SHOULD DIRECT BUY OR ANY OTHER BE ALLOWED TO SELL HVAC

[thegasman]

[Hello,
My name is Jack Zlotnik and I am in the HVAC industry here in Ontario.  I'm concerned about individuals being able to purchase  furnaces and/or central air equipment at Direct Buy or anywhere else for that matter.  With all the rules and regulations that we need to abide by as an HVAC contractor then why is it that anyone without certification can buy any of these items?  These item will always need to be connected to ductwork, gas, electrical as well as safe venting and safe containment of refrigerants with no way to keep tabs on these items being connected safely or legally.  Furthermore if we the contractors are required by law to pay for licences, registrations, insurances and of coarse permits then who is regulating those other purchases that aren't proving anything?  I think it's high time to really make this industry a true level playing field and eliminate this type of competition for safety sake.

[Admin]

Section 55 of Ontario Regulation 212/01 allows a home owner of a dettached home to do anything he wants involving gas.  All he has to do is have a certificate holder activate the appliance.

I agree with you though, manufacturers who whore themselves out to anyone are doing the trade and themselves a disservice.  Look at Goodman, they are still fighting the bad name they gave themselves by selling to anyone with cash.  

BTW I didn't know you could create polls here, cool!

Bottom line is they are still calling you when things break down.  I stick it to them then...  Any money they might have saved during the install, ends up in my pocket, one way or another.  I see so many furnaces setup incorrectly, as far a staging, cooling blower speeds go.  Not to mention all the code infraction they leave behind.  I charge $132 per problem to correct.  I don't care what it is.  If there's 4 minor problems, I charge 4 x $132.  I don't give any breaks to people who go with the lowest price.

And companies like Costco, hire the worst contractors to do their work.  It ends up making their company look bad, not the contractors.

Just keep doing good work!  You will survive in the trade, they won't.

[thegasman]

Hello,
My name is Jack Zlotnik and I am in the HVAC industry here in Ontario.  I'm concerned about individuals being able to purchase  furnaces and/or central air equipment at Direct Buy or anywhere else for that matter.  With all the rules and regulations that we need to abide by as an HVAC contractor then why is it that anyone without certification can buy any of these items?  These item will always need to be connected to ductwork, gas, electrical as well as safe venting and safe containment of refrigerants with no way to keep tabs on these items being connected safely or legally.  Furthermore if we the contractors are required by law to pay for licences, registrations, insurances and of coarse permits then who is regulating those other purchases that aren't proving anything?  I think it's high time to really make this industry a true level playing field and eliminate this type of competition for safety sake.






Since I wrote this I contacted several agencies to see if there is anything that they might do to help stop these retailers from selling HVAC.  I received a reply from "AHRI :: Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute" only to be given the typical B.S. answer.  I am pasting the communication following this.  PLEASE READ...

   "ahri@ahrinet.org" <ahri@ahrinet.org>
date   Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 5:48 PM
subject   selling furnaces and/or central air equipment at Direct Buy
mailed-by   gmail.com

Jul 2 (4 days ago)
   
   
Reply
   
   Follow up message
Hello,
My name is Jack Zlotnik and I am in the HVAC industry here in Ontario.  I'm concerned about individuals being able to purchase  furnaces and/or central air equipment at Direct Buy or anywhere else for that matter.  With all the rules and regulations that we need to abide by as an HVAC contractor then why is it that anyone without certification can buy any of these items?  These item will always need to be connected to ductwork, gas, electrical as well as safe venting and safe containment of refrigerants with no way to keep tabs on these items being connected safely or legally.  Furthermore if we the contractors are required by law to pay for licences, registrations, insurances and of coarse permits then who is regulating those other purchases that aren't proving anything?  I think it's high time to really make this industry a true level playing field and eliminate this type of competition for safety sake.



Reply:

On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 11:33 A. M. xxxxxx  wrote:

   Dear Mr. Zlotnik:

   

   Your comments regarding the marketing of HVAC equipment via Direct Buy have been referred to me for response.  AHRI absolutely supports and promotes the installation and regular maintenance of HVAC equipment by qualified professional contractors.  In that regard, AHRI is a principal supporter of HVAC contractor certification by North American Technician Excellence (NATE).  However, AHRI is bound by federal and state antitrust laws not to allow discussions among our member companies of how they individually choose to distribute or market their products.  Thus, due to antitrust constraints, AHRI cannot even consider limiting the means by which HVAC products reach the end-user.  We certainly will continue through our public information efforts to caution consumers to have their HVAC equipment installed and regularly serviced by qualified professionals.

   

   Thank you for your input and interest in AHRI.

   

   xxx xxxxxxx

   AHRI xxxxxxx  xxxxxxx  Counsel  



My Response:

I'm sorry but that is a cop-out answer.  I would have loved to do this in a freindly and respectable way but these days that gets you nowhere.  There is absolutely with out a doubt every reason to stop these types of equipment sales to non certified users.  You see you nor I can not buy certain items for reasons of health and safety such as drugs and chemicals.  This is not any different except that with drugs and chemicals a person will only hurt them-self but with HVAC they can harm many others.  So why is it ok to allow the sale of HVAC to anyone?

I have this information also listed on the HVACTECHGROUP forum for many contractors to read and hopefully react to.  I will copy and paste this correspondence on that site as well for all to see.

Thank you for your input and lack of interest