Working as an HVAC technician: tasks, training and career
The specialist in heating, ventilation and cooling: maintaining installations, solving breakdowns and keeping buildings comfortable and energy-efficient.
At a glance
| Where you work | Installation companies, maintenance contractors, facility companies and the technical services of hospitals, offices and industrial sites. |
|---|---|
| Status | Blue-collar or white-collar, depending on the employer |
| Joint committees | PC 149.01, PC 124, PC 111 |
| Bottleneck profession | Yes, according to VDAB |
| Working hours | Mostly days, often with standby duty |
| Certificates | VCA diploma (B-VCA, VOL-VCA, VIL-VCU), Refrigeration certificate (category I to IV), Aerial platform certificate (IS-005, IPAF) |
What you do as HVAC technician
- Perform preventive maintenance on heating, ventilation and cooling installations
- Diagnose and repair breakdowns, from burners to refrigerant circuits and controls
- Balance installations for optimal comfort and energy consumption
- Follow up legal inspections and certificates, such as refrigerant leak checks
- Advise customers on replacement, sustainability and energy savings
What employers ask for
- Training in refrigeration, heating or electromechanics, or equivalent through experience
- The refrigeration certificate (category I) for working on refrigerant circuits
- Knowledge of burners, heat pumps and controls; basic electrical knowledge is a must
- Working independently at customers and communicating clearly about your findings
- Driving licence B; standby duty is common in service companies
What does an HVAC technician do?
In the VDAB occupational information, working as an HVAC technician falls under Regeltechnicus klimatisatie. You control, maintain and repair climate installations in buildings and make sure they run reliably.
Training and certificates
In secondary school, the third-stage programmes in refrigeration and heating techniques or sanitary and heating installations and the seventh year as installation techniques technician lead to HVAC technician. Higher education offers the associate degrees in HVAC systems and renewable energy systems; if you work on refrigerant circuits as an HVAC technician, you also need a refrigeration certificate, obtained at a recognised training centre.
For work as an HVAC technician, employers often ask for VCA diploma (B-VCA, VOL-VCA, VIL-VCU), Refrigeration certificate (category I to IV) and Aerial platform certificate (IS-005, IPAF).
Shift work and standby duty
HVAC technicians at service companies mostly work days, but often take part in a standby rota for breakdowns outside office hours. If you work as an HVAC technician between 20:00 and 06:00, the FPS Employment counts that as night work, for which new rules apply since 1 June 2026.
Growing as HVAC technician
Many HVAC technicians grow into service supervisor, work planner or HVAC engineer, designing projects instead of maintaining them. Specialising in heat pumps, building management systems or data center cooling raises your market value quickly.
Starting your own business is also a real path in this trade: demand for residential heat pump installers has outstripped supply for years.
Pay at a glance
Our pay range: €3,000 - €4,300 gross per month, without premiums and fringe benefits, based on the vacancies we fill.
Sector minimum
- PC 149.01, minimum hourly wages, blue-collar workers (38-hour week): 16.88 to 26.82 euros gross per hour, valid from 1 January 2026
- PC 124, minimum hourly wages per category (40-hour week): 18.747 to 27.003 euros gross per hour, valid from 1 October 2026
- PC 111, national minimum hourly wage: 16.2682 to 17.1244 euros gross per hour, valid from 1 July 2026
Lowest and highest amount in the pay scale table; which amount applies to you depends on your class or category and your experience.
Sources for this data: see the list at the bottom.
What public sources report
| Source | Job title at the source | What the source reports | Sample and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indeed | Technieker HVAC (m/v) | Average 19.47 euros per hour; minimum to maximum: 16.01 to 23.68 (base pay, gross or net not stated) | about 2,000 salaries reported; updated 8 November 2026 |
| Talent.com | Hvac technieker | Median 33,592 euros per year; low to high: 31,616 to 45,615 (gross or net not stated) | 2,872 salaries reported; no date stated |
Not included: Glassdoor (blocks automated reading), Jobat (no salary page for this job in Belgium), StepStone (blocks automated reading), PayScale (no salary page for this job in Belgium), Statbel (occupational group too broad).
