Fluorinated Greenhouse Gas Inspections

Why have inspections been introduced?

Fluorinated greenhouse gases are among the Kyoto Protocol groups of gases for which the EU has committed itself to reduce emissions. If you have air conditioning or heat pump equipment including their circuits and/or fire protection systems EC Regulation 842/2006 article 3 requires the following;

• Leakage checks to be carried out

• Repairs to be completed

• Gases to be recovered so that they do not escape to the atmosphere

• Certified personnel and companies to be used

• Labels to be used on some equipment

• Information to be reported to the Commission

• Ban of some F gas products

It means operators should use all available measures which are technically feasible and that do not entail disproportionate cost in order to prevent leakage of F gases and to repair any detected leakage (as soon as possible).

When should these inspections be carried out?

The checking for leakage timetable is graduated in line with the amount of F-gas contained in the application as follows:

• At least once every twelve months for applications containing 3kg or more of F gases (this shall not apply to equipment with hermetically sealed systems, which are labelled as such and contain less than 6kg of F gases)

• At least once every six months for applications containing 30kg or more of F gases

• At least once every 3 months for applications containing 300kg or more of F gases

These applications must also be checked for leakage within one month after
a leak has been repaired to ensure that the repair has been effective.

What Should You Do Next?

Refer to EC Regulation 842/2006 article 3 for more information or contact us for more advice.