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Free HVAC Inspection Checklist Template: Foster Consistency, Accountability, and Increased Sales
HVAC
For HVAC contractors, a well-designed HVAC inspection checklist is among the most useful tools available to ensure that techs efficiently and consistently provide customers with high quality maintenance services.
Without a maintenance checklist, on the other hand, HVAC business owners tend to have a very hard time verifying that employees are completing the prescribed steps for each and every job.
The potential fallout is significant: lost customers, expensive errors and delays, reputational damage, a dramatically lower bottom line.
Even in the absence of costly mistakes, HVAC technicians who don’t make a careful inspection of every unit and part risk forfeiting valuable sales opportunities—whether for small repair jobs or HVAC system replacements.
In this article, we’ll provide a free HVAC inspection checklist template, downloadable as a PDF. We’ve designed it according to HVAC industry best practices to help ensure that techs are thorough when assessing systems in the field.
It consists of the following steps:
As we’ll discuss, PDF-based/paper inspection checklists have certain limitations and are just one of a variety of tools needed to execute regular maintenance effectively at scale.
So, in addition to sharing our free checklist template below, we’ll also take a look at some of the pain points surrounding the maintenance process—scheduling maintenance appointments on time, tracking membership details and keeping them up to date, etc.—and explain how HVAC software such as ServiceTitan can help HVAC contractors address these issues.
Below, we cover:
Do you want to see for yourself how ServiceTitan’s HVAC software can give you the tools you need to streamline operations and grow your business? Schedule a call for a free product tour.
How to Download and Use Our HVAC Inspection Checklist
You can get started using our free HVAC inspection checklist by clicking here to download a copy.
Once you’ve saved the PDF to your computer as a new file, you’ll be able to customize the document with your company name, logo, address, and phone number.
As illustrated below, the body of the checklist consists of three basic sections, each with a handful of steps:
1. Equipment Description and Safety
Describe the Equipment Details
In this section, HVAC service technicians input all of the basics for the equipment due for preventative maintenance: the date of job, voltage and phase of the unit, unit location, refrigerant type, serial number and model number.
Pre-Maintenance Safety Precautions
This section also includes safety-related items, prompting techs to verify that the disconnection switch is off and that potential hazards and contaminants have been removed from the work area.
2. Air Conditioner Section
Maintenance tasks for air conditioning systems are covered in the A/C section of the PDF.
These consist of:
Check the Blower Area
The blower area check includes prompts to check for belt tension, motor, bearings, wiring, blower wheel, and belt size.
Check the Filter Area
Here, techs make sure that air filters have been changed, and that they’ve cleaned the economizer screen and checked the evaporator coil.
Check the Cooling Area
The checklist asks techs to check the drain trap for clogs and to inspect thermostat controls and electrical hookups for the cooling system.
Check the Condenser/Compressor Area
Techs must examine the condenser fan motor, in addition to the blades, condenser coil, filter dryer, and crankcase.
3. Heating Section
Our maintenance checklist also includes inspection items for jobs that include a heating system.
Check the Exchange Area
Air filters
Heat exchangers
Fan, blower motor, burner assembly
Check the Ignition Area
Gas pipe and valve
Draft inducer motor
Burner logs
Ignition board
Thermostat controls
Electrical connections
A final section gives techs space for any additional notes on a maintenance call—details gleaned from discussions with the customer, for example, or obstacles encountered.
Filling out our HVAC maintenance checklist will give techs a much better chance of completing a comprehensive inspection, tuning up systems as necessary, and maintaining low energy bills for customers.
Still, PDF or paper checklists have certain limitations to consider. In the next section, we’ll examine the limitations of static checklists and explain how a best-in-class HVAC software like ServiceTitan can help contractors address them.
How ServiceTitan Custom Forms Streamline HVAC Inspections
While PDF inspection checklists are simple to use, they can create organizational challenges of their own, and they’re poorly suited to address key workflow issues that are unavoidable for owners of busy HVAC companies.
Operational Challenges of PDF Maintenance Checklists
1. The Need to Ensure Techs Always Have Print Copies in the Truck
Naturally, if paper HVAC maintenance checklists are to be of any use, techs must arrive at each and every job with a fresh checklist in hand. That means either they or their colleagues in the office must print them out and ensure that their trucks are always supplied with a stack of them—an inconvenience for whoever is responsible.
