What is wrong? › Commercial HVAC
Before you call anyone, find out who owns the unit
If you call a contractor on a unit the landlord is responsible for, you may pay a bill the lease says is not yours, and you may void the landlord's own service contract.
What is probably happening
- Most commercial leases put routine maintenance and small repairs on the tenant and capital replacement on the landlord, but the wording varies and vague wording tends to land the bill on you.
- Model lease language reads like: tenant handles filter changes, thermostat programming, refrigerant recharges, electrical repairs and service calls; any single repair over a set dollar amount, or replacement of the equipment, is the landlord's.
- Some leases require you to keep a maintenance contract on the unit as a condition of the landlord covering replacement.
Do this in the next five minutes
- Pull the lease. Search for HVAC, heating, air conditioning, mechanical, repairs and capital.
- Note three things: who maintains, who repairs, who replaces, and any dollar cap or age clause.
- Call or email the landlord or property manager now, in writing, and say the unit is down and the date. That starts the clock on their duty to respond.
- Ask whether the landlord already has a contractor or a service agreement on the unit. If so, that contractor comes first.
- If the lease is unclear and you are losing business, get a licensed contractor to diagnose only, and send the written diagnosis to the landlord before authorising repair.
Do not
- Do not authorise a replacement on a unit you do not own. That can be a five figure bill you cannot recover.
- Do not let the landlord's silence run for days. Document every message with a date.
- Do not sign a new lease or renewal without an HVAC clause that names who pays for replacement and any cap.
Who to call
Your landlord or property manager first, then a licensed commercial HVAC contractor
Ownership decides who calls and who pays. A diagnostic visit is cheap; a replacement authorised by the wrong party is not.
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What it should cost
$100 to $250
Diagnostic visit, which you can usually authorise without committing the landlord to anything
Source: Angi, HVAC repair cost, updated August 2026. View source
National published range, not a quote for your job. The full cost table for this trade is on the commercial hvac page.
Ask this contractor, on the phone, before anyone comes out
Tap each one as you ask it.
- To the landlord: is there a service contract on this unit, and who is the contractor?
- To the landlord: what does the lease say about repair versus replacement, and is there a dollar cap per repair?
- To the contractor: can you write a diagnosis with the fault, the unit age and model, and a repair versus replace opinion, before any work?
- To the contractor: will you send the certificate of insurance naming my business and the landlord as certificate holders?
End the call if
- A landlord who says 'just get it fixed and send me the bill' with nothing in writing.
- A contractor who wants you to sign a replacement contract before the landlord has been told.