Case and rack repair quotes, drafted from what your technician wrote on the way out of the store.

A low-temperature case at a chain store is pulling down slowly. The technician finds pinholes in the coil, takes three photos and writes: "coil bad, needs replaced, 2 techs." The office now has to work out which case that is, which parts fit, how many hours it takes, whether the store has to empty the case first, and who at the chain can say yes.

For the test, AI reads copies of those notes and photos with your customer's terms and your parts list and drafts the repair quote: site and asset, the problem in plain words, parts and labor lines with quantities and hours, the customer's not-to-exceed and approval route, and a list of what someone must confirm. The price column stays empty. No quote is sent and no live ticket is touched.

The parts line depends on where the leak is. EPA's GreenChill leak prevention guideline lists what fails where. On a compressor rack it names pressure controls and their cap tubes, valve stem packing with a missing cap, filter-drier assemblies with worn gaskets or loose flange bolts, and corroded steel accumulators. In a display case it names small-diameter evaporator tubing with soldered return bends, flare nuts on older expansion valves, and the check and solenoid valves of hot gas defrost. Walk-in evaporators carry more solenoid and check valves than cases do. A note saying "leak at rack" fits none of those, so the draft asks which one before it lists a part.

A patch can hide the real job. The same guideline warns that the first leak found may not be the one responsible, and says that when it is too small to explain the refrigerant lost, the technician should assume there is another and keep searching. It calls topping off no viable fix. Service deli coils in contact with vinegar can corrode into pinholes, and the guideline suggests coated surfaces for those cases. Remote condenser leaks often start where finned tubes pass through the frame, and a failed fan blade or motor mount can rupture the coil. The draft quotes what the notes support and asks whether the search finished.

Multi-site customers write the approval route into the contract. Two public school bids show how buyers do it. Capistrano Unified's refrigeration and ice machine bid lets named directors approve repairs up to a stated limit, counted on labor and parts together, wants repair proposals within 48 hours, keeps the right to get other quotes, and insists that proposals and invoices match the bid sheet's line items for audit. Avon Grove's 2026-27 bid sends repairs above its own limit to the food service director, bars cost-plus billing on parts in favor of a published price less the bid discount, and wants a written recommendation with supporting data when equipment is beyond economical repair. Your customers' agreements settle the same points in their own ways, so the draft puts the ceiling and the approver on its face.

Some repairs stop being repairs. EPA's Technology Transitions rule, as revised in May 2026, counts certain work as installing a new system. For supermarket systems that includes raising cooling capacity past a stated limit, measured from the system's capacity at installation and held across every remodel in its life, and replacing most evaporators together with every compressor rack, condenser and connected evaporator load. EPA says adding cases within existing capacity doesn't change the system's purpose. A quote to add a case line or swap a rack therefore gets a flag asking for capacity at installation and earlier additions. Retrofits bring their own question: GreenChill notes that seals swell differently under HCFC and HFC refrigerants, so gaskets may need changing when the oil does.

What a person confirms before it goes. Is it the right store and asset number? Did the notes show the leak search finished? Are the hours for one technician or two, during store hours or overnight? Does the case need unloading first? Is any part under the manufacturer's warranty? Once it is priced, does the total clear the customer's not-to-exceed, and if not, who can raise it? Those answers sit in a short list at the foot of the draft, for your service manager to settle.

Once your reviewer says yes, the job runs for about 30 days on notes as technicians close them, at a fixed price you see before signing.

A person checks every quote before it reaches a customer. Your service manager sets the prices and decides whether it goes, and each draft arrives with its open questions at the top.

Another job comes only after its own yes, priced on its own. Monthly support begins once a job goes live.