HVAC & Refrigeration
HVAC Insurance
For the trade whose work burns fuel, moves air, and keeps doing it with nobody watching.
Alberta-licensed brokerage · IBAA member · certificates issued the day they are asked for
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HVAC insurance has to cover something no other trade carries in the same way. The systems you install burn fuel, move air and hold pressure, and they keep doing it unattended. A venting problem, a heat exchanger missed on a service call, a brazed joint in an occupied building, or a unit that quits during a cold snap can each turn into a claim against your work. General liability covers the injury and damage, completed-operations coverage keeps working after the commissioning sheet is signed, and contractors equipment looks after the gauges, recovery machines and vacuum pumps in the van. Refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic and gasfitter are both compulsory-certification trades in Alberta under the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act.
The Exposure
Risks you face.
The systems you install run unattended, in winter, in buildings full of people. That is a different kind of exposure than a trade whose work sits still.
A carbon monoxide claim from a combustion appliance
Venting that was never quite right, a cracked heat exchanger missed on a service call, or a make-up air imbalance that pulls flue gas back into a building. It is the exposure that defines this trade, because the harm is to people and not to property and it can happen weeks or months after your visit.
Brazing and hot work in an occupied building
Joining line sets and ductwork puts open flame near insulation, framing and ceiling voids in buildings full of people and stock. Most commercial sites require a hot-work permit and a fire watch. A fire that starts after the crew leaves is traced straight back to whoever lit the torch.
Rooftop units and the roof you had to cross
Curbs, penetrations and equipment set on someone else’s membrane. When a leak shows up in the ceiling below, the last trade on the roof is the one asked to explain it, and the damage inside is usually worth far more than the roof repair.
A system that fails in the worst week of the year
A furnace that quits in a cold snap, or a cooler that drops on a hot Saturday, does not fail at a convenient time. Frozen and burst pipes, spoiled stock and a business that had to close all follow, and the claim lands on the last person who serviced the equipment.
The customer’s equipment while it is in your hands
Property belonging to someone else that is in your care, custody or control is commonly excluded from a standard general liability policy. When you have a client’s rooftop unit or compressor apart on your bench or on their roof, that exclusion is worth reading before you find out what it means.
Refrigerant loss and the gear that recovers it
A charge lost during commissioning, a recovery machine that walks off a site, or a compressor that runs dry are all real costs. Gauges, vacuum pumps and recovery equipment are attractive, portable and expensive to replace.
The Protection
Coverages we recommend.
Commercial General Liability
Bodily injury and property damage your installation or service work causes a third party, including the defence costs. It keeps responding to claims that appear after the job is closed out, which is when a heating or ventilation problem usually shows itself.
Contractors Equipment
Theft, damage and loss cover for gauges, vacuum pumps, recovery machines, torches and cordless tools, on site, in transit and in overnight storage, where a standard property policy often will not reach.
Commercial Auto
Your service vans and trucks, covered for both liability and damage to the vehicle. Add the tools and equipment inside so one accident does not take the van and the kit together.
Professional Liability
For when you are paid to size and design the system as well as install it, on a load calculation, a ventilation layout or a control sequence you specified. General liability covers damage, and it is not built for a design that was wrong.
Equipment Breakdown
Sudden mechanical or electrical breakdown of your own shop equipment, compressors and systems, an exposure a standard property policy generally leaves out.
Business Interruption
If a covered loss to your shop, stock or key equipment stops you taking service calls, this replaces the income and covers the fixed costs.
Coverages shown are general examples, not a description of any specific policy. Policy coverages widely vary and should be confirmed with your broker.
Certification, and the two halves of an HVAC program
Refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic and gasfitter are both compulsory-certification trades in Alberta under the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act, meaning the skilled work can only be done by a certified journeyperson or a registered apprentice under supervision. That is why so many Alberta HVAC companies end up carrying combustion work, cooling work and commercial refrigeration under one roof. It is also why an HVAC policy has to cover two very different claims, meaning harm to people from combustion and ventilation, and loss to a customer whose building or stock depended on a system that stopped.
