appliance questions. A candidate preparing for Heating Group H2 is preparing to be examined on that scale of work, under the Board’s 2018 North Carolina codes, and to be held to the Board’s supervision, permit, and record duties once licensed.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | North Carolina Heating Group H2 — the Heating Group No. 2 Contractor license |
| Regulator | State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating, and Fire Sprinkler Contractors, Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Statutory scope | G.S. 87-21(a)(3): an integral conditioned-air system with mechanical refrigeration capacity in excess of 15 tons |
| Examination structure | Two parts, both required: a technical part and a Business and Law part (structure only on this page) |
| Examination time | Technical part: 4.0 hours. Business and Law part: 1.5 hours |
| Book status | Open book — candidate-supplied approved references only |
| Passing standard | A grade of 70 of 100, on each part (21 NCAC 50 .0305) |
| Tested codes | 2018 North Carolina codes, built on a 2015 International Code basis |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating, and Fire Sprinkler Contractors |
One discipline runs through this table and through the companion guide at /north-carolina-heating-group-h2-exam-guide/: a count of examination items is not published for this license in the Board’s or the testing vendor’s primary documents, so this page states none, in either part. Candidates should plan by time and by reference set — the two measures the Board does publish — rather than by a count no primary source supports.
The scope line, in the statute’s own words
North Carolina General Statutes section 87-21(a)(3) defines the group this way: “Heating, group number two means an integral system for heating or cooling a building consisting of an assemblage of interacting components producing conditioned air to raise or lower the temperature, having a mechanical refrigeration capacity in excess of 15 tons, and which circulates air.”
Every phrase in that sentence does work. “Integral system” and “assemblage of interacting components” point to engineered, assembled systems rather than single appliances. “Producing conditioned air” and “which circulates air” tie the group to air distribution. And “in excess of 15 tons” is the threshold: at or below that capacity, a direct heating or cooling system belongs to a different group. The Board’s plain-language outline states the same line in short form — a forced-air heating and cooling system with cooling capacity in excess of 15 tons, in any building.
The aggregation rule: tonnage is counted across the space served
The threshold is not applied unit by unit in isolation. Under 21 NCAC 50 .0501(a), multiple units serving interconnected space and aggregating more than 15 tons are included in Heating Group 2 systems, whether or not separately ducted or controlled. A plant room or rooftop serving one connected space with several smaller units can therefore sit inside this group’s scope even though no single unit crosses the line on its own.
For candidates, this rule is the most examinable sentence in the H2 scope. It changes how a described installation is classified: the question is never only what one nameplate says, but what the assembled system serving the interconnected space totals. Preparation for this license has to train that habit of reading — system first, unit second — because the Board’s own rule writes the classification that way, and because a contractor who misreads the aggregation in the field has contracted for work in the wrong group.
The single-family boundary: where this license does not reach
The same paragraph of the statute that creates this group also carves work out of it. The final sentence of G.S. 87-21(a)(3) provides that systems installed in single-family residences are included under heating group number three, regardless of size. A large system in a single-family residence is therefore not Heating Group H2 work by tonnage alone; the residence carve-out routes it to the third group.
The Board’s rule states the boundary from the other side: installation of heating and air conditioning systems or components in single-family dwellings, and systems of 15 tons or less in non-residential structures, require a Heating Group 3 license, apart from stated exceptions for heat provided by hot water or steam in a Heating Group 1 system and for cooling provided by a unitary appliance such as a window unit. This program treats that carve-out strictly as a boundary. Knowing where H2 stops — at the single-family residence, whatever the tonnage, and at the 15-ton line in other buildings — is part of holding the H2 license correctly, and it is examined as such.
How H2 differs from its neighbours
Heating Group No. 1, under G.S. 87-21(a)(2), is the heating system of a building which requires the use of high or low pressure steam, vapor or hot water, including all piping, ducts, and mechanical equipment appurtenant thereto, for comfort heating. That is heat carried by water and steam. Heating Group No. 3, under G.S. 87-21(a)(4), covers direct heating or cooling systems at or below the tonnage line, together with the single-family inclusion described above. Group 2 is distinct from both: it is neither the medium — steam and hot water belong to the first group — nor the smaller direct systems of the third. It is the integral conditioned-air system above 15 tons. The three definitions are separate statutory paragraphs, the three examinations are separate, and this program keeps them separate.
Who must hold the license
A person, firm, or corporation who, for valuable consideration, verifies, inspects, evaluates, tests, installs, alters, or restores — or offers to do any of those — heating group work is deemed engaged in the business of heating contracting under G.S. 87-21(a)(5), and a license must be obtained before engaging or offering to engage in that business. Submitting a bid is itself an offer to engage. Article 2 does not apply to minor repairs or minor replacements to an already installed system, where the work does not require any change in energy source, fuel type, or routing or sizing of venting or piping; replacement of parts such as a compressor, coil, contactor, motor, or capacitor can fall within that minor category on those terms.
