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How we label ownership

Every listing starts as Ownership: unverified. That sentence means: no documented private-equity platform or franchise parent was matched in our dataset as of the date on the page. It does not mean we investigated the company’s owners, and it does not mean the company is independent.

A listing becomes PE or platform-owned or Franchise only when the business name matches a term in our platform file. The file records the parent, the match term, the source URL, and the day we read the source. The profile links that source. The current source for platforms is DealSeam’s 2026 PE roll-up tracker (page last updated 28 July 2026; we read it 2026-11-03). Aire Serv is labeled a franchise because aireserv.com describes Aire Serv as a Neighborly company whose work is done by franchise companies.

Matches are conservative. “Comfort Systems” is a common local name and is not treated as Comfort Systems USA. “Champion” is not treated as Champions Group. “ARS” alone is not treated as Rescue Rooter. “Service Experts” counts only when the name starts with those words, so a sentence like “heating service experts” does not match. Nexstar is not a match term.

An independent label is used only when the company’s own site states family ownership with a year or generation, or names the owner-operator, and we record the quote and the page. A claim form answer is not that source. If we later publish what a business submitted, it is shown as self-reported by the business, in a different style from a sourced label. See the methodology.

Featured placement exists as a data flag and is false on every row. Paying for a label is not offered.

Related: PE-owned vs independent HVAC.

Last reviewed 2026-11-03. Publisher: ElectrifyRadar.