A commercial refrigeration installer builds walk-in coolers and freezers, sets display cases and condensing units, and pipes compressor racks for grocery stores, restaurants and cold storage. They braze, pressure test and evacuate each system, often overnight while the store stays open, and hand over a tight system ready for startup.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, HVAC and plumbing contractors · BLS, May 2025
Refrigeration Install & Service - Refrigeration Installer
Company Name:
[INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE]
Department:
Operations
Reports to:
Field Supervisor
Location:
[INSERT LOCATION HERE]
1. Position Summary
You'll build new refrigeration systems and replace old ones: walk-in coolers and freezers, display cases, condensing units and rack systems. You'll set equipment, run and braze copper, pressure test and evacuate, often overnight in stores that stay open, and leave a clean, tested system ready for startup.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Assemble walk-in panels, doors and floors, and hang evaporators and set condensing units.
Set and level display cases, connect their piping and drains, and coordinate power with the electrician.
Run, bend and braze copper line sets and rack piping with nitrogen flowing, then insulate the suction lines.
Pressure test with dry nitrogen, hold the test, and pull a deep vacuum confirmed with a micron gauge.
Recover refrigerant from old equipment before it is disconnected and removed.
Protect the store while you work: cover product and fixtures, keep aisles clear, and clean up before opening.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Load material and tools at the warehouse or meet the crew at the job site.
Go over the day's tasks and safety plan with the Field Supervisor.
Set equipment and pipe sections of the system.
Pressure test finished sections and record the results.
Secure tools and material and leave the work area clean before the store opens.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Tasks completed on schedule: [your target].
Leaks found at startup on your work: [your target].
Punch list items on your work: [your target].
Safety observations completed: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[2+] years of commercial refrigeration or HVAC install experience.
EPA Section 608 certification, Type II or Universal.
Brazing with an oxy-acetylene or air-acetylene torch, using a nitrogen purge.
Can read install drawings, piping layouts and equipment manuals.
Basic hand tools and a valid driver's license.
6. Preferred Experience
Walk-in and display case installs in grocery stores.
OSHA 10 construction safety training.
Forklift and aerial lift certification.
Experience with press-fit copper fittings and large-diameter rack piping.
7. Physical Requirements
Lift and carry copper, panels and equipment up to [50] pounds; team lift and rig heavier equipment.
Climb ladders, work from lifts and rooftops, and work above ceilings and under cases.
Work in heat, cold and dusty construction areas.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Install sites across [your service area]; some jobs require overnight travel.
Overnight shifts during store remodels, and work planned around store hours.
Work alongside electricians, plumbers and general contractors.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new refrigeration installer gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
An installer's work gets judged months later, when the system holds its charge through a summer. Leak sensors on big systems, flammable and high-pressure refrigerants, torch work in stocked stores and recovery on tear-outs shape how they build.
Big new systems get leak sensors at startup
A store or cold storage system holding 1,500 pounds or more of HFC, or of another refrigerant with a GWP above 53, needs automatic leak detection. If it's installed in 2026 or later, the detection goes in at installation or within 30 days. Systems installed from 2017 through 2025 need it by January 1, 2027. It follows the maker's instructions and is audited and calibrated every year. The duty is the owner's, though the installer may be the one who mounts the sensors. Source: 40 CFR 84.108: Automatic leak detection systems (Cornell LII).
A2L equipment comes with conditions
A2L refrigerants can burn, but ASHRAE rates them lower flammability. EPA accepts several of them in new commercial refrigeration, such as remote condensing units and supermarket systems, under set conditions. The equipment must be built and labeled for that refrigerant and meet UL 60335-2-89 and ASHRAE 15-2022. Service ports, pipes and hoses that carry it are marked in red. These refrigerants can't be used to convert older equipment. Your building department may add its own rules. Source: Federal Register: SNAP listings with use conditions for commercial refrigeration (June 13, 2024).
CO2 racks run at high pressure
EPA's SNAP program lists carbon dioxide, R-744, as acceptable in supermarket systems. It runs at high pressure. A 2016 EPA fact sheet's case study of a CO2 store system in Turkey points to the extra safety steps those pressures demand. Send installers who come from HFC work through the maker's training first, and check that every pipe, fitting and valve on the job is rated for the design pressure. Source: U.S. EPA: Transitioning to low-GWP alternatives in commercial refrigeration (fact sheet).
Brazing in a stocked store is hot work
Case connections and rack piping often get brazed overnight beside full shelves and cardboard. On install and remodel work, OSHA's construction fire rule says to move fire hazards away from the torch or shield them, and to keep a fire extinguisher right in the work area. When normal precautions aren't enough, someone stands fire watch while the torch is lit and for long enough afterward. Ask whether the store or general contractor also requires a hot work permit. Source: 29 CFR 1926.352: Fire prevention for welding, cutting and heating (Cornell LII).
