Guides
What to put in an HVAC contractor service package: 17 definitions
Seventeen HVAC contractor service packages defined by entry condition, task list and exclusion, so each one can be priced from measured time rather than guessed.
What to take away
- Seventeen package definitions below. Each names what triggers it, what is performed, and what is deliberately left out.
- A package without a written exclusion is an argument waiting for a hot Friday.
- Package numbers are definitions, not a ranking. Sell the ones your gate lets you deliver today.
- Price every one of them from measured visit time. A package priced to look attractive multiplies its loss by the number of customers who buy it.
- No prices appear here. What each package costs to deliver is specific to your labor cost, your route density and your stock.
How to read these
Every definition has three parts. The entry condition says when a customer qualifies. The task list says what the technician performs, in terms a technician can complete without judgment. The exclusion says what is not included, which is the part that protects both sides.
The packaging method behind the format is set out in how to package HVAC services for customers, and which of these are worth your hours is a measurement question answered in the ranking of profitable HVAC service lines.
Seasonal and maintenance packages
- Cooling season readiness.Entry: any customer with a functioning cooling system, booked before the peak. Tasks: filter, coil condition, condensate route, electrical connections, refrigerant circuit condition, airflow and pressure readings recorded. Excludes: refrigerant added, parts, duct work.
- Heating season readiness.Entry: any customer with a functioning heating system. Tasks: heat exchanger inspection where accessible, ignition and flame sensing, venting condition, safety controls, airflow measurement. Excludes: combustion component replacement, chimney or flue work.
- Two-visit annual agreement.Entry: equipment within a stated age and in working order at sign-up. Tasks: packages one and two on a scheduled month. Excludes: repairs, and any visit outside the two.
- Single-system starter agreement.Entry: a new customer with one system who is not ready for a full agreement. Tasks: one seasonal visit plus a written condition report. Excludes: priority response.
- Multi-system household agreement.Entry: two or more systems at one address. Tasks: the seasonal visits for each system, on one appointment where practical. Excludes: separate addresses, which belong in their own agreement.
- Landlord portfolio agreement.Entry: a landlord or manager with several addresses. Tasks: scheduled visits, a per-property record, and a single consolidated report. Excludes: tenant-reported faults, which are billed as calls.
- Light commercial planned maintenance.Entry: a commercial site with equipment you have surveyed. Tasks: an agreed schedule per unit with a report the facilities contact can file. Excludes: after-hours attendance unless separately agreed.
Response and repair packages
- Priority response.Entry: an active maintenance agreement. Promise: a stated response window during your published hours. Excludes: a repair time guarantee, which depends on parts you do not control.
- After-hours response.Entry: agreement holders who opt in. Promise: attendance outside published hours at a stated basis. Excludes: parts availability outside supplier hours.
- Diagnostic visit.Entry: any fault call. Tasks: a defined diagnostic sequence, a written finding, and a quote for the repair. Excludes: the repair itself, and any part fitted on the visit.
- Repair with parts allowance.Entry: a diagnosed fault where the part is on the truck. Tasks: repair, test, and a recorded reading confirming operation. Excludes: any second fault revealed by fixing the first.
- Equipment condition survey.Entry: a customer considering replacement, or a property purchase. Tasks: age, condition, measurements taken, and a written assessment of what the duct system can carry. Excludes: a valuation, and any prediction of remaining life.
Installation and improvement packages
- Straight change-out.Entry: existing equipment being replaced like for like, with ducts, venting and electrical confirmed adequate. Tasks: recovery, removal, disposal, installation per the manufacturer's installation instructions, permit and inspection, startup readings. Excludes: everything in the exclusions list you should already keep.
- Change-out with duct remediation.Entry: a survey showing the existing duct system cannot carry the airflow the new equipment requires. Tasks: the change-out plus defined duct modification, with measurements before and after. Excludes: replacement of duct runs not listed.
- Duct sealing and repair.Entry: measured evidence of leakage or a pressure problem. Tasks: accessible sealing, repair of failed connections, and a repeat measurement at the end. Excludes: work in inaccessible cavities, and any energy saving stated as a figure.
- Controls upgrade.Entry: an existing system with compatible wiring. Tasks: install, configure, demonstrate the sequence to the customer, and leave written settings. Excludes: wiring replacement, and integration with equipment you have not seen.
- Indoor air quality assessment.Entry: a customer with a stated concern. Tasks: what you can actually measure, an honest account of what the measurement means, and options with their limitations stated. Excludes: any health claim, and any promise about symptoms.
Test every package against the worst hour of your busiest week before you publish it. A response promise that fails once during a heat wave costs more reputation than the package earned in a season of sales.
The rules that make these safe to sell
Refrigerant handling in packages one, ten, eleven, thirteen and fourteen is a federally regulated activity, and who may perform it is set by the EPA Section 608 technician certification program. Check the current position there rather than assuming.
Compliance Rules Before Selling
- Refrigerant handlingEPA Section 608 certification required
- Advertising claimsFTC support must exist first
- No energy savings as a number
- No comfort promises or failure prevention claims
- Keep visit records for time reconciliation
- IRS recordkeeping standard for income and expenses
Anything you say publicly about a package is advertising, and the FTC advertising guidance for small businesses requires support to exist before the claim is made. That rules out energy savings expressed as a number, comfort promises, and any suggestion that maintenance prevents failure.
Keep the visit records so each package can be reconciled against the time it actually consumes. The standard for records that clearly show income and expenses is described in the IRS recordkeeping guidance.
Before you offer any of them
Two checks. Can a person employed today complete the task list unsupervised, and does the truck carry what the list assumes? The instrument side of that question is covered in the equipment and setup guide, and the stocked parts side in the equipment checklist for new owners.
Where each of these packages sits in the wider menu, and the competence gate they all have to pass, is set out in the services and packages guide.
Common questions
How many packages should a firm actually sell?
Three or four, delivered consistently. Seventeen definitions exist here so you can choose deliberately, not so you can publish them all.
Should the agreement include a repair discount?
If it does, price it as a real cost rather than as a gesture. A discount on parts and labor for agreement holders is revenue you have already given away, and it needs to be in the agreement's price.
What happens when equipment fails under an agreement?
Exactly what the exclusion says will happen. That is why the exclusion is written before the agreement is sold rather than after the failure.
Can a package guarantee a response time?
Only if you can staff it at the worst hour of your busiest week. A response promise that fails once during a heat wave costs more reputation than it ever earned in sales.
