RTUs are the dominant commercial HVAC equipment in Birmingham. Office buildings, retail centers, strip malls, light industrial, suburban commercial — RTUs do the heavy lifting. We service them under OSHA-compliant rooftop protocols, with refrigerant recovery on every truck and ECM-fan diagnostic familiarity on modern units.
Tonnage to application — what we service across Birmingham.
RTU service requires technician training and rooftop-access protocol that scales with tonnage. Below: the application range for each tonnage band, with the relative volume we see across the Birmingham commercial market.
14-task quarterly PM scope for packaged rooftop units.
"Checking filters" is task one. Below: the full ASHRAE 180 task list applied to commercial RTUs in Birmingham. Each task documented in the per-visit report.
Rooftop access protocol — why we don't send a residential truck.
Multi-story commercial roofs require fall protection, roof-edge awareness, and equipment-weight assessment. Rooftop access for service requires OSHA-compliant safety protocols that residential contractors rarely carry. Our technicians arrive with personal fall arrest, anchor systems, and rooftop-rated hoisting for any equipment-weight scenario over 50 lb.
Sources: OSHA 29 CFR 1910 · ASHRAE 90.1 .
"On a Hoover retail anchor, the manager called about a 25-ton RTU running on three of four cylinders. Pre-season coil wash had been skipped for two years. By the time we got there, head pressure was 480 psi and we were 30 minutes from a compressor lockout."
Questions we hear from facilities teams.
What RTU brands do you service?
How often does a commercial RTU need preventive maintenance?
What are the most common RTU failure modes?
Do you service RTUs on multi-story buildings with difficult rooftop access?
What is an economizer and why does it matter for commercial RTUs?
Pre-summer is the right time to assess every RTU on your building.
Walk-through assessment includes equipment inventory by tonnage, refrigerant type, condition rating, and recommended PM frequency. Written report within 5 business days.
Let’s set up your service plan.
Commercial buildings only. Tell us about your building and equipment and we'll follow up with a plan and a quote. Prefer to talk? Call (205) 649-4480 .
- Scheduled maintenance plans, scoped to your equipment
- RTUs, chillers, VRF, walk-in coolers, make-up air
- Priority service for plan customers
- Portfolio & property-management accounts
Request a service quote
We'll email you back within business hours. Prefer to talk now? Call the line above.
Commercial rooftop unit repair, from 3 tons to 25.
Commercial rooftop unit repair is dispatch-driven work: a rooftop unit dispatch goes out with the crane question already answered, the roof access confirmed, and the right refrigerant on the truck. We service the full packaged range Birmingham roofs actually carry — from the 3-ton units over strip-mall suites to a 10-ton packaged rooftop unit on a big-box roof — across the major platforms: Carrier, Trane, Lennox, York and its Fraser-Johnston line, and Aaon. If your maintenance plan lapsed with a previous vendor, the first visit re-baselines every unit on the roof with a documented condition report — and yes, a Fraser-Johnston rooftop unit HVAC maintenance plan looks the same as a York plan, because it is the same platform underneath.
Commercial HVAC Questions
What RTU brands do you service?
We service Trane (Precedent, YCD, S9X2 Series), Carrier (WeatherExpert, WeatherMaker 48/50 series), York (YHJF, ZH series), Lennox (Landmark, LGH/LCH series), Daikin Applied (RoofPak, Rebel), Aaon (RN, RL series), and Rheem/Ruud commercial packaged units. For tonnage, our scope runs from 3-ton small commercial to 50-ton large-format units.
How often does a commercial RTU need preventive maintenance?
Quarterly PM — four visits per year — is the standard for commercial RTUs in Birmingham. The Birmingham cooling season runs effectively from May through October. An RTU running in marginal condition through pollen season typically fails in late June or July when ambient temperature and cooling load are highest. Pre-season PM in March or April is the most critical visit of the year.
What are the most common RTU failure modes?
Compressor failure from condenser coil fouling is the leading preventable RTU failure in Birmingham. Pollen accumulation raises head pressure; sustained 90°F+ ambient pushes condensing temperature above design limits on fouled equipment. Refrigerant leak is second; belt failure third on belt-drive configurations.
Do you service RTUs on multi-story buildings with difficult rooftop access?
Yes. Rooftop access requires safety protocols under OSHA 29 CFR 1910 — fall protection, roof-edge awareness, equipment weight on roof structure. We carry fall protection equipment and coordinate with building management for elevator/penthouse access.
What is an economizer and why does it matter for commercial RTUs?
An economizer uses outdoor air for free cooling when conditions are favorable. ASHRAE 90.1 requires economizers on RTUs above a specified size. A failed economizer stuck closed wastes energy. Stuck open during humid Alabama weather floods the building with unconditioned outdoor air.