Free Spring HVAC Maintenance Checklist for Techs

In this post, we share a free HVAC checklist for spring maintenance. It consists of the following steps:

• Take pre-maintenance safety precautions

• Check the blower area, including belt tension, motor, bearings, etc.

• Change dirty air filters

• Clean economizer screen and evaporator coil

• Check drain trap for clogs

• Inspect thermostat controls and electrical hookups

• Examine the condenser fan motor

• Check the exchange area

• Check the ignition area

Below, we’ll provide a link to download the checklist and begin using it in your HVAC business.  

Keep in mind that while this checklist provides some great benefits — such as fostering consistency and accountability during spring HVAC inspections — PDF templates have some key limitations. 

For example:

• You can’t ensure they’re used for each and every job.

• You can’t customize or duplicate them on the fly.

• PDFs don’t integrate with the other apps you use to run your business, so you need to manually transfer inspection results into your CRM.

• The details of issues discovered during inspections can’t be easily shared between field and office staff, causing delays for any next actions (e.g. checking warranty or inventory information, drafting estimates, ordering parts, etc.).

So, in addition to sharing the free maintenance checklist below, we’ll also walk through how our HVAC contractor software, ServiceTitan, solves these challenges and more.

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 Spring HVAC Maintenance Checklist

Once you’ve saved the PDF to your computer as a new file, you can customize the document with your company name, logo, address, and phone number.

The checklist consists of three basic sections, each with a handful of steps:

1. Equipment Description and Safety Checklist

Describe the Equipment Details

In this section, HVAC service technicians input all of the basics for the equipment inspection and tune-up — the date of the job, voltage and phase of the unit, unit location (e.g. rooftop unit, outdoor unit, etc.), 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 Conditioning

Maintenance tasks for air conditioning systems are covered in the AC section of the PDF.

These consist of checking the following areas of the air conditioner:

Check the Blower Area 

The blower area check includes prompts to check for belt tension, motor, bearings, wiring, blower wheel, and belt size of the AC unit.

Check the Air Filter Area

Here, techs make sure that dirty 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, the blades, condenser coil, filter dryer, and crankcase of the air conditioning unit. 

3. Heating Elements

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, such as obstacles encountered or details learned from discussions with the customer. 

Filling out this HVAC preventative maintenance checklist will help ensure techs complete a comprehensive inspection, preparing systems for the summer months ahead, and maintaining the highest possible energy efficiency (and lowest energy costs) for customers.   

With that said, PDF or paper checklists have key limitations when it comes to:

• Ensuring these checklists are filled out on every job

• Customizing and duplicating checklists

• Storing, organizing, and sharing inspection data 

• Syncing inspection data with the other tools you use to run your business

Below, we’ll discuss how HVAC software like ServiceTitan can help contractors address these challenges.

How ServiceTitan Streamlines the Spring HVAC Maintenance Process

Ensure the Proper Forms and Checklists Are Completed for Every Job

ServiceTitan’s HVAC software allows contractors to create customized forms — including HVAC maintenance checklists.

Users can create checklists and easily add them to specific jobs, customers, locations, or equipment. All forms can be accessed on our desktop or mobile app (compatible with Android and iOS devices). 

This functionality eliminates the need to keep stacks of paper checklists stocked in your trucks, or transfer job and customer data to a computer system; this allows business owners and staff to 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 HVAC companies via TitanExchange. These, too, can be customized to the specific needs or preferences of a given HVAC shop.  

Ensure 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. 

For example, if a tech is performing a spring preventative maintenance tune-up, they can be required to complete your HVAC maintenance 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 standard operating procedures 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 HVAC technicians make thorough assessments:

• Condensers

• Heat pumps

• Indoor air quality

• Refrigerant levels / refrigerant charge

• Proper airflow

• Air filters

• Humidifier/Humidity levels

• Condensate drains

• Ductwork

• Heat exchangers

• Drain lines

• Flue system

• Pulleys

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.

Create and Present Estimates When Issues Are Discovered

For business owners, one of the benefits of having a consistent HVAC inspection process is that it empowers field technicians to discover and capitalize on valuable sales opportunities.  

For example, when a tech finds an issue with HVAC equipment in the course of an inspection, ServiceTitan gives them the ability to build a custom Good Better Best proposal right from our  integrated pricebook. 

Using a tablet, techs can present proposals including product photos, equipment specs, and pricing to homeowners on the spot, as well as email them to customers for review and approval. 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.

Easily Track, Access, and Update Maintenance Agreements

Oftentimes, HVAC maintenance checklists are used in the context of HVAC memberships or maintenance 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 users store with this feature include:

• Membership type 

• Agreement period 

• Membership locations (single or multiple)

• Billing terms and schedule 

• Service frequency (e.g. quarterly, biannual, or annual maintenance plan)

• 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 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 technicians in the field.  

Furthermore, membership tracking is seamlessly integrated with the software tools that our users rely on to schedule jobs, build proposals, send invoices, and collect payment. 

Leverage Automation to Schedule Preventive Maintenance Visits on Time

Once recurring service events are set up, they are automatically added to your schedule based on the defined dates and frequency. 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 by date range, 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 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. 

In the event that you’re scheduling a maintenance visit that’s not connected to a service agreement, our call booking workflow offers a suite of features that make this seamless, including:

• Providing CSRs with the names and customer histories of incoming callers.

• Guiding CSRs through an intuitive set of form fields and drop-down menus to ensure important information is captured on the first call.

• Allowing CSRs to efficiently schedule appointments from the same screen.

• Automatically adding scheduled jobs and job details to our sophisticated, yet easy-to-use dispatch board.

Efficiently Send Invoices and Get Paid Faster

Drawing on the equipment, hourly rates, and other factors that go into an HVAC quote, ServiceTitan automatically populates invoices so that there’s no discrepancy between the estimate and the bill. 

HVAC contractors can choose to send invoices by email — with a link to allow clients to pay online — or have them e-signed on site with a mobile device. 

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. Contractors are still free to take cash or check, too. (As revenue flows in, our QuickBooks integration makes it easy to keep track of.)   

Finally, 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.

Get a ServiceTitan Demo to See How We Can Help You Optimize and Grow Your HVAC Business 

While PDF maintenance checklists are better than having no checklist at all, they simply can’t solve many of the business process challenges inherent in the surrounding workflows of executing HVAC work. 

Using a best-in-class HVAC software 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 software offers additional features to facilitate other core business functions as well, including:

• Call booking

• Scheduling

• Dispatching

• Work orders

• Proposals

• Invoices

• Payments

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.