Texas does not require an air conditioning and refrigeration technician to be certified. Registration is the mandatory floor, and certification sits above it as a voluntary qualification a technician chooses to earn. The Texas Certified A/C Technician designation, issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, is earned by passing the TDLR competency examination delivered by PSI — 60 scored items in 112 minutes, plus 4 non-scored items in 8 minutes, open book — with the rule’s standard stated in one sentence: “A passing grade is 70%.” The PassProfessor program prepares candidates for that sitting and for the exact, limited effects the certification carries.
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Voluntary, stated first
The voluntary character of this credential is its whole identity, so it is stated first and stated precisely. A Certified Technician holds a certification, not a contractor credential of any kind, and this page never treats the two as interchangeable. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation describes the designation as a voluntary qualification exceeding the Registered Technician standard. Nothing in Texas law compels a technician to hold it in order to work: a technician may register, work under a licensed ACR contractor, and build a career without ever sitting this examination.
Why, then, do technicians sit it? Because the certification carries two sourced effects, and only two are claimed on this page: a protected title, and a credited route toward the contractor tier — set out below, alongside the rule that limits what certification means: under 16 TAC § 75.73(f), it confers no broader range of tasks than registration does. The companion guide at /texas-certified-ac-technician-exam-guide/ carries the fuller account.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Texas Certified A/C Technician — a voluntary TDLR certification for individual technicians |
| Regulator | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) — Occupations Code Chapter 1302 and 16 TAC Chapter 75 |
| Mandatory floor beneath it | Registered Technician — registration required to assist a licensed ACR contractor in ACR maintenance or repair work; no examination |
| Examination vendor | PSI Services LLC — scheduling only after TDLR approves eligibility |
| Examination | 60 scored items + 4 non-scored items / 112 minutes + 8 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 (paid to PSI) |
| TDLR application fee | $50 (paid to TDLR) |
| Term and renewal | 1-year term; renewal fee $35; no continuing education for technicians |
| 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 |
The floor beneath: the Registered Technician
Any person who assists a licensed ACR contractor in performing ACR maintenance or repair work must register as a technician — registered or certified (§ 1302.501(a)). The Registered Technician is that mandatory floor. An applicant must be at least 16 years old; the application fee is $20; and TDLR states the position plainly: no practical experience and no examination are required. Registration runs 1 year, renewed at $20.
Registration is a different kind of instrument from certification — a registration, obtained without a sitting — and certification is the examined step a registered technician may later choose. Every technician, registered or certified, works under the supervision of a licensed ACR contractor and may not advertise air conditioning and refrigeration services (§ 1302.503). A contractor must also provide in-person supervision, directly or through a certified technician, at all times to a technician younger than 18 acting on the contractor’s behalf. Those limits belong to the technician regime as a whole; certification does not lift them.
What certification adds — and what it does not
The protected title. Only persons holding the designation may call themselves “certified technicians” (§ 1302.5055(b)), and a technician must not use the designation unless certified. The title is the public-facing effect of the credential: it tells an employer and a customer that this technician volunteered for examination and passed it.
The contractor alternate route. Holding this certification counts toward contractor eligibility. Under § 1302.255(a)(2)(B), an applicant for the contractor tier may qualify through technician certification held for the preceding 12 months together with at least 36 months of practical experience under a licensed ACR contractor in the preceding 48 months — stated here as a contractor-eligibility fact that credits this certification, never as a requirement of the certification itself.
What certification does not add. The rule is direct: a registered technician “is not required to be certified, and may perform the same tasks as a certified technician” (§ 75.73(f)). Certification therefore confers no broader task scope — the same tasks, under the same supervision, subject to the same advertising bar. This program claims no wider authority for the credential, because Texas grants none.
No endorsements, no classes. The endorsement system belongs to the contractor tier alone — environmental air conditioning and commercial refrigeration endorsements, and Classes A and B, are contractor instruments. No class, endorsement, specialty, or endorsement code for a Certified or Registered Technician appears anywhere in the Texas fact record. This certification is a single, undivided designation, never split into Environmental Air or Commercial Refrigeration variants.
The examination, in its own published form
The Certified Technician examination exists, it is required for this certification, and it carries its own published mechanics — not figures borrowed from any contractor sitting. It carries 60 scored items plus 4 non-scored items; the non-scored items are not scored, and extra time is allotted for them. Time follows the same split: 112 minutes for the scored examination, plus 8 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 computer-based through PSI and open book, restricted to candidate-supplied references on the PSI Examination Reference Material List: highlighting 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.
One discipline shapes honest preparation here. No content outline for this examination exists in the sources, and none is printed or implied on this page. Outline figures that circulate for Texas air conditioning examinations belong to the contractor sittings — contractor material, for a different credential — and importing them would misdescribe the sitting a technician actually faces. Preparation keys to what is verified: the tested code editions, the named references, the Texas ACR License Law and Rules, and the mechanics above.
Who may sit: the eligibility routes
An applicant for certification must be at least 18 years old — a different age from the registration floor of 16, and the two are never blended. Qualification then runs by one of two routes. The experience route requires 24 months of air conditioning and refrigeration related work under the supervision of a licensed ACR contractor, verified on a form completed by the supervising contractor, not by the applicant. The training route requires completion of a department-approved certification training program of 2,000 hours of combined instruction and practical experience, with application materials received within 48 months of completing the program. Military ACR experience may count toward the experience requirement, supported by the Military Supplemental Application; no hour-for-hour conversion figure is stated in the sources, and none is printed here.
