How to buy an HVAC business: where the deals are, what to check, and how to pay for it

Part of the HVAC guide: buying, selling, valuation and who is buying.

This guide is for someone who wants to own a heating and air-conditioning company and has never bought a business. By the end you will know how to buy an HVAC business step by step: where the deals come from, the eight checks that matter in this trade, how an SBA loan is put together under the current rules, and the red flags that should make you walk. It sits under our HVAC buying and selling hub, which links the pricing and buyer posts.

Step 1: Why buy an HVAC business at all?

HVAC is a repair trade with a recurring base, and that is why buyers like it. Systems break in every season, a tune-up contract brings the customer back twice a year, and the work cannot be offshored.

The labour side is the main risk. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 440,900 HVACR mechanic and installer jobs in 2025, at a median pay of $61,010 a year, and projects 11% growth from 2025 to 2035 with about 40,600 openings a year. Technicians are scarce, and the company you buy is worth what its technicians are worth.

Private equity has noticed too, and has pushed up prices for the larger, better-run companies. Good news if you sell later, and a reason to check the price hard now.

Step 2: Where do HVAC deals come from?

HVAC deals reach a buyer through four doors. Keep all four open.

Business brokers. Most HVAC companies under $5 million in price sell through a local or regional broker. The broker works for the seller and runs the process. You get on their list by signing their NDA and buyer profile once.

Online marketplaces. The good listings go fast and the rest sit. Our AI reads 15+ marketplaces every day and screens each listing against a client's buy box, so the client sees only the HVAC companies that fit.

Off-market owners. Many owners in their sixties have never listed and would sell to the right person. A short letter, a call, or an introduction through a supplier reaches them. Less competition, fairer prices, more months.

Private-equity sell-offs. Platforms sometimes sell branches that are too small or too far from their core. These come with clean books and a manager in place, and advisors and lenders hear about them first.

Step 3: What do you check in an HVAC company?

Eight checks separate an HVAC company worth buying from one that only looks like it. Ask for evidence on each before you offer.

1. Maintenance-agreement base. Count the active service agreements, the renewal rate and the price per agreement. This is the recurring revenue of the business.
2. Service versus new-construction mix. Service, repair and replacement work for homeowners is repeat business at good margins. New-construction work comes from builders, is bid job by job, and disappears when housing slows. Ask for revenue by type for three years.
3. Technician certifications. Under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act, the EPA requires anyone who maintains, services, repairs or disposes of equipment that could release refrigerants to hold a certification: Type I, II, III or Universal. The EPA says these credentials do not expire. Get a copy for every technician.
4. State contractor licence and the qualifier. Most states license the company through one licensed person. In Texas, the licensing department says ACR companies must employ a licensed ACR contractor in each permanent location. In Florida, statute 489.119 requires a business to have a qualifying agent, and if that person leaves, the company has 60 days to replace them or it cannot contract. Find out who holds the licence today. If it is the seller, you need a plan before closing.
5. Truck fleet. List every vehicle with its age, mileage, title and any loan on it. A fleet of ten-year-old vans is a capital bill in your first two years, not an asset.
6. Seasonality and working capital. HVAC cash comes in during summer and winter peaks and drains in spring and autumn. Look at monthly cash, not annual, and budget working capital for the slow months.
7. Customer concentration. A company that does half its revenue for two home builders or one general contractor is one phone call from a bad year. Look for the top ten customers as a share of revenue.
8. Warranty liabilities. Installed systems carry labour warranties, and the manufacturer's parts warranty is often registered to the installer. Ask what is still under warranty, what the company has paid out in callbacks, and whether that cost will move to you.

For the price side, read our post on HVAC valuation multiples before you look at a single listing.

Step 4: How do you get the licence sorted?

The licence question decides whether you can close at all, so settle it in the letter of intent. There are three ways it usually goes.

You hold the licence yourself. That means meeting your state's experience rule. Texas, for example, asks for at least 48 months of practical experience in the last 72 months under a licensed contractor, then an exam. Few first-time buyers have that.

A manager or lead technician qualifies the company. This is the common answer. Make that person's agreement to stay a condition of the deal, and pay them for it.

