Working in the HVAC industry can be complicated enough, but even more so is running an HVAC business. You don’t just have to set guidelines for what techs do in the field. You also have to lay down rules for how things should be done in the back office and how employees should act when they’re off-duty.
A good place to start in organizing all these regulations and instructions is to write them down in an HVAC policy and procedure manual. This gives all employees an accessible reference point for all of your company’s standards, best practices, and codes of conduct. In this article, we’ll dive into why and how to build this kind of manual, including:
We’ll begin with some reasons for why you should put together as thorough of an HVAC manual as you can.
There are upsides to building a comprehensive handbook for your HVAC company besides serving as an accessible reference point for your policies & procedures, and these are the top benefits:
Different types of HVAC handbooks are written for different purposes. Therefore, you may need more than one type of HVAC manual to cover all of your policies and procedures, or a unified manual that incorporates some or all of these concepts.
Integrating your HVAC company’s policies & procedures into field service management software allows you to quickly – even automatically – create checklists of things your techs need to do at a job site. A safety inspection is a major one, so download our free HVAC safety checklist to use as-is or as a template!
It’s easier to think about what you should specifically put in an HVAC employee handbook if you organize things into categories covering different parts of your company’s operations. We’ve provided an example below, along with points that are critical to cover in your manual.
Intro and statements
These are general items that explain the handbook’s purpose and overall HVAC company conduct. They include the company’s policies on hiring, training, and retaining employees, and also overall employee responsibilities.
Sections covering general safety
These are items related to safety issues common to workplaces across different industries.
HVAC-specific safety protocols
These are safety items related to unique hazards HVAC techs may encounter at a workplace.
Non-safety HVAC policies and procedures
These items cover administrative policies and general best practices for HVAC work.
Your company should have at least the first 4 types of manuals we listed (and really should have the 5th!), either separately or as part of one or more unified HVAC business operations manuals. To help you put them together, we’ve provided standout examples of each type so you know what each one should roughly look like.
1. HVAC procedures & forms manual example: HVAC Procedures and Forms Manual – Second Edition
This manual by Herbert Wendes provides a quick reference for procedures, and formulas for tasks related to five major task groups in HVAC: testing & balancing, energy auditing, indoor air quality, load calculations, and cost estimating. It also includes charts as visual aids and worksheets – with examples – for writing your own reports.
Standout Section You’ll Want To Copy: The second edition of this manual includes an additional chapter that outlines a detailed problem-solving process for various issues commonly encountered by HVAC contractors and engineers.
Get HVAC Procedures and Forms – Second Edition by Herbert Wendes here.
2. HVAC safety manual example: CompSource Mutual Sample HVAC Safety Manual
A sample HVAC safety manual written by an insurance company. It includes an incident response plan, emergency action plans for certain hazards, general safety policies, and safety guidance for particular elements of the workplace (slips/trips/falls, ladders, extreme temperatures, hazardous substances, PPE, and so on). It also contains an employee acknowledgment at the end where an employee can sign off on having read, understood, and ac
Standout Section You’ll Want To Copy: The “Safety is a Team Effort” section lays out the overall responsibilities that managers, supervisors, and employees have in creating a safe workplace.
Use the CompSource Mutual Sample HVAC Safety Manual as a template for your own company’s safety policies and procedures.
3. HVAC employee handbook example: Jacob Heating & Air Conditioning Employee Handbook
An employee handbook that begins with a message from the company president, and then some brief background information about the company. It then goes through sections one by one on topics related to employment terms, employee data handling, time off policies, employee benefits, payroll, safety, workplace conduct, and discipline.
Standout Section You’ll Want To Copy: Since vehicles are vital but expensive assets for field service companies, the handbook requires an employee’s signature for its policies on both maintaining and driving company-supplied vehicles.
Have a look at the Jacob Heating & Air Conditioning Employee Handbook for ideas on how to write your own handbook.
4. HVAC design manual example: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs HVAC Design Manual
This manual outlines the HVAC system design standards for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities, covering energy efficiency, measurement, and VA building codes. It details the design and component selection for air conditioning, heating & cooling, and control systems, provides specifications for different room types, and includes climate data for HVAC installation and maintenance considerations across the U.S.
Standout Section You’ll Want To Copy: One of the chapters includes average climate statistics for different places in the U.S., which can affect how HVAC systems are designed for those climates (for example, places with hot and humid climates need HVAC systems that can handle increased energy consumption and will be resilient against wear and tear).
See how the U.S. government designs HVAC systems for its facilities by downloading the Veterans Affairs HVAC Design Manual.
5. Software-integrated HVAC checklist example: BuildOps
This feature in BuildOps allows you to integrate compliance with your policies and procedures right into your regular workflows. By creating checklists, you can require techs to fill in certain information before they can complete field reports, invoices, and other documentation. You can also have the values entered in these checklists connect to other areas of your operations. This lets you fill in estimates, invoices, accounting records, analytics reports, and more automatically without having to enter the same information again in the back office.
Standout Section You’ll Want To Copy: You can require entering cost estimates in a checklist. These items can then integrate with your sales & financial functions to automatically create estimates, quotes, invoices, and more.
Don’t waste time having to constantly revise or rewrite paper manuals. Get a software solution that allows you to:
In other words: get BuildOps, the #1 field management software for commercial HVAC contractors.
Now that we’ve covered what should be included in an HVAC principles and applications manual and what different types should look like, it’s time to put it all together. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to craft and document your HVAC company’s policies & procedures so they work how you intend them to.