Why do these figures differ so much? They don't measure the same thing. Glassdoor, Indeed, PayScale and Talent.com count salaries people report themselves or that appear in job ads, often without saying whether they are gross or net. Jobat gives an average gross salary without a sample. Statbel measures officially, but per broad occupational group and for October 2022, so before the indexations of the following years.
The unit differs too: per hour, per month or per year. We convert nothing, because an annual salary may include twelve or thirteen months and holiday pay, and an hourly wage depends on your weekly schedule. A small sample can be far off because of a few outliers.
The full pay explanation, with premiums and net pay: What does an HVAC technician earn in Belgium?→
Open vacancies
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Frequently asked questions
Is HVAC technician a bottleneck profession?
Yes, working as an HVAC technician is on the VDAB list of bottleneck professions for 2026, as "Technicus installatietechnieken" and "Regeltechnicus klimatisatie". According to VDAB, finding an HVAC technician is hard because there are too few job seekers available and candidates often lack the right experience or training.
Which joint committee covers an HVAC technician?
As an HVAC technician you fall under the joint committee that matches your employer's activity, not a committee for your job. For an HVAC technician these are usually PC 149.01, PC 124 and PC 111. As an HVAC technician you work as a blue-collar or white-collar employee, depending on the employer.
Sources
Checked on 3 November 2026 unless stated otherwise.
- VDAB, beroepeninformatie Regeltechnicus klimatisatie (checked on 13 November 2026)
- VDAB, Knelpuntberoepen 2026
- Onderwijskiezer (CLB), overzicht studierichtingen derde graad secundair onderwijs
- Vlaamse overheid, Hogeronderwijsregister: erkende graduaats-, bachelor- en masteropleidingen, academiejaar 2026-2027
- Vlaanderen.be, erkenning als koeltechnicus (certificaat categorie I tot IV)
- Departement Omgeving, lijst erkende opleidingscentra koeltechniek (pdf)
- FOD Werkgelegenheid, minimumlonen.be: sectorale minimumlonen per paritair comité
- BeSaCC-VCA: VCA info (checked on 23 October 2026)
- FOD Werkgelegenheid: attest voor het besturen van een gemotoriseerd transportwerktuig (opleidingsplicht Codex I.2-16 tot I.2-21) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- Vlaanderen.be: informatie voor de koeltechnicus (verplichtingen, actualisatie-examen, retributie) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- Codex over het welzijn op het werk, boek IV titel 3 Mobiele arbeidsmiddelen (FOD WASO, pdf) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- Codex over het welzijn op het werk, boek I titel 4 Gezondheidstoezicht (FOD WASO, pdf) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- FOD Werkgelegenheid: attest voor het besturen van een gemotoriseerd transportwerktuig (checked on 23 October 2026)
- BeSaCC-VCA: Register van Risicovolle Taken, versie 2020-01 (pdf) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- BeSaCC-VCA: info risicovolle taken (checked on 23 October 2026)
- Indeed, lonen voor Technieker HVAC (m/v) in België (checked on 13 November 2026)
- Talent.com, lonen voor Hvac technieker in België (checked on 13 November 2026)
- minimumlonen.be (FOD Werk), PSC 149.01 elektriciens: installatie en distributie, geldig vanaf 01/01/2026
- ACV bouw - industrie & energie, info Bouw PC 124 oktober 2026 (lonen vanaf 1 oktober 2026)
- minimumlonen.be, PC 111 metaalverwerkingsondernemingen, geldig vanaf 01/07/2026
- FOD Werkgelegenheid, Nachtarbeid (regels vanaf 1 juni 2026)
Spotted an error or an outdated source? Report it to the editorial team
General information based on the law and the sources listed. Your collective agreement, your contract and your payroll provider or union remain decisive for your own situation.
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