LEGISLATION

Various pieces of legislation impact upon the selection and use of different refrigerants, along with qualifications required to work with refrigerants. A summary of some of those are given below.

F-Gas support update

F-Gas support has produced an HCFC phaseout information sheet please click here to read it.

Defra Appoint REFCOM To Provide F-Gas Company Certification

REFCOM has signed an agreement with the Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirming its appointment as a mandatory F gas

company certification body for businesses operating in the stationary refrigeration,

air-conditioning and heat-pump (SRAC) sector in Great Britain.

To view the whole document please click here

For more information on registration and a link to the Refcom website please click here

Two other bodies have since been approved to provide company certification.

F-Gas leaflets produced

The European Commission has produced several leaflets to provide useful information and guideance for Operators, Technical Personnel and Companies working with equipment containing F'gases:

For the Operators document please click here

For the Technical Personnel document please click here

Company Certification - F Gas Regulations

DEFRA will shortly be announcing final details of the company certification scheme for companies who handle F gas refrigerants. The requirements (and penalties for non-compliance) will be in the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Regulations which should be laid before Parliament during February. A key obligation is that all companies involved in refrigerant handling activities will require an interim company certificate by 4^th July 2009. The relevant activities defined in the Regulation relate to companies that use F gas refrigerants (HFCs) during installation, maintenance or servicing. All companies that use HFCs for one of these activities will need an interim company certificate. This covers refrigeration and air-conditioning contractors of all sizes, including sole traders. It also covers end-use companies if they employ their own refrigeration personnel. Those using sub-contractors to maintain their refrigeration equipment are not affected. To help companies understand their responsibilities DEFRA fund a helpline run by F-Gas Support, details can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/fgas the help line number is 0161 874 3663.

If you employ in-house personnel to undertake work with F gas refrigerants contact F-Gas Support they will send you an email to alert you when the company certification scheme is operational. Email fgas-support@enviros.com - put "company certification" in the subject line of the email and provide your company name & address in the body of the email.

The BRA have produced Factfinder number 15 to assist with this, please click here

DEFRA has designated Refcom as the mandatory F gas company certification body, however they cannot begin operating this arrangement until FGG Regulations come into force on March 9th. There is a link to the Refcom website in our links section.

First 19 Centres to offer C&G F Gas Qualifications

It has been well publicised that all personnel whose work involves handling of refrigerants within the scope of the F Gas Regulation need to take the new City & Guilds 2079 Assessment, or the CITB equivalent, by July 2011. The current qualifications City & Guilds 2078 and CITB provide only temporary evidence of qualification in the mean time.

It will be welcome news then that the first of the new F Gas Qualifications have now started to be awarded in the UK. ACRIB believes that the UK is one of the first member states to have set up the new qualification scheme based on the Commission Regulation (EC) No 303/2008 which established minimum requirements for the certification of companies and personnel as regards stationary refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump equipment containing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases.

To link to the ACRIB webpage which lists the centres please click here

Useful Website

There is a useful website supported by EFCTC and fluorocarbon users, giving guidance about implementing and compliance of the F-Gas regulations. The site is called figaroo, to visit this site please click here

BRA Factfinder R22 and HCFC phase-out

The British Refrigeration Association (BRA) has produced a factfinder to highlight the impact of the phase-out of R22 and HCFC refrigerants and what needs to be done to avoid significant disruption. To read this document please click here

F Gas Regulations

Although F- Gases as a whole are a small part of the overall contribution to global warming, this legislation will bring in measures that will improve containment and significantly reduce emissions of these gases. The legislation was published in the official journal of the EU in June 2006 and entered into force on 4th July 2006, although the majority of measures don't take effect until 4th July 2007. The main objective of the regulation is to prevent and reduce emissions of certain fluorinated greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol. The regulation addresses containment, use, recovery, destruction, reporting, labelling, training, certification and some placing on the market prohibitions for the fluorinated gases.

A summary of the relevant parts affecting refrigeration and air conditioning applications can be found by clicking here along with links to the relevant DEFRA and Dti websites.

ACRIB has released a document relating to the EU F gas legislation and how it affects each group, for more information please click here.

The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) has issued the following Frequently asked questions relating to the F-Gas regulations to view this document please click here.

F Gas Support is Launched

F-Gas Support will help promote compliance with two important EU Regulations:

EC Regulation 842/2006 on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (the F gas Regulation), which aims to reduce emissions of HFCs, PFCs and SF₆and whose key obligations came into force in July 2007.
EC Regulation 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer (the Ozone Regulation), which phases out and controls remaining uses of ODS and has been in force since 2000. HCFCs are the main type of substance still to be phased out under this Regulation.

How to contact F-Gas Support:
Website: Click here to visit the website
Telephone Help Line: 0161 874 3663
Email: fgas-support@enviros.com
Post: F-Gas Support, P O Box 481, Salford, M50 3UD

Flourinated Greenhouse Gas Regulations

This is the UK Statutory Instrument 2008 / 41 which applies all the relevant parts of the F Gas regulation in the UK and also details enforcement, offences and penalties.

The full text of the Regulation can be seen by clicking here

EU 2037/2000 Ozone Depleting Substances Legislation Summary

This legislation implemented a phase out of ozone depleting substances. The use of CFCs was banned along with the use of HCFCs in new equipment and certain applications. The servicing of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment was allowed to continue to use virgin HCFCs only until 31st December 2009. After this date it will be illegal to use any virgin product held in stock. It is recommended that companies reduce or eliminate their dependence on HCFCs prior to 2010 by replacing or converting equipment in a phased changeover. Waiting until 2009 or even 2010, to start could cause users problems.