Heat pumps cannot be sold at your door anymore
BC changed the rules on August 1, 2026, and if you signed something at your door, you may not be held to it.
What changed on August 1, 2026
Consumer Protection BC took a list of household products off the table for door-to-door sales entirely.
It is not a cooling-off period or a licensing rule. For the products on this list, the sale itself cannot be made through a door-to-door visit, and that includes parts and repairs for them. If somebody knocks and offers to replace your furnace or put a heat pump in, they are not allowed to close that sale at your door.
Consumer Protection BC published the change on August 19, 2026. It did not come out of nowhere. In the enforcement release for a case against one HVAC business, the regulator said consumers had contacted it 467 times in three years with questions or complaints about door-to-door sales contracts, and that about 37 per cent of those inquiries were about HVAC companies. We are not naming that business here, because this page is not about any one company.
- Furnaces, heat pumps and air conditioners
- Duct cleaning services
- Water heaters and water treatment systems
- Home security systems
- Solar panel systems
- Energy or window audits
- Parts and repairs for all of the above
There are exceptions, including some situations where you invited a business to your home, certain licensed businesses, and sales at temporary locations such as trade shows. The full wording is on Consumer Protection BC's own page, which is the one to read before you act on any of this.
If you already signed something
This is the part people do not know, and it is worth reading twice.
Keep everything: the contract, the financing paperwork, the name on the card they left, the date they came. If a heat pump was already installed, keep the invoice and the equipment labels too. If you want a second opinion on what actually got fitted, we will come and look at it, and tell you whether it is worth keeping.
Other contracts signed at your door
Not every door-to-door sale is banned. The ones that are allowed still come with rules.
- 10 days For door-to-door sales that are still allowed, you generally have 10 days to cancel for any reason after you receive a copy of the contract. The cancellation has to be in writing, and it is worth using a method that proves they received it.
- $100 or 10% On a contract over $50 signed during a sales visit at your home, a salesperson generally cannot ask for a deposit of more than $100 or 10 per cent of the total price, whichever is less.
- A copy, at signing The business has to give you a copy of the contract when you sign it. If they do not, you do not have to go through with it.
- No answer today A salesperson at your door does not mean a decision at your door. Consumer Protection BC puts it simply: take your time, ask questions, read the contract, and it is okay to say no.
Four checks before you sign anything
Run these on any contractor, this one included. They take about ten minutes.
- 01 Check the rebate registration CleanBC Better Homes lists program registered contractors and which programs each one is qualified for. Heat pump rebates need that registration, so if a rebate is part of the pitch, the name should be in the directory. Ours is not: Griffin Refrigeration is not registered with CleanBC Better Homes, so a heat pump we install does not carry those rebates today.
- 02 Ask who holds the licence Gas and refrigeration work in BC is regulated, and Technical Safety BC licenses the contractors who do it. Ask which licence covers the work being sold and who on the crew holds the qualification.
- 03 Get it in writing before anything happens The make and model of the equipment, the work included, what is removed, and which rebate the job is aimed at. A number said out loud at a kitchen table is not a quote.
- 04 Read the reviews on the platform Not the ones reprinted on the company website. Look at how the business answers the poor ones, which tells you more than the count does.
The only way we end up at your house
The August rules apply to us the same as everyone else: we cannot sell you a heat pump at your door, and we are not going to try. Work here starts the other way round. You call the shop on 250-797-2829, or send the details through the contact form, and we come because you asked us to.
That also means nobody from this shop will turn up claiming to be checking rebates for the utility. Neither BC Hydro nor CleanBC Better Homes needs to get inside your house to tell you what you qualify for, and a rebate is applied for with an invoice after the work, not signed for at a door.
What people ask us after a knock
Is it legal to sell heat pumps door to door in BC?
What can I do if I signed at the door last week?
Does the ban cover repairs as well as new equipment?
Someone knocked and said they were checking rebates for the utility. Is that different?
Where this comes from
Consumer Protection BC, plus the CleanBC contractor directory.
- Consumer Protection BC, new rules for door-to-door sales
Posted August 19, 2026. The August 1 change, the list of products that cannot be sold at your door, parts and repairs included, the exceptions, the effect on a contract and connected financing, the deposit limit, the copy-at-signing rule and the 10 days to cancel in writing.
- Consumer Protection BC, HVAC company banned from door-to-door sales
467 contacts about door-to-door sales contracts in three years, about 37 per cent of them about HVAC companies, and a direct sales prohibition order against one business.
- CleanBC Better Homes, find a registered contractor
The directory of program registered contractors, showing which programs each one is qualified for.
More on getting a straight quote
How we quote
What goes into a number before anyone hands it to you, and what we will not do.
ReadWhich rebate you actually qualify for
The real amounts, by how your house is heated, each with its official source.
ReadHeat pumps and home heating
What we install, and how we size it for an island winter rather than a catalogue average.
ReadIf somebody knocked this week
- 01
Keep the paper
The contract, any financing agreement, the card they left, and the date they came. If equipment was already fitted, keep the invoice and photograph the labels on the outdoor unit and the indoor head.
- 02
Tell Consumer Protection BC
They take complaints about door-to-door sales and will look at what happened. Their page is also the one that sets out what the contract is worth, which is the part worth reading before anyone pays anything.
- 03
Get a second opinion on the equipment
If something is already on the wall, we will come and look at what was fitted and what it was sized for. You hear what we see before anything else happens.
Get a quote you asked for
Tell us what the house has now and what you were offered, and we will tell you straight what we would do. We reply within 24 hours.