Why HVAC contractors choose Velocity
We raise the two gaps that catch this trade most often. The first is property in your care, custody, or control, which is commonly excluded from a general liability policy and describes almost every unit you take apart. The second is design responsibility, because if you are paid to do the load calculation you are carrying advice risk that a liability policy was never written to cover. Both are fixable once they are on the table, which is the point of the conversation.
How Pricing Works
What drives your premium
- Combustion and gas workFurnaces, boilers, rooftop makeup air and any gas appliance connection carry the carbon monoxide exposure that drives this trade’s liability rating, so how much of your work is combustion is the first question.
- Residential service versus commercial and industrialA house furnace swap, a tenant rooftop unit and a plant refrigeration system sit at very different values, and the size of what your work can shut down sets the limit you need.
- Refrigeration and controlled environmentsWork on coolers, freezers and process cooling adds spoilage and business-interruption consequences for your customer when a system fails, which underwriters price for.
- Height and rooftop workRegular rooftop access adds both a fall exposure and the risk of damaging the roof assembly you have to cross to get to the unit.
- Design responsibilitySizing and specifying a system, instead of installing to someone else’s drawings, brings professional liability into the program and into the price.
- Revenue, crew, and equipment valuesMore revenue and more service trucks mean more systems commissioned in a year, and the replacement cost of your gauges, recovery gear and vans sets the equipment and auto side.
- Claims history and coverage limitsA clean record lowers your price and past injury or property claims raise it. Limit and deductible pull in opposite directions on price, and the right pairing depends on what a bad year would cost you.
Common Questions
Questions ownersreally ask.
What happens if a carbon monoxide claim is made against my work?
A bodily injury claim arising from your work is what commercial general liability is built to defend and, where you are found responsible, to pay. It is also the claim most worth being ready for in this trade. It is a people claim and not a property claim, it can arrive long after the service call, and the documentation of what you found and what you told the customer becomes central very quickly.
Is the customer’s rooftop unit covered while I have it apart?
Usually not by general liability on its own. Property in your care, custody or control is commonly excluded, and that is the gap that surprises HVAC contractors most often, because the equipment you are working on is by definition in your hands. It is a fixable gap once it is on the table, so tell us what you take custody of and how often.
A furnace I serviced failed in a cold snap and the building’s pipes froze. Am I responsible?
That depends on the facts, but it is exactly the kind of claim that gets made, and the resulting damage is what your liability coverage is there to pay and defend. The cost of returning to repair your own workmanship generally sits with you. The frozen pipes, the water damage and the tenant’s losses are the insured side of the question.
Do I need professional liability if I size the system myself?
It is worth reviewing. Once you are paid to do the load calculation, lay out the ventilation or specify the equipment, you are carrying design risk on top of installation risk. General liability covers the damage your hands cause, and a design that was undersized from the start is a different kind of failure needing a different policy.
Are my gauges, recovery machine, and vacuum pump covered off site?
Only with contractors equipment coverage in place. It follows your tools and portable equipment on site, in transit and in overnight storage, which is where a standard business property policy stops. Recovery and evacuation gear is expensive enough that most HVAC contractors schedule it deliberately rather than leaving it to a blanket limit.
How much does HVAC contractor insurance cost in Alberta, and how fast can I get covered?
There is no flat rate. Price follows how much combustion and refrigeration work you do, the buildings you serve, your revenue and crew, whether you take on design, and the limits your contracts require. We build the program around how you operate, and most HVAC contractors go from first conversation to bound coverage within a few business days, with certificates issued as soon as they are asked for.
Built for systems that runwhen nobody is watching.
Tell us your mix of combustion, cooling, and refrigeration work, the buildings you serve, and whether you take on design, and we will build the coverage around it.
Not ready to switch? Book a 15-minute coverage review instead
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