Inevitably, this kind of setup leads to breakdowns and delays, whether due to forgetfulness, a broken printer, or a cartridge that runs out of ink.
2. Difficulty Storing, Tracking, and Accessing Checklist Data
Once the printout of a PDF checklist has been filled out, it must be properly stored or passed off to the appropriate team member. Furthermore, the information it contains must be manually transferred into a customer database or CRM, potentially by an office staffer who has trouble reading their tech’s handwriting—a source of potentially costly errors and slowdowns.
And that’s all assuming that completed paper checklists actually make it back to the office. As any busy HVAC technician knows, documents are all too easy to lose—to leave them behind at a job, or see them sail out the window of their truck, or do something as simple as spill coffee on them. These kinds of snafus can create gaps in customer information, leaving techs effectively flying blind during subsequent visits.
3. Ensuring That Checklists Are Always Completed While Techs Are On the Job
Another critical thing to keep in mind is that paper HVAC maintenance checklists do not give business owners and managers any ability to actually ensure that techs follow them. That makes it very difficult to institute and enforce company-wide inspection policies and deliver consistently high-quality service to clients.
How ServiceTitan Custom Forms Solve These Challenges
ServiceTitan’s HVAC software allows contractors to create versatile, customized forms including HVAC maintenance checklists.
Users can create maintenance checklists and easily add them to specific jobs, customers, locations, or equipment. And all forms can be accessed on our mobile app (compatible with Android and iOS devices), as well as to staff using desktop computers back at the office.
With this functionality at their fingertips, stacks of paper checklists (filled out by hand) become a thing of the past. There's no longer any need to transfer job and customer data to a computer system, so business owners and staff save time and eliminate errors.
Since ServiceTitan stores every piece of information entered into the platform in the cloud, it’s fast and easy to find and access forms and customer info.
Forms can be built from scratch. But our users also enjoy access to a wide variety of pre-built templates—sourced from forms used by other companies via TitanExchange. These, too, can be customized—adapted to the specific needs or preferences of a given HVAC shop.
Make Sure Checklists Are Used Every Time
In form settings, business owners can select the option to require techs to fill out certain forms for certain jobs.
So, if a tech is performing a preventative maintenance check-up, they can be required to complete your HVAC inspection checklist before they’re able to mark the job as complete. Or, if they’re installing a new HVAC system, they can be required to complete an HVAC installation checklist and warranty form before closing out the job.
This fosters accountability through automation, reducing stress on behalf of owners and managers, while ensuring SOPs are followed in the field for every job.
Customize and Adjust Checklists with Ease
Users can also add or subtract from maintenance checklists to perfectly match their needs and preferences. For example, any of the following could be added to checklists to ensure that techs make thorough assessments:
Condensers
Heat pumps
Air handlers
Boilers
Evaporators
Venting systems
Air distributors
Indoor air quality
Air ducts
Air filters
Compressors
Condensate drains
Ductwork
Electrical components
Condensing unit
Drain pans
Fan blades
Flue systems
Heat exchangers
Ice machines
Refrigeration units
Drip pans
Drain lines
In addition, every form and checklist can be duplicated as many times as necessary to address all of the HVAC units present, right from the job site.
While having a flexible digital forms tool is an important asset for solving the challenges of paper or manual forms, the true value of software solutions like ServiceTitan lies in the combination of features that help to streamline operations on a holistic level.
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Below, we’ll take a look at other key tools that our platform offers to solve the other key workflow challenges involved in executing HVAC preventative maintenance, specifically:
Tracking, accessing, and keeping maintenance agreement details up to date
Scheduling and dispatching maintenance visits (on time and without missing due dates)
Creating estimates for repairs or replacement when issues are discovered
How ServiceTitan Solves the Other Key Challenges of HVAC Preventative Maintenance
Tracking, Accessing, and Updating Maintenance Agreements
Oftentimes, HVAC maintenance inspection checklists come into play in the context of HVAC membership agreements. ServiceTitan's membership feature gives HVAC businesses the ability to effectively and efficiently document, manage, and track recurring services associated with maintenance agreements.
Crucially, all of the records and specifications of HVAC memberships are stored in one place, making them easy to search and reference with just a few clicks.
