A DUCTZ franchise is a field-service business that markets authorized HVAC cleaning and restoration work, converts calls and referrals into assessed and scheduled jobs, sends trained technicians in approved vehicles, documents completion, and records every customer, invoice, payment, and protected account in franchisor-controlled systems.
What does a DUCTZ franchise sell, and who buys it?
The franchisee sells only the HVAC cleaning, restoration, indoor-air-quality, dryer-vent, and related services that DUCTZ authorizes or requires, to residential, commercial, institutional, restoration, and referral-driven accounts.
Residential work
The official service menu includes residential air-duct cleaning, HVAC system cleaning and restoration, indoor-air-quality services, dryer-vent cleaning, and dryer-vent installation or repair. The disclosed process uses HEPA-filtered equipment, mechanical agitation, component cleaning, new filters, and a post-cleaning checklist.
Commercial and institutional work
Commercial buyers include property managers, schools, medical facilities, municipalities, industrial sites, offices, restoration companies, and multi-location accounts. The commercial service page describes scheduled and emergency assessment, cleaning, restoration, and remediation.
Referral and account work
Demand can originate with insurance adjusters, reconstruction contractors, HVAC contractors, BELFOR offices, Protected Partners, and National or Regional Accounts. DUCTZ North America, LLC and the DUCTZ National Service Team may manage or assist with large, emergency, rapid-response, and catastrophic-loss projects.
The standard franchise and Conversion Franchise use the same Marks, DUCTZ System, required services, territory rules, software, and operating standards. A Conversion Franchise signs a Conversion Addendum and may receive approval for a modified Initial Package; the FDD discloses no separate ongoing conversion workflow.
Evidence: 2026 FDD, Items 1, 8, 11, 12, and 16; Franchise Agreement Sections 1 and 7; official residential air-duct process.
How does work move through a DUCTZ unit?
Work moves from territory-compliant lead generation to intake, assessment, scheduling, technician delivery, documented quality control, and system-based billing and reporting. National-account jobs add response-time, contract-pricing, and reporting conditions.
- Actor
- Managing Owner, local sales staff, DUCTZ, DZNA, referral source
- Action
- Use approved digital marketing, networking, direct mail, partner development, toll-free routing, the online service-request channel, or national-account referrals.
- System/asset
- Approved materials, customized website, business number, DOT rules
- Output
- A lead tied to a customer location, channel, and permitted service area
- Actor
- Owner, Designated Manager, dispatcher, or authorized call center
- Action
- Answer using the approved script, capture customer data, confirm DOT or RSA eligibility, and check Protected Partner status.
- System/asset
- 24-hour answering system and DUCTZ Software
- Output
- Qualified inquiry, referral acceptance, or request for franchisor permission
- Actor
- Trained manager or Service Technician
- Action
- Inspect the HVAC system, document areas of concern, define scope, and prepare the bid or estimate. NORA work follows account terms and pricing established by DUCTZ.
- System/asset
- DUCTZ Bid Estimator, DUCTZ Software, assessment tools, photos
- Output
- Approved scope, estimate, schedule dependency, and customer authorization
- Actor
- Managing Owner or Designated Manager
- Action
- Schedule the job, assign trained personnel, confirm licenses and insurance, and stage approved equipment, safety supplies, and the branded vehicle.
- System/asset
- DUCTZ Software, approved vehicle, HVAC cleaning equipment
- Output
- A service-ready crew with the required scope and job documentation
- Actor
- Service Technician, with DZNA or co-venturing support when approved
- Action
- Execute the authorized method, protect the site, complete the post-cleaning checklist, and capture before-and-after evidence.
- System/asset
- Manuals, System Standards, NADCA standards, HEPA and agitation equipment
- Output
- Completed work, customer-facing photo report, and any corrective action
- Actor
- Franchisee administration and accounting staff
- Action
- Issue the invoice, record customer payment within 48 hours, maintain customer history, post financial records, submit reports, and address complaints.
