An HVAC maintenance agreement is a subscription for trades. Customers pay an annual or monthly fee, typically $150 to $500 a year, for scheduled servicing, priority response and repair discounts. In a ServiceTitan customer story, Atlantic Refrigeration grew from 16 to more than 50 preventive maintenance contracts while service revenue rose from $1 million to $1.8 million over three years.
Key takeaways
- Atlantic Refrigeration went from 16 to more than 50 maintenance contracts, and service revenue from $1 million to $1.8 million over three years (vendor testimonial).
- Typical residential plans run about $150 to $500 a year, or $15 to $30 a month.
- Industry guides citing ServiceTitan and DuraPlas research say only about 30% of homeowners schedule preventive maintenance each year.
- Contractors report the repair and replacement work from members is worth more than the plan fees.
It's the hottest day of summer. The air conditioner dies at 4 pm.
You ring the first company on Google. Booked out until Thursday. You ring the second. Same story. The third says they can come tomorrow, but members get priority, so it might be the afternoon.
Members?
That's the moment a heating and cooling contractor wins a customer for ten years. Not with an ad. With a maintenance agreement.
What is a maintenance agreement, really?
It's a subscription. One of the oldest there is.
A homeowner or business pays an annual or monthly fee. In return they get scheduled servicing (typically two heating and cooling tune-ups a year, filters and inspections), priority response when something breaks, and a discount on repairs.
The contractor gets something just as valuable: predictable revenue in the quiet seasons, and first call when something needs fixing or replacing.
Field-service software has made these plans much easier to run, with automatic scheduling, billing and renewals. That's where our story comes from.
How did Atlantic Refrigeration triple its contracts?
ServiceTitan, one of the best-known US software platforms for trades businesses, publishes customer stories. In one of them, Atlantic Refrigeration grew from 16 to more than 50 preventive maintenance contracts, and service revenue rose from $1 million to $1.8 million over three years.
That's more than three times the contracts and 80% more service revenue.
I'll be straight with you: that's a vendor testimonial. ServiceTitan sells the software, so treat the story as illustrative rather than typical. But the wider industry figures point the same way, even if most of them also come via vendors and marketers.
| Figure | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Refrigeration contracts | 16 to 50+ | ServiceTitan customer story |
| Atlantic Refrigeration service revenue | $1M to $1.8M over three years | ServiceTitan customer story |
| Share of US HVAC services revenue from preventive maintenance contracts, 2025 | About 39% | Mordor Intelligence, as cited by PipelineOn |
| Homeowners who schedule preventive maintenance each year | About 30% | ServiceTitan and DuraPlas research, as cited by industry guides |
| Typical residential plan price | About $150 to $500 a year ($15 to $30 a month) | Industry guides |
Read the 30% figure again. If it's even roughly right, most homeowners aren't on any plan at all. That's a lot of unserved market.
Why is the plan fee not where the money is?
Here's the part most tradies miss.
Contractors report that the "pull-through" work from members (the repairs and replacements they're first in line for) is worth more than the plan fees themselves.
That's the book's land and expand strategy, in work boots.
In The Subscription Playbook I talk about my little local bakery, which lands cafés with free samples and builds the relationship until they're regular customers. The maintenance plan is the sample. It's cheap, easy to say yes to, and it puts your technician in the customer's home twice a year. When the 15-year-old unit finally needs replacing, who do you think gets the call?
It also borrows from the insurance model. Customers aren't really paying for a filter change. They're paying for peace of mind, and for the knowledge that on the hottest day of summer, they're not ringing three companies.
My take
"Would you like fries with that?" is probably the most famous upsell in history. It works because it's asked at the counter, at the moment of purchase. Maintenance plans are the same. The best time to sell one is with the technician standing in the customer's laundry, having just fixed the thing. Not in an email three weeks later.
Price your maintenance plan properly
Work out a monthly plan price that covers your tech time, parts, GST and payment fees, with margin left over.
What does a good maintenance plan line-up look like?
