From the filings
Software purchasing decisions at ACE DuraFlo appear to flow through a small HQ team led by Operating Member and CTO Larry Gillanders. The 2022 FDD does not mandate any specific technology systems, leaving the tech stack largely at the discretion of individual franchisees. With only 11 total units and negative year-over-year unit growth, the addressable market for software vendors is extremely limited.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Ongoing fee load
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
9.5%of gross sales (FY2022)
15% reference
Franchisor behaviours
14 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 12 explicit no's; 8 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesFranchise agreement
Company shall be allowed to access such information remotely and from Franchise’s computers maintained at the Business Office.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Additionally, Franchisee shall prepare and submit the following financial reports of the Franchised Business in the format prescribed in the Confidential Manuals: (i) within 30 days after the end of Calendar Quarter after the Signing Date, a profit and loss statement and balance sheet showing the results of operation…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
At this time, we are the exclusive supplier of the other equipment items mentioned in this Section.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We may modify our specifications, recommended suppliers or purchasing procedures at any time in our discretion and you must promptly conform to all changes at your sole expense.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
90Item 8
The equipment and initial Epoxy that you must purchase from us or from suppliers that we designate or approve will likely represent 90% of the total purchases that you make to begin performing the Authorized Services.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Company and its designated representatives shall, during normal business hours, and without prior notice to Franchisee, inspect Franchisee’s methods of operation, including, without limitation, observing and conducting discussions with Franchisee’s employees and customers and performing customer surveys and…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Company may modify the Confidential Manuals from time to time through written or electronic supplements to the Confidential Manuals or through other written or electronic communications delivered to Franchisee, and each supplement or communication shall become effective upon receipt or on the later date specified in…
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must obtain our prior written approval of the street address of the proposed business office.
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase this equipment from us or from approved suppliers.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
At the option of Company, all amounts owing to Company by Franchisee, including amounts due for Royalty Fees, Advertising Contributions, products, supplies and equipment, will be payable by electronic funds transfer.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
However, we require that you designate (i) at least one full-time employee as your full-time manager with responsibility for directly supervising the day-to-day management of the business, and (ii) at least one other full- time employee as your sales manager with responsibility for selling and marketing the…
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
All of Franchisee’s personnel performing Authorized Services or otherwise interacting with existing or prospective customers shall wear uniforms and identification badges specified by Company in the Confidential Manuals.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
You may request additional field training during the term of your Franchise Agreement, subject to availability and by mutual arrangement, for a fee equal to our then-current daily rate set forth in the confidential manuals and reimbursement of our actual direct costs to send a technician to your Territory…
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
Company may require the attendance of designated personnel, but in no event shall Company require Franchisee to send more than 2 persons to any annual meeting.
Who buys here
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
ACE DuraFlo is a home services franchise specializing in pipe restoration, with headquarters in California. The system is small: as of the 2022 FDD, it comprises 11 total units — 10 franchised and 1 company-owned. Year-over-year unit growth was negative 9.091%, signaling contraction rather than expansion. For a software vendor, the immediate addressable market is just those 11 locations. There is no disclosed average unit volume (AUV) in the FDD, making it difficult to estimate per-location software budgets. The royalty rate is 8.0% of gross revenue, and the initial franchise term runs 10 years.
The 2022 FDD lists five HQ executives in Item 1. The most relevant for a software sales conversation is Larry Gillanders, who holds the titles of Operating Member, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Technology Officer. As both CEO and CTO, Gillanders is the central figure for technology decisions. Other named executives — Lawrence Soskin (VP of Codes and Compliance), Dan Koopman (VP of Finance), Ronald W. Davies (Managing Member), and Jason Houck (National Sales Director) — may influence or approve purchases within their domains, but the dual CEO/CTO role strongly suggests that software evaluation and purchasing authority sits with Gillanders. No multi-unit operators are mapped in our corpus, so there is no evidence of franchisee-level buying power aggregating across multiple locations.
The 2022 FDD does not mandate or recommend any specific technology systems. There are no named POS vendors, no required operational software, and no preferred technology suppliers disclosed in the document. This absence means that franchisees likely select their own tools for scheduling, invoicing, CRM, or field service management — or they may operate with minimal software altogether. For a vendor, this represents either a greenfield opportunity to introduce a standardized platform or a fragmented environment where each of the 10 franchised units makes independent, low-budget decisions.
Item 8 of the FDD, which typically outlines procurement restrictions and designated suppliers, contains no extract in our data. This means the franchisor's formal procurement model — whether designated supplier, approved supplier list, or open purchasing — is not publicly known. On the renewal side, Item 17 provides some timing signals. Franchisees may renew for an additional 5-year term if they have complied with the agreement, give 9 months' advance notice, pay a $1,000 renewal fee, and complete required capital expenditures to upgrade and modernize equipment. The renewal agreement may contain materially different terms. With an initial 10-year term and the system's founding date not specified, it is difficult to project when the first wave of renewals will occur. Given the recent unit contraction, near-term software procurement events are likely rare.
The full 2022 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators and contains the legal and operational disclosures that govern the ACE DuraFlo franchise system. For software vendors, the most relevant sections are Item 1 (the franchisor and its executives), Item 8 (procurement restrictions), Item 11 (franchisor assistance and required technology), and Item 17 (renewal and termination). Because no technology systems are mandated in Item 11, vendors should pay close attention to any operational support obligations that could create software needs. When you are ready to prioritize franchise systems by decision-maker accessibility, tech gaps, and unit growth, FranCloud can generate a ranked target list tailored to your product.
Questions vendors ask
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
We’ll email you the moment ACE DuraFlo files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
3 operators run 3 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Top states by locations
| TX | 2 |
|---|---|
| CA | 1 |
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.