What should a Vernon homeowner check before heat pump installation?

Start with the house and the existing system, not a brand or rebate. Record whether the home is ducted or ductless, the rooms with comfort complaints, current furnace or boiler fuel, model information visible without removing covers, thermostat locations, filter access, electrical-panel location, and proposed indoor and outdoor-unit locations. Note strata, landlord, access, drainage, snow, noise, and finish constraints. These observations help a contractor plan a site assessment; they do not establish capacity or guarantee whole-home comfort.

If the proposed heat pump replaces a gas furnace or boiler, state that plainly in every quote request. A dual-fuel or supplemental system has a different scope from an electric-only replacement. Ask bidders to identify what remains, what is removed, and which gas, electrical, building, duct, condensate, and controls work is included. Keep symptoms and observed conditions separate from the design recommendation so proposals can be compared on the same information.

• List rooms, comfort symptoms, existing equipment, fuel, controls, and recent repairs.
• Photograph accessible nameplates and proposed equipment locations without opening covers or entering unsafe areas.
• Record access, strata, landlord, drainage, snow, noise, finish, and outage constraints before site visits.

Start with the City of Vernon's current building-permit page. The City says a building permit is required for construction, alteration, repair, or addition to a building or structure. Its page also lists replacing equipment, fixtures, or appliances with a similar product as work that does not need a building permit when no safety hazard is created. A new heat pump is not automatically a like-for-like conclusion, especially when it changes fuel, electrical service, ducts, wall penetrations, supports, or other building elements. Describe the complete scope before demolition or installation.

Technical Safety BC says residential heat pumps are regulated under the Electrical Safety Regulation and that, in most cases, installing or upgrading one needs an electrical permit and a licensed electrical contractor. If a natural-gas furnace or boiler is modified or removed, its heat-pump guidance says a gas permit is needed. A 2025 Technical Safety BC bulletin says removing gas equipment or a gas system is an alteration requiring the applicable installation or alteration of venting or gas piping without appliances permit before work begins. Homeowner permits exist for eligible work, but the authority lists property and project limits.

Refrigeration requirements can also depend on the equipment and building. Technical Safety BC lists a prime-mover capacity threshold and residential-unit or refrigerant conditions for when residential heat pumps become regulated refrigeration equipment, and its refrigeration page directs users to a nameplate-based calculator. Do not choose a permit route from a product label or a guessed capacity. Ask the contractor to document the current authority response, permit or exemption basis, and any required declaration or inspection.

• Describe fuel changes, electrical service, ducts, penetrations, supports, drainage, and related building work to the City.
• Put electrical, gas, refrigeration, building, inspection, declaration, and close-out responsibilities in writing.
• Keep the source or authority response for any claimed permit exemption with the project file.

Compare proposals against the same property brief. Ask for system type, indoor and outdoor equipment, capacity or sizing basis, heating and cooling scope, controls, backup heat if proposed, duct, line-set, drain, and electrical boundaries, disconnect, pad or supports, penetrations and weather sealing, old-equipment removal, gas isolation, disposal, startup, and maintenance instructions. Require assumptions and exclusions, including work that depends on site assessment, panel capacity, duct condition, access, or concealed conditions.

Ask what is measured or commissioned at startup and which records support any rebate or warranty. A quote can describe planned work but cannot prove that an unvisited home will achieve a particular outcome. Do not compare only equipment names, nominal capacity, efficiency labels, expected savings, noise, or availability. Ask the contractor to state limitations, owner-supplied items, change-order method, and who coordinates each authority before approving the scope.

• Compare equipment, capacity assumptions, ducts, line sets, controls, electrical work, drainage, supports, and restoration line by line.
• Require written treatment of panel capacity, concealed conditions, access, old-equipment removal, gas isolation, and change orders.
• Ask what startup measurements, commissioning notes, warranty documents, and rebate records will be supplied.

Before work, put site protection, outage, access, weather, lifting, refrigerant handling, gas isolation, and inspection sequence in writing. Never open energized equipment or disconnect gas or refrigerant components yourself. If workers find unsafe wiring, a gas odour, water damage, a structural concern, or a failed support, stop the affected work and hand it to a qualified person or the responsible authority. Keep occupants away from active work areas and do not treat a delivery or partial installation as a working system.

At handoff, request model and serial information, equipment locations, controls, filter and drain guidance, defrost or operating notes, startup or commissioning records, permit numbers and inspection outcomes that apply, gas alteration or declaration records where applicable, photos of concealed work, warranty and rebate documents, and an open-item list. Technical Safety BC notes that permitted work by licensed contractors can matter for rebate eligibility, so store those records together. TradeList can help compare public HVAC profiles, but it does not verify availability, price, licensing status, workmanship, or project results.

• Confirm the isolation, access, protection, inspection, and emergency handoff plan before installation starts.
• Keep permit, inspection, declaration, startup, model, warranty, rebate, and approved-change records together.
• List incomplete, excluded, owner-supplied, or deferred work separately from the commissioned installation.