City of Medicine Hat manager of safety codes Elgin Mann (Photo courtesy of Colton McKee)

By Scott Roblin

Investigation Update

City gives update on investigation into The HVAC Guys Inc. furnace company

Oct 9, 2019 | 6:49 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Three months after issuing a notice to the public, the City of Medicine Hat is providing an update on their investigation into The HVAC Guys Inc.

Back in July, the City sounded the alarm on the furnace instillation company and requested that home owners that used their services between 2016 and 2019 to contact them.

At the time of the public notice, the City did not release many details on why they launched the investigation. However, court documents obtained by CHAT News confirmed The HVAC Guys Inc. installed multiple furnaces in Medicine Hat without proper permits.

Elgin Mann, manager of safety codes with the City, said they received roughly 30 phone calls and emails from customers.

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“We received a number of calls which we then started investigated deeper into the property files to find out what actually was done,” said Mann. “We did find a number of them were not part of the investigation. They were for simple repair, maintenance-type work that was done by the contractor. That type of work does not require a permit.”

Of those 30 or so residents coming forward, a dozen of them were classified as major installation projects that would need proper permits.

Just a small handful of those furnaces were identified as not meeting code however.

“All those corrections were done by licensed contractors and were re-inspected,” said Mann. “As far as we’re concerned, those installations are fine. They meet the intent of the Safety Code Act.”

Since the start of 2017, The HVAC Guys Inc. were found to have purchased 31 furnaces from wholesalers but only nine permits had been issued by the City since 2016.

Mann said they have no way to track the serial numbers of these furnaces and most are still unaccounted for.

“We didn’t get close to the number, but we don’t know what were ever done with [them],” he said. “I’m not saying what he did with the ones he bought, but we only found about 12 installed in the city.”

The HVAC Guys Inc. has since disbanded and have had their accreditation with the Better Business Bureau revoked, however rumours began that owner Darrin Craig had started a new business in town called ‘Gas City Heating and Air Conditioning.’

Mann said that company failed to start up in Medicine Hat and no such business licenses have been issued by the City to Craig.

“I did follow up with our business license inspector and confirmed that the operator has no business license to operate in Medicine Hat at this time,” he said.

As for the ongoing court proceedings between The HVAC Guys Inc. and the City of Medicine Hat, it’s at a stalemate as Craig has not yet produced proper documentation to City staff.

“We didn’t order for him to apply for permits because we know the work was already done,” said Mann. “It was for production of documents and he hasn’t satisfied that part of the order yet, so it’s still outstanding.”

The investigation into The HVAC Guys Inc. remains officially open, however Mann added there hasn’t been much movement lately.

“We’ve closed the files at each one of those calls,” he said. “Unless we get more calls coming in, we will act on them. At this point it’s kind of stopped, we haven’t received anything from anybody.”

Anyone who has used The HVAC Guys Inc. services over the last three years and has not made contact with the City is asked to contact the planning and development department at 403-529-8374.