INDIANAPOLIS GUIDE

What to ask before someone works on the system

The truck is in the drive and the questions you meant to ask are still in your head. Ask them before a panel comes off. A heating and cooling company should be able to say who they are, what they think is wrong, and what they will not do. Indianapolis houses range from basement furnaces to closet air handlers, and the company that never asks which one you have is guessing. You do not need to be a technician to run this conversation. You need a short list and a place to write the answers.

By Mike Maziarz · Sources checked October 6, 2026 · How we write these guides

Who is coming, and under what name

Ask the legal name of the business, not only the name on the door. Ask who will be in the house, whether they are employees or a subcontractor, and how you will recognize them. A dispatcher who will not say any of that is a reason to keep looking.

Ask what credential they hold for this kind of work, and the name it is filed under. Then check. The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency is the state office for licensing questions. This site will not tell you that a statewide heating and cooling license is required, and it will not tell you that it is not. Ask the agency what applies, and ask Indianapolis or the city of the job address about any local registration.

Match the name on the quote to the name you looked up. If they differ, ask why in daylight, not after a part has been ordered. A slogan on a magnet is not the record.

Insurance and what happens if something is damaged

Ask for proof of insurance and whether it covers the people who will actually be in the basement or the attic. You are not expected to interpret a policy. You are expected to hear that they have one and to see a current certificate if you ask. Write the date on it.

Ask what happens if a ceiling, a coil pan, or a gas fitting is damaged during the work. The answer should be a person and a process, not a joke. In an older house the path to a basement furnace may be tight. Say so before they arrive so they do not discover your storage by knocking it over.

If the job touches the gas piping, ask whether the utility has to be involved. Many Indianapolis addresses are served by Citizens Energy Group. A gas smell is not a hiring detail to discuss indoors. Leave and use the emergency number on the bill. The hiring conversation resumes outside, or on another day.

The scope, in writing, before work

Ask for the finding first. What did they see, what did they test, and what part failed. Then ask for the work: repair or replacement, which pieces of equipment, whether ducts or the thermostat are included, and what will be tested when they are done. A total with no sentences under it is not a scope.

Ask what is not included. Refrigerant leak search, permit fees if any, haul-away of the old unit, and a return trip if the part is wrong should not be surprises. You still do not need this page to invent a price. You need the company to label the lines.

If the system is a heat pump or dual fuel, ask them to say so in the quote. Emergency heat, defrost, and a furnace handoff are easy to miss if they assume you have a cooling-only outdoor unit. The heat pump page is the vocabulary, so you can tell whether their sentence matches the equipment in the yard.

Lines a company should not cross

A company should refuse to jump out a safety switch, tape a door switch, or add refrigerant from a can as a favor. If someone offers those, stop. You can find another company. The do-it-yourself or call a pro page is the same line drawn for you, so you recognize it when a professional suggests crossing it.

They should also refuse to keep testing burners after a carbon monoxide alarm or a gas smell. The visit ends. People leave. Anyone who wants to finish the tune-up first is not the person you want in the utility room.

Ask whether they will leave the old part. Ask whether they will show you the failed piece if it is safe to look at. A charred wire or a cracked component is easier to understand when you see it. You still do not have to stand in front of an open gas burner.

Describe the house so they do not guess

Tell them basement, closet, or attic before they roll. Tell them gas furnace, heat pump, or both. Tell them if the complaint is no heat, no cooling, ice on the line, or rooms that feel clammy even when the temperature is close. Humidity is a symptom of its own. The humidity guide helps you say whether the air is wet in July or painfully dry when the furnace runs, which keeps a blower complaint from being sold as a whole new system.

Mention a recent renovation, a closed-off room, or a return grille behind a sofa. Airflow problems look like equipment failures. A company that does not ask about comfort room by room is only listening for a model number.

If you are hiring for a seasonal check rather than a breakdown, say that. A fall heat check and a spring cooling check have a list. The seasonal page is that list, so a free inspection that is only a sales call has something to be measured against.

What you should have when they leave

You should leave the visit with an invoice, model and serial numbers, the filter size, any permit record, and a sentence about what to watch for the next day. A system that short-cycles after the truck pulls away is a callback, and the invoice should say how to reach them.

Ask about labor and parts in words, including who honors them if the company closes. A warranty that lives only in a text message is thin. Put the paper in the same folder as the data-plate photos.

If the work felt wrong, you can still ask the city permit office or the licensing agency how a homeowner checks a credential or a permit result. You are not filing a lawsuit from this page. You are using the offices that exist. The next company you call should be ready for the same questions, asked earlier.