Rooftop Unit Repairs & Replacements in Nanaimo & Vancouver Island
P3 Mechanical & Electrical diagnoses, repairs, and replaces rooftop units on commercial buildings across Nanaimo and central Vancouver Island, working with property managers, strata councils, and tenants. A full changeout is a capital job rather than a service call — a single day on the roof once the crane window is booked — and it is priced in writing from the tonnage, the controls, and the lift the building actually needs, so a council or an owner can approve the number as it stands.
What salt air does to a rooftop unit
A rooftop unit spends its entire life outdoors on a flat roof, and on this coast that means salt-laden air off the Strait of Georgia and wind-driven rain for months at a stretch. Corrosion works from the outside in: condenser fins first, then cabinet panels and fasteners, then the contactors and terminals inside a cabinet that no longer seals properly. It is why rooftop units here often fail in a pattern that has little to do with run hours — the compressor is sound and the box around it is not, and the failures cluster in the shoulder seasons when nobody is watching the equipment.
The other half of this job happens before anyone touches a refrigerant gauge. Access is the real constraint: how a unit gets onto the roof and off it, where a crane can be set up and where its truck can stand, how the membrane is protected while that happens, and whether the new unit sits on the existing curb or needs an adapter. On a strata or a leased building there is also a decision to be made by someone who is not standing on the roof, so a quote has to carry scope, consequence, and a number a council or an owner can approve as it stands.
What's included
- Diagnosis of no-heat, no-cool, short-cycling, and tripping faults on the roof rather than over the phone
- Repairs to compressors, refrigerant circuits, fans and belts, contactors, boards, and economizer controls
- Coil cleaning and a corrosion assessment, the two things that decide how much life an aging unit has left
- Full changeouts, including crane planning, rigging, and the lift window itself
- Curb adapters, roof penetrations, and coordination with a roofer wherever the membrane is opened
- Gas piping and controls tied back into the building
- A written report of what was found, what was done, and what is coming next
Pricing & what's covered
Free estimate
We price the job after an in-home visit, once someone has seen what's there.
- One-year warranty on our labour. Equipment and parts are covered separately, under the supplier's or manufacturer's own warranty.
- Licensed in BC: Gas Contractor licence LGA0207015 and Refrigeration licence LBP0210874. We install and service Mitsubishi Electric, Daikin, Fujitsu, Carrier, Keeprite, Goodman, and Trane equipment.
How it works
Roof visit — make, model, age, access, and what stops working in the building when this particular unit stops.
Repair or replace, in writing — both priced where the call is close, so the decision belongs to the owner rather than to whoever is on the roof.
Lift planning — crane placement, lot or lane closure, membrane protection, and a date agreed with the tenants it affects.
Changeout and commissioning — old unit off, adapter and new unit set, gas connected, controls proven, readings recorded.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a rooftop unit last on Vancouver Island?
Less than the same unit would inland. Manufacturers talk in terms of the mid-teens to around twenty years, and salt air takes the top off that by working on coils, cabinets, and electrical connections long before the compressor is worn out. What decides it here is usually the condition of the box, not the hours on the machine.
Do you need a crane to replace a rooftop unit?
Almost always. The unit is far too heavy to carry and roof access is rarely built for it, so the lift is planned as its own piece of work: crane placement, somewhere for the truck to stand, and a window that suits the building. On a tight downtown lot that planning is often the longest part of the whole job.
Should we repair our old rooftop unit or replace it?
Repair while the cabinet, coils, and electrical are sound — a compressor or a board on an otherwise solid unit is worth fixing. Once corrosion has reached the cabinet and the connections, each repair buys less time than the last, and that is the point where we price the replacement alongside the repair and let the two numbers make the argument.
Who looks after the roof membrane during a changeout?
The membrane is the building’s waterproofing and it gets treated that way: protection under the crane path and the working area, and a roofer involved wherever a penetration is opened or a curb is altered. A rooftop job that leaves a leak behind has not saved anybody money.
How much does a rooftop unit replacement cost?
It belongs in a capital budget rather than a maintenance one, and we publish no figure for it — none exists honestly before someone has been on the roof. Tonnage, gas or electric heat, economizer and control requirements, whether the new unit fits the existing curb, and how far the crane has to reach all move it — so the quote is written after the roof visit, with the crane time and any curb adapter shown as their own lines rather than buried.
How long will the space be without heating or cooling?
The changeout itself is a single day on the roof, with the crane booked as its own window. We agree the date with the tenants it affects rather than arriving with a crane, and the installation carries a one-year warranty on our labour, with the unit itself under its manufacturer’s.
Ready to get it fixed?
Call now, or send us the details online and we'll follow up.