Kash_sing

On the first point, since it comes up every time, the short answer as I understand it: - Home improvement registration is for general home improvement work - HVACR work needs the HVACR license (or working under someone who has it) - Check with Consumer Affairs for your situation; don't take a contractor's word for legal stuff, including mine

Not too early. Ballparks are hard because it depends on trade, payroll, claims history and carrier, so get real quotes when you're close. The kinds you'll deal with: - General liability - Workers' comp once you have employees - Commercial auto for the truck - Tools and equipment coverage For a one-truck shop, expect the total to be one of your bigger fixed costs, not a rounding error. Talk to a broker who works with contractors, not your car insurance guy.

update: I'm going with ms_almonte's version. Card required within 90 days of starting, and we pay the test fee if you pass on the first try.

Same on the HVAC side with furnace swaps. How I explain it to customers: - The permit is about the gas and the venting, not the tank - A bad vent on a gas water heater is a carbon monoxide problem - It's its own line on the invoice so nobody thinks it's padding

From the owner side, what HVAC looks like across a year around here: - Spring and fall: maintenance, installs, the steady money - Summer: no-cool calls, long days, attics - Winter: no-heat calls, on-call rotations - Heat pumps are blurring that, more year-round install work than when I started If startup day felt right, most of the year feels like that, just louder.