Going out on your own as an air conditioning technician in VIC
Checked against Building and Plumbing Commission, plus the Australian Refrigeration Council for refrigerant on 8 August 2026.
To take jobs in your own name
Plumbing licence, same class
The licence is what lets you certify and contract. Registration alone does not.
And underneath it, to do the work
Plumbing registration, class Refrigerated air-conditioning work
If you only fit splits there is a narrower class: "Mechanical services, restricted to single head split systems work", capped at 18kW cooling.
This is the one people get wrong: the licence that lets you DO the work and the one that lets you CONTRACT for it are different. Working for a boss you only need the first. Going out on your own you need both.
- What you need before you apply
- The class qualifications, the exams, then the step up to licence. On top of the Victorian side you need the Commonwealth refrigerant handling licence and a refrigerant trading authorisation in the business name. Four credentials all up.
- What it costs
- BPC 2026-27, GST exempt: application $66.30, registration $416.30 for 3 years, licence $369 for 12 months, registration practical exam $202.20. ARC refrigerant licences are separate.
- What you can do without it
- Less than people assume. The $750 figure that gets quoted is not a licensing threshold, it is the point at which a compliance certificate must be issued.
- Insurance the regulator requires
- Mandatory before the BPC will issue or renew the licence.
Read this before you rely on it
- We could not pin down exactly how much extra practical experience the licence needs over the registration in this class. Ask the BPC.
Where this came from
Read off Building and Plumbing Commission, plus the Australian Refrigeration Council for refrigerant on 8 August 2026. Fees and processing times usually change on 1 July, so check before you budget.
Once you are up and running, we also have a page on what ONARA Ops does for hvac technicians.
When you are ready to take the first job
Once the licence is sorted, you need to look like you have been doing this for years: a website people can book from, and quotes and invoices with your logo that go out the same day you finish. That part is us.
Other trades in VIC
We are not accountants, lawyers or insurance brokers, and none of this is advice. It is what the regulators and the ATO publish, gathered in one place with links to the source, so you know what to go and ask about. Rules and fees change, so check with the authority before you act on anything here. Government fees shown are for the 2026-27 year and are indexed every 1 July.