The heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry employed about 249,000 workers in 2002…. Roughly 50 percent of these individuals worked for heating and cooling contractors, and roughly 15 percent were self-employed. Plumbers accounted for nearly 550,000 jobs in 2002.

The plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning industry was benefiting from the growing housing market in the early 2000s. Despite a weak economy, housing construction continued its record growth in response to low interest rates. There were approximately 1.51 million building permits issued for single family housing in 2003 and 315,000 building permits issued for multi-family units. This was vital for the plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning industry, since more than one quarter of its construction work was done on detached single-family houses in the early 2000s. Industrial buildings accounted for another 15 percent of its work, followed by office buildings and other commercial buildings at roughly 10 percent each. While sales of industrial and commercial units waned as construction in those sectors slowed in the early 2000s, the booming home construction market pushed shipments of central airconditioning units and heat pumps to 6.7 million in 2002 and slightly higher yet in 2003. However, the industry did not remain immune to the effects of the recession. According to a January 2004 issue of Appliance, “It’s been a difficult few years for the HVAC/R industry, despite the welcome new record shipments of central airconditioners and heat pumps. The loss of millions of jobs, especially the cutbacks in manufacturing employment, took its toll as indicated by the slowdown in shipments in many sectors of this industry.”

Severe winter weather in some areas of the country in 2004 proved to be a good business opportunity for this industry. Water damage from frozen pipes and frozen water mains required expensive repairs. Also, the nation’s aging housing stock meant that many homes built during the building boom that followed World War II needed replacement heating and air conditioning systems, as well as plumbing repairs, which helped to boost industry sales. In the air-conditioning sector alone, roughly 65 million air-conditioning units were in use as of early 2003, a figure that boded well for future replacement needs.

One trend affecting the plumbing, heating, and air conditioning industry in the early 2000s was the continuing shortage of skilled trades people. Jobs in construction continued to suffer an image problem with high school students. The labor shortage was causing firms involved in construction to increase wages, stretch schedules, and, in some cases, reduce the quality of construction……