Only certified personnel carry out installation, service or maintenance work.This area of our website is intended to provide information and documents that we are frequently asked to provide:
Phase-out of HCFC refrigerants
The ban on the use of virgin HCFC refrigerants (including, but not limited to R22) in the servicing and maintenance of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment came into force on 31st December 2009.
The European Union's F-gas Regulation No. 842/2006 became law on 4th July 2006. This imposed obligations on 'operators' of equipment that will impact whether our engineers can legally work on equipment containing F Gases. F Gases include HFCs such as R134a, which are the commonest refrigerants in use today. The regulation aims to minimise emissions of these gases, which affect global warming if they are allowed to escape or leak into the air. Stationary refrigerating and air conditioning equipment containing over 3kg of F Gas refrigerant (or over 6kg if hermetically sealed) comes within its scope.
New legal requirements to work on F Gas systems
Operators (defined as the people or organisations that have actual power over the technical functioning of the equipment) are now legally responsible to ensure that:
- Any leaks are repaired as soon as possible by certified personnel
- Refrigarent recovery is carried out by certified personnel during servicing and disposal
- Leak checks are carried out by certified personnel using a specific leak check procedure
- Only certified personnel carry out installation, service or maintenance work
- Records of usage of refrigarents and of servicing are filled in by certified personnel
- The charge size of their equipment is recorded. If it is not already known it must be calculated by certified personnel.
Leak checking
The frequency of checking for leaks varies AND depends on the amount of refrigarent in the system. Details of the requirements and the procedures laid down by the Commission are available from the ACRIB website.
List of F Gas Refrigarents
- HFCs - Hydrofluorocarbons
Uses: refrigerants in refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pumps used in many applications such as industry, offices, retail, hospitality and cars.
Other uses: aerosols, insulating foam, solvents and fire protection - PFCs - Perfluorocarbons
Uses: semi-conductor manufacture and a few other specialised applications. - SF6 - Sulphur hexafluoride
Uses: high voltage switch gear, for magnesium smelting processes and a few other specialised applications.