Heating and cooling in San Bernardino
San Bernardino contractors need both a state license and a city business license to pull permits online. Ask your company for both numbers before it files your heating or cooling job. Community Development and Housing's Building & Safety Division keeps its permit service counter at 201 North E Street, open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8 to 5, Wednesday from 10 to 5 and Friday from 8 to 4. The last sign-in is 4:30 Monday to Thursday and 2:30 on Friday.
The Building Permit page says minor work, such as water heater replacements and electrical panel upgrades, is usually issued over the counter. Larger projects need plans and specifications reviewed first. The division's fee schedule, its footer dated July 2020, lists $18.55 for a forced-air unit up to 100,000 BTU or an A/C unit up to 3 tons, and $13.35 for a duct alteration. Since that's a 2020 schedule, ask the counter what it charges now.
The state's maps put the city's reference point in Southern California Edison's electric territory, with Colton Electric Utility Department touching the boundary, and in SoCalGas territory for gas. Your bill tells you which applies near the edges. San Bernardino's reference point also lies in South Coast AQMD territory. The district's Rule 1111 says a fan-type natural gas central furnace, sold or put in there, may emit up to 14 nanograms of NOx per joule of delivered heat. Ask the company whether the quoted model meets the limit.
What heating and cooling work costs near San Bernardino
Nobody's given us a quote for work in San Bernardino yet, so this page can't show a city price. The California page lists what technicians earn (the California median in 2025 BLS wage data is $36.24 an hour, which is their pay, not your price). How we estimate costs.
Permits for heating and cooling work in San Bernardino
Under the California Mechanical Code, replacing a furnace, air handler, coil or condenser needs a building permit, and so does adding ducting, as the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) told C-20 contractors in a 2010 letter. Code details vary by city and county, so ask the building department for your address what it needs.
Heating and cooling jobs in San Bernardino
Sources for San Bernardino
- Building Permit, City of San Bernardino Read Oct 22, 2026.
- South Coast AQMD: Rule 1111 (PDF) Read Oct 20, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2023 5-year (B01003, B25034, B25077)
- California Energy Commission Electric Load Serving Entities (IOU and POU)
- Schedule of Fees - Building & Safety Division, City of San Bernardino Read Oct 23, 2026.