- System/asset
- DUCTZ Software, QuickBooks Online, prescribed chart of accounts
- Output
- Recorded Gross Sales, weekly fee calculation, retained records, and repeat-service data
For a NORA referral, the franchisee must respond within 60 minutes with acceptance and scheduling information; failure to contact the customer within two hours can be treated as a decline. The franchisee may decline, but another DUCTZ franchisee or the DUCTZ National Service Team may receive the job without local compensation.
Who performs each operating function?
DUCTZ is not disclosed as an absentee model. An approved Managing Owner or Designated Manager must apply full-time, year-round best efforts, while the franchisee employs the field team and DUCTZ controls the operating framework.
Franchisee team
- The Managing Owner is an owner and the primary franchisor contact.
- An approved Designated Manager may be non-owner when DUCTZ requires or permits one.
- At least one trained person must remain employed at the DUCTZ Business.
- A full-time experienced Service Technician performs and oversees HVAC cleaning and restoration.
- The franchisee selects, hires, pays, trains, and supervises employees.
DUCTZ International
- Defines required services, System Standards, Manuals, software, reports, and quality controls.
- Approves territories, sites, advertising, suppliers, vehicles, websites, and designated personnel.
- Provides operating guidance, software support, training updates, and selected call routing.
- Inspects field service, interviews employees, audits records, and accesses system data.
Third-party dependencies
- NADCA supplies membership, standards, and individual ASCS certification.
- Approved or designated suppliers control vehicles, equipment, branded inputs, phone, website, and possible GPS service.
- DZNA and the DUCTZ National Service Team may manage large or national projects.
- BELFOR may refer work and impose additional insurance or vendor-packet requirements for accepted jobs.
Item 15 requires the Managing Owner or Designated Manager to manage, promote, and enhance the DUCTZ Business full time. The FDD discloses no total headcount, shift structure, or staffing ratio beyond the trained-person and Service Technician requirements.
Which systems, suppliers, and assets are required?
The operating model depends on franchisor-designated software, controlled customer data, approved equipment and vehicles, prescribed accounting, high-speed connectivity, and supplier approval procedures.
Technology and records
DUCTZ Software maintains customer records, bids, estimates, scheduling, invoicing, payments, and Protected Partner status. QuickBooks Online and the prescribed chart of accounts are required. DUCTZ has automatic financial-report access and broad rights to connect to, monitor, retrieve, and require transmission of data.
Vehicles and field equipment
The initial vehicle must come through an approved supplier and meet DUCTZ model, color, decal, appearance, and maintenance standards. Field delivery uses approved HVAC equipment, small tools, safety equipment, uniforms, and branded materials. Repeated reporting failures can trigger a designated GPS requirement.
Communications and web presence
The unit uses approved @DUCTZ.com email, high-speed internet, a dedicated number with 24-hour answering, and a customized website controlled by the designated provider. Separate websites, profiles, internet advertising, and social content require written approval and System Standards compliance.
Supplier classification
The Initial Package comes from DUCTZ or designated suppliers. Other marked products may come from third parties only after specifications and prior approval are satisfied. An alternative supplier requires written approval; silence after the review period means disapproval.
Evidence: 2026 FDD, Items 8 and 11, pp. 23–27 and 35–39; Franchise Agreement Sections 7 and 8; Franchise Management Software License Agreement. NADCA explains that ASCS certification applies to individuals, not companies.
Where may the franchisee market and perform work?
The Territory is non-exclusive and has two different operating permissions: active marketing is centered in the Designated Office Territory, while the Regional Service Area generally permits service delivery but not local solicitation.
The franchisee may advertise, market, solicit, provide Services, and secure Protected Partners in the listed ZIP codes. The office site normally must be inside the DOT and remains subject to DUCTZ approval.
The franchisee may serve residential and commercial customers but may not advertise, solicit, market, or secure Protected Partners without written permission. The RSA is generally a ZIP-code area within 30 miles of the DOT.
A Protected Partner becomes protected when marked in DUCTZ Software. Before service, the unit must check whether another DUCTZ affiliate protects it. Work outside the RSA or inside another franchisee's DOT generally requires prior written permission, subject to narrow Protected Partner conditions.
