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Best HVAC Schools in Nevada (2026)

Edited by Taylor Rupe, B.S., B.A.

Published · Last updated

Nevada accredits three HVAC programs, a community college, a private institute and a plumbers and pipefitters apprenticeship, so the choice includes a paid route. Any of them counts unusually heavily: training can cover three of the four years a Nevada contractor licence requires, the most generous substitution of any state here. Nevada also has no small job exemption for HVAC, so even a minor furnace repair needs a licensed contractor.

The Las Vegas, Nevada skyline
Las Vegas skyline. Photo by Robert Conforti, licensed under CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
3 Accredited HVAC schools
$60,510 Median wage, NV
4,170 Jobs in NV
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HVAC programs

Accredited HVAC schools and programs in Nevada

Nevada has 3 accredited HVAC schools, each of them accredited by HVAC Excellence or PAHRA. Ranks are national: an HVAC program shown at 6th sits 6th among all accredited HVAC programs in the country, not 6th in Nevada. Of the 3, 2 name EPA Section 608 preparation where they describe the program and one holds both accreditations. These HVAC programs list their length, cost and credential wherever the school publishes them.

#1

College of Southern Nevada

Las Vegas, NV · Post Secondary

89/100 ranking score
Credential Associate's
Accreditation Both bodies , HVAC Excellence (a program of the ESCO Group) + Partnership for Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Accreditation
EPA 608 prep

CSN concentrates its HVAC teaching in one place, the HVAC Center of Excellence at its Western Center campus in Las Vegas, and every class in the program meets there. The credential ladder starts with a short Entry-Level Air Conditioning Technician certificate, runs through Certificates of Achievement, and tops out at five associate degrees, including specialized options in building automation and food service refrigeration, so a student can match the credential to the job they actually want.

Nevada never licenses the individual technician, only the contracting business, so nothing stands between a graduate and going straight to work for a licensed employer. The license question arrives if you want your own company: the state contractor license requires four years of experience, and training can substitute for three of them, the most generous trade-in any state allows. Classroom time at CSN is worth more against a future Nevada license than the same schooling would be almost anywhere else.

There is no small-job workaround in this state either. Nevada's exemption for repairs under $1,000 specifically excludes heating, air conditioning and refrigeration, which means even a minor furnace fix is licensed-contractor territory and technicians work under a company's license from day one. Graduates leave aimed at installer and technician roles in air conditioning and refrigeration, or facilities maintenance, carrying the EPA Section 608 certification, a federal credential, plus the HVAC Excellence Employment Readiness Certification.

Sources: Nevada HVAC school program, EPA Section 608, HVAC Excellence, IPEDS.

HVAC program details
#2

Advanced Training Institute

Las Vegas, NV · Post Secondary

81/100 ranking score
Credential Degree
Accreditation HVAC Excellence , a program of the ESCO Group
EPA 608 prepOSHAEvening or part-time

An 840 clock hour diploma in HVAC/CR Technologies is the single offering at Advanced Training Institute's Las Vegas campus, completed in as few as 10.5 months. Classes run about five hours a day, Monday through Thursday, with morning, afternoon, or evening schedules. The program prepares graduates for entry-level residential heating and air conditioning work and commercial refrigeration technician positions.

Commercial refrigeration gets real weight in the curriculum: students service and repair ice machines, walk-in coolers and freezers, and reach-ins, alongside residential and light commercial condensing units, compressors, gas heating systems, and electric and hydronic heat. Students earn EPA Section 608 certification, which is federally required for any technician who handles refrigerants, and complete 10-Hour OSHA Construction Safety training.

ATI holds programmatic accreditation from HVAC Excellence for the HVAC/CR program, and the school is accredited by ACCET. Financial aid is available for those who qualify. After graduation, the career services team maintains connections with skilled trades employers around the Las Vegas valley, and the school outlines a path from entry-level service tech to senior technician to lead technician or specialist.

Sources: Nevada HVAC school program, EPA Section 608, HVAC Excellence, OSHA.

HVACR program details
#3

United Association Local 525 JATC - HVAC Apprenticeship

Las Vegas, NV · Apprenticeship

68/100 ranking score
Credential Registered apprenticeship
Accreditation HVAC Excellence , a program of the ESCO Group
Apprenticeship

This is an apprenticeship pathway rather than a traditional college program. UA Local 525 represents plumbers, pipefitters, and service technicians in Southern Nevada, and its Pipe Trades Training Center offers a five-year apprenticeship program along with continuing classes and training for United Association members. The center also serves as a testing facility for the United Association Welding Certification Program.

