Terms and conditions for an air conditioning installer

An air conditioning installer needs terms that deal with the pipe run that turned out to be twice as long, the freeholder who will not allow a condenser on the front elevation, the customer who says the office is still warm in August, and the manufacturer warranty that lapsed because nobody serviced the unit. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Air conditioning and refrigeration installation, service and maintenance businesses in England and Wales, whether you trade as a sole trader or a limited company. Most of you fit split systems and multi-splits in homes and also install and maintain equipment for offices, shops, restaurants, salons and server rooms. Homeowners are consumers with rights they cannot sign away. Business customers are not, so one set of terms has to handle both.

What matters in an air conditioning installer's terms

The survey, the quote and what the price assumes

Most disputes start with a figure given after a walk round. The pipe run turns out to be longer, the condenser needs scaffolding on a first floor wall, the consumer unit has no spare way for a dedicated circuit, or the ceiling void will not take the cassette. Your terms should set out the assumptions the price rests on, list what is excluded, such as making good after core drilling, plastering, redecorating around trunking and lifting flooring, and require any change to be agreed in writing with its price before you carry on. They should also record which certificates and records you hand over on completion.

Siting the outdoor unit and consents

The condenser is where air conditioning becomes an argument with someone who is not your customer. Flats have freeholders, some buildings and areas need permission, and a fan running under a neighbour's bedroom window generates complaints long after your invoice is paid. Your terms should make the customer responsible for obtaining any landlord, freeholder or local authority consent, confirm that you install in the position the customer approved in writing, and put the cost of relocating a unit later, or of a complaint about noise or condensate discharge, outside the agreed price.

What you are promising about performance

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 information a consumer relies on in deciding to buy is binding, and the service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. The remark that the system will 'hold 20 degrees whatever the weather' or halve a running cost therefore becomes part of the contract. Your terms should record the design conditions the system was sized for, make clear that achievable temperatures depend on insulation, glazing, solar gain, occupancy and doors being kept shut, and state that quoted outputs and consumption figures come from manufacturer data rather than a guarantee about one particular room in August.

Homeowners, cancellation rights and deposits

Homeowner jobs are usually agreed at the property or by email and phone, which brings them within the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and gives the customer a cancellation period. A standard split system ordered from a wholesaler is not made to the customer's specification, so the exception for personalised goods will rarely rescue you. If you order equipment or begin installing during the cancellation period without the customer's express request you may not be paid for that work, and where the cancellation information was never given the period extends well beyond the usual one. Your deposit clause has to work with that, not against it.

Commercial installs, access and getting paid

Offices, restaurants, salons, retail units and server rooms bring different problems: work has to happen out of hours or around occupiers, the system is often installed for a tenant in a building the tenant does not own, and payment may sit behind a main contractor. For business customers the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you interest and fixed compensation on overdue invoices. Retention of title under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 is worth little once indoor units, brackets and pipework are fixed into the building, so the terms should lean on deposits and stage payments instead.

Warranty, servicing and liability when the cooling stops

Equipment warranties normally depend on the system being serviced and the filters kept clean. Your terms should state what you guarantee on workmanship, pass the manufacturer warranty through on its own conditions, and make clear that a warranty visit is not free where the fault is a blocked filter, a tripped breaker or the customer's own alteration. Against a consumer you cannot cut down the rights given by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

When cooling fails in a server room or a commercial kitchen the loss is not the price of the job, so exclude consequential loss and cap liability to business customers at a figure the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 would treat as reasonable given your insurance. Liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence cannot be excluded.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Can I charge for a detailed survey if the customer then goes elsewhere?

Charging a survey fee is common, and the terms should say whether it is credited against the installation price if the job proceeds. Where you sell to consumers, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 means any charge the customer must pay has to sit in the headline price you advertise rather than appearing later in the process.

The freeholder refuses the outdoor unit after I have ordered the equipment. Who pays?

That turns on what the terms say. Drafted properly, obtaining consent is the customer's obligation and the contract lets you recover equipment already ordered, any restocking charge and the time spent to that point. Without such a clause you are arguing about whose assumption it was, usually with a customer who has lost interest in the project.

Do I need separate terms for my servicing and maintenance agreements?

One set of terms can cover installation and ongoing maintenance if the maintenance part stands on its own: the recurring fee, how many visits are included, what a visit covers, response times for a breakdown, what counts as a chargeable extra, and how either side ends the arrangement and on what notice.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Terms and conditions for a heat pump installer
• Terms and conditions for an electrician

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.