The EU F-Gas Regulation

The European Union’s F-Gas Regulation No. 842/2006 became law on 4th July 2006. Here is a brief summary of its requirements for the UK’s Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry, which came into on 4th July 2007. (F-Gas includes all HFC refrigerants, such as R134a, R407c and R410A).

Equipment Operators

If you operate stationary refrigeration or air conditioning systems, you must prevent leakage and repair any leaks as soon as possible.  You must arrange proper refrigerant recovery by certified personnel.  If you operate other products including mobile equipment, appropriately qualified personnel must be used to recover gases as long as this is technically feasible and not disproportionately costly.

You must ensure that only certified competent personnel carry out leakage checks and that these are done to the laid down schedule.  The European Commission (EC) will establish standard leak checking requirements.  Where leakage detection systems are used on large systems, these must be checked at least annually.  You will need to maintain records of all refrigerants in equipment with a charge of 3kg or more (if hermetic, 6kg or more).  You must keep specific record identifying equipment contacting a charge of 30kg or more.

Contractors

Since 4th July 2008 you are affected by minimum requirements for training and certification of companies and personnel involved in installation, maintenance, servicing, containment and recovery activities. On 4th July 2009 only certified companies who employ certified (qualified) personnel can take delivery of refrigerants covered by the F-Gas Regulations.
All EU Member States have to establish reporting systems to acquire emission data where possible. You may have to help implement these systems. It should be noted that you might be asked by operators to accept some of the operator’s responsibilities under an appropriate contract.   

User Responsibilities

“Operators” are defined as the people or organisations that have actual power over the technical functioning of the equipment.   The legal responsibility for compliance with the Regulation lies with the operator.  Any equipment small enough to plug in ather than have to be permanently wired, is likely to be excluded from the requirements, other than an overall requirement to prevent leakage and to repair any leaks as soon as possible.

For stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps over 3 kg charges (6kg if hermetic), operators must:

• Prevent leakage and repair any leaks as soon as possible
• Arrange proper refrigerant recovery by certified personnel during servicing and disposal
• Carry out leak checks to the schedule shown below
• Ensure that only certified competent personnel carry out leakage checks
• Maintain records of refrigerants and of servicing.

For non-stationary equipment (e.g. mobile units on trucks) and any other products containing F-gases, operators must ensure that appropriately qualified personnel are used to recover gases, as long as this is feasible and not excessively expensive.

Leak Checking Schedule

The checking (to be done in a way to be defined in detail by the EC) varies depending on the amount of refrigerant in the system, as follows:

• At least annually for applications with 3kg or more of F-gases (unless the equipment is hermetically sealed, in which case this goes up to 6kg)
• At least once every six months for applications with 30kg or more of F-gases
• At least once every three months for applications with 300kg or more of F-gases
• Leakage detection systems must be installed on applications with 300kg or more of F-gases and when these are in place, checking requirements are halved
• If a leak is detected and repaired, a further check must be carried out within one month to ensure that the repair has been effective.

Maintenance and Servicing Records

Operators of all stationary systems containing 3kg or more of F-gases must maintain records including:

• Quantity and type of F-gases installed, added or recovered
• Identification of the company or technician carrying out servicing
• Dates and results of leakage checks, specifically identifying separate pieces of equipment containing 30kgs or more of refrigerant.

It is the operator’s responsibility to ensure that the relevant servicing personnel have obtained the necessary certification, which shows that they understand the regulations and are competent.

Further Details:

The DTI has set up a website with Frequently Asked Questions, up to date Guidance and a copy of the Regulation at:
www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainablilty/
fgases/page28889.html

You can also register at the ACRIB website for regular updates and brief overviews of other current legal requirements:
www.acrib.org.uk