North Carolina heating and cooling licenses are split into three groups by system type and size, and each carries a Class I or Class II designation that sets which buildings the contractor may work in. The short version for a homeowner: a normal house AC or heat pump is Heating Group 3 (H-3) work, because residential systems run 15 tons or less; Class I lets a contractor work in any building while Class II is limited to single-family detached homes, so for your house an H-3 contractor of either class is licensed for the job.
The three groups
The group tells you what kind of system, and for the forced-air groups, what size.
Heating Group 1 (H-1) is water-based (“wet” or hydronic) comfort heating — boilers, hot-water loops, radiators. It’s uncommon in newer North Carolina housing but still appears in older homes and some multifamily buildings.
Heating Group 2 (H-2) is forced-air heating and cooling for systems with cooling capacity over 15 tons — large commercial and industrial equipment. Despite the “heating” in the name, the group covers cooling too; the defining line is the 15-ton size.
Heating Group 3 (H-3) is forced-air heating and cooling for systems of 15 tons or less — nearly every residential system and most light commercial. Because the heat pump is the default system across most of the state, H-3 is the group homeowners will see most often on the Raleigh and other city registries. A full residential heat pump — which both heats and cools — is H-3 work.
The common point of confusion is thinking H-2 means “heating” and H-3 means “cooling.” That’s not how the board defines them. Both groups cover forced-air heating and cooling; the difference between them is the 15-ton capacity threshold. That’s why many residential contractors hold H-3, and larger firms that also do big commercial rooftop units add H-2.
Class I and Class II
The class sets which buildings, by structure type. Class I covers heating and cooling systems in any building — single-family, multifamily, commercial, industrial. Class II is limited to single-family detached dwellings. A Class II contractor is fully licensed for the work most homeowners hire for; the designation is a scope-of-building limit, not a skill tier. What you should not see is a Class II contractor quoting a commercial or multifamily job, and what you should not accept is a contractor with no H-3 at all installing your heat pump.
In the real license records behind this registry, H-3 Class I is by far the most common classification, because it lets an established shop work anywhere; H-3 Class II appears on a smaller number of residential-focused contractors. Both are valid for your home.
The qualifier
Every license names a qualifying individual — the person who passed the exam and is responsible for the licensed work of the business. The lookup shows the qualifier’s name alongside the business. If the qualifier isn’t someone at the company you’re dealing with, or the business name in the record is a different company, stop and ask; a number that belongs to another firm is one of the clearer red flags in checking a license.
How the registry displays this
Each provider profile on HVAC Registrar shows the license number, the group and class as we found them, the status, the qualifier and the date we ran the lookup. Contractors whose record we could not match are shown as “not yet verified,” and only an active license can qualify a contractor for Airworthy Verified. None of that replaces running the lookup yourself for a large job; it means the first check has been done and dated so you can confirm it in one click.
What the class does not tell you
The license says the contractor may legally do the work. It does not say they will size the system correctly, pull the permit, or commission the equipment properly. Those are separate questions covered in what a proper installation includes and questions to ask before you sign.