The homeowner has already bought the condenser and the air handler online and wants a labor-only install. The decision is not whether you resent the lost margin. It is whether you are willing to put your license and your name on a system you did not choose.
This guide covers the policy: four acceptance checks to run before you quote, the labor price, the warranty line, and the terms for a delivery that arrives wrong. The structurally identical question for electricians is in should electricians install customer-supplied fixtures. Sizing the system is a separate question, covered in should HVAC contractors charge for a load calculation, so it is not argued again here.
The trade argues about margin. The real question is liability
Contractors who refuse these jobs usually give two reasons: pride in the equipment they sell, and the margin they lose. Both are real. The stronger argument is that federal rules reach the contractor who completes the install, no matter who bought the box.
The refrigerant rule defines "install" as "to complete a field-assembled system's circuit, including charging with a full charge, such that the system can function and is ready for use for its intended purpose" (40 CFR 84.52). In the two regions with their own efficiency minimums, the regional rule makes it "a violation for a contractor or dealer to knowingly sell to and/or install for an end user a central air conditioner subject to regional standards with the knowledge that such product will be installed in violation of any regional standard applicable to the product" (10 CFR 429.102(c)(3)). And the refrigerant sales rule lets only certified technicians and their employers buy refrigerant sold in cylinders, so the charge that finishes the job comes through you.
The homeowner bought a box. You are the one who turns it into a system. That is why the answer is a gate and not a yes or a no: a customer-supplied install is a good job when the equipment passes four checks, and it is a liability you bought for the price of labor when it does not.
Gate 1: is it a certified matched system?
Online listings sell condensing units, coils, and air handlers as separate parts. The efficiency number on the listing belongs to a specific combination of outdoor unit and indoor coil that was rated together. Swap the coil for a cheaper one and the number describes a system you did not install.
In the Southeast and Southwest, where air conditioners carry regional minimums, the federal rule names "a complete central air conditioning system that is not certified as a complete system that meets the applicable standard" as an installation in violation (10 CFR 429.102(c)(4)(i)). Everywhere else, the warranty does the enforcing. The Rheem limited warranty quoted in Gate 4, for example, excludes "Covered condensing units that are not part of a properly matched system as specified by the Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI)." The check is a lookup: take the model numbers off the order confirmation, find the combination in AHRI's certification directory, and confirm the outdoor unit and the coil appear together. If the customer bought two parts that do not appear as a certified pair, the job stops there or the quote changes to a different coil that does.
Gate 2: does it meet the efficiency minimum for this address?
The Department of Energy sets a national floor for central air conditioners. For split-system air conditioners manufactured on or after January 1, 2023, that floor is 13.4 SEER2 (10 CFR 430.32(c)(5)). Two regions carry a higher one for air conditioners installed on or after that date: both require 14.3 SEER2 for split systems under 45,000 Btu/hr, and the Southwest adds an EER2 floor (10 CFR 430.32(c)(6)). The Southeast is Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. The Southwest is Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico. Heat pumps carry one national minimum, so the regional layer applies to the air conditioner case.
Two details make this a trap for an online purchase. First, the minimum follows the installation address, not the seller's warehouse, so a unit that is legal to sell and legal to ship can still be illegal to install in the customer's state. Second, the test is not the pairing in the driveway. The rule says "any model of outdoor unit that has a certified combination with a rating below the applicable standard level(s) for a region cannot be installed in that region" (10 CFR 430.32(c)(6)(ii)). A listing that shows one model number and one efficiency figure does not tell you whether that outdoor unit can go in at this address.
The check: look the outdoor unit's model number up in the DOE Compliance Certification Database, read every certified combination, and compare the lowest one to the minimum for the job address. The regulation is written around knowledge, so the lookup is how a shop knows what it is installing, and a note of the result on the quote is how it shows it.
Gate 3: what refrigerant is in the box, and can your crew install it?
This gate is where much of the 2025 coverage is now out of date. It says residential R-410A systems could not be installed after January 1, 2026, which was the rule when it was written. EPA's May 2026 reconsideration rule, effective July 27, 2026, removed that deadline for systems built before 2025. The current text of 40 CFR 84.54(c)(1) restricts installation of new residential and light commercial systems with a refrigerant of 700 GWP or higher, and then says such systems "may continue to be installed where all specified components of that system are manufactured or imported prior to January 1, 2025." EPA's sector table says the same: "No installation compliance date for systems where all specified components were manufactured or imported prior to January 1, 2025." R-410A is listed at a GWP of 2,088 in EPA's GWP reference table, well over the 700 line.
