RESIDENTIAL HVAC DURING COVID

Labor-management partnerships foster cooperation and proactive troubleshooting in the face of adversity

By / Robin Brunet

Above and beyond offering their expertise and products, the main goal of residential HVAC service providers is to gain customer confidence.

It’s a challenge in the best of times, but the task has assumed unprecedented proportions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when many customers wouldn’t dream of calling for home service, and even the service providers are concerned about their own safety.

But although concern about the virus hasn’t abated, confidence is being restored in the residential market. And the reason is close collaboration between SMACNA contractors and the skilled workforce and partners at SMART.

“Our customers are getting back to feeling comfortable having someone in their home,” says Denise Ruscetta, president of Skyline Heating A/C & Sheet Metal Inc. in Denver, Colorado. She credits this to her company observing strict protective protocol measures that were developed in conjunction with SMACNA Colorado.

Nathan Cooper, executive director of SMACNA Colorado, notes that contractors and his organization working together is nothing new. “We actively develop new initiatives with our board of nine contractors,” he says. “But during the early weeks of the pandemic when we weren’t sure our industry would be deemed an essential service, the first thing we and SMART, along with companies such as Skyline, did was advocate strongly to stay open.”

This was followed by safety measures being communicated via websites and social media. “Also, to ensure safe distancing on the job, we agreed on the temporary allowance of a second shift at no additional premium,” Cooper says. “All of this demonstrated we were more than capable of dealing with the pandemic, and our confidence resonated positively with customers.”

Sheet metal workers becoming actively involved in providing equipment for personal protection also contributed to a growing sense of trust within industry circles. “For instance, HVAC service provider Colorado Sheet Metal designed a touchless wash station for jobsites,” Cooper says. “Being proactive in this manner inspired confidence among workers and helped communities.”

Cooper knows the benefit of a strong labor-management partnership in difficult times—when collaboration and mutual trust is essential. “SMACNA and SMART have to stick together,” he says. “We’re not majority players in the Colorado market. As such, we’re fairly scrappy. We’re not afraid to throw things against the wall and see what sticks.”

After an initial period of panic, many customers in St. Louis, Missouri, became pragmatic as they realized their homes were now workplaces as well as havens, and therefore HVAC maintenance and upgrades were vital to their comfort.

Welsch Heating & Cooling of St Louis, Missouri, was determined to support those people, and the company’s president Paul Heimann recalls, “We have a SMART Rebate Program involving 14 SMACNA participating members. Those members serve on an advisory panel that meets regularly with the Local 36 program advisors. During one discussion, we raised the prospect of implementing an additional $100 rebate for front line workers, and we also proposed a $400 rebate if an entire system needed replacing.”

SMACNA and SMART representatives agreed it was a great idea, and the latter quickly approved the rebates and committed to funding them. SMACNA was charged with receiving and processing the rebates. “The program has since been extended to teachers and school administrators,” Heimann says. “We’ve also discussed expanding it in November to include military and veterans.”

Local 26 Business Manager Ray Reasons says, “Our relationship with SMACNA and contractors has always been one of encouraging ideas, and the rebates were a fairly easy proposal to move forward.”

Heimann and Reasons agree that clear and constant communication is at the heart of their good working relationship. “It’s not just about numbers or issues,” Reasons says. “For instance, when we get together, the conversation includes how our families are doing—personal matters as well as business matters.”

Reasons, who spent 22 years working in the contracting field and still keeps his tools in his office, adds, “It’s important for us to keep in mind that my concerns and the contractors’ concerns are mutual. We both want to succeed.”

Robert Tuck, president of Atlas Heating & Air Conditioning in Oakland, California, reports, “We’re slowly rebuilding customer confidence after months of retrofit jobs being delayed due to our state’s shelter-in-place order. And I would give full credit to Local 104 for giving contractors constant support by way of providing PPE and consultation, and listening very intently to our concerns.”

Tuck is also impressed by how SMACNA has taken a leadership role in helping members through the pandemic. “President Angie Simon has done more than anyone in upgrading COVID protocols,” he says. “She has a tremendous grasp of issues in the field and in the shop.”

Thanks to SMACNA’s and SMART’s support—as well as resilience exhibited by service providers—companies such as Atlas have gone from merely hanging on during the lockdown to being super-busy during the late summer months. “None of this has come easily, and we’re operating on very narrow margins due to COVID protocols,” Tuck says. “But the point is we’re all pulling together and enduring. Teamwork is the difference between success and failure, and at Atlas there is optimism for the future. Our company made it through the 1918 Spanish Flu, and we’ll make it through COVID.” ▪

Robin Brunet’s journalism has been published in over 150 magazines, newspapers, websites, and other media across Canada and the United States since 1982. He is also the best-selling author of two books: Red Robinson: The Last Deejay and Let’s Get Frank, as well as the upcoming The Last Broadcast.