60 days: the HVAC warranty clock nobody on site is watching
· 4 min read
The install went well. The customer is happy. Somewhere between the van and the office, the serial numbers of every unit you fitted were meant to be written down. Were they?
The window is short and it starts the day you install
At least one major HVAC manufacturer’s registration page is plain about it: new equipment has to be registered within 60 days of installation, with the serial and model of each piece. Some also ask for the serial, model and brand of the other components before an extended warranty applies.
The manufacturer’s warranty clock starts on the installation date. Nobody waits for your paperwork.
The failure shows up 14 months later
People who build handover systems for construction describe the call every contractor dreads. A rooftop unit fails after handover. Is it in warranty, whose, and was it commissioned properly? The manufacturer asks, and the answer is in a folder, a phone gallery or an email chain from a subcontractor who has since left.
That cost lands on the contractor, not the owner. It’s your van that goes back out.
Why it keeps happening
The people who hold the data, fitters and commissioning engineers, are also the people with the least time and least patience for a form per asset. So the serials arrive as blurry photos, or not at all. Months later someone in the office retypes them and gets a digit wrong.
What Baton changes
Baton meets the fitter where they already are, on their phone. They open a link, type a code and photograph the rating plate. No login, no install. Condensers, air handlers, heat pumps, cylinders and controls are all covered, and any piece of kit with a nameplate can be added as its own type.
Two AI models read every plate. The manufacturer, model and serial are always checked by a person against the photo. Then you get one register per job as PDF, Excel and CSV in your own Google Drive, ready for the registration portal before the 60 days are up.
Quick answers
- How long do I have to register an HVAC warranty?
- It depends on the manufacturer. Some require registration within 60 days of installation, with the serial and model of each piece. Check the manufacturer's registration page.
- What do I need to register an HVAC or heat pump warranty?
- Usually the serial and model number of each unit, the installation date and the installing contractor. Baton captures serials and models from rating-plate photos on the day.