The route to the license
The route runs in order. An applicant presents evidence of two years of full-time experience in the installation, maintenance, service, or repair of plumbing or heating systems related to the category sought — stated in the Board’s applicant outline as 2 years, 4,000 hours, of on-site full-time experience — of which up to one-half may be academic or technical training related to the field. The statute caps the experience the Board may require at two years. Before examination, an applicant may be required to establish that the applicant is at least 18 years of age and of good moral character. The application itself carries the items listed in 21 NCAC 50 .0306, including notarised employer verification of experience and a signed authorisation for a criminal background check.
Tested on the 2018 codes — and what that means
The Board’s Book Reference List, effective July 1, 2025, and the Board’s update of June 1, 2026, fix the examination basis: until further codes become effective, all examinations for plumbing, heating, fuel piping, and fire sprinkler licensing are based on the 2018 edition of the codes. For this license that means the 2018 North Carolina Administration Code and Policies, the 2018 North Carolina Fuel Gas Code, the 2018 North Carolina Mechanical Code, the 2018 North Carolina Energy Conservation Code, and the 2018 North Carolina Residential Code, together with the Board’s Laws and Rules in the 2025 or 2026 edition. Those 2018 North Carolina codes rest on a 2015 International Code basis, with North Carolina amendments — the 2018 North Carolina Mechanical Code is based on the 2015 International Mechanical Code, effective January 1, 2019.
The 2024 North Carolina code is not in effect and is not the examination basis for this license, and no effective date for it is treated as settled anywhere in this program. Candidates study and sit on the 2018 layer. Field practice and examination preparation point at the same layer for now, but for different reasons — the field layer because those codes are in force, the examination layer because the Board’s reference list and update fix them — and this program keeps the two reasons separate so that a later change in either layer is visible when it happens.
The fees, in their separate layers
North Carolina charges for this route through separate instruments, and this program never merges them. The Board layer is the application for a license by examination, charged by the Board under 21 NCAC 50 .1101(c). The vendor layer is the examination fee charged through PSI. The annual license fee is a third, later instrument, paid on activation and at each annual renewal. Each is paid to a different payee, at a different point, under a different rule; the companion guide states each layer’s figure separately.
After licensing: renewal, supervision, and the working duties
All Board licenses expire on the last day of December in each year, and the Heating Group H2 license is renewed annually. The renewal period begins 90 days before expiration, usually October 1, and invoices are issued in early October; a licensee who does not receive an invoice remains responsible for renewing. Failure to renew and pay during January increases the license fee by the Board’s late-renewal processing charge. An expired license may be reinstated within three years on the terms the rules state; after three years, reexamination is required. The Board does not require continuing education as a condition of renewal — that requirement was eliminated on December 31, 2012, and what replaced it is Disciplinary Education, a Board-ordered measure after a complaint, not a renewal condition.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
The tonnage line, taught as a classification skill. The core of this program is the H2 scope itself: the verbatim statutory definition, the aggregation rule for units serving interconnected space, and the single-family boundary that routes even large residential systems to the third group. Practice material works those three sentences against described installations until classifying a system is a reflex.
The 2018 North Carolina layer. Material is keyed to the 2018 North Carolina Mechanical Code, the 2018 North Carolina Fuel Gas Code, and the companion 2018 codes on the Board’s reference list — the 2015 International Code basis with North Carolina amendments — plus the Board’s Laws and Rules. Nothing in this program is keyed to a 2024 North Carolina code.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating, and Fire Sprinkler Contractors or with PSI, and this program is not a Board course. Completing it confers no license and no credit with the Board; the Board alone licenses, and candidates apply and test through the Board’s and PSI’s channels. The full working detail — the route, the reference matrix, retakes, and reciprocity posture — is set out in the companion guide at /north-carolina-heating-group-h2-exam-guide/.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The North Carolina Heating Group H2 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. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does Heating Group No. 2 cover?
An integral system for heating or cooling a building, consisting of an assemblage of interacting components producing conditioned air to raise or lower the temperature, having a mechanical refrigeration capacity in excess of 15 tons, and which circulates air — G.S. 87-21(a)(3).
What about a very large system in a single-family residence?
Systems installed in single-family residences are included under heating group number three, regardless of size. The residence carve-out is a boundary on this license, stated in H2’s own statute paragraph.
What score passes the Heating Group H2 examinations?
A grade of 70 of 100, on each part (21 NCAC 50 .0305). Both the technical part and the Business and Law part must be passed.
How long is each part?
The technical part is 4.0 hours. The Business and Law part is 1.5 hours.
Which codes are tested?
The 2018 North Carolina codes, which rest on a 2015 International Code basis, together with the Board’s Laws and Rules in the 2025 or 2026 edition. The 2024 North Carolina code is not in effect and is not the examination basis.
Is the examination open book?
Yes — candidate-supplied approved references only, for the approved license category, in original bound editions. Permanent tabs are allowed; highlighting is the only permitted alteration.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Board?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Board alone licenses Heating Group No. 2 Contractors, and PSI administers the examinations.
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.