The old unit is ready to come out, but nobody has checked the drain route, pipework, power supply or removal access. Send an air conditioning replacement quote now and those missing checks become your problem.
Inspect first. Decide what stays and what goes. Then cost the complete job, including removal, access, commissioning and handover.
Define the replacement before discussing price
There is no honest replacement price until you know the equipment and site scope. Build the figure from the equipment, installation materials, labour, subcontractors, access, disposal, overhead and markup.
A customer may want a price from a photo, model number or short phone call. That is not enough for a fixed quote unless the scope is already clear.
Equipment type is only one cost driver. The price also moves with system layout, capacity, controls, retained services, access, electrical interfaces, lifting needs and disposal. A replacement in the same rooms is not automatically like for like.
Give a budget estimate only when the customer needs an early planning figure. State that it is an estimate, identify the assumptions behind it and name the inspection needed before you can offer a fixed quote. If the uncertainty is wide, use a range based on your own figures rather than pretending the price is settled.
The repair-versus-replace rule some customers mention multiplies the system’s age by the repair cost, then compares the result with a preset figure. It cannot set your quote. It ignores the actual defect, the condition of the remaining system, site access and the complete replacement scope. Compare the repair work with the inspected replacement work instead.
Before discussing a fixed price, tell the customer what you need to inspect and book the visit.
Inspect the existing system before choosing equipment
Existing pipework, drains, cables, controls and supports can only be reused after you inspect and test them. Write the result against each component rather than making a blanket promise.
Record the system as it stands. Note the indoor unit, outdoor unit, controls, areas served and reported fault. Photograph labels, connections, access points and visible defects.
Do not copy the old unit label and treat selection as finished. Confirm the required duty, room use, layout and any changes since the old system was installed. A changed room, added load or altered zoning can move the job beyond a direct replacement.
Check these parts on site:
- Indoor and outdoor unit locations.
- Isolation points and electrical interfaces.
- Visible pipework, insulation and connection positions.
- Drain condition, fall, termination and access.
- Ducts, grilles, dampers and zoning controls where fitted.
- Wall brackets, slabs, roof supports and other mounting points.
- Penetrations, flashings and weather sealing.
- Removal path for the old equipment.
- Delivery path for the new equipment.
- Working space, surface protection and cleanup needs.
- Restricted access, lifting equipment and extra labour.
The outdoor unit may look easy from the ground. The removal path can tell a different story. If it needs restricted access, lifting equipment or another pair of hands, put that work in the scope before pricing it.
Mark each existing component as one of three things: replace, retain subject to testing, or outside scope. Do not leave reuse decisions in your head.
Decide whether the job is like for like or a design change
A like-for-like replacement keeps more than the broad system type. The new equipment still needs compatible positions, connections, controls, capacity and service routes.
Treat the work as a design change when you alter the unit position, capacity, zoning, outlets, controls, duct layout or connection routes. A different footprint can require new supports. A shifted pipe connection can add fabrication and labour. A new controller can change wiring and setup work.
Inspect again when the proposed equipment or layout goes beyond what you recorded during the first visit. Bring in another qualified trade where the design or work sits outside your competence or the work you are licensed to do.
Write “like for like” only after you have listed what is actually staying the same. Otherwise, name the changes.
Turn every site finding into written scope
The handoff from inspection to scope is where many replacement jobs leak money. Every site finding needs to become a line item, an assumption, an exclusion or a customer responsibility.
For retained pipework, record its visible condition, size, route, insulation and connection points. State that reuse depends on the checks required by the equipment instructions and the licensed refrigerant tradie. Name the action if it leaks, is contaminated, is damaged or does not suit the selected equipment.
For a retained drain, check the visible fall, outlet, joints and access. Run a flow test and check for leaks or blockages where the route allows it. If a concealed section cannot be checked, say so and explain that repair or replacement is outside the fixed scope until it is exposed.
Have electrical cables, isolation equipment and terminations checked by a person licensed to do that work. Record whether the existing supply, protection, cable condition and connection arrangement suit the replacement. Do not promise cable reuse from a photograph.
