GCA-II Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify

GCA-II Requirements Overview

The Georgia Conditioned Air Contractor Class II Examination (GCA-II) is not an exam you can simply register for online. It's gated by an eligibility review conducted by the Georgia State Construction Industry Licensing Board, Division of Conditioned Air Contractors. Before PSI ever schedules your seat, the Board has to confirm your work history, your coursework, and your references meet the Class II unrestricted license standard. That approval process is the real first hurdle - and it's the part most candidates underestimate.

This guide breaks down exactly what the Board expects, in the order you'll typically satisfy it: experience documentation, required coursework, application paperwork, and the fee structure. If you want a deeper look at what happens once you're through the door, our GCA-II Exam Domains Guide and GCA-II Study Guide pick up where this article leaves off.

Five-Year Experience Requirement

The core eligibility standard for Class II is five years of qualifying conditioned-air experience. This isn't just "five years in HVAC" in a general sense - the Board is specifically looking for work on systems that exceed the Class I unrestricted license limits: above 175,000 BTU for heating and above 60,000 BTU for cooling. In practical terms, that means your documented experience needs to reflect commercial-scale or larger residential systems, not solely light residential split systems sized within Class I limits.

This distinction matters because it shapes what kind of jobs and projects you should be logging as you build your experience file. If most of your career has been spent on small residential replacements, you'll want to seek out larger-tonnage installations, commercial retrofit work, or design-build projects before you apply, so your documented history clearly crosses the Class I threshold.

EPA Certification & Manuals J&D, N&Q Coursework

Beyond field hours, the Board requires two additional credentials before it will approve your exam application:

• EPA certification - standard refrigerant handling certification that most working technicians already hold.
• Board-approved Manuals J&D and N&Q coursework - this covers residential load calculation (Manual J), duct design (Manual D), and their commercial counterparts (Manuals N and Q). This coursework requirement exists precisely because System Design is the dominant domain on the exam itself, so the Board wants proof you've studied formal load and duct-sizing methodology before you ever sit for the test.

If you haven't completed this coursework yet, treat it as a prerequisite task, not a study-week activity. It needs to be finished and documented as part of your application, well before your PSI exam date is scheduled. For guidance on where formal coursework programs are offered, see our GCA-II Training resource.

Application, Fees, and References

Once your experience and coursework are documented, the formal application includes:

• Three references who can verify your qualifying experience
• Proof of EPA certification and completed Manuals J&D and N&Q coursework
• The initial application fee of $110

After the Board reviews and approves your application, that approval is valid for one year. This is an important detail: you don't get an indefinite window to schedule your PSI exam once approved. If you let the year lapse without testing, you'll need to go back through the approval process. For a full cost breakdown across the entire licensing path, see our GCA-II Certification Cost breakdown.

Exam Format Once You're Approved

After Board approval, PSI administers the actual examination. Understanding the format helps you plan realistically for exam day itself, not just the paperwork leading up to it:

• 100 scored questions plus 20 unscored pretest questions mixed in without identification
• 7 total hours, split across two 3.5-hour parts
• Open book, following PSI's approved-reference list - you're allowed to bring specific approved materials, not any book you choose
• A silent, non-programmable calculator is permitted
• A final scaled score of 70 is required to pass

Because the exam is open book, your prep shouldn't focus purely on memorization - it should focus on knowing where information lives in your approved references and how quickly you can apply formulas under time pressure across two long sessions. For a detailed breakdown of exactly what "70" means on the scaled scoring system, read GCA-II Passing Score: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're still weighing how tough this exam actually is relative to the prep required, How Hard Is the GCA-II Exam? walks through the difficulty factors in more depth.

How Requirements Connect to the Four Domains

The eligibility requirements aren't arbitrary - they map directly to what you'll be tested on. The exam covers four domains, and your prerequisite experience should give you a head start in at least two of them:

For a question-by-question breakdown of how these four domains are weighted and tested, see the GCA-II Exam Domains Guide.

Licensing Timeline and Renewal

Passing the exam isn't the end of the requirements story - once licensed, Class II contractors renew by November 30 of odd-numbered years, with 8 continuing-education hours required per cycle. Build this into your long-term planning now: the license you're working toward isn't a one-time achievement, it's a recurring professional obligation with its own paperwork rhythm.

Knowing this renewal cadence in advance also helps you gauge whether the credential fits your career goals. If you're still deciding whether the investment of time and documentation is worth it, our analysis in Is the GCA-II Certification Worth It? and the related GCA-II Salary Guide can help you weigh the long-term picture, and GCA-II Jobs outlines who typically hires Class II license holders.

Mapping Your Prep to Your Eligibility Window

Because Board approval is only valid for one year, it makes sense to line up your study schedule against that window rather than treating exam prep as a separate, open-ended project. A practical approach:

For more on how to allocate study time within this window without falling into generic study-method traps, see our full GCA-II Study Guide. And when you're ready to test your readiness against realistic questions, you can start practicing directly on our practice test platform.

Frequently Asked Questions