So the gate is not a calendar date. It is a date of manufacture, read off nameplates. The regulation defines specified components as condensing units, condensers, compressors, evaporator units, and evaporators, so the test covers each one. A condensing unit built in 2024 paired with an evaporator coil built in 2025 fails it, and a customer who assembled a package from two sellers can end up with exactly that pair. Because the install definition lands on the person who charges the circuit, the failure is yours to carry. The rule also reaches an owner who has a system installed, but that shares the problem without moving it off your license. A replacement condensing unit for an existing system is a different case: EPA's page notes that "components used to repair existing systems are not subject to these restrictions." Two limits apply. A replacement that increases the system's cooling capacity counts as an installation under 40 CFR 84.54(e)(2), and a new unit and a new coil on a new system is an installation too, so the date test applies to both. The full rule set, with each date tied to its paragraph, is in can you still install R-410A.
Two more items belong on the same check. The first is the sales rule: EPA's page says the restriction on refrigerant sales "does not cover refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment or components containing refrigerants," so the homeowner did not break a rule by buying the pre-charged unit. A long line set may need additional refrigerant, though, and only certified technicians and their employers may buy it. The customer can own the box but cannot buy the charge to finish it. The second is the refrigerant itself. Newer systems use A2L refrigerants, which ASHRAE Standard 34 classes as lower flammability (often called mildly flammable), and installing them takes training and equipment that a crew either has or does not. If the box holds a refrigerant your crew is not set up for, that is a reason to decline the job, not to learn on the customer's system.
Gate 4: what the manufacturer says about internet purchases
Do not tell a customer that buying online voids the warranty. Policies are written per manufacturer, and some are stricter than others. One example is a published limited warranty from Rheem, which states: "The Manufacturer does not authorize or warranty any online/internet sale of equipment through auction websites or, unless expressly authorized by written policy of Manufacturer, any other method of online sales direct to the consumer." That is one brand's language, not an industry rule. The same document's exclusion list is narrower than that sentence sounds: it excludes equipment "that has been sold to the consumer via the internet or auction website, and has not been installed by a trained, qualified HVAC professional." Under that wording, who installs the box matters as much as where it was bought.
The check is to find the warranty document for the brand in the box and read what it says about the seller and the installer. Print the relevant sentence, or the answer to it, on the quote. A homeowner who reads "the manufacturer's policy on this unit says the following" has been warned in writing, and a shop that never looked has no way to answer later when the compressor fails in year three and nobody covers it.
Pricing the labor-only install without the equipment margin
A supplied job lets one price do several jobs. The equipment margin covers the callback reserve and the hours spent sourcing the order. On a customer-supplied job the margin is gone and those costs remain, so a labor-only price cannot be the supplied job's labor line with the equipment struck out.
Price it from the shop's own numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage of $29.33 an hour for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in May 2025, and a shop's loaded rate sits above that once the truck and insurance are added. Apply that loaded rate to the hours the install takes, then add two lines the supplied quote does not need: an acceptance check that includes inspecting the delivery, and terms for a return visit. The rate does not drop because the customer found the box cheaper.
The mistake to avoid is discounting the labor to win the job. The customer's saving is on the equipment. If the labor line is cut to meet it, the shop is paying out of its own margin for liabilities the customer chose.
The warranty line: workmanship yes, equipment no
A customer-supplied job needs two warranty statements, and the quote should keep them apart. The first covers your workmanship, for the term you would offer on any install, as set out in how long should an HVAC labor warranty be. The second says what you do not cover.
Write the exclusion in plain words: "Equipment was supplied by the customer. This warranty covers installation labor only. It does not cover the equipment or any claim under the manufacturer's warranty, which may depend on where the equipment was purchased." Say the word "equipment" and say who supplied it. A line that says "parts not warranted" is vague enough to be argued, and the vague version is the one that ends up costing a labor claim for a compressor failure.
The truck roll for a wrong, damaged, or incomplete delivery
The risk specific to these jobs shows up on install day. The delivery arrives a week late, with a crushed coil, or with a unit that is not the model on the order. A crew is already scheduled, and the shop is paying for the day.
