The customer accepts the system price but has not chosen the controls. Or the outdoor unit has moved since the site visit. A vague HVAC quote follow up does not settle either point.
Do not order equipment until the customer has approved one equipment list, one installation scope and one current quote revision.
Reopen the current quote before making the HVAC quote follow up
Open the exact revision sent to the customer. Do not work from memory, a sales note or an equipment list copied into a message.
Match the customer name, job address, quote number, revision and approving person. State CAD beside the price. Check that the GST/HST presentation matches the record your business uses.
If the equipment schedule or installation scope is too loose to approve, rebuild the quote before you contact the customer. The approval can only be as clear as the document behind it.
Match the document to the property
Confirm the site address, including the unit number and postal code where needed. Make sure the person replying has authority to approve work for that property or business.
For a managed site, write down who can approve the equipment package, who can approve extra work and who receives the invoice. A tenant saying “go ahead” may not be the purchasing instruction your office needs.
Mark old revisions as superseded. Keep only one revision open for acceptance. Two live versions create two different jobs.
Mark every decision that blocks equipment approval
Read each equipment and scope line. Put a clear status beside every unresolved choice.
Common blockers include:
- The indoor or outdoor unit is not identified precisely.
- The thermostat or control package is undecided.
- An accessory is discussed but not accepted or declined.
- The equipment position has changed.
- A service route has not been confirmed.
- A customer-supplied item has no compatibility check.
- Permit, inspection or prerequisite work has no assigned owner.
Write the blocker as a direct question. “Which thermostat do you approve?” is usable. “Customer considering controls” is not.
Do this before the HVAC sales follow-up. The call should settle a recorded decision, not discover what the office forgot to check.
Ask for an order decision, not a general update
Do not ask whether the customer has “had a chance to look.” That invites another vague answer.
Name the site, current quote revision and blocked decision. Give the customer four choices: approve the current revision, request a revision, place the job on hold or close the quote.
Use a short prompt:
Customer: [customer or business name] Job address: [full site address] Quote and revision: [quote number and current revision] Decision needed: [equipment, control, option, position or scope item] Please choose one: [ ] Approve the current quote and listed equipment package [ ] Request a revised quote for the change described below [ ] Place the job on hold [ ] Close the quote Requested change or note: [customer wording] Approving person: [name and role] Approval date: [date]
Do not turn a request into an approval. If the customer asks for another model, a different outdoor position or added work, record the request and price its effect first.
Separate customer interest from authority to order
“I want to proceed” does not identify a thermostat, accessory package or installation route. Ask the customer to approve the current equipment list and scope by quote revision.
Record the approving person’s name and role. If another owner, property manager or purchasing contact must approve, keep the job blocked until that person responds.
The replacement quote follow-up is complete only when the answer tells purchasing what to buy and tells scheduling what work has been accepted.
List exactly what purchasing must order
A total price is not an order list. Give each orderable component its own line.
Use the complete model identifier from the purchasing record. Never shorten it. Put the unit beside every measurement because Canadian site and equipment records may use metric, imperial or both.
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Component | Indoor unit, outdoor unit, coil, control or accessory |
| Description | Plain description matching the quote |
| Model identifier | Complete ordering identifier |
| Quantity | Number approved |
| Configuration | Capacity, fuel or power details stated for the package |
| Match | Approved component combination |
| Status | Included, optional, declined or customer-supplied |
| Installation effect | Supports, controls, connections, access or commissioning work |
| Approval | Approved, rejected or awaiting decision |
Mark accepted, declined and optional items separately. Do not delete a declined accessory. Purchasing and the crew need to know it was considered and rejected.
The customer approves the named package, controls, options and price. You remain responsible for checking compatibility, capacity, regulated trade scope and installation requirements before release.
Control customer-supplied items
Name every customer-supplied item. State who checks compatibility, receives it, stores it and handles missing or damaged parts.
Write what your labour includes if the item arrives incomplete or does not match the agreed connections. If it changes supports, controls, wiring, drainage, access or commissioning, revise the quote before accepting it.
Separate file notes from quote changes
Use a file note for information that does not alter the accepted equipment, scope, responsibilities, exclusions or price. A confirmed access contact or delivery instruction can stay in the job record if it does not change the work.
Revise the quote when the customer selects another model, moves equipment, adds an option or changes who supplies part of the work. A note or email can support the revision. It cannot replace it.
Stop and compare any substitute equipment
An unavailable model creates a new decision. Do not call the proposed substitute equivalent and release it without checking the package and the site.
Compare the complete model identifiers, configuration, dimensions, weight, controls, connections, included parts and commissioning work. Then trace each difference through the installation.
Check the following work against the substitute:
- Equipment supports and clearances
- Duct, vent and line-set connections
- Drain position and route
- Electrical and fuel work
- Control compatibility and setup
- Access, lifting and removal
- Start-up and commissioning tasks
The quoted outdoor unit may be unavailable while the proposed substitute has different dimensions or connection points. That can move the supports, wiring or line-set route. Check those effects before asking for equipment approval.
