HVAC replacement scope builder the full cost of the job.

A condenser does not install itself. Behind the equipment sit the electrical disconnect and whip, the breaker, the pad and hurricane strapping, the condensate line and safety pan, refrigerant recovery and recharge, the drier, the thermostat, the permit, the access repair where the air handler sits, and the duct transitions when the new unit is a different size. None of that is in the one-line estimate. This tool adds each one as a real Xactimate item, so the total reflects the work instead of just the box.

Air conditioners come as a matched pair: the outdoor condenser and the indoor coil are engineered to work together at a rated efficiency (an AHRI matched system). You cannot mix a new condenser with an old coil and get a system that performs, or that a manufacturer will warrant.

That matters on a claim because of the refrigerant transitions. R-22 production ended in 2020. R-410A is being phased down under the AIM Act, with new equipment moving to low-GWP refrigerants (R-454B, R-32) starting in 2025. So a failed R-22 or R-410A condenser generally cannot be replaced by itself. The coil or air handler comes with it, and the lineset comes too when the refrigerant family changes. The tool flags these matched items as a compatibility and code upgrade, so Ordinance and Law coverage is a visible, separate question rather than a silent assumption.

Flush the lineset or replace it? The rule the tool applies is simple: flush and reuse the existing lineset when the refrigerant family is unchanged, and replace it when the family changes. Replacing on a family change is not optional. Residue from the old refrigerant and oil can damage the new system.

Tonnage is the system's cooling capacity, and it drives the equipment size codes. You cannot guess it from the room count. Read it off the model number: the middle digits are the capacity in thousands of BTU, and 12,000 BTU equals one ton. So an "036" model is 36,000 BTU, which is 3 tons, and an "060" is 5 tons.

SEER2 is the current efficiency rating for new equipment, and the minimum is set by region. In the Southeast, which includes Florida, the minimum for new split systems is 15 SEER2. A like-for-like swap of an older, lower-efficiency unit can therefore be a code upgrade just to meet the current minimum. The tool lists that as a code item flagged for Ordinance and Law coverage, never silently in or out.

Florida code items show up on almost every residential replacement. First, a condensate safety: an auxiliary drip pan or a float switch (FBC-M 307.2.3) where an overflow would damage the building. Second, condenser anchorage: the High Velocity Hurricane Zone requires the outdoor unit to be strapped or anchored. Both are listed and flagged. The float switch and the hurricane strap do not have their own price list codes yet, so the tool marks them for the contractor to confirm.

Ductwork is its own scope. When the loss touches the ducts, they are line items in their own right. Flexible runs, metal trunk, returns, and grilles each get their own line. The key call is replace versus detach and reset. Category 3 water or fire soot means porous flex duct cannot be cleaned and must be replaced (IICRC S500). Clean water or physical-only damage can often be detached and reset.

Swapping a packaged rooftop unit is not a lift-and-drop. The scope includes the crane, sized in the crane cost estimator with the roof height and unit weight pre-filled, the curb adapter when the new unit differs, and the roofing tie-in flashing at the curb. That flashing is the item everyone forgets and the roofer bills for. Then the duct transitions at supply and return, the electrical whip and disconnect and breaker check, the gas disconnect and reconnect with a leak test on gas heat, the condensate, the controls reconnect, refrigerant work when the system is split, startup and test and balance, the permit, and the code-required duct smoke detector.

The roofing tie-in at the curb. When a rooftop unit comes off, the roof membrane at the curb is cut and has to be flashed back when the unit is reset. On a like-for-like swap with a reusable curb it is easy to assume the roof is untouched. It is not. The tool always includes the curb flashing tie-in, because the membrane is disturbed every time the unit lifts off and back.

Curb adapter versus new curb. A different unit rarely lands on the old curb. A retrofit curb adapter bridges the old opening to the new unit and is a catalog line. A brand-new curb or a new roof opening is structural work: framing, a new penetration, engineering. That is a bid item, not a quantity, and the tool flags it as one.

Controls and BAS are a bid item. A standalone thermostat is a swap. Building automation system (BAS) integration is not. Tying a new unit into a building's control system is specialty work priced by the controls contractor. The tool never puts a quantity on BAS work. It flags it as a bid item with a narrative so it is visible without being guessed.