An HVAC service request form that sorts the no-heat call from the tune-up
Heating and cooling requests range from “the house is cold and the baby is home” to “we want a quote on a heat pump next spring.” The request form decides which of those your dispatcher sees first, and what the tech loads on the truck.
What should HVAC contractors ask first?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is this a repair, a maintenance visit, or a quote on new equipment? | A repair is dispatched; a replacement quote is a sales visit on a different calendar. |
| What kind of system is it: a furnace, a central air unit, a heat pump, a boiler, or a ductless unit? | It decides which tech goes and which parts are worth carrying. |
| Roughly how old is the system, and do you know the brand? | An old system with a big repair turns into a replacement conversation. |
| What is it doing now: not running at all, running but not heating or cooling, making a noise, or leaking? | Each one points at a different part of the system. |
| Is anyone in the home at risk without heat or cooling right now? | It is the question that moves a call to the top of the board. |
| Where is the equipment: a basement, an attic, a closet, the roof, or outside? | An attic in summer or a crawl space changes the time and the equipment. |
If an answer would not change what you do next, leave the question out. Each extra question is one more reason for someone to stop before they finish.
If someone might have a gas smell or a carbon monoxide alarm, put a line at the top of the form telling them to leave the building and call the gas company or emergency services, not to fill in the form.
Which answers come back too vague to use, and what do you ask next?
The answers that cause a phone call are rarely missing. They are present and too loose to act on. A narrower follow-up, asked straight away while the person is still there, usually settles them. Offering likely answers shows the person the level of detail you need.
| What comes back | The follow-up that settles it |
|---|---|
| “It’s not working.” | Is the system not turning on at all, or running without heating or cooling the house? |
| “It’s pretty old.” | Roughly: under 10 years, 10 to 15, or older than 15? A date on the unit’s label works too. |
| “It’s making a noise.” | Is it a bang when it starts, a constant rattle or hum, or a squeal while it runs? |
Follow up once per gap, then move on. If an answer is still unclear after one follow-up, flag it for whoever picks the request up rather than pressing.
When is a call or a visit still the right move?
A no-heat call in winter or no cooling in a heat wave gets a phone call back, especially when someone at home is vulnerable; the written request is what tells you which calls those are. A replacement still needs a visit to size the system. Everything else books from the form, with the tech arriving knowing the system, its age and the symptom.
How do you set this up from the Quote request template?
Acquainto has a Quote request template to start from. After you sign up, open Browse templates, pick Quote request, and it lands in the editor as a draft you can change before anything is published.
The template asks what the quote is for, a rough budget, a date, whether the person has another quote, and where to send yours. For HVAC, make the first question the repair, maintenance or new-equipment choice, replace “How many people would be using this?” with the system type and age, add what it is doing now and the at-risk question, and keep the budget question for replacement quotes only.
To see it from the other side, answer a demo built from the questions on this page. It is a demo: your answers come to Acquainto, not to a business, so leave out real names and contact details.
Acquainto runs it as a short written conversation instead of a form. It:
- asks a follow-up when an answer is incomplete, and asks for clarification when one is vague;
- uses a structured choice where precision matters and open conversation where detail matters;
- shows the person every answer before it is sent, so they correct their own mistakes;
- hands back one clean value per question, delivered to your own systems by webhook.
The person answering needs no account, and nothing has to be scheduled. Start free trial, see how it works, or compare plans.