DUCTZ and its affiliates retain national-account, non-residential, alternative-distribution, and competitive-brand rights. A DOT order from an Alternative Distribution Channel may be offered at a DUCTZ-established price; if the unit declines or cannot qualify, another DUCTZ affiliate may fulfill it.
What does the franchisor control, and what remains with the franchisee?
DUCTZ controls the customer promise, brand presentation, permitted services, territorial permissions, required systems, data access, and quality verification. The franchisee remains responsible for local execution, labor, ordinary pricing, vendor payment, and compliance.
DUCTZ controls or may require
- Authorized and required service categories and delivery methods
- Manuals, System Standards, minimum business hours, complaint response, and field quality checks
- Approved suppliers, vehicle standards, software, hardware, security, websites, phone systems, and upgrades
- Advertising approval, customized web presence, national toll-free references, and possible call-center participation
- Data access, financial formats, monthly and annual reports, records retention, inspections, and audits
- NORA contract terms, account pricing, referral routing, project supervision, and reassignment rights
Franchisee decides or executes
- Employee selection, pay, scheduling, supervision, and additional staffing above disclosed minimums
- Local relationship selling, networking, partner development, and approved advertising execution in the DOT
- Ordinary local customer pricing; NORA work is an exception because account pricing may be set centrally
- Whether to accept optional referral-fee leads or particular NORA jobs
- Office-site selection, financing, and general suppliers where DUCTZ has not designated a source, all subject to applicable approvals
- Licensing, permits, taxes, insurance administration, customer contracts, payroll, collections, and vendor obligations
DUCTZ may inspect office and field service, interview employees, review personnel practices, audit financial and software databases without notice, and require correction. The Franchise Agreement requires customer inquiries or complaints to be answered within one business day and resolved within seven days.
What does Item 20 show about the outlet base?
The disclosed system became entirely franchised at year-end 2025. Franchised outlets declined from 68 to 63 over the three-year series, while five company-owned outlets were sold to franchisees during 2025.
Item 20's year-end composition shifted from 68 franchised and 5 company-owned outlets in 2023 to 63 franchised and no company-owned outlets in 2025.
Source: 2026 DUCTZ FDD, Item 20, Tables 1 and 4, pp. 62 and 65. Counts are end-of-year outlets for 2023, 2024, and 2025; each year's two series reconcile to the disclosed total.
Which operating details still require direct verification?
The FDD defines the architecture, but current Manuals, supplier lists, territory schedules, and account agreements contain implementation details not reproduced publicly.
- Request the authorized-services and exception lists, including mandatory dryer-vent, coil-cleaning, restoration, and add-on services.
- Review exact DOT and RSA ZIP codes, overlapping RSA areas, Protected Partners, and national-account activity.
- Inspect DUCTZ Software for lead ownership, estimating, scheduling, invoicing, payment entry, reporting, customer export, and franchisor access.
- Obtain the BFG Vendor Quick Guide, Initial Package list, vehicle source, website and phone providers, and supplier relationships.
- Reconcile the certification deadline: Item 15 states ASCS/VSMR certification within 30 days after training, while Franchise Agreement Section 7.F states ASCS certification within three months.
- Ask how local pricing works, which NORA accounts impose central pricing, and how jobs split among BELFOR, DZNA, toll-free routing, Protected Partners, and direct demand.
Operating-model synthesis
DUCTZ converts local marketing, partner relationships, consumer inquiries, and managed-account referrals into assessed HVAC cleaning and restoration jobs performed by trained technicians. The franchisee's central responsibility is full-time execution: building permitted demand, staffing and scheduling work, delivering to DUCTZ and NADCA standards, and recording each transaction.
The strongest dependency is DUCTZ International's control over authorized services, territory permissions, software, customer data, suppliers, web presence, quality standards, and audits. The key distinction is the DOT/RSA split: marketing rights and service rights differ. The largest open question is how current Manuals, supplier programs, national accounts, and software rules apply in the proposed Territory.