Work in the trade runs through the union hall. Local 525 members work on service, maintenance, and construction projects of all sizes across plumbing, air conditioning, and mechanical pipe work, and current job openings are posted through the Hall on the local's website. Listed affiliations include the United Association, Helmets to Hardhats, and the Union Sportsmen's Alliance.

The local's website does not publish apprenticeship application windows, wage scales, or entry requirements, so anyone weighing this path against a college HVAC program will need to contact the local directly. For homeowners and businesses, the union also maintains a searchable database of contractors that employ Local 525 plumbing, air conditioning, and mechanical pipe craftsmen for service, maintenance, and construction needs.

Sources: Nevada HVAC school program.

HVAC program details

Willing to travel? Compare these Nevada HVAC programs against the best HVAC schools and programs nationally, or browse HVAC programs in another state.

School credit

How much experience can school replace in Nevada in 2026?

School can replace three of the four years a Nevada contractor license requires, and two separate provisions allow it. The statute says training received in a program offered at an accredited college or university, or an equivalent program accepted by the board, may satisfy not more than three years of the experience requirement. A regulation adds that the board may grant up to three years of credit for completing an occupational, vocational, career, trade or technical education program.

The regulation route carries conditions worth checking before you enrol. The program must be offered in secondary or postsecondary education, must be approved by both the Contractors Board and the State Board of Education, and must have provided training in a discipline substantially similar to the classification you are applying in. That last test is the one that decides whether a general construction program counts toward a C-21 license.

The four years must be at journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor level, and gained within the 15 years before you apply. If you have previously qualified in the same classification, that 15-year recency window does not apply.

Credited from training Field experience required The most generous school credit of any state here
Approved training program 3 years 1 year No training credit 4 years

Sources: NRS chapter 624, NAC chapter 624, Nevada State Contractors Board.

C-21 and its subclasses

Which contractor license covers HVAC work in Nevada in 2026?

A C-21 refrigeration and air conditioning license covers HVAC work in Nevada, and it divides into seven subclassifications. A full C-21 holder may perform any work authorised for the subclasses. C-21a is refrigeration, defined as controlling air temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. C-21b is air conditioning. C-21c is sheet metal, though not equipment using refrigeration as an integral part. C-21d is maintenance, limited to repairing and replacing parts of existing systems.

The remaining three are C-21e for solar air conditioning, C-21f for chilled and hot water systems including boilers, chillers, cooling towers and pumps, and C-21g for industrial piping. A rule attached to the classification is worth reading: work authorised by a C-21 license is not incidental or supplemental to work another specialty contractor may perform, so a C-21 job stays a C-21 job.

A second classification overlaps in ways people miss. C-1 covers plumbing and heating, and its subclasses include boilers, gas pipes and vents, and heating, cooling and circulating air. That last one covers evaporative cooling but expressly not cooling systems using refrigeration as an integral part. So evaporative cooling sits under C-1f and refrigerant-based cooling under C-21b.

No small-job exemption

Does small HVAC work need a license in Nevada in 2026?

Small HVAC work does need a license in Nevada, and this is where the state differs from most. Nevada exempts repair and maintenance work valued under $1,000 including labour and materials, which sounds like the familiar minor-work break. But the same provision excludes work of a type performed by a plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, heating or air conditioning contractor from that exemption.

The practical effect is that there is no dollar floor for HVAC in Nevada. A $200 furnace repair requires a licensed contractor. Several published state guides report this the other way around, describing the $1,000 exemption without the carve-out, so it is worth taking from the statute rather than from a summary.

Every Nevada license also carries a monetary limit set with reference to the contractor's financial responsibility and the scale of their operations, and exceeding it needs board approval and a fee. The bond is set by the board between $1,000 and $500,000 on the same basis, and a cash deposit may be substituted. Financial statements scale with the limit requested: self-prepared up to $25,000, compiled by a CPA above that, and reviewed or audited above $1,000,000.

Sources: NRS chapter 624, Nevada State Contractors Board.

Cities and renewal

Can Nevada cities add their own HVAC requirements in 2026?

Nevada cities can add their own HVAC requirements. The statute says nothing in the contractor licensing chapter prevents a county or incorporated city from requiring an additional contractor's license within that jurisdiction, subject to the applicant meeting additional standards that are reasonable and necessary to protect the public there. Contractors must also furnish a copy of any performance or payment bond to the building department where the work is carried out.