Check that retained controls can communicate with the new equipment and perform the functions in the scope. Test operation after setup. Inspect supports for corrosion, damage, secure fixings, level and suitability for the replacement unit. Replace doubtful supports rather than hiding the risk in an assumption.
Follow the equipment instructions and use the authorised trade for each technical test. The quote should name the component, the check and what happens if it fails. It does not need to teach the customer the test method.
Write the sequence with direct verbs. Isolate the system. Protect the work area. Remove the old equipment. Supply the selected equipment. Install and connect it. Test it. Commission it. Demonstrate the controls. Remove waste. Clean the work area.
Separate work controlled by another trade. Identify building work, electrical work, access work and specialist subcontract work. State whether you are arranging it, allowing for it or excluding it.
Put each assumption beside the part of the job it affects. A general exclusion hidden at the end is easy to miss and hard to administer.
Build the air conditioning replacement quote cost sheet
Installation cost is more than the time spent mounting the new units. Include setup, removal, access, connection work, testing, commissioning, handover and cleanup in the replacement labour costs.
Start the equipment cost sheet with the selected matched equipment. Then add the parts needed to deliver and install it. The supplier’s main unit price is not the complete equipment cost.
Check supplier inclusions line by line. Cost controls, accessories, supports, installation consumables, delivery and handling where they apply. Do not assume a required component is in the box.
Keep the internal cost buckets boring:
- Equipment.
- Installation materials.
- Labour.
- Subcontractors.
- Plant and access.
- Disposal.
- Overhead.
Build replacement labour costs by work stage rather than one guessed total. Allow for site setup, shutdown, protection, access preparation and removal. Then allow for mounting, pipework, drainage, electrical interfaces, duct changes and control work included in the scope.
Reserve labour for the end of the job. Testing, commissioning records, control setup, customer handover, cleanup and job documentation all take time. If those tasks are not on the cost sheet, the crew still does them. You simply do not recover the cost.
Add subcontractors, lifting equipment, access equipment and disposal as separate direct costs. Keeping them separate makes supplier changes and job close-out easier to read.
The customer does not need your supplier costs, estimated hours or overhead calculations. Keep those on the internal cost sheet. The customer needs a clear system, a clear scope and a clear price.
Add overhead and markup after the cost base is complete
Total the equipment, materials, labour, subcontractors, plant, access, disposal and other direct costs first. Add the job’s share of overhead using your own figures. Apply markup after the cost base is complete.
Markup and margin are not interchangeable. Markup is what you add to cost to reach the selling price. Margin is the profit left as a share of the selling price. Use the profit margin calculator when you need to check the difference against your own costs.
Do not use a target margin as a reason to ignore scope. A neat percentage cannot recover lifting equipment, a controller or a return visit that never entered the cost sheet.
Check how GST must be handled and shown with the Australian Taxation Office (opens in a new tab). Use the current information for your business rather than relying on an old template.
Write the customer-facing scope, tests and records
Your customer-facing air conditioning replacement quote should identify the site, existing system, proposed equipment and quoted document. Match equipment descriptions to the supplier information you used for costing.
State what the price includes:
- Isolation and protection of the work area.
- Removal and disposal of the named existing equipment.
- Supply of the specified replacement equipment.
- Installation materials and connection work listed in scope.
- Retained services and the checks required before reuse.
- Controls, zoning or outlet work included in the job.
- Testing, commissioning and customer handover.
- Cleanup and the records supplied at completion.
A system commissioning quote needs clear tests and records. Record the equipment model and serial details, the installation readings required by the equipment instructions, the leak-test outcome, drain-flow result, control and zoning operation, and the electrical checks completed by the licensed electrical person. Add the final settings, customer demonstration and warranty documents supplied at handover.
Put access requirements and customer responsibilities near the work they affect. If a clear removal path, parking area or access window is required, say so. State quote validity using your real supplier and scheduling conditions rather than copying a standard period from somewhere else.
