Get the warranty money back. Keep the refrigerant paperwork straight.

Two kinds of money leak out of an HVAC or refrigeration shop without anyone noticing. The first is warranty: a covered compressor gets replaced, the claim never gets filed or gets filed after the window, and the defective part sits in the truck until the return authorization expires. The second is compliance: a commercial unit gets topped off four times in a year and nobody does the math that would have said it needed a repair within 30 days.

Both problems are bookkeeping problems. The information already exists on the job: the unit, the serial, the install date, the part, the pounds added. This feature puts it in one place and puts a date on every next step.

The warranty desk, step by step

Most shops handle warranty with a spreadsheet, a pile of distributor emails and whoever remembers. The warranty desk replaces that with five tabs: Claims, Part returns, Registration, Credits and Manufacturer rules. Each tab shows a count of what needs attention, so the morning check takes a minute.

1. 1

   Coverage check

   On the equipment screen, the tech sees one of five answers: parts and labor covered, parts covered, labor covered, not covered, or coverage unknown. A unit with no dates at all is unknown, never covered.

2. 2

   Draft claim

   A tech can start a draft from a job they're assigned to. The office can start one on any unit. Claims are numbered WC-1001 and up and can target the distributor or the manufacturer.

3. 3

   File by the deadline

   The file-by date is the repair date plus the manufacturer's claim window. Submitted, approved and denied are tracked; a denied claim can go back to draft for a second try.

4. 4

   Return the part

   If the vendor wants the part, a return opens automatically. Entering the RGA number moves it to ready to ship; carrier and tracking close it out.

5. 5

   Match the credit

   When the credit memo arrives, record the amount. The Credits tab groups claims by vendor and shows what's still owed and what was short-paid.

Manufacturer rules, and why the defaults say approximate

Each manufacturer gets one editable rule: registration window in days, parts coverage in years when registered and when not, labor years, claim window and return ship-by days. Until you enter your own, TradesWork uses typical terms (60-day registration, 10 years parts registered, 5 unregistered, no labor, 30-day claim window, 30-day ship-by) and every coverage answer built on them says so. Manufacturer terms vary by brand, product line and registration, so treat the defaults as a starting point and copy your distributors' actual terms in.

Registration before it's too late

Many manufacturers give longer parts coverage only if the unit is registered within a set window after installation. The Registration tab lists every unit installed in the last 180 days that isn't confirmed, with a "due soon" flag 14 days before the window closes. The packet is prefilled from the job and lists anything missing, such as a serial or install date. You submit it on the manufacturer's site and mark it confirmed, which also marks the other units installed with it.

The refrigerant log

The log lives under Compliance and has five views: leak cases, the refrigerant log, cylinders, certifications and the report. Entries come from the field app, which queues them when there's no signal and saves each entry once even if the tech taps twice.

Each charge or recovery records the refrigerant, the amount in ounces, the unit, the job, the cylinder and the technician. TradesWork knows 13 common refrigerants, from R-22 and R-410A to R-454B, R-32, R-448A and R-290, with their safety class, GWP and family, and each note is marked informational rather than legal advice.

Cylinders

Cylinders are tracked by barcode as new refrigerant or recovery. Net weight is gross minus tare, and every receive, charge, recover, weigh and return is a ledger line. Refrigerants can't be mixed in a cylinder, and recovered refrigerant can only go into a recovery cylinder. A charge with no cylinder named is allowed but carries a warning, and a balance that goes short or over capacity flags the cylinder for a weigh.

EPA 608 certifications

Certified technicians must keep proof of certification at the place of business¹. The Certifications tab stores each tech's type (I, II, III or Universal) and number, with optional issuer and dates. On every refrigerant entry, TradesWork checks whether the tech's card covers the appliance category. A missing or mismatched card doesn't block the entry. It records a certification issue, such as "doesn't cover high-pressure appliances (Type II)", which shows up as an exception in the report and the CSV.

The leak-rate engine

Under EPA's Section 608 rules, appliances with 50 or more pounds of ozone-depleting refrigerant must be repaired when they leak above a trigger rate over 12 months: 30% for industrial process refrigeration, 20% for commercial refrigeration, and 10% for comfort cooling and other appliances. Repairs are due within 30 days, followed by verification tests; if a repair doesn't hold, a retrofit or retirement plan is due².

You choose the calculation company-wide. Annualizing takes the amount added, divides it by the full charge, and scales it to a year by the days since the last addition. Rolling average takes everything added in the past 365 days (or since the last passing follow-up test, if that's shorter) and divides by the full charge. Both are methods defined in the rule³. If the full charge isn't recorded, TradesWork doesn't guess: the rule simply doesn't apply until someone enters it.

Scope settings

The scope setting decides which units the engine watches:

• ODS only, 50 lb and up: the traditional Section 608 scope.
• All refrigerants, 50 lb and up: the default, and the conservative choice for shops that service commercial equipment.
• AIM Act: adds HFC appliances of 15 pounds or more with a GWP above 53 from January 1, 2026. EPA's Emissions Reduction and Reclamation rule, published October 11, 2024, set that leak repair requirement⁴, with a narrow exemption for residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps⁵. This setting is labelled pending legal review in the product.

Leak cases

When an entry pushes a unit over its threshold, one leak case opens for that unit. The case moves through Repair due, Repaired, verify, Verified, Failed follow-up and Retrofit / retirement plan. The follow-up test date is set 10 days after the initial test; the product notes that start point is an approximation, so confirm the timing for your situation. Extending a date takes a later date and a note. The 120-day industrial shutdown extension isn't calculated automatically.

Chronic leakers

Owners of 50-pound-plus ODS appliances that leak 125% or more of their full charge in a calendar year must report to EPA by March 1⁷. The compliance report lists any unit that crossed 125% with a "report to EPA by March 1" note. You file it; TradesWork doesn't submit anything to EPA.

Who uses this, by trade

• Residential HVAC: the warranty side does most of the work. Coverage checks on compressors, coils and control boards, registration reminders after installs, and credits matched by distributor. The refrigerant log matters for your records and for any light commercial work.
• Commercial HVAC and refrigeration: the leak-rate engine is the reason to look. Walk-in coolers, rack systems and rooftop units often sit above 50 pounds, and your customers rely on your records. Pair this with multi-location and commercial for agreements and site contacts.
• Appliance repair: small appliances are covered by Type I certification; the certification checks treat units of 5 pounds or less as small, which is an approximation because TradesWork can't know whether a unit was factory sealed.

What to set up first

The report exports to CSV with one row per entry: date, kind, refrigerant, ounces and pounds, unit, customer, job, cylinder, technician, 608 number, certification issue, leak rate and warnings. That's what a commercial customer's facilities manager usually asks for.