HVAC Change Out Checklist Template

It is the verification sheet a technician works through when a heating or cooling system is replaced rather than repaired. It covers the pre-install decisions — load calculation, equipment selection, duct and electrical check, permit — then removal and refrigerant recovery, the installation itself, startup and commissioning readings, and closeout. It is what proves the replacement was done to the manufacturer instructions and the code, and it is what an inspector, a warranty claim, or a homeowner will ask about later.

Match the old tonnage and you have not sized anything — you have copied whatever the last contractor guessed. The residential code points at ACCA Manual J for the load and Manual S for the equipment selection, and that applies to equipment replaced in an existing building, not only to new construction. Windows get replaced, insulation gets added, additions get built; the load today is rarely the load the original unit was picked for. Run the Manual J, select on Manual S, and check the duct system against Manual D before you quote.

Five hundred microns or lower is the target the trade converges on for a new system. But the number on its own proves nothing — you can hit five hundred microns on a system that still leaks. Close the valve between the pump and the system, isolate it, and watch the gauge. Only that standing decay test shows the system is genuinely dry and tight. This template grades the evacuation item automatically against the five hundred micron target, and the decay test is on the sheet as its own requirement.

Manufacture and import of residential split systems charged with refrigerant above seven hundred GWP ended on the first of January 2025, so new equipment now ships with R-454B or R-32. Both are A2L — mildly flammable — and that changes the job. You need A2L-rated gauges, recovery equipment, and leak detectors. Equipment above the listed charge threshold carries a refrigerant detection system under UL 60335-2-40 that has to be installed and wired the way the manufacturer specifies. An existing line set can be reused only if the manufacturer signs off on the size, wall thickness, and pressure rating, and only after it is flushed and completely purged with dry nitrogen. R-410A units built or imported before that date can still be installed from existing inventory in most of the country, though some states have kept their own deadline.

Compare it to the nameplate. Most residential air handlers and furnace-and-coil combinations are rated at half an inch of water column total external static pressure, and above that rating the blower cannot deliver its rated airflow no matter how good the new equipment is. A high reading is a duct problem — usually an undersized return — and new equipment will not fix it. Measure it before you quote, not after you install, and enter the equipment rating in this template so the item grades itself.

By default the blocking items are the ones that carry code, safety, or warranty consequences — the load calculation, the AHRI matched combination, refrigerant recovery before the system is opened, the pressure test and evacuation, the A2L detection system, the disconnect within sight, the secondary drain protection, airflow and charge verification, the final leak check, the permit close, and the customer sign-off. Every one of them is editable: open an item's details and switch the blocking toggle, or mark an item N/A when it genuinely does not apply to the job.

Yes. Build and download it free as a PDF, Excel, or Word file — no login. Add as many items as the job needs, edit the standard ones, and customize the defaults for the systems you install most.