The applicant must then pass the TDLR competency examination via PSI, and all application requirements, including passing it, must be completed within 1 year of filing. Scheduling opens only after TDLR approves eligibility.
Dollars by layer, a one-year term, and no continuing education
Fees in this system belong to separate instruments, and they are kept separate here. At the TDLR layer, the Certified Technician application fee is $50, non-refundable. At the examination layer, PSI charges $60 for this examination, paid to PSI at scheduling. The two figures are never added together into a single published total on this page.
The certification is valid for 1 year from the date of issue, and the renewal fee is $35. 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. TDLR advises beginning renewal 30 to 60 days before expiration.
Renewal carries no continuing education requirement for technicians. The continuing education rule at § 75.25 imposes its requirement, by its terms, only for renewal of a contractor credential; TDLR’s technician renewal position lists only the renewal application and the fee. A Certified Technician therefore renews on the application and the $35 fee, with no continuing education hours to complete — the contractor tier’s education duties are never presented here as a technician’s obligation.
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.” The bulletin’s technical references for this examination name Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 22nd edition, 2025, and the ADI Duct Size Calculator, alongside the Texas ACR License Law (Occupations Code Chapter 1302), the Texas ACR License Rules (16 TAC Chapter 75), and OSHA 29 CFR Part 1904. References stated for the contractor environmental examinations are not reassigned to this examination. The adopted 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. 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 defaults.
Sitting day, results, and retakes
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, and a bound word-to-word translation dictionary may be brought. A candidate who does not pass may schedule a retake with PSI within 24 to 48 hours, and may retake without limit through the eligibility period — until the application expires, 1 year from submission — after which a fresh application is required. The sourced examination is computer-based through PSI; no hands-on component is stated in the record, and this page claims none in either direction. 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 Texas certification.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
The Certified Technician examination as published. Our catalog now includes preparation built on this sitting’s verified structure: the 2024 mechanical, fuel gas, and uniform mechanical code editions the examination references from September 1, 2026, the Texas ACR License Law and Rules as the bulletin references them, and disciplined open-book work with the named references under the bulletin’s tabbing and marking rules. Because no content outline for this examination exists in the sources, the program invents none: it prepares the whole verified frame rather than a borrowed set of weights. Every item is written from scratch against primary sources.
The voluntary step, understood exactly. The program teaches the credential’s real shape — the registration floor beneath it, the same-tasks rule at § 75.73(f), the protected title, and the contractor alternate route — so candidates sit the examination knowing precisely what passing it does and does not change.
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 certification and no eligibility; TDLR alone certifies and approves eligibility, and examinations are scheduled through PSI.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Texas Certified A/C Technician 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
Is the Texas Certified A/C Technician credential required in order to work as a technician?
No. Certification is voluntary. Registration is the mandatory floor: any person who assists a licensed ACR contractor in ACR maintenance or repair work must register as a technician, registered or certified (§ 1302.501(a)).
Is this certification a contractor credential?
No. It is a voluntary certification for an individual technician. It does not satisfy the contractor requirement: a person may not engage in ACR contracting unless that person holds an ACR contractor credential (§ 1302.251(a)).
What does a Registered Technician need?
An applicant at least 16 years old and a $20 application fee; registration runs 1 year and renews at $20. TDLR states that no practical experience and no examination are required.
What does certification allow a technician to do that registration does not?
No broader range of tasks. Under § 75.73(f), a registered technician is not required to be certified and may perform the same tasks as a certified technician. Certification’s sourced effects are the protected title (§ 1302.5055(b)) and the contractor alternate route at § 1302.255(a)(2)(B).
How is the Certified Technician examination structured?
60 scored items plus 4 non-scored items, in 112 minutes plus 8 minutes, open book and computer-based through PSI, scheduled after TDLR approval.
What score passes?
The rule states it verbatim: “A passing grade is 70%” (§ 75.21(b)).
Is there a published content outline for this examination?
No outline exists in the sources, and none is printed or implied here. Contractor outline figures are contractor material.
Who is eligible to sit the examination?
An applicant at least 18 years old who qualifies by 24 months of ACR-related work under a licensed ACR contractor, verified by the supervising contractor, or by a department-approved 2,000-hour training program, with materials received within 48 months of completion — completing all requirements, including the examination, within 1 year of filing.
What does it cost, layer by layer?
The TDLR application fee is $50. PSI charges $60 for this examination. Renewal is $35 for the 1-year term. The figures belong to separate instruments and are not combined here.
Does renewal require continuing education?
No. None applies to Registered or Certified Technicians; the § 75.25 requirement applies by its terms to contractor renewal only.
Does this certification carry endorsements or classes?
No. Endorsements and Classes A and B belong to the contractor tier alone; none appears for a technician in the Texas record.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with TDLR or PSI?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. TDLR alone certifies and approves eligibility, and PSI delivers the examinations.
When does enrollment open for the PassProfessor program?
The program is in the works; enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write when it is ready.