F-Gas Compliance

OBJECTIVE

The legal responsibility for compliance is on the end user or operator of the equipment using the gases covered in scope but the second version of the legislation (EC517/2014) also crucially has legal responsibility for some aspects placed upon contractors. This technical bulletin is aimed at advising members of what they need to do to comply.

Failure to comply with this legislation could result in a fine up to £5,000 if the case is tried in a Magistrates’ Court, and an unlimited fine if tried in a Crown Court.

The contractor – both the individual engineer/technician attending site and the company employing that engineer/technician – must be certified in F Gas to carry out certain tasks such as installation, maintenance, service, repair, decommissioning, leakage checking and recovery of gases on stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment and movable room air conditioning appliances.

EQUIPMENT IN SCOPE AND LEAKAGE CHECKING REQUIREMENTS

The requirement for, and frequency of, leak checks are determined by the CO2-eq of the total charge of the system as determined by the GWP (global warming potential) of the gas in the system. The intervals between leak checks can be doubled by fitting appropriate automatic leak detection systems.

A leakage detection system is defined as “a calibrated mechanical, electrical or electronic device for detecting leakage of fluorinated greenhouse gases which, on detection, alerts the operator.