Tear-outs start with recovery
Old cases and condensing units can't be cut loose until the refrigerant is out. Federal rules call for a certified recovery machine. The tech confirms the required vacuum before the system is opened or scrapped. With a machine made on or after November 15, 1993, a large high-pressure system of 200 pounds or more must reach 10 inches of mercury. Scrapping a system of more than 5 and under 50 pounds also means keeping recovery records for three years. Source: 40 CFR 82.156: Required evacuation before opening or disposal (Cornell LII).
How much commercial refrigeration installers make
The closest BLS group for commercial refrigeration installers is heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers. Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $28.86 an hour ($60,030 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $61,010 median for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in all industries. About 297,290 of the 409,670 heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in that survey work for HVAC and plumbing contractors.
Pay is usually hourly with overtime. Decide up front whether overnight remodel shifts pay a premium, and how per diem and travel time are handled when a job is out of town.
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$60,030$60,030 median Middle half $47,790–$75,510 10th–90th $38,920–$93,790
All industries
$61,010$61,010 median Middle half $48,360–$77,060 10th–90th $40,050–$95,210
$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k$100k$110k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$38,920
$47,790
$60,030
$75,510
$93,790
All industries
$40,050
$48,360
$61,010
$77,060
$95,210
BLS doesn’t publish pay for refrigeration contractors on their own. These figures cover plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Brazes tight joints on copper from small line sets up to rack headers with nitrogen flowing
Reads piping layouts, case schedules and the maker's install manuals
Holds a standing nitrogen pressure test and a deep vacuum, and writes down both
Sets and levels cases, hangs evaporators and assembles walk-in panels square and sealed
Works around shoppers, stock and other trades without leaving a mess or a hazard
Teach these on the job
Press-fit fittings and the tools that make them
Your pressure test, evacuation and startup forms
The rack and controller brands you install most
CO2 and A2L install steps, through maker courses
Forklift and aerial lift operation, through your certification process
Installers work with a torch kit, a nitrogen regulator and flow meter, tube benders and cutters, press tools, a vacuum pump, a micron gauge, a recovery machine, and lifts and dollies for cases and condensing units. Tell applicants which tools you provide and which they bring.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Recovery before removal
The crew wants to cut out an old condensing unit to save time, and it still has refrigerant in it. What do you do?
A strong answer: Stops the cut, has a certified technician recover the refrigerant into a proper recovery cylinder to the required level, then removes the unit.
Behavioral · Owning leaks
Tell me about a time a leak was found on your work at startup.
A strong answer: Owns it, explains the cause (a cold joint, a missed fitting, a short pressure test), and how they changed their brazing or testing.
Set targets from your past installs and judge them by project. One walk-in and a full store remodel with racks can't be scored the same way.
Tasks completed on schedule
Daily tasks the field supervisor assigns, done by the end of the shift, from the job's daily log. Note delays from late equipment or other trades so they aren't charged to the installer.
Leaks found at startup on your work
Leaks found during the pressure test, evacuation or first weeks of running that trace to joints or connections this installer made. Log where each one was and the cause.
Punch list items on your work
Items the supervisor, customer or general contractor lists at walkthrough that trace to the installer's own work, such as missing insulation, loose pipe supports or open drains.
Safety observations completed
Observations the installer turns in each week on hazards and safe work, such as a hot work setup or lift use. Value the reports that catch real problems over the raw count.
Career path
Refrigeration apprenticeHauls material, insulates suction lines and learns brazing on install crews.
Refrigeration installerBuilds walk-ins, sets cases and pipes systems ready for startup.
Does a refrigeration installer need EPA 608 certification?
Yes, for most crews. Setting cases and running pipe before any refrigerant goes in isn't refrigerant work. But installers recover refrigerant from old equipment, tie into existing circuits and often charge new systems, and each of those needs a Section 608 card. The template asks for Type II or Universal. A crew member without one can do the non-refrigerant work while a certified installer handles the circuit.
How much does a commercial refrigeration installer make?
Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $28.86 an hour ($60,030 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $47,790 and $75,510 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Does a refrigeration installer need a license?
That varies by state. California's refrigeration contractors hold a C-38 license. That license covers building, installing and servicing refrigerators, refrigerated rooms and insulated boxes kept below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The license is held by the business that signs the contract. Other states and cities set their own rules. Check with your state contractor board and the city that issues the permit before the crew starts.
How is an installer's job different from a refrigeration technician's?
An installer builds new systems or replaces old ones, usually on a crew, often overnight and on a project schedule. A technician keeps running systems working, alone on a truck, and answers emergency calls. Installers need neat, leak-free piping and patience with tests. Technicians need diagnosis and customer skills. Some installers move to service after a few years, and the brazing and evacuation habits carry over.
What should a commercial refrigeration installer job ad include?
Describe the projects: grocery remodels, new restaurant walk-ins or cold storage. Say how many shifts run overnight and how often the crew travels, with per diem and hotel rules. List the certifications you need, such as EPA Type II or Universal, OSHA 10 or a lift card, and what pipe sizes and fittings they'll work with. Say who supplies the tools.
