Feature of the Month: March 2009

F-GAS REGULATIONS (EC) 842/2006

End users of F gases have a number of obligations related to containment, gas recovery and record keeping. There are a large number of organisations that use F gases and they must all ensure they are complying with the Regulations.

The relevant parts affecting the refrigeration and Air Conditioning industry are detailed below.

CONTAINMENT (article 3)

Operators of stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment shall use all measures which are technically feasible and do not entail disproportionate cost to prevent leakage of HFC's and as soon as possible repair any detected leakage. The operator must ensure systems are checked for leakage by certified personnel, as defined by the training and certification requirement and to the following schedule:

Leakage inspection

Systems shall be checked for leakage dependent on refrigerant charge
3kg charge and above - check at least once every 12 months.
30kg charge and above - check at least once every 6 months.
300kg charge and above - check at least once every 3 months.

Record keeping and Log Books

Operators of equipment containing 3kg or more will need to maintain records on the quantity and type of HFC installed. Any quantities added or recovered during maintenance, servicing and final disposal will need to be recorded along with leak checks, actions taken, the name of the service Company, the engineer / technician who performed the servicing and maintenance, dates and results of inspections. These records have to be made available to the competent authority upon request.

RECOVERY (article 4)

Operators of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment are responsible for putting in place arrangements for the proper recovery by certified personnel, who comply with the training and certification requirements, of fluorinated greenhouse gases to ensure their recycling, reclamation or destruction.

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION (article 5)

The European Commission have defined much more onerous minimum qualifications than currently applicable in the UK for personnel using fluorinated greenhouse gases. By 4th July 2009 Member States must ensure that companies involved in activities affected by containment and recovery will only take delivery of fluorinated greenhouse gases where their relevant personnel hold the required training and certificates.

LABELLING (article 7)

This only applies to new equipment including those fabricated on site and is in addition to existing labelling requirements and applies from 1st April 2008. Each product or piece of equipment must have a label identifying the chemical name of the fluorinated greenhouse gas using the accepted industry nomenclature the contents of the F-Gas by weight and the phrase "Contains fluorinated greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol".

ENFORCEMENT

The UK Government have brought into law, statutory instruments to apply the F-Gas legislation. Compliance is policed by the Environment Agency and Local Authorities who have wide ranging powers to impose prohibition notices and fines on those not adhering to the F-Gas regulations.

More details can be found here.

Any questions you may have regarding the F-GAS REGULATION please contact ETS, Alan.Gregory@ets.co.uk, 0870 870 6615