Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

[whiskeyjack6058]

Hi, I have been a whitegoods engineer for the best part of 24 years to date but never really been involved in the system side of refrigeration. I have been offered a start up kit – i.e. vacuum pump and gauges etc.. from a friend of mine who is very skilled in this field at a very unrealistic price so I would be a fool to turn his offer down. I understand the way it works and I have re gassed a fridge freezer under supervision by a manufacturer trained engineer. The unit I did the re gas to was a 50/50 brand new integrated fridge freezer where I vacuumed the system, fitted a replacement dryer and re-charged it with R600 to the manufactures specification using lokring method. After a week, I got a telephone call from the engineer saying it was a successful re gas and it was working perfect, then the company who set it up for me priced up the necessary equipment I would require to do system work for them. At that point, I decided to put it on the back burner hence the cost, but since this offer has come along I have become very interested in it again!
Just one thing puts me off though, Am I required to hold a licence to practice system work or handling of refrigerant gasses? Should I legally have a certificate to my name which qualifies me to do it?
Im quite a law abiding citizen and don’t wish to cross any boundaries that I shouldn’t. My friend reckons that the amount of R134 that I would be handling would make me exempt from a handling licence. I know it’s hard to predict how much work I would complete in a year, but maybe say 6 – 8 system repairs a month? Also considering most new units use R600 which I believe have no adverse effects on the environment?
Any advice on this would be very much appreciated!
Thanks,
Rob.

[kwatt]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

Hi Rob,

To keep this as short and simple as possible…

No certification is legally required to work on R600a systems.

R134a you are perhaps required to have a safe handling certificate and an FGas certificate however, as the charge is so low then by the letter of the legislation you shouldn’t have to carry any certification at all either. But, that’s yet to be tested with the authorities so it’s a bit of a grey area.

My own sentiment is that the FGas rules say that under 3kg of gas is exempt so if you only carry a 1kg canister and never replace anymore than 3kg in one machine (impossible on a domestic) then we’re clear.

K.

[whiskeyjack6058]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

Thanks very much for that kwatt! The amount of work I would be doing would keep me away from the 3kg requirement im sure!
Thanks again! I feel much more confident in pursuing my new venture!
Regards,
Rob.

[spimps]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

I didf my F-gas last year and it was said by the instructor that the 3kg is a collective amount,multiple appliances on a site adding up to 3kg would trigger the reg’s.
Is he right? dont know,possibly a pub with a cellar and then bottle cooler plus fridges would add up to that but generally it would take almost 20 average domestic fridges to add up to 3kg.If you are there fixing their private/domestic fridge does the collective come into play?
Who is supposed to inform the owners of such businesses as they dont have a clue about the regs, it’s a right pigs ear all round! Confusion reigns.

[BobHope]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

the main problem here is not the 3kg limit but safe handling and disposale of any refigerant that you have removed from a system, you need to record R134a disposale and if it exceeds the 3kg you are in trouble.

Bob.

[Holel]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

Sorry to dig up an old thread but are the requirements stated here still the same?

I’ve been offered work on domestic refrigerants on the none gassing side, mainly stats, pcbs, ice makers etc and would be greatfull of advice as to if I’m ok doing this without an F-gas certificate?

Thanks.

[kwatt]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

Probably not as a lot of them will use R22, R134 and, IIRC, 504. All of which you will need F-Gas for.

K.

[Holel]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

Cheers.
What if they’re clearly labeled as R600a?

[kwatt]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

You should be fine with R600a only.

K.

[Holel]

Re: Is a licence required for refrigeration system work?

Thanks for the quick reply.

🙂

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