As in any other field, there are good HVAC contractors and there are miscellaneous scam actors, merely pretending to be HVAC professionals. The first will help you with all the AC work. The latter will help themselves by emptying your pockets for nothing.
As an example of a good contractor, take a look at Air Makers and their set of services. As for the bad ones — no links for obvious reasons, but here’s how to identify them easily.
What HVAC Contractors Do
All things Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC in short). The first thing a contractor will do when hired by someone is to give a detailed estimate of the job. Afterwards they will come to your house and start working in it. They usually have a staff of workers and equipment at their disposal, so they will be able to perform several works at the same time. A good contractor, when hiring you as their employee, will show you all the documents relating to his company’s activities.
How to Choose a HVAC Company in Toronto
First of all, simply ask for recommendations from friends and neighbors, or check out the internet. Maybe you’re the lucky one. In most cases, every company will claim to be the top-trained team. In reality, half of them are one man shows. The red flags are:
- Insufficient experience;
- Wrong or non-existing certifications;
- Poor service quality;
- A limited list of services they offer;
- Their timing.
Insufficient Experience
This can be easily checked by asking for their license and work certificates. If you’re dealing with a good contractor, you should get a copy of them as well. Doing an independent investigation on the contractor will also help you to understand his track record. The bad ones, on the contrary, do not have any document showing their experience in the field.
Certifications
Knowing that they have been certified by some organization is a good sign that they are qualified to perform their duties and be taken seriously by customers. Bad AC replacement contractors do not have any certification.
Service Quality
The second thing you want to consider is the service quality of a company. This can be checked by receiving several quotations, comparing them and checking on their prices.
Then, call them and ask how they would like to perform the job or which will be their approach to the work. To know what happens in case you have a problem after the work is completed, call them and ask for a meeting with them at your place. Here, you will see what their service quality is.
Number of Services
A good AC replacement contractor stands for every letter in the HVAC abbreviation. From furnace installation to AC repair, they should be able to do it easily, and for a fair price. Bad contractors get what they can. They only know how to interchange the pieces of one system to another, take your money, and nothing more.
How Much Should a Good AC Replacement Contractor Charge in Toronto
You should first find out what type of system you have, as this will narrow down your options on the goods and services available.
Next, check the market. Depending on the exact issue, your AC repair can cost from merely 50$ to more than 2000$.
You need to dive a bit deeper into this field, identify your exact problem, and compare the prices of repairs on multiple different websites. You’ll get different results, but never choose the one that looks too good to be true.
Their Timing is Important
A good AC replacement contractor will be polite and will show all their skills from the best side because they’re interested in building a community of loyal customers in the long run. Scam artists will turn unresponsive, irritable, nervous and unwilling to invest their time into the quality of their work. They simply don’t care about their reputation.
Final Thoughts
Those are the most reliable signs that a company you’re planning to hire as HVAC contractor is not consistent with the standards of professionalism and skill. If they do all of this, they will not be cheap one. Even if they appear to be doing everything right, ask for references from your family and friends who might have dealt with them in the past and whom you’ve heard from.