Here's an illustrative three-tier offer for an Australian heating and cooling business. Prices are examples, include GST, and should be tested against your own costs.
| Basic | Comfort | Whole Home | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrative price | A$19 a month | A$29 a month | A$45 a month |
| Scheduled services | 1 a year | 2 a year (heating and cooling) | 2 a year, all systems |
| Filter checks | Included | Included | Included |
| Priority booking | Yes | Yes, same-day where possible | |
| Call-out fee | Standard | Waived | Waived |
| Repair discount | 5% | 10% | 15% |
Where the return comes from
Picture 200 members on the Comfort plan at A$29 a month. That's A$69,600 a year in plan fees, including GST. Each member needs two visits, so that's 400 jobs you can schedule in your quiet months. Now say one in ten members needs a replacement unit in a year, at an average job value of A$6,000. That's A$120,000 of work you were first in line for. (Illustrative numbers. Track your own.)
You can see how the numbers play out for your own business in the subscription vs one-off profit calculator.
When does a maintenance plan go wrong?
Three ways I'd watch for.
You can't deliver the visits. If you sell 500 plans and can't get to them in the shoulder season, members feel cheated. Sell only what you can schedule.
The price doesn't cover the visit. Two tune-ups, travel, and a tech's time add up. Cost a visit properly before you set the price.
Renewals quietly lapse. An expired card or a missed renewal is lost pull-through work for years. That's involuntary churn, and it's the easiest kind to fix. If your plan renews automatically, Australia's automatic renewal rules and the 2027 subscription trap laws mean clear terms, notices and an easy exit. Treat that as good service, not paperwork.
What can you steal from HVAC contractors?
This works for any trade with a predictable service: plumbing, electrical, pool care, pest control, solar.
- Offer the plan at every job. "For $25 a month we'll service it twice a year and you jump the queue."
- Train technicians to present it on site, and pay them a bonus per sign-up. That's when customers are most receptive.
- Schedule plan visits in your quiet months. You're turning slow weeks into paid work.
- Track members' repair and replacement revenue separately. That's the real return on the plan.
- Keep it simple. Two or three tiers, explained in one sentence each. (Here's why good-better-best pricing works so well for this.)
The trades industry guide covers pricing for plumbers and electricians too, and bundled services explains the model behind it.
What to do next
Look at your last 100 jobs. How many of those customers will need you again within two years? That's your plan market.
Then work out a price that pays for the visits, before you print a single flyer.
Frequently asked questions
What should an HVAC maintenance agreement include?
Most plans include one or two scheduled tune-ups a year (heating and cooling), filter changes or checks, a safety inspection, priority booking ahead of non-members, and a discount on repairs. Some waive call-out fees. Keep the list short and easy to explain at the door. Every extra inclusion has to be delivered, scheduled and costed.
Should a maintenance plan be paid monthly or annually?
Offer both. Monthly payments of $15 to $30 are easier to say yes to on the spot, and they create steady revenue in quiet months. Annual prepayment helps your cash flow and reduces failed-payment churn. A small discount for paying annually is common, but make sure it doesn't cost more than the churn it saves.
Do maintenance agreements work for plumbers and electricians too?
Yes, with a different trigger. HVAC has natural seasonal servicing. Plumbers can build plans around hot water system checks, drain maintenance and backflow testing. Electricians can sell safety switch testing, smoke alarm compliance and solar or battery checks. The test is the same: is there a predictable, recurring service customers should do but usually forget?
Is a maintenance agreement a subscription under Australian law?
If it renews or keeps billing until the customer stops it, it's likely to be treated as a subscription contract under the rules starting 1 July 2027. That means clear key terms at sign-up, notices during the subscription, and an easy way to cancel. Fixed-term plans that simply end aren't the same. Check your terms with a lawyer.
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Robert Coorey, MBA
Robert is the author of The Subscription Playbook and Feed a Starving Crowd and a Director at BPAG Accountants in Sydney. More about Robert.
Sources
- ServiceTitan, Service Agreement Software (Atlantic Refrigeration testimonial; vendor source, accessed Oct 2026)
- ServiceTitan, Maintenance Agreements in 2026 (vendor guide)
- PipelineOn, HVAC Maintenance Agreements (secondary compilation citing Mordor Intelligence, ServiceTitan/DuraPlas and American Standard, 2026)
Facts and prices checked 27 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.