Details that ServiceTitan subscribers store with this feature include:
Membership type
Agreement period
Membership locations (single or multiple)
Billing schedule and price
Service frequency
Revenue recognition (point of sale or deferred)
Since this information is archived in a central location, contractors have no need to sift through paper files or squint at spreadsheets to find exactly what they’re looking for. The details are easy to edit, and can be viewed from our desktop app by office staff, or by technicians in the field.
And like virtually every aspect of ServiceTitan, membership tracking is seamlessly integrated with the software tools that our users rely on to do things like schedule jobs, build proposals, send invoices, and collect payment.
Leveraging Automation to Schedule Maintenance Visits (On Time and with Ease)
Once recurring service events are established during the membership setup process, they are automatically added to your schedule based on the dates and frequency that were defined. This saves office staff significant time from having to manually track and add these jobs to the schedule, while reducing the chances of missing maintenance visits.
Office staff can view upcoming recurring service events for the date range of their choosing, and initiate individual jobs by contacting the customer to coordinate a time and book the job. At that point, the job will be assigned to a technician, and be automatically viewable on their schedule and through the dispatch board.
You can also create follow-up notifications for cases where you’re unable to contact a customer, they aren’t ready to book a job, or they no longer want the service. These offer HVAC contractors peace of mind and help to ensure that office staff doesn’t forget to follow up in these instances.
Creating and Presenting Estimates When Issues Are Discovered
For business owners, one of the benefits of having a consistent HVAC inspection process is that it empowers field service technicians to discover and capitalize on valuable sales opportunities.
When such an opportunity is identified—when a tech finds an issue or issues with HVAC equipment in the course of an inspection—ServiceTitan gives them the ability to create an accurate, professional estimate and quickly deliver it to their customer.
Techs using ServiceTitan often do this on the spot, leveraging our software’s integrated pricebook features to choose the best equipment and materials for the job and create an estimate on the fly.
Using a tablet, estimates—complete with Good Better Best options, augmented by color photos, equipment specs, and pricing—can be presented to homeowners right away. Alternatively, techs can email estimates for review and approval.
In addition to ensuring that no vital job details get lost in the shuffle of paperwork between job site and office, this feature allows contractors to save time on delivering estimates to customers whose needs are often urgent.
ServiceTitan also provides for automated tracking and follow-up on outstanding estimates, enabling users to improve close rates and maximize their bottom line.
Efficiently Sending Invoices and Getting Paid
By streamlining all of the most essential elements of an HVAC business, ServiceTitan makes billing easy.
Drawing on the equipment, hourly rates, and other factors that go into an HVAC quote, ServiceTitan automatically populates work orders and invoices, so that there’s no jarring discrepancy between estimate and bill.
HVAC contractors can choose to send invoices by email—with a link to allow clients to pay online—delivered by hand or regular old mail, or have them e-signed on site with a mobile device.
With ServiceTitan, collecting payments is similarly painless. Homeowners and commercial clients alike can settle up through our customer portal, which allows them to save credit card information. Naturally, contractors are still free to take cash or check, too. (As revenue flows in, our QuickBooks integration makes it easy to keep track of.)
Residential jobs can sometimes hit a snag for budgetary reasons. But ServiceTitan can help HVAC contractors overcome objections by providing near-instantaneous access to one of our financing partners. It takes just minutes on our mobile software for customers to apply and get approved, reducing cost obstacles that might otherwise reduce profitability.
Conclusion
While PDF/paper-based HVAC inspection checklists certainly represent an improvement over having no checklist at all, they simply can’t solve many of the business process challenges that inevitably arise in a busy HVAC shop.
Some of the things that analog checklists aren’t much help with include:
Overall business organization, efficiency, and management
Scheduling and dispatching techs to jobs
Tracking maintenance agreements and customer information
Creating and sending estimates
Invoicing and mobile payments
Using a top-of-the-line HVAC software solution, like ServiceTitan, gives contractors the ability to build customizable forms and checklists that are seamlessly integrated with other vital business processes, and represents an incomparably superior way to address these and other challenges.
In addition to simply optimizing the HVAC inspection process, our approach integrates it with other core business functions including:
Do you want to see for yourself how ServiceTitan’s HVAC software can give you the tools you need to streamline operations and grow your business? Schedule a call for a free product tour.
