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HVAC Signal · The HVAC briefing professionals can read in five minutes. · October 28, 2026
🚨 Rules, Refrigerants & Safety
Oregon's new residential code: if a new home gets split-system AC, it has to run as a heat pump (2 minute read)
The 2026 Oregon Residential Specialty Code took effect Oct. 1 and becomes mandatory April 1, 2027, after a six-month phase-in. Under Section N1105.8, new dwellings with split-system AC need an outdoor unit and coil with heat-pump operation as first-stage heat, backed by a heat source sized to the design load. Builders can opt out with extra efficiency measures and ducts inside the envelope. Alterations and repairs are exempt.
Father and daughter plead guilty to smuggling R-22 from Mexico for at least two HVAC companies (2 minute read)
Ricky Jesus Rodriguez and his daughter Jasmine pleaded guilty Oct. 16 in San Diego federal court to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. He admitted dozens of border runs since summer 2023, five to 10 tanks each, for at least two HVAC companies that DOJ did not name. Sentencing is Jan. 11, 2027. With R-22 imports banned since 2020, a cheap cylinder deserves a source check.
🏠 Residential & Contractor Business
Yelp's Smart Lead Reply: a $30-a-month AI agent that answers and qualifies quote requests (2 minute read)
Yelp's fall release (Oct. 20) adds Smart Lead Reply, rolling out next month at $30 a month for businesses in eligible Request a Quote categories. It answers questions, gathers project details and can share scheduling links, pricing and promos. Homeowners can now book directly through new ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro integrations, with lead syncing for Jobber and Workiz. Yelp says about 10% of Q2 quote requests came through its AI assistant.
Authority Brands, One Hour's parent, will phase out about 125 corporate roles while posting 100-plus new ones (2 minute read)
A spokesperson told Homepros (Oct. 20) the cuts hit corporate staff, not franchise locations, over three to 12 months, and called social-media claims of 300-plus layoffs inaccurate. The Apax-backed franchisor runs 15 brands, including One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, across 2,700-plus U.S. locations. It says the new roles add technology, marketing, training and operations support for franchise owners.
Single-family housing starts slipped 4.6% in September to an 859,000 annual rate (2 minute read)
The Census Bureau's Oct. 20 release puts total starts at a 1.221 million rate, 7.4% below September 2025. Single-family permits, a lead indicator for new-construction installs, fell 4.0% to 845,000. Census says the monthly starts change is within its margin of error (±10.0% for single-family), so read it as a soft trend. Shops that lean on builder work get the next read Nov. 18.
Southern California's GO ZERO heat-pump rebates get $60.2 million more, with new mini-split and window tiers (2 minute read)
South Coast AQMD's board approved Phase 2 on Oct. 2 after the $21 million pilot's single-family money ran out in under six months. Most single-family rebates will run $500 to $1,000, or $1,000 to $2,000 in overburdened communities, and units installed on or after Sept. 4 qualify. The portal hasn't relaunched yet, so new applications stay closed until it does.
⚡ Quick Links
1. Bradford White strikers reject the tentative deal, 61% to 39%: UAW Local 1002 members at the Middleville, Mich., water-heater plant voted down a deal worth about $2 an hour in raises, so the strike that began Sept. 16 continues; the union expects talks to resume Monday. (Tier B · local TV · result confirmed 2026-10-25 via WWMT Oct. 24 and WZZM Oct. 24)
2. ServiceTitan: AI saves time, profit is another story: In a survey of 1,017 U.S. contractors, 66% of AI users save three-plus hours a week, but only 47% report better profitability and 43% more revenue. (Tier B · vendor survey)
3. Rhode Island funds a $200,000 heat-pump training program at CCRI: Oct. 6: the pre-apprenticeship course, set for summer or fall 2027, covers refrigeration, brazing and piping, and cold-climate work on ducted and ductless trainers. (Tier A · state)
4. A new fund plans to roll up 20 home-service shops by 2027: Oct. 16: New Jersey investor Sheldon Peters' Home Services Growth Fund holds five unnamed HVAC, plumbing, roofing and related companies and will also chase government contracts. (Tier B · self-published release)
📅 Upcoming Conferences
• AHR Expo 2027 — January 25–27, 2027, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. The industry's big equipment and tools floor, co-sponsored by AHRI and ASHRAE and held alongside the ASHRAE Winter Conference. 90-day. AHR Expo
• MEP Innovation Conference 2027 — January 25–27, 2027, Tampa, FL. The joint MCAA, NECA and SMACNA conference for mechanical, electrical and sheet-metal contractors. 90-day. SMACNA
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All Contractor: the shirt, the leave-behind and the swag should match the brand on the truck (1 minute read)
Every service call puts a tech, a uniform and a leave-behind in front of a homeowner. All Contractor handles branded apparel, print materials and merchandise alongside the website and ads, so what the crew wears and hands over matches what the customer saw online. Every engagement is scoped to what the shop actually needs, not a canned package. Start at allcontractor.com/solutions/marketing.
HVACGPT.ai: AI consulting stack for HVAC owners (1 minute read)
AI built specifically for HVAC business owners that provides a KPI and P&L consultant, sales coach, estimate copilot, maintenance plan copilot, training coach, cashflow & budgeting, hiring & pay plans, business valuation & exit, and more! It would take at least 4 different consultants to provide you this guidance. Get the best consulting for your HVAC business at a fraction of the cost.
All Contractor: AI automation for the bottleneck that eats the week (1 minute read)
Custom AI automations built around the shop: routine customer questions, data entry, and the handoff between systems, with a person still checking the work. The first one is scoped to a real bottleneck, not a demo. If the idea will not help the crew, they say so before they build it. Start at allcontractor.com/lp/ai-solutions.