F.E. Moran, Inc.
- Industrial
- Commercial
- Refrigeration
- Fire protection
- 65+ years in operation (company-stated)
- Address
- 118 N. Clinton Street, Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60661
- Phone
- +1-847-498-4800
- Emergency
- +1-847-498-4870
Facility & commercial rate benchmarks · Chicago
Commercial hvac and refrigeration rates in Chicago.
Estimated median rate: $103/hr, range $73-$140/hr, for commercial and facility-side hvac and refrigeration work in Chicago.
Estimated from O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates
Estimated median$103/hr
$73$140
Screened hvac and refrigeration contractors in Chicago
These are the 3 contractors on Evalystar’s screened Chicago shortlist for this trade: credentials and years in operation, not star ratings. See the full shortlist.
Air Comfort
- Mission-critical facilities
- Central plant systems
- Building automation
- Electrical
- 90+ years in operation (company-stated)
- Union contractor
- Address
- 2550 Braga Dr, Broadview, IL 60155
- Phone
- +1-708-345-1900
Hill Mechanical Group (The Hill Group)
90 years in operation (since 1936)
- HVAC
- Plumbing
- Fire protection
- Virtual design and construction
- Address
- 11045 Gage Ave, Franklin Park, IL 60131
- Phone
- +1-847-451-5000
What affects the rate
- Emergency vs scheduled: same-day or after-hours emergency calls run well above scheduled maintenance visits.
- After-hours and weekend work: typically carries a premium over standard business-hours rates.
- Contract vs ad-hoc: vendors on a standing contract usually price lower per hour than one-off, ad-hoc jobs.
- Code and certification requirements: trades with stricter local licensing (electrical, HVAC/gas) typically carry a premium tied to certification cost.
What's different in Chicago
- Labour market: Chicago has some of the strongest building-trades union locals in the US (notably IBEW Local 134 for electrical), which is a common driver of the elevated wage and billed-rate levels seen here versus other Midwest metros.
- Climate and seasonality: Lake-effect winters and freeze-thaw cycles drive plumbing and HVAC emergency calls; older commercial building stock adds electrical and roofing work.
- Code and licensing: Licensing runs through the City of Chicago and Illinois state boards; Chicago's own electrical and plumbing codes are notably stricter than many US cities.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this a real measured rate, or an estimate?
- This figure is an estimate, not a measured billed rate: it's Chicago's own hourly wage for hvac and refrigeration work (O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, 2025), multiplied by a documented 2.5-3x service multiplier that converts an employee wage into a billed commercial rate. That multiplier covers labour burden (payroll tax, workers' comp, benefits, PTO), overhead (vehicle, dispatch, insurance, licensing), utilisation (not every hour is billable), and margin. It is not drawn from actual invoices or job records. Evalystar is building toward measured, job-derived rates for this same page as real vendor data accumulates. Shown below, not hidden, so you can check the arithmetic.Wagex Multiplier= EstimateLow$29.35/hrx 2.5$73/hrMedian$37.48/hrx 2.75$103/hrHigh$46.53/hrx 3$140/hr
- Why a range instead of a single number?
- A single average hides the real spread in the underlying wage data and in the multiplier itself. We show the low, median, and high ends of the estimate so the range reflects that uncertainty honestly, rather than implying more precision than a modelled figure can support.
- Is this a residential or commercial rate?
- Commercial. This figure tracks facility-side hvac and refrigeration work for businesses, property managers, and multi-site operators in Chicago. Commercial rates typically run above residential rates for the same trade, reflecting insurance, code compliance, and scheduling requirements that residential work doesn't carry.