The quote should settle this before the order is placed. State that the customer is responsible for receiving the equipment and inspecting it for damage, that the shop will inspect the delivery before install day, and that a return visit caused by a wrong, damaged, or incomplete delivery is billed at a stated trip charge for each visit. Name the number on the quote, not "to be determined." Add a rule on who files the shipping claim: the customer, since the customer is the buyer of record. These terms are the ordinary consequence of a part of the job the shop does not control.
What the homeowner gives up
A homeowner who buys the equipment separately trades a single point of responsibility for a lower box price. If the compressor fails, the installer covers the labor it warranted, and the equipment claim is between the customer and the manufacturer or the seller, subject to that brand's policy on purchases made online. Extra refrigerant for the line set comes through the shop either way. The customer also takes on the delivery risk described above. These trade-offs are not a reason to refuse the job. They are the reason the quote should say them out loud.
Worked example: one 3-ton split system, quoted both ways
Take a 3-ton split-system air conditioner installed in a state outside the two regional zones. Every number below is illustrative, including the equipment prices, the $110 loaded hourly rate, the hours, and the permit ceiling. Only the $29.33 BLS median wage in the labor section above is sourced.
| Line | Quote A: shop supplies equipment | Quote B: customer supplies equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | $5,900 (shop cost $4,200, margin $1,700) | Customer buys separately |
| Install labor, 16 hours at $110 | $1,760 | $1,760 |
| Acceptance check and delivery inspection, 2 hours at $110 | Not needed | $220 |
| Install materials (pad and line set) | $450 | $450 |
| Permit and inspection at cost, not to exceed | $200 | $200 |
| Total on the shop's quote | $8,310 | $2,630 |
Suppose the customer finds the same equipment online for $4,600. Quote B plus the box is $7,230, which is $1,080 less than Quote A. The saving is real: the box costs the customer $1,300 less online, and the $220 acceptance line takes back part of that. The labor is 16 hours on both quotes, because setting the condenser and hanging the coil take the same time whoever bought them.
What Quote B gives up is the $1,700 margin that sat under Quote A, and nothing on Quote B replaces it. The acceptance line pays for the two hours the shop actually spends checking the delivery. The exclusion note keeps the job from becoming a free-labor claim on equipment the shop never chose. Those two lines protect the labor price; they do not rebuild the margin, so a shop that needs the margin should say so and quote the job as Quote A. If the box cannot pass all four gates, the right answer to Quote B is a polite no.
Put the equipment line, the exclusion, and the trip terms on the quote
We built EosLog's quote generator so the labor-only line, the warranty note, and the return-visit terms are written down before the customer signs from their phone.
Try the free HVAC quote generator
No account required. You can also create a free EosLog account to save your line items and reuse them on every quote, or see the plans first. For the paperwork that follows the install, see the HVAC invoicing guide, and for the margin you are giving up on these jobs, see how much contractors should mark up materials.
Sources and further reading
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 84.54 (installation restriction for residential and light commercial AC and heat pump systems; assembling a system for the first time).
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 84.52 (definitions of "install" and "specified component").
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Technology Transitions HFC Restrictions by Sector (residential and light commercial AC and heat pump row; repair components; page modified August 28, 2026).
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Technology Transitions GWP Reference Table (R-410A GWP of 2,088).
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Refrigerant Sales Restriction (what the sales restriction covers and does not cover; who may purchase refrigerant; last updated March 23, 2026).
- Legal Information Institute, 10 CFR 430.32 (national and regional standards for central air conditioners and heat pumps).
- Legal Information Institute, 10 CFR 429.102 (contractor or dealer violations of regional standards; systems not certified as a complete system).
- U.S. Department of Energy, Compliance Certification Database (certified models of central air conditioners and heat pumps).
- Rheem Sales Company, Inc., Air Conditioning Division, Limited Warranty (online and internet sales language; exclusions for internet sales not installed by a qualified professional and for condensing units not in an AHRI-matched system).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, HVAC Mechanics and Installers (median pay $29.33 per hour, May 2025).
This article is general information, not legal advice. Federal efficiency and refrigerant rules, state licensing and permit requirements, and each manufacturer's warranty terms change and vary by location and brand. Confirm the current rules and the warranty document for the equipment in question before quoting a customer-supplied install.