How we work, and how to check it.
A house is one system. The air conditioner is sized by the windows and the attic, the attic sits under the roof, and the permit is what says a city inspector inspected the work. We would rather show you the rules and the records than ask you to take our word for any of it.
Sized to the house, not to habit
A system sized by a square-footage rule of thumb usually comes out too big, and a too-big system cools the air before it dries it: the house feels cold and clammy and the unit turns on and off all day. San Antonio's code does not leave this to habit.
San Antonio's residential code (2024 IRC Section M1401.3, adopted unamended by City Code Sec. 10-36) requires heating and cooling equipment to be sized per ACCA Manual S from building loads calculated per ACCA Manual J or another approved method.
The City of San Antonio adopted the 2024 International Residential Code by Ordinance 2025-01-30-0075, passed January 30, 2025 and effective May 1, 2025.
Ask for the load calculation before you sign — from anyone who quotes you a replacement.
Permitted where the jurisdiction issues one
CPS Energy requires a City permit number on every HVAC rebate application for a project completed inside San Antonio city limits.
Bexar County does not require a county building permit for single-family homes (including duplexes and triplexes) in unincorporated areas; county permits cover floodplain development, on-site sewage (septic) systems, right-of-way and driveway work, and storm-water quality.
Ask for the permit number in writing, and where to check it. Our page Was your San Antonio job permitted? shows which office holds the record for your address.
Licensed for the work, registered with the City
Air conditioning and refrigeration work in Texas must be performed through a TDLR-licensed Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor.
Texas requires every licensed air-conditioning and refrigeration contracting company to show its affiliated licensee's license number in all advertising that solicits business (16 TAC §75.71(h)).
Cooling and heating: Texas air-conditioning license TACLB52456E. Repairs and remodels of existing homes: City of San Antonio Home Improvement Contractor registration HIC-26-00132. Both are checkable in a minute — here is how.
The trades this site names are the ones those two credentials cover. Nothing else is on offer here, and nothing here is called "licensed" that Texas does not license.
Sourced
Every regulatory fact on this site names its primary source and the date we checked it. Where a fact is ours to check and we have not checked it, it is not on the page.
Your record, in your hands
Your home's equipment, filters and service history live in your free homeowner toolbox, where you can read them any time — not only in our files.
The maintenance plan, in plain words
It is a maintenance plan: scheduled maintenance, priority scheduling and member pricing for a stated term. It is not a warranty and not a service contract; it does not pay for repairs or replacements. The plan is priced on the store page.
What we do not do
We are a contractor, not a real estate inspector (Tex. Occ. Code §1102.002). If you are buying or selling and want an opinion on a house's condition, that is a TREC-licensed inspector's job. We quote the cooling, heating and repair work a home needs, and we can size a replacement to the house.
Texas law defines a real estate inspection as "a written or oral opinion as to the condition of the improvements to real property" (Tex. Occ. Code §1102.001(9)).
Only a TREC-licensed professional inspector may perform a real estate inspection for a buyer or seller (Tex. Occ. Code §1102.103).
A licensed trade contractor who repairs, maintains, or inspects a home's systems is outside the real estate inspector chapter so long as it does not advertise itself as being in the business of inspecting (Tex. Occ. Code §1102.002).
Under TREC's Standards of Practice, a home inspector is not required to determine the "sizing, efficiency, or adequacy" of a heating and air-conditioning system (22 TAC §535.230(d)(5)(A)).