The seller stays as the qualifier for a transition. Under the SBA's current rules, a seller in a full change of ownership may not stay on as an officer, director, shareholder or employee, but the business may contract with the seller as a consultant for up to 24 months. Check with your state board whether a consultant can qualify a company; many boards want an employee or officer. Talk to a lawyer who knows your state's contractor law before you sign.

Step 5: How do you finance an HVAC purchase with an SBA loan?

Most first-time buyers pay with a Small Business Administration 7(a) loan, their own cash and a seller note. The SBA sets the rules in its lender standard operating procedure, SOP 50 10 8.1, effective 1 October 2026. These are the ones that shape your deal:

• Size. The SBA states the maximum 7(a) loan is $5 million.
• Equity injection. For an initial acquisition, the SOP requires at least 10% of total project cost from the buyer, and says that figure cannot be reduced or eliminated. Project cost is the price plus closing costs and working capital, not the price alone.
• Seller note as equity. Seller debt counts toward the 10% only if it is subordinated to the lender and on full standby, with no payments of principal or interest for the term of the SBA loan. Standby debt and other limited sources may cover at most half of the required injection. A seller note that is being paid is fine, but it counts as debt, not equity. Our post on seller notes explains the difference.
• Debt service coverage. The SOP asks for a debt service coverage ratio of at least 1.25 to 1 for an initial acquisition, measured on the last fiscal year or the average of the last two. Read what DSCR is and run your own number.
• Term. Loans that fund a change of ownership may not amortize over more than ten years, except for the part that buys real estate, which can run up to 25 years.
• Quality of earnings. Where the purchase price is $3 million or more, the SOP requires the lender to obtain a quality of earnings report with a cash proof, and to use its findings in the coverage calculation.

Here is what those rules look like on a $1.5 million HVAC company with $75,000 of closing costs and working capital.

Run your own figures in the SBA loan calculator, then take them to a lender before you make an offer. Acquisitions.com is an advisory firm, not a lender; we introduce buyers to SBA lenders and investors.

Step 6: How do you make the offer and run diligence?

Make the offer with a letter of intent that names the price, the structure, the licence plan, the seller's transition role and a 45 to 60 day diligence period.

Diligence in HVAC is physical. Ride along on a service day, open the warranty log, pull the fleet titles, and call the top builders if the seller allows it. Tie the service-agreement list to invoices; a count on a spreadsheet is not a renewal.

On the numbers, have a CPA tie the profit-and-loss to bank statements and tax returns, even below the $3 million line where a formal report is not required. The International Business Brokers Association's Q4 2025 Market Pulse reports that lower-middle-market sellers got 3.61 offers per deal in 2025, so a well-run company has other buyers; a careless offer loses it, and a careless diligence overpays for it.

Step 7: What are the red flags?

Some findings should end the conversation rather than lower the price. The ones we see most in HVAC:

• The seller is the only licensed person and will not stay or train a qualifier.
• Half or more of revenue is new construction for a few builders.
• Service agreements are counted but not billed, or renewal rates cannot be shown.
• Technicians are paid as contractors with no EPA 608 certificates on file.
• The fleet is old, financed, and the loans do not appear on the balance sheet.
• Revenue rose last year because of one hot summer, not because the customer base grew.
• Callbacks and warranty work are not tracked at all.
• The tax returns and the profit-and-loss do not agree, and nobody can say why.

Price problems can be solved with structure. Licence and honesty problems cannot.

Step 8: What happens after closing?

The first 90 days decide whether the customers and technicians stay. Keep the phone number, the brand and the dispatcher. Meet every technician in the first week and the top service-agreement customers in the first month.

Then build the recurring base. Every repair call is a chance to sell a maintenance agreement, and every agreement raises what the next buyer will pay. I have advised buyers and sellers of businesses like this for over ten years, and built and sold Rollups.com, and the pattern holds: the HVAC companies that sell well are the ones that turned one-off jobs into contracts.

If you want deal flow, a read on the numbers and lender introductions on your side of the table, see how we help buyers or book a call.