Air Conditioning Contractor — Class A/Trade Knowledge

Code Compliance

15% of this exam

Two rulebooks share this domain: the Florida Building Code's Mechanical and Energy Conservation volumes for installation and efficiency requirements, and EPA Section 608 for refrigerant handling. The 608 questions are predictable — certification types, the venting prohibition, and the recover/recycle/reclaim ladder.

Core concepts

Four certification types, one mapping

Type I covers small appliances, Type II high-pressure equipment (the residential AC world), Type III low-pressure equipment, and Universal covers all three. A technician working both high- and low-pressure systems needs Universal. This exact mapping is the most reliable 608 question on the exam.

Venting is prohibited — recover instead

Knowingly venting refrigerant during service, maintenance, repair, or disposal violates the Clean Air Act. Before opening a system, recover the charge into an approved recovery cylinder with certified recovery equipment. Only de minimis releases during good-faith recovery are excused.

Recover, recycle, reclaim are a ladder

Recover = remove and store, no processing required. Recycle = clean on site (oil separation, filtration) for reuse. Reclaim = reprocess to the purity standard for new refrigerant (AHRI 700), verified by chemical analysis — generally only a certified reclamation facility can do it.

Code questions get looked up, not remembered

Minimum efficiency ratings, ventilation rates, condensate disposal, and equipment installation rules change with code editions. When a stem says 'minimum', 'required', or 'permitted', go to the FBC volume on your desk and read the current number — never answer from memory.

Key facts to know cold

EPA 608 Type ISmall appliances (5 lb or less of refrigerant)

EPA 608 Type IIHigh-pressure equipment — residential and commercial AC, heat pumps

EPA 608 Type IIILow-pressure equipment (e.g., centrifugal chillers)

Universal certificationAll three types — required to work both high- and low-pressure systems

Venting prohibitionNo knowing release during service or disposal; recover with certified equipment

Reclaim standardReprocessed to new-refrigerant purity (AHRI 700) and chemically verified

Where it lives in your books

The real exam is open book. Knowing which book and which tab answer this domain is worth as much as memorizing it.

code

Florida Building Code

Code questions give themselves away with words like 'minimum', 'required', or 'permitted'. Go to the code — never answer a code question from memory when the book is on the desk.

9 recommended tabs

regulation

EPA 608

Certification types are the classic question: Type I small appliances, II high-pressure, III low-pressure, Universal all three.

2 recommended tabs

Lookup strategy

· Memorize the Type I/II/III/Universal table — it's tiny and tested constantly; the venting and reclaim definitions sit on adjacent pages of the 608 reference if you need confirmation.
· For FBC questions, start at the volume's definitions chapter when a term seems slippery, then jump to the ventilation or energy-efficiency tables — the answer is a printed number, not a judgment call.

Reading isn't learning. Retrieval is.

49 questions in this domain, each with an explanation and source.