Independent HVAC tech? How to fill your week with sub work that actually pays

A 1099 HVAC technician sells hours, not jobs. Every open block in your week is inventory that expires at the end of the day, so the goal is to fill the blocks you can actually reach at a rate that still holds after the drive and the wait for payment.

Most independent techs start with their own customers and a phone full of contacts at bigger shops. The shops call when their board overflows: a no-cool call on a 98 degree afternoon, a changeout crew that is one person short, a maintenance agreement route nobody wants. That work can fill a week. It can also eat one, if you take every call at whatever terms are offered.

Open time is your inventory

A company with ten trucks thinks about capacity in jobs. You should think about it in hours. Say you work 45 hours a week and your own customers fill 28 of them. The other 17 are open. Unlike parts on a shelf, an open Tuesday afternoon cannot be sold on Wednesday.

Not every open hour is sellable, though. An open 2:00 to 4:00 block is worth nothing if the job is 50 minutes away and you have a 4:30 back near home. What you are really selling is reachable open time: the hours where a job at a given address fits between what is already on your day, drive included.

That is why the call that starts "can you get to Elm Street by 1:00?" is a better question than "are you free Tuesday?" The first one has an answer you can check.

Price sub work by the real hour

Shops pay subs in one of two ways: a flat amount per job, or a percent of a list price. Either way, convert it to dollars per hour of your time, and count the hours honestly.

Real hourly = Pay for the job ÷ (Drive there + Time on site + Drive to the next thing + Waiting)

Then subtract what the job costs you to run: fuel and vehicle wear, any materials you supplied, and the share of your insurance and tools it uses. The IRS standard mileage rate is one public yardstick for vehicle cost. As of October 2026 the IRS lists 72.5 cents a mile for January to June 2026 and 76 cents for July to December 2026. Your real cost may be higher or lower.

Same pay, same work, half the hourly rate. M here is $0.76 a mile, used only to illustrate. The far job is not always a bad job. It is a bad job at the near-job price. Ask for a travel amount on far calls, or only take them when they sit next to something else you already have out there.

Read the pay terms before the job, not after

Pay terms have two parts: how much and when. Flat pay is easy to read. Percent of list pay needs one more question: percent of whose list price, and does it include the equipment or only labor? A percent of a changeout price is a very different number from a percent of the labor line.

The "when" matters just as much. Net 30 means paid 30 days after the job is done, so on steady sub work you are always carrying about a month of earned money.

Money you carry = Weekly sub earnings × (Net days ÷ 7)

At $1,500 a week of sub work on net 30, that is roughly $6,400 out of your pocket at any moment, while you are still paying for fuel and parts this week. On net 7 it is about $1,500. If you are just starting out, shorter terms can matter more than a slightly higher rate. The guide to subcontracting versus hiring shows the same arithmetic from the company's side, which helps when you negotiate.

Credentials companies will ask for

Expect a shop to check paperwork before your first job, and to stop sending work if something lapses.

• EPA Section 608 certification. As of October 2026, the EPA's Section 608 page says technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release ozone-depleting refrigerants must be certified, with Core plus Type I, II and III sections. Most residential and light commercial work means you need it.
• State or local license. HVAC licensing varies by state and sometimes by city. Check with your state licensing board before you advertise work you are not licensed for.
• Insurance. Most companies ask for a certificate of insurance showing general liability, and some ask for more. What you need depends on your state and the contracts you sign, so ask an insurance agent.
• A W-9. The company will ask for it so it can report what it paid you. The IRS describes Form W-9 as how you provide your correct taxpayer identification number. As of October 2026, the Form 1099-NEC instructions set a $2,000 reporting threshold for tax years after 2025.

One more note on status. Being paid on a 1099 does not by itself make you an independent contractor. The IRS test looks at the right to direct and control the work. If one shop sets your hours, your methods and your tools, talk to a CPA. This is general information, not tax advice.

How the work finds you

Most sub work still moves by text message. A dispatcher you met once has your number, and the call comes when they are desperate, which is also when they will pay the least attention to whether you can reach the job in time.

The better setup is the one where a company sees when you are free at the address in question, and the pay terms are agreed before the job lands on your day. That is what CrewConnect does. A 1099 contractor is a one-person company on CrewLink. The company sending work sees your open times only, never your other jobs, customers or prices. Work arrives in your schedule with pay terms both owners agreed: a percent of your list price or a flat amount, due a set number of days after the job is done. A Connect seat is free for 1099s who only receive CrewConnect work. It is in early access, and the contractor network page explains how it works from both sides. If you also book your own customers, the Independent plan is listed on the pricing page.

The HVAC scheduling page covers the other side of the call: why a shop's board overflows in July and January, and what it costs them when a slot is promised that no one can reach.

Common questions

How much should a 1099 HVAC technician charge a company for sub work?

There is no single number. Start from your own costs and the real hours a job takes, drive included, then decide the lowest real hourly rate you will accept. For comparison, the BLS reports a median wage of $29.33 an hour for employed HVAC mechanics and installers as of May 2025. A 1099 rate has to cover what an employer would otherwise pay for: vehicle, tools, insurance and self-employment tax.

Is percent of list price or a flat amount better for subcontracted HVAC jobs?

Flat pay is predictable and easy to check. Percent of list pays more on big tickets and less on small ones, and it depends on whose list price is used. If you take percent, get the base in writing before the first job.

Do I need my own license to do HVAC sub work?

It depends on your state and sometimes your city, and on whether you work under the hiring company's license. Check with your state licensing board. EPA 608 certification applies to refrigerant work regardless of who you work for.

What does net 30 mean for a subcontractor?

It means payment is due 30 days after the job is done. On steady weekly sub work, you are carrying roughly four weeks of earnings at any time. Shorter terms reduce that.