All states › Alabama (HACR Board — HVAC / refrigeration)
Alabama's heating, air conditioning and refrigeration contractors are regulated by their own board, and that board runs a calendar that is easy to misread: the renewal deadline is December 31, but the continuing-education proof deadline comes first, on November 1. Miss the earlier one and the later one gets blocked. This page covers that one board only. As of this review the date is October 12, 2026, so the November 1 date is about three weeks out and December 31 is about eleven weeks out.
| Date | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Before November 1 (each year) | Required CE hours completed and proof submitted to the Board. Failing to do so blocks renewal until proof is submitted. | 440-X-4-.02 (as published on Justia); Code of Alabama § 34-31-26 |
| December 31, 11:59 pm (each year) | Certification renewal deadline. A certification not renewed by then "is immediately considered lapsed." | 440-X-3-.06(1); Board FAQ |
| December 31 of the following year | Last day to renew a lapsed certification, with the additional $250 late fee and without re-testing. | 440-X-3-.06(1) |
| After one calendar year (365 days) unlicensed | Certification is "expired": written prelicensure exam required, no late-fee path, no waiver "for any reason." | 440-X-3-.06(2) |
The Board's FAQ words the late-renewal window as "within one year after it has lapsed"; rule 440-X-3-.06 words it as "until 11:59 pm on December 31st of the calendar year immediately following the lapse" and as "one calendar year (365 days)." These read as the same window in ordinary cases, but if your situation sits near the edge, ask the Board which date it will apply rather than relying on either summary.
The Board's FAQ answers the hours question in one line: "Every contractor must take 4 continuing education hours each year." The statute, Code of Alabama § 34-31-26, is the source: at least four hours of continuing education every year, with up to four hours of any excess carried over to the following renewal year. The statute also says that failing to complete the minimum blocks renewal until proof of compliance is submitted to the Board.
The Board's CE rules (Chapter 440-X-4, as reproduced on Justia and in the Board's APA-3 filing) add the mechanics that decide whether you are actually compliant:
The statute lets the Board approve a deficiency plan for a medical hardship or emergency, submitted by January 1 with a fee. The Board's APA-3 filing describes the same path as a written appeal made after November 1 but before January 1, with a fee not to exceed $100, and says late fees apply if the deficiency runs past December 31. That filing is a 2022 document on a form revised 1/2018, so treat the dollar figures and dates as [Unverified] for 2026 and confirm with the Board before you rely on a plan. It is a hardship mechanism, not a routine extension.
Rule 440-X-3-.06, "Failure To Renew," subsection (1): a certified contractor who has not renewed by 11:59 pm on December 31 annually "is immediately considered lapsed and shall have until 11:59 pm on December 31st of the calendar year immediately following the lapse of certification to renew." "An additional $250.00 late fee will be imposed on all late renewals, without additional testing by the Board."
Subsection (2): a contractor who remains unlicensed for one calendar year (365 days) or more "is considered expired and shall be required to sit for and pass the written prelicensure examination prior to applying for re-licensure as a new applicant," and "expired licenses are not eligible for late fees nor prelicensure waivers for any reason."
Two practical reads, both labelled as our reading rather than the Board's words. [Inference] Because the hours must be completed before renewal can be processed, a contractor who skips the November 1 proof deadline and then misses December 31 is paying the $250 late fee for a problem that began with the CE calendar. [Inference] The sources read for this page do not say whether work performed while a certification is lapsed is permitted; the rule calls the certification "lapsed," and this page does not claim to know what that allows. Ask the Board before working through a lapse.
Alabama is a two-deadline year. The CE proof date (November 1) and the renewal date (December 31) are different, and the cost of missing both is a fee plus a clock that eventually ends in a re-exam. LicenseLedger puts every license you hold, with the CE hours owed against each, on one calendar with reminders ahead of both dates.
See how LicenseLedger tracks it →