# Safety verdict policy Every question that touches a physical action gets one of three verdicts, shown with an icon, a colour and a text label — never colour alone. ## Safe for homeowners Filter replacement, thermostat programming and batteries, clearing a condensate drain with a wet-vac, clearing debris from the outdoor unit, resetting a tripped breaker once, checking registers and returns, changing a humidifier pad. ## Caution — power off first Condensate line flushing, coil cleaning with the disconnect pulled, capacitor identification (visual bulging only, never replacement), duct sealing at accessible joints. All require the disconnect pulled and the breaker off. ## Licensed professional required Anything involving refrigerant, gas piping or combustion, line-voltage wiring, capacitor or contactor replacement, compressor work, brazing, evacuation and charging, heat exchanger inspection, and full system installation. ## Two absolute rules **A gas smell or a CO alarm is not a troubleshooting question.** Any page touching it opens with: leave the building, call 911 or the gas utility from outside, do not operate switches. Nothing else appears above that. **Refrigerant handling is federally regulated.** We say so plainly, cite EPA Section 608, and never publish a charging procedure or a "how to add refrigerant" page. The DIY refrigerant top-off content that saturates this vertical is both illegal to follow and a symptom of an unrepaired leak. ## How the verdict is decided Verdicts are assigned by rule, and the rules are ordered so that the more protective verdict always wins. A question that touches both a safe action and an unsafe one resolves to the unsafe one. A physical-action question the classifier cannot place defaults to caution, never to safe. By [HVACBuddy Editorial Team](https://hvacbuddy.shop/authors/editorial-team/). Last reviewed: 2026-08-18.