Whenever the quoted model changes, issue a revised quote naming the substitute. Use a note or email only for information that does not alter the accepted equipment, scope, responsibilities, exclusions or price.
Reconfirm the installation scope against the selected package
Return to the site record after selecting the package. Confirm the equipment positions, routes, supports, access, lifting, removal, disposal and prerequisite work.
Look at what may have changed since the survey. A fence may block access. Another contractor may have occupied the service route. The customer may have moved the outdoor unit to another wall.
Trace that move through the whole job. Check the line set, drainage, wiring, fuel work, supports, penetrations and finished-surface work. Do not hide those changes in a scheduling note.
Assign each site responsibility
Name who handles electrical work, fuel work, penetrations, supports, patching, finish repairs, equipment removal, disposal, permit work and inspection access.
State what the customer must clear or provide before arrival. State what another contractor must finish first. Give each prerequisite an owner and a recorded answer.
If responsibility is disputed or missing, do not release the job. A crew booking does not solve an incomplete scope.
Keep exclusions visible
A finished ceiling or wall can conceal the proposed service route. If opening and repairing finishes are excluded, keep that exclusion on the accepted revision.
Worked example only. This is the house electrical example, but the scope rule carries across trades. R. Chen’s quote Q-1847 for 14 Oak Street was 1,105 sample currency units for a bathroom exhaust fan and four LED downlights. The ceiling was lined, and chasing was excluded. Extra cable and chasing became an approved 160 change order, so invoice INV-1847 was 1,265.
Those figures are not a Canadian rate card. The exclusion kept concealed work outside the original quote. Use the same control for hidden HVAC routes, opening finished surfaces, patching, extra connections and unconfirmed supports.
Revise the quote when the customer changes the job
A customer request needs a revised quote when it changes equipment, labour, materials, access, subcontracted work, responsibilities, exclusions or price.
Recalculate the changed job from cost. Include the selected equipment, materials, labour, subcontracted work and the markup your business uses. Do not add a guessed allowance because the change looks small.
Markup is what you add to cost to make a price. Margin is the profit left after cost as a share of the price. Use the markup versus margin guide if those figures are being mixed during repricing.
Write the changed equipment and installation scope into the same revision. State what changed. Keep exclusions and customer responsibilities beside the new work. The guide to writing a quote gives you the fields needed for clear scope and acceptance wording.
Keep the accepted quote unchanged; record later work as a change order
Mark the previous revision as superseded. Ask the customer to approve the new revision, not a loose description of the change in an email.
Keep the accepted quote as the job baseline. Record later changes separately. That makes cost tracking cleaner because the office can compare actual equipment, parts and labour with the work that was approved.
For the job-costing side, use the HVAC job costing guide for labour, equipment and parts. Do not combine a changed invoice total with costs measured against an earlier quote.
Complete the Canadian address checks before release
Keep standing business checks separate from job-specific checks. Store the current business registration, GST/HST status and workers’ compensation coverage at business level instead of reopening them as new site decisions during every follow-up.
Put only the tax treatment, regulated trade scope, permits, inspections and coverage constraints that affect this job into its record.
Ask the trade authority about trade scope
Ask your provincial or territorial trade licensing and safety authority which trade licence, certification or trade permit covers the work. Write down the answer in the job record.
Do not treat customer approval as permission to perform regulated work. The approved quote and the authority check answer different questions.
Find the permit authority for the address
Check the official permit authority serving the job address. Depending on the location and work, that authority may be municipal, regional, provincial or territorial.
Record the authority, the person responsible for obtaining the permit and the person responsible for arranging inspections. Do not invent a permit trigger, fee or inspection stage.
Carry confirmed permit work, inspection access and responsibilities into the current quote revision.
Carry the correct GST/HST treatment into the job
Take business-number and GST/HST questions to the Canada Revenue Agency (opens in a new tab). Store the business’s current status with its standing records.
Show CAD clearly. Put the GST/HST treatment for this job on the current quote revision and approval record. Do not leave it in a private sales note.
Keep the business’s current workers’ compensation status with its standing records. If that status places a coverage constraint on this job, record the constraint before scheduling.
Release one approved revision to purchasing and scheduling
Release the job only when written approval identifies the customer, site, quote number, current revision, equipment package, installation scope, exclusions, responsibilities and approving person.
Before closing the HVAC quote follow up, confirm the revision is still open, the selected equipment is currently orderable and supplier changes have not altered the equipment or your cost. If the model or price has changed, revise the quote and get a new approval.
Attach the approved equipment list and give purchasing one instruction. Give the crew one matching work order. Keep the job blocked until every model, control, route and responsibility has a recorded answer.