1. Identify the general policies and procedures you want to cover
Depending on the type of policy and procedure manual you want to write, you’ll be covering different topics. For example, a procedures & forms manual will include instructions for competing HVAC tasks and forms to fill in to report on work done. Meanwhile, an employee handbook will be less technical and focus on the HR side of your company: things like core values, employment policies, and codes of conduct.
Begin by determining the specific processes your manual will cover. These identified processes will form the foundation for more detailed HVAC policy and procedure development.
2. Add details to the processes
Once you have your main processes down, start filling in how employees should follow them. Use brief sentences and paragraphs with clear language to guarantee that guidelines aren’t confusing or open to being misinterpreted.
Break down multi-part processes into distinct, logical steps so it’s easier for the reader to digest the information and follow along. Also remember to add things like lists of necessary materials, lists of required tools & safety equipment and directions on how to use them (and notes on how to use HVAC inventory management software if you have it), and any other information that may be applicable to a particular task. That can include formulas for calculations your techs may need to make, or any other specific regulations they need to follow.
3. Account for variants and special situations
There are cases in which something can be done multiple ways, or needs to be handled in a specific way, depending on the circumstances. This is especially true for HVAC since it covers heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and these systems may need to be installed, repaired, or replaced in combinations. Add in information about these unique scenarios where each one makes sense, either at the end of sections on specific processes or near instructions where they’re most applicable.
4. Review the contents
Have people familiar with the procedures outlined in the manual – such as experienced techs and managers – look over the draft for anything that’s missing, incorrect, or unclear. They want to guarantee that the language, especially the jargon, is simple enough that your techs can understand it regardless of their experience level. They should also assess whether the procedures and instructions apply to situations that employees could reasonably encounter in daily work.
5. Test the practicality of your policies and procedures
Your policies and procedures are only good if they give you the results you want. Check this by having your employees follow your policies & procedures in exercises that mimic real-world scenarios and everyday work. See what works and what doesn’t, and have employees provide feedback on what they liked and disliked about the rules they had to follow. You may find unexpected issues that affect how you form your rules & instructions, or at least make for extra exceptions where things need to be done differently depending on the situation.
Also make sure your policies are flexible enough that they allow your company to grow, and can scale with your company as it does so. On one hand, you don’t want your company to be so bogged down in red tape that you can’t be profitable and efficient. On the other hand, you have to anticipate what direction your company is going in and how far it’s likely to go. Your policies & procedures should still make sense even if you get a larger and more diverse client base and workforce. Read our data-driven guide to commercial HVAC growth for an idea of how much your HVAC company is likely to grow over the course of 2 years.
6. Revise any areas that need improvement and repeat the review cycle as necessary
Take the observations and feedback from the testing step and use them to rewrite any sections of your manual that need to be changed. Again, review your edits to check if they make sense, and test them to make sure they work in practical contexts. If you need to make further revisions, start this cycle again. Otherwise, you’re done!
7. Integrate key components into your HVAC field management software
We strongly recommend this extra step if your HVAC company uses field management software. By incorporating your policies & procedures into your HVAC field service software, you can make them accessible to all of your employees regardless of where they are. Plus, you can instantly update your policies & procedures from a centralized location – no need to revise or rewrite paper manuals for every one of your employees!
Some software even lets you implement your policies & procedures in your everyday workflows. For example, you could turn them into checklist items that your techs have to complete and cross off before they can finish their field reports and leave the job site. You could even connect those items to your other operations – sales, accounting, analytics, CRM, and more – to automate tasks without having to input the same information twice.
If you don’t have an HVAC field management software system, or are considering getting a new one, read our HVAC software buying guide for information about costing and top features. We also give advice on picking the right option for your company and getting the most out of it.
Here are some other things you may want to know about writing HVAC operation and maintenance manuals and other handbooks.
1. What exactly is an HVAC policy and procedure manual?
An HVAC policy & procedure manual is a document (or one of a set of documents) that lays out the rules an HVAC company operates by and the proper methods techs should use to complete HVAC tasks. This can include:
2. Who needs an HVAC policy and procedure manual?
All employees of an HVAC company should have the company’s policy & procedure manual, whether that means physical copies or access to a digital version (or both). Everyone in the company needs to understand what their responsibilities are, how to do their jobs properly, and how they’re expected to act towards customers and each other.
3. How often do you need to update your HVAC employee handbooks & manuals?
A general guideline is to update your HVAC customer service handbook and other manuals at least once a year. A lot can change in 365 days, so it’s good to review your handbooks and make additions (or deletions) where things have changed.
Ideally, though, you should update your handbooks more frequently to reflect significant changes both inside and outside your company. These can include:
If your handbooks are integrated with an HVAC field service platform, you can make changes to them at the admin level and they will automatically update and sync for all of your employees at once!
4. Is the HVAC industry subject to regulations your manual needs to follow?
Yes. Your manual will need to include information and instructions on complying with US HVAC regulations and standards related to:
Keeping track of your HVAC company’s policies and procedures is important, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Create your manuals on the BuildOps field service management system and you can update them for all employees at any time – no need to rewrite your manuals by hand or update your handbooks on separate devices. Plus, you can use your policies and procedures to build software-integrated checklists that make sure your techs are following your guidelines while they’re out in the field. Even more, checklist items can be connected to other functions to automate things like invoicing!
BuildOps can do much more as commercial HVAC field service software, too. If you’d like to see, come to one of our free demos every Thursday – no sales pressure, just showing you how our platform can help streamline your HVAC operations. You can also contact our sales team to request a demo at a time that’s convenient for you.
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