Reading an HVAC listing like an expert

Turn every line into a document you can ask for

One invented HVAC listing read line by line, with the document that proves each claim and a worksheet to fill in for every listing you look at.

For buyers 16 pages 17-minute read Checked Mon 12th Oct 2026

Who this guide is for

For anyone reading listings of heating, ventilation and air conditioning businesses for sale: a first-time buyer, a trade firm looking for a second business, or an investor. It also shows a seller which documents a buyer can ask for after reading the listing.

What you will take from it

  • Split the turnover into installation, contract and reactive work before you compare two listings.
  • The adjusted profit in the example listing adds the owner's pay back without taking off the cost of replacing the owner's work.
  • Gas Safe registered and F-gas certified describe the company, so ask for every engineer's card to see who covers the work once the owner has gone.

What is inside

  1. What a listing can and cannot tell you
  2. The listing we will read
  3. The turnover line
  4. The recurring income line
  5. The adjusted profit line
  6. The team and tickets line
  7. The customers line
  8. The reason for sale
  9. The price line
  10. What this listing does not say
  11. What three public deals show

The tool: listing evidence worksheet

One sheet for each listing: what the listing says, the document that would prove it, whether you have been sent it and what is still open. Type into the PDF and save it, or print it.

It comes as its own file as well as a page of the guide.

Two pages from the guide

Page 6 of the guide
Page 6 of 16
Page 14 of the guide
Page 14 of 16

Get the guide

Tell us who you are and the guide opens on this page, with the listing evidence worksheet as its own file.

PDF 16 pages 482 KB

Your details go to Simon Read's team at HVAC Business Sales. We do not sell them or share them for marketing. Privacy policy.

Simon Read

Prepared by Simon Read

Founder & Managing Director, Reads Advice Partners Ltd

Simon founded Reads M&A Advisory to specialise in trades such as HVAC, electrical, fire safety and facilities management, and has spent many years selling businesses to independent buyers, trade companies and private equity-backed groups across the UK.

Checked Mon 12th Oct 2026. The Autumn Budget is scheduled for Wed 28th Oct 2026, and we review every guide after it.

Start with a free first conversation: 01285 704466. Meet the team.

Hear about businesses before they are advertised

Tell us what you are looking for, and start with a free first conversation.