In today’s competitive HVACR market, contractors need more than just a good reputation—they need proof. That’s why Ray O. Cook Heating & Air, a longtime trusted HVACR name in the Sacramento Valley of California, has embraced ACCA’s Quality Installation (QI) certificate program.
“We live in a world where there’s a big divider in quality versus volume,” says Paul McHugh, a Senior Estimator with nearly 35 years in the trade and 19 years with the company. McHugh is one of two people at the company responsible for retrofit estimates and averages close to 350 installs a year.
With that kind of volume, Ray O. Cook puts a priority on quality work, and their approach to quality installation goes well beyond simply doing things the right way—they use advanced HVACR tools and programs to prove it to homeowners.
“Quality is something the customer has to understand. If they understand it and it makes sense to them, they’ll act on it.”
Discovering a better way to do quality installs
McHugh’s journey toward performance-based verification began more than five years earlier with the measureQuick® app. “We had digital manifold gauge sets that would automatically measure subcooling and superheat,” he explained. “We were one of the few in the Sacramento Valley that even used something like that.”
What initially started when Paul stumbled across a Facebook post for measureQuick® turned into a deeper investment. “We got on as a contractor and really embraced that process. It all came down to being able to measure, in real time, the efficiency and output of a unit, and to be able to tell the customer, ‘We’re going to show you in a report what you’re actually buying. We’re not just going to tell you. We’re going to show you.’”
From there, adopting ACCA’s QI certificate process was a natural evolution. It gave them something they didn’t have before: ACCA-backed proof that their installations meet national performance and quality standards.
QI certificates, he says, help Ray O. Cook go above and beyond: “California will allow [installers to get away with installing systems that only perform at] 70% of what you paid for, especially on airflow. Competitors can say, ‘Well, it’ll pass in building inspection—what do I care?’ That gives us the perfect opportunity to explain: We’re guaranteeing 90% plus. In fact, we bumped that to 95%, and we prove that with an independent certificate from the largest trade organization in North America.”
Using QI Certificates to stand out
McHugh understands that QI certificates are an effective differentiator for Ray O. Cook. “We’re one of the few, if any, that are offering it in our marketplace. So we say, ‘We do something that no others do. Do you want to know more about that?’
“Of course they do.”
“[We then ask] ‘Would you rather be in the top 95%, which is an A, or do you want your equipment to start life as a C, which is average?’ And that’s how we deploy it,” he explains. “You have to separate yourselves from others as a better entity and a better organization, and be able to back it up. That’s what the certificate does for us.”
The path to QI Certificates is just a button click away
Internally, another major benefit of the QI certificate process for Ray O. Cook is the money and time saved by reducing callbacks. “There is no doubt that the amount of time that we spend with nuisance problem calls goes down by commissioning the equipment correctly and dialing it in right,” McHugh points out. “Those calls, if not eliminated, are greatly reduced. And that alone is a good barometer for the use of ACCA certificates.”
For contractors on the fence? “The transition, if you are on measureQuick® or you’re doing any type of smart probe deployment, the transition to an [ACCA QI] certificate on their platform is seamless. If you’re getting A’s, A-’s, or A+’s, you have nothing to do but click a button.”
But of course, companies can also use measureQuick® and the QI process to help improve an installation process that they know needs improvement. “But if you’re getting B’s or less, then it’s a reason to look within ourselves,” he says, “to find out how to get to the A grade and find out what we’re doing wrong.”
Ready to reduce callbacks, stand out from competitors, and show customers what quality really looks like? Learn how to get started with ACCA QI Certificates at acca.org/qa/prove-it.
The post How Ray O. Cook uses ACCA QI Certificates to prove their quality appeared first on ACCA HVAC Blog.