HVAC training software for technicians, dealers and apprentices

What the rules ask HVAC employers and trainers to keep

Refrigerant work starts with Section 608. Under 40 CFR 82.161, anyone who could reasonably be expected to open the refrigerant circuit must pass a certification exam (Type I, II, III or Universal), and certified techs keep a copy of the certificate at their place of business until three years after they stop working as technicians. Registered apprentices are exempt while a certified technician closely and continually supervises them. EPA's Section 608 Q&A adds that refrigerant may only be sold to a certified technician or a company that employs one, and only EPA-approved certifying programs can certify technicians.

A2L refrigerants are the newer question. EPA's Technology Transitions restrictions set a 700 GWP limit for residential and light commercial AC and heat pumps manufactured or imported from January 1, 2025, which moves the market toward R-454B and R-32. A final rule published May 26, 2026 removed the installation deadline for systems built from components made before that date. We have not found a federal rule that makes A2L training mandatory. Trane's A2L readiness guide recommends safe-handling training and says EPA may require it in the future. Training anyway is the safer call, and then you need to show it.

Rooftop work adds fall protection. For construction work such as setting new rooftop equipment, 29 CFR 1926.503 calls for a written certification record with the employee's name, the training dates and the signature of the trainer or the employer. Routine service usually falls under general industry rules, where 29 CFR 1910.30 requires fall hazard training by a qualified person. Our training records retention table covers how long to keep each file.

NATE and state continuing education

NATE recertification takes 16 continuing education hours in each two-year period, or a retaken specialty exam. Courses from NATE-Recognized Training Providers reach NATE on a roster, and other certificates go in for manual review. In Texas, 16 TAC 75.25 requires ACR contractors to complete 8 hours of department-approved CE per renewal. Georgia's Rule 121-4-.03 asks conditioned air contractors for 4 hours a year, wants proof kept for five years and will not approve manufacturer courses built to promote their own products.

Onboarding technicians across branches

Start with a branch per location or acquired brand, role groups and a manager view for each branch lead. Office staff use SAML SSO and SCIM, and techs without company email get a one-time code by SMS or WhatsApp. Onboarding becomes a gated course with drip scheduling, sequential progression and lesson minimum times. Senior techs film repairs in the Recording Studio, and interactive video rewinds to the missed step after a wrong answer. Before anyone runs calls alone, a sign-off exam with native proctoring uses hotspot items on wiring diagrams and gauge readings. Enterprise administration explains branch permissions.

Training and certifying a dealer network

A manufacturer or distributor gives each dealer its own organization and managers, so a dealer owner sees their people and the channel team sees the network. Product courses mix video, PDFs and SCORM, xAPI or cmi5 packages from your authoring tools. A proctored exam stands behind "certified installer" status, and the verification page lets a homeowner or warranty team check it. Keep promotional product training apart from anything you submit for CE, since Georgia and Texas (16 TAC 59.30) both exclude it. See partner and channel training and our guide to a partner certification program.

CE delivery and apprentice instruction

A CE provider runs live webinars on Zoom or Google Meet with manual or QR attendance, builds self-paced courses with lesson minimum time and lays out the certificate with its board's fields (confirm in a demo that license and provider numbers print where you need them). Filing with TDLR or NATE stays with the provider, which exports the completion data and submits it itself. Apprenticeship sponsors run one course per year of related instruction with proctored end-of-level exams and send completions by webhook to the system that logs on-the-job hours.

How the options compare

Carrier and Fieldpiece are named as those vendors' clients, from the vendors' own announcements. They are not LMS Advisor customers.

Where LMS Advisor stops

LMS Advisor is not an EPA-approved 608 certifying program and does not issue 608, NATE, ESCO, HVAC Excellence or state license credentials. It hosts your prep courses and your own proctored company exams. There is no HVAC course library and no VR simulation, so use a content vendor such as Interplay or SkillCat alongside it. It keeps no CE-credit ledger and files nothing with TDLR, NATE or any board. It is not field service or apprenticeship OJT software and reaches ServiceTitan-type systems only through the REST API, webhooks and CSV. There is no native checkout (WooCommerce handles sales), no store app, no offline learning, no e-signatures and no skills matrix. Exam certificates do not expire, so run refresher cycles on course certificates. A five-tech shop that mostly needs SOP checklists will be running sooner in Trainual.