Use this copy-ready structure:
Quote number: [Quote number] Customer: [Customer name] Site: [Street address and postcode] Existing system: [System type, location, served areas and reported condition] Proposed replacement: [Equipment description, capacity decision, controls and locations] Included work: [Isolation, protection, removal, supply, installation, connection and disposal] Existing services proposed for reuse: [Component, required check and action if it fails] Commissioning and handover: [Tests, control setup, records, demonstration and cleanup] Access and customer responsibilities: [Required access, clearances and site preparation] Assumptions: [Visible site conditions relied upon] Exclusions: [Building, electrical, concealed, access or other work not included] Variation process: [Extra work will be described, priced and approved in writing before it proceeds] Price and GST: [Quoted price and GST presentation] Acceptance: [Customer name, approval and date]
For help turning that structure into a clean document, use the guide to writing a quote.
State or territory licensing and national refrigerant requirements are separate checks. Ask your state or territory licensing regulator which trade and contractor licences cover the installation work and contracts you plan to accept. For a job in New South Wales, use NSW Fair Trading (opens in a new tab) for those questions.
Check the national refrigerant handling and trading requirements with the Australian Government department responsible for refrigerant licences (opens in a new tab). Ask which authorisation covers the refrigerant work and business activities on the job. Do not treat a state or territory trade licence as the answer to the national refrigerant question.
Ask the state or territory WHS regulator about workplace safety requirements for access, lifting and the work area. For a New South Wales job, check with SafeWork NSW (opens in a new tab). Do not use a safety regulator to answer licensing questions.
Control hidden work with a written variation
A ceiling or wall cavity is opened. The drain, cable or pipe route does not match the site notes. Stop before the installer turns the discovery into unpriced work.
Record the condition. Describe the extra work. Price it. State any effect on timing. Get written approval before continuing. The final invoice should follow the accepted quote plus approved variations.
Worked example — sample currency units only. The Oak Street house example is electrical work, but the document control applies here. R. Chen’s bathroom exhaust fan and four LED downlights at 14 Oak Street were covered by quote Q-1847 for 1,105. The ceiling was lined and chasing was excluded. Extra cable and chasing were approved on site as a 160 variation, so invoice INV-1847 was 1,265.
The lesson is not the amount. The original boundary was written down. The extra work was approved before it was added to the invoice.
Give the crew a clear stop point. If a retained drain fails testing, a support is unsound or a concealed route differs from the quote, they ask for approval rather than absorbing the work.
Close the job against the original quote
Record the actual equipment, material, labour, subcontractor, plant and disposal costs against the same job. Compare them with the cost sheet prepared before the work started.
Worked example — sample currency units only. On the Oak Street example, job cost was 850 against the original quote Q-1847 of 1,105. Profit was 255 because 1,105 − 850 = 255. Margin was 255 ÷ 1,105, or about 23%. Markup was 255 ÷ 850, or 30%.
Do not calculate profit using invoice INV-1847 for 1,265. The costs of the 160 variation were not provided. Combining the invoice total with the original job cost of 850 would give a false result.
Review actual vs estimated cost by bucket. If removal took longer, change the inspection question about access. If commissioning labour was missed, add it to the next labour build-up. If an accessory was absent from the supplier allowance, add it to the equipment checklist.
That is cost tracking with a purpose. It improves the next quote and gives you a cleaner view of job profitability. Use the job-costing close-out guide to turn those differences into changes for the next job.
Job management software for tradies can keep the accepted quote, site notes, approved variation, commissioning record, invoice and costs on the same job. Yes Foreman follows that chain without changing the basic rule: the written scope controls the work.
Send the accepted scope to the crew
Put the accepted air conditioning replacement quote, equipment details, site photographs, access notes, exclusions and commissioning checklist on the job. Do not make the installer reconstruct the sale from a short diary entry.
Name who can approve a variation and how the crew contacts them. Before dispatch, give the person on site a clear point at which to stop, record the changed condition and request written approval.