Most commercial HVAC problems live at the intersection of controls and mechanical. A space won't cool — is it a failed compressor, a stuck damper, a bad sensor, or a broken sequence? Mechanical-only shops can't see the controls. Controls-only shops don't have a refrigerant license. Either way, the customer ends up paying for multiple truck rolls and finger-pointing while the building sits uncomfortable. Vertex is set up to handle both sides. Our service techs are EPA 608 certified, comfortable on commercial HVAC equipment, and trained to read the BAS — so the first truck on site usually fixes the problem.
WHAT WE DELIVER
Rooftop unit (RTU) service
Commercial RTU diagnostics, repair, and replacement on all major brands — Trane, Carrier, Lennox, York, Daikin/Goodman. Compressor, fan motor, economizer, gas heat, and electric heat work. Refrigerant leak detection, recovery, and recharge per EPA standards.
Air handler (AHU) service
Built-up AHU and packaged AHU service — fans, bearings, belts, coils (cleaning, leak repair, replacement), filter media management, economizer damper actuation, and humidifier maintenance.
Chiller service
Centrifugal, screw, and scroll chiller maintenance, diagnostics, and repair. Refrigerant management, oil sampling, condenser water side service, and tube cleaning coordination.
Boiler service
Condensing and non-condensing commercial boiler service — combustion tuning, control safety verification, water-side maintenance, and pump/expansion tank work.
Pumping and hydronic systems
Primary/secondary pump service, VFD setup and troubleshooting, expansion tank work, air separator service, chemical treatment coordination, and leak repair.
Preventive maintenance contracts
Quarterly or biannual PM visits scoped to your equipment list. Filter changes, belt inspections, refrigerant leak checks, electrical megger testing, combustion analysis on gas equipment, and a documented service report after each visit.
HOW WE WORK
Five stages we run on every mechanical service project — adjustable to your timeline, but never skipped.
Initial site walk
Inventory of equipment — make, model, serial, installation date, last service, observed condition. Establishes the basis for the PM scope.
Service scope and PM agreement
Written scope per piece of equipment, frequency of visits, exclusions, response time SLAs, after-hours rates, and parts handling. No surprise invoices.
Scheduled visits
PM visits performed on schedule, with the BAS pulled up alongside the wrench. Findings logged into a maintenance history customers can actually read.
Reactive service
Service calls dispatched with full equipment history and BAS access. Most issues diagnosed on the first visit because we have the whole picture, not just the wrench.
Annual review and capital planning
Year-end report — equipment that's near end of life, repair vs. replace recommendations, and a budget plan for the next 1-3 years of capital needs.
STANDARDS WE WORK TO
- EPA 608 (Universal)Federal certification for refrigerant handling. All our service techs hold it.
- ASHRAE Standard 180Standard Practice for Inspection and Maintenance of Commercial Building HVAC Systems. The basis for our PM scope.
- NATENorth American Technician Excellence — additional optional certification carried by some of our techs.
- OSHA 10/30Safety training carried by all field staff.
TYPICAL PROJECTS
Building manager calls because a zone is too warm. Our tech arrives, pulls up the BAS, sees the VAV damper is commanding 100% but the discharge air is wrong. Goes to the AHU, finds a failing fan motor under the BAS reporting. Fixes both sides in one visit.
Owner with multiple buildings and aging HVAC. We scope a PM agreement per building, run quarterly visits, manage the service log, and feed equipment condition data back to capital planning.
Critical chiller failure during a heat event. We dispatch with refrigerant, parts inventory, and BAS remote access. Often we can pre-diagnose remotely while a tech is en route, cutting on-site time.
Repair-vs-replace decision on a failed component. We present both options with cost, downtime, and remaining-life analysis. No upsell pressure — the right call depends on the customer's capital plan.
RELEVANT CASE STUDIES
Medical Office BAS Upgrade: 200,000 sq ft
Full controls retrofit of a 200,000 sq ft medical office building from proprietary DDC to Niagara N4 with BACnet integration. 32% energy reduction in year one.
Industrial Facility Energy Optimization
Chiller plant and air handling optimization for an industrial facility. Submetering, demand response, and automated sequencing delivered 38% HVAC energy reduction.