Certified Mechanical Contractor/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 — answers 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.

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