Every rooftop I inherit has the same problem: the unit is there, nothing is written down, and the nameplate is half gone. So you end up pulling the belt to read it, or guessing off a worn one.

Recorded myself doing a new exhaust fan end to end. Camera at the nameplate pulls the make, model and serial. Added the belt and the motor as parts on that unit, same way. Then generated a QR code for the fan, printed it on a Brady handheld on the roof, stuck it to the housing, and scanned it back to confirm the record came up — fan, belt, motor.

Full disclosure, this is my own app — I'm an HVAC tech and I built it because I was tired of the binder. Not trying to sell anybody anything here, I'm more interested in whether the tagging approach holds up for people with bigger sites than mine.

Genuine questions for anyone doing this already:

\- What are you using for tags that survives a roof? I'm on Brady labels but I have not had a full summer on them yet, and UV is what I'd expect to kill it first.

\- Do you tag at the unit or at the access panel? Tagging the housing feels right until somebody replaces the housing.

\- For those of you at larger shops — is a per-unit tag actually useful to you, or does it only work when one person owns the site?

Happy to answer anything about how it works.

Tagged a rooftop exhaust fan with a scannable QR so the next tech knows what belt it takes