Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine May 2025 Issue

News Magazine May 2025

last License Board meeting, Director Lindsay Moore commented that our guys, the HVACR folks, were very patient and understanding. I think that is because we have a good working relationship with the Department. We are not adversarial. We are on the same team; however, this sort of thing is testing that relationship. Well, not exactly. We know that we have a friend on the phone and they are doing everything they can to help. Takes time. Sometimes the phone is tied up and they can’t get with us for a couple of days. Sometimes they have a problem working out the problem. Just stay patient. Lindsay assures that no one will have to pay a late fee as long as the person is honestly trying to renew. What is honestly? Well, someone running several months behind can’t use this snafu as an excuse for having let their license expire. We have to be honest. Look, we know if our problem is us or them. If it is them, they will cover us. Here is the deal. I guess I should have expected a screw up sometime but I did not expect one of this magnitude. Till now, Labor and Licensing and our partners there have been exemplary. But boy, when they screw up, they really screw up. Of course, we never make a mistake. Ugh! That was sarcastic. We all make mistakes. It is just that this one was really big and affected thousands of licensees. It will all work out. Just stay patient and realize that they are doing all they can to make it better. Be the good guys we have the reputation for being.

Digital License Renewal Unbelievable Screw Up Frequently, folks think that I have my nose up the rear of the Department of Labor and Licensing and I can understand why. I am constantly bragging about the way the Department has handled the HVACR program. We are so much better off now than the pre-Labor and Licensing days. There is a rapport and support and partnership between the Department and the industry. It has been an example of the way an industry and the regulators should work together. Most of you know that we are changing to digital license renewal. That should have streamlined and made the process more efficient. We were so positive about the change because the wrinkles were ironed out with the electricians. At least we thought so. Not the case at all. It has been a screw up of catastrophic proportions. I don’t know of a single person whose renewal has gone smoothly. Not because our folks in the office have not tried to make it work. They are spending their days trying to kindly and patiently help our folks get their licenses renewed. I feel so sorry for them because they are on the front lines of service listening to the same story from everyone. I don’t know who supposedly created and tested the new system but they certainly did a terrible job. So what are we, the licensees, to do? Do what you are presently doing. Calling the office and politely asking for help. In the