Working it out · New York City
Which license do you actually need?
Refrigeration and building systems in New York City are governed by a federal rule, a city license regime and a list of 36 separate certificates, and almost nobody needs all three answers. Start from the work you do.
Start from the job
What the work requires
Most people arrive knowing the plant they run, not the code the city files it under.
You handle refrigerant, anywhere in the country: EPA 608
Federal, not local. The Clean Air Act requires it of anyone who maintains, services, repairs or disposes of appliances containing regulated refrigerants. It is the usual first credential in this trade because no experience is needed to sit it.
You work on systems using the newer A2L refrigerants: A2L training
The mildly flammable refrigerants now replacing R-410A in new equipment. Handled separately from the EPA 608, and included in the Q-01 course rather than sold twice to the same person.
You take charge of a refrigeration system in a New York City building: Q-01, or Q-99 while you qualify
The FDNY Certificate of Qualification behind the job titles that carry a machine room here: watch engineer, stationary engineer, custodian engineer and building superintendent in most large residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Certification to touch the refrigerant is not permission to run the plant.
You staff the fire command center of a high-rise: F-89
The Fire and Life Safety Director certificate. It asks for three years of full-time experience, or 18 months including six months continuous at one location, and holding a Q-01 while working as a building engineer is qualifying time, which makes it the natural next step rather than a fresh start.
Your building has a specific system or hazard: A Certificate of Fitness
The FDNY issues 36 of them, tied to particular equipment: sprinkler and standpipe systems, fire alarms, gases, oil burners, air compressors, construction sites. You take the ones your building actually has, and nobody needs all of them.
The Q-01 training requirement
Three ways to satisfy it, and you need one
This is the requirement most often stated wrongly, including by this site until 2026. Two of the three routes involve no course.
An FDNY-approved Refrigeration Operating Engineer course of at least 200 hours
At least 25 of those hours have to be field or shop work. This is the route this course is for: it is FDNY-approved for 200 hours of Refrigerating System Operating Engineer instruction, and it comes with the 200-hour letter.
Or at least 1 year of practical experience in the preceding 3 years
On qualifying equipment. The FDNY sets thresholds for which systems count, by refrigerant charge and horsepower, so check the current Notice of Exam or call and describe your plant.
Or a current qualifying license
A NYC Department of Buildings High Pressure Boiler Operating Engineer License, a US Coast Guard Marine Engineer certificate, or a Professional Engineer’s License from any US state.
What the city charges
Exam fees, which no course price includes
These are paid to the FDNY, per attempt, by you. A school cannot bundle them and any school that says it has is describing something else.
- Q-01 written exam (Z-51)
- $60 per attempt
- Q-01 practical exam (Z-52)
- $225 per attempt
- F-89 computer exams
- $25 each, two of them
- F-89 on-site exam
- $750
- Certificate of Fitness application
- $25, all 36
- Pass mark
- 70%
Cards carry a 2% surcharge on top. Exams are held at FDNY Headquarters, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn.
Questions people actually ask
The ones that decide what you buy
Do I need the EPA 608 or the NYC Q-01?
They answer different questions, and plenty of people in New York City need both. The EPA 608 is federal and covers handling refrigerant: the Clean Air Act requires it of anyone who maintains, services, repairs or disposes of appliances containing regulated refrigerants, anywhere in the country. The Q-01 is a New York City license from the FDNY, and it covers taking charge of a refrigeration system in a building here. Certification to touch the refrigerant is not permission to run the plant.
Do I have to take a 200-hour course to sit the Q-01 exam?
No. The FDNY accepts three routes and you need exactly one of them: an approved course of at least 200 hours, or at least one year of practical experience in the preceding three years on qualifying equipment, or a current qualifying license, which means a NYC Department of Buildings High Pressure Boiler Operating Engineer license, a US Coast Guard Marine Engineer certificate, or a Professional Engineer license from any US state. If you already hold one of those, the course is not a requirement for you.
What license do I need to run a chiller plant in New York City?
The FDNY Certificate of Qualification for a Refrigerating System Operating Engineer, the Q-01, with the Q-99 as the temporary certificate issued while you gather the experience the Q-01 needs. It is the license behind the job titles that carry a machine room here: watch engineer, stationary engineer, custodian engineer and building superintendent in most large residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
What certifications does a building engineer in NYC usually hold?
It depends on the plant, and the honest answer is that nobody needs all of them. A refrigeration machine room means the Q-01 or Q-99. Handling refrigerant means the EPA 608, and the newer A2L refrigerants have their own training. A high-rise office building with a fire command center means the F-89 Fire and Life Safety Director. Beyond those, the FDNY issues 36 Certificates of Fitness tied to specific equipment and hazards, from sprinkler and standpipe systems to gas, oil burners and air compressors, and you take the ones your building actually has.
How do I start as an HVAC technician in New York City?
The EPA 608 is the usual first credential, because it is federal, it is required before you legally handle refrigerant, and no experience is needed to sit it. From there the NYC licenses follow the work: the Q-01 if you are heading for a machine room, Certificates of Fitness for the specific systems in your building. Experience counts toward the Q-01 too, so time on the tools is not time away from the license.
Are the FDNY exam fees included in a course price?
No, and no school can include them: they are paid to the FDNY, per attempt. The Q-01 written exam (Z-51) is $60 and the practical (Z-52) is $225. Certificates of Fitness carry a $25 application fee. The F-89 has two computer exams at $25 each plus a $750 on-site exam. Cards carry a small surcharge on top. The pass mark is 70% and the exams are held at FDNY Headquarters, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn.
Still not sure which one is yours?
Describe your plant and we will tell you what it needs, including when the answer is that you already qualify. Tauris Tech has been FDNY-approved to give this instruction since 2018, and the approval letters are published in full.