We have not researched the specific requirements in Las Vegas, Reno or Clark County, so treat their content as an open question rather than assuming there is nothing extra. What is settled is that the state permits them, which is different from the several states on this site that forbid local licensing outright.

State licenses expire two years after issue, and one not renewed on time is automatically suspended, with reinstatement possible within six months if you are in good standing and have no pending complaints. Nevada requires no continuing education. Residential contractors also pay a Residential Recovery Fund assessment at renewal.

Sources: NRS chapter 624.

Nevada pay

How much do HVAC techs make in Nevada in 2026?

HVAC techs in Nevada make a median of $60,510 a year, essentially at the national median of $61,010. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 4,170 HVAC technician jobs in the state in its May 2025 wage survey, a workforce concentrated heavily in the Las Vegas valley where cooling load and hospitality construction drive most of the demand.

The bottom 10 percent earn $40,290 or less and the top 10 percent earn $92,720 or more, with the middle half between $49,610 and $76,850. Nevada's ceiling comes within $2,500 of the national 90th percentile of $95,210, which is closer than most states of its size manage, and suggests a genuine commercial market above the residential one. These figures describe current pay and are not a projection.

Nevada United States Annual wage by percentile
10th $41,040 $40,050 25th $48,390 $48,360 Median $60,510 $61,010 75th $76,590 $77,060 90th $89,750 $95,210

Sources: BLS OEWS.

Pay detail

Nevada HVAC pay, top to bottom

Nevada HVAC pay runs from the bottom tenth to the top in the table below, and the median is only one number in that range. The state sits below the national median of $61,010. All figures are annual, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release of May 2025 for occupation 49-9021.

PercentileNVUnited States
10th $41,040 $40,050
25th $48,390 $48,360
Median $60,510 $61,010
75th $76,590 $77,060
90th $89,750 $95,210

4,170 HVAC jobs in NV. OEWS is a wage survey and carries no employment projections

Sources

Where our Nevada HVAC school and program data comes from

Our Nevada HVAC school and program data comes from the sources listed below, each one linked so you can check it: the state's own board or statute for licensing, federal filings for the schools, the Bureau of Labor Statistics for wages, and each school's own published program page. Licensing research was verified 2026-07-30.

Nevada State Contractors Board
nvcontractorsboard.com
NRS chapter 624, contractors
leg.state.nv.us
NAC chapter 624, classifications and education credit
leg.state.nv.us
Board license requirements
nvcontractorsboard.com
Wages
BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 49-9021
Nevada HVAC school programs
Each school's own published program, linked on its card

Licensing research verified 2026-07-30. Rules change, so confirm with the state board before enrolling

Other states

HVAC schools and programs in other states

HVAC schools and programs in other states are worth comparing, because licensing changes at the state line and a program that shortens the route to a license in Nevada may count for nothing one state over. Each page below covers that state's own rules, its pay, and the accredited HVAC schools in it.

Alabama HVAC Programs 7 Alaska HVAC Programs 1 Arizona HVAC Programs 1 Arkansas HVAC Programs 4 California HVAC Programs 4 Colorado HVAC Programs 2 Delaware HVAC Programs 1 Florida HVAC Programs 6 Georgia HVAC Programs 7 Idaho HVAC Programs 2 Illinois HVAC Programs 7 Indiana HVAC Programs 1 Iowa HVAC Programs 1 Kansas HVAC Programs 1 Kentucky HVAC Programs 1 Louisiana HVAC Programs 10 Massachusetts HVAC Programs 2 Michigan HVAC Programs 2 Minnesota HVAC Programs 3 Mississippi HVAC Programs 2 Missouri HVAC Programs 3 Montana HVAC Programs 1
Nevada HVAC Programs (the page you are reading) 3
New Jersey HVAC Programs 2 New Mexico HVAC Programs 2 New York HVAC Programs 1 North Carolina HVAC Programs 3 Ohio HVAC Programs 8 Oklahoma HVAC Programs 8 Pennsylvania HVAC Programs 7 South Carolina HVAC Programs 2 South Dakota HVAC Programs 2 Tennessee HVAC Programs 11 Texas HVAC Programs 4 Virginia HVAC Programs 8 Washington HVAC Programs 1 West Virginia HVAC Programs 3 Wisconsin HVAC Programs 6

A state appears here once its licensing rules have been read from that state's own board or statute. See all HVAC schools and programs by state or the national ranking.