A Florida State Certified Class A Air Conditioning Contractor may design and prepare drawings for the HVAC systems it installs — but only within the limits of Florida Statute 471.003(2)(h): an air-conditioning and refrigeration system valued at $125,000 or less, and an HVAC system not exceeding 15 tons per system, or a project designed for 100 or fewer occupants. Above those thresholds, the engineering must be sealed by a Florida-licensed Professional Engineer, though design-build is still fully available with a PE of record.
Florida law generally reserves engineering design for licensed Professional Engineers. But Chapter 471 carves out specific exemptions. The one that matters for HVAC contractors is Florida Statute 471.003(2)(h), which permits a contractor certified under Chapter 489 to prepare the design documents and drawings for systems the contractor itself installs — within defined limits.
This is why a qualified Class A Air Conditioning Contractor can legitimately offer design and design-build, not just installation, without holding a PE license.
The exemption applies when the project meets both conditions. First, the air-conditioning and refrigeration system has a value of $125,000 or less. Second, the HVAC system does not exceed a 15-ton-per-system capacity — or, alternatively, the project is designed to accommodate 100 or fewer persons.
Read carefully: the tonnage test is per system, and the occupancy test is an alternative path. A project for fewer than 100 occupants can qualify even if a single unit exceeds 15 tons, provided the system value stays within the dollar limit.
Within the exemption, the contractor can perform the load calculations, select equipment, lay out ductwork and piping, design the controls sequence, and produce the drawings and specifications needed to permit and install the system.
What the contractor cannot do is hold itself out as an engineering firm or offer engineering services to the public. The design work is incidental to — and bounded by — the contracting work the firm is licensed to perform.
Cross either threshold — system value above $125,000, or capacity above 15 tons per system on a project for more than 100 people — and the mechanical documents must be prepared and sealed by a Florida-licensed Professional Engineer.
Most large chilled-water plants, central-plant retrofits, and big VRF or rooftop projects fall here. That is not a barrier to design-build; it just changes who holds the pen on the sealed sheet.
Florida also recognizes design-build delivery. A contractor performing under a design-build contract can deliver a project of any size as long as the engineering services are rendered by an engineer licensed under Chapter 471. In practice, the design-builder engages a Florida PE of record — employed or contracted — to provide the sealed engineering.
The owner still signs one contract with one accountable party. The contractor remains the installing entity and single point of responsibility; the PE provides and seals the engineering that the law reserves to a Professional Engineer.
A contractor who is transparent about this line is protecting you, not limiting you. A permit issued on documents that should have carried a PE seal is a problem that surfaces at the worst time — during inspection, or after a failure. Knowing up front who seals what keeps your permitting clean and your project defensible.
Ask any HVAC design-build firm in Tampa Bay exactly how they handle the seal boundary. A straight answer is a good sign; vagueness is not.
Yes, within Florida Statute 471.003(2)(h): the air-conditioning and refrigeration system must be valued at $125,000 or less, and the HVAC system must not exceed 15 tons per system, or the project must be designed for 100 or fewer persons. Within those limits the contractor can do load calcs, equipment selection, layouts, controls, and drawings for systems it installs.
The mechanical engineering documents must be prepared and sealed by a Florida-licensed Professional Engineer. The contractor can still deliver the project design-build with a PE of record providing the sealed engineering.
It is a per-system capacity test. The alternative occupancy path — 100 or fewer persons — can qualify a project even where a single system exceeds 15 tons, as long as the system value stays at or below $125,000.
Yes. Florida recognizes design-build delivery, and a contractor can deliver any size project under a design-build contract provided the engineering services are rendered by a Florida-licensed engineer of record.
Suncoast Cold Systems delivers commercial HVAC design-build across Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Riverview, Temple Terrace, and Wesley Chapel — load calcs, equipment selection, layouts, controls, install, and commissioning under one contract. Licensed Class A A/C Contractor (FL #CAC1824642), with a Florida PE of record on sealed work.
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