Record-keeping

Operators of refrigeration and air-conditioning systems as well as fire protection equipment which contain 3 kilograms or more of F gases need to keep records about their equipment.

The records must be able to identify each piece of equipment and include details about the quantity and type of F gas installed, any quantities of F gas added, the quantity of F gas recovered during servicing, maintenance and final disposal. The record should also identify the company or personnel who performed the servicing or maintenance, as well as the dates and where relevant results of leakage checks and leakage detection system checks.

We suggest you keep copies of records on site as they need to be made available on request to the regulator and to the European Commission.

Assessing the quantity of F gas on your site

If you have established you are using F gas in one or more systems on your site, the next step is to find out how much F gas is in each system. The starting point for establishing the refrigeration charge in a system is to check any attached labels, then check the instruction manual or in commissioning records, finally you might be able to get details from the plant manufacturer or the installation contractor.

If you are still struggling or your company has refrigeration and/or air conditioning equipment that has been built on site you may find it difficult to assess the quantity of refrigerant in each system you operate. A guidance document about refrigerant charge calculation, see below, suggests a number of ways of assessing refrigerant charge plus a spreadsheet to assist you calculate the charge.

• Information sheet GEN 5 – refrigerant quantity (PDF 150 KB)
• Refrigerant charge calculator (Excel 900 KB) – February 2007

The refrigeration calculator can be used where a more careful estimate of refrigerant charge is needed. After inputting some information on the refrigeration system, the Excel document will indicate what obligations are related to the amount of refrigerant in the system. This is based on the rule of thumb work and should be used in conjunction with the guidance document.

Each information sheet indicates when it was last updated. Over time, the information sheets will be updated to reflect current contact points.

Reporting

The EU F gas Regulation, Article 6, requires any company that produces, imports, and/or exports more than one tonne of F gases – or preparations (blends) containing more than one tonne of F gases – per annum into or out of the European Union, to report to the European Commission before 31 March each year. Reporting is normally done at the company level (not the facility level).

The reporting form is available from the European Commission website.

The site contains an electronic version of the reporting form and gives details of where to send the completed form. A copy of the completed form must also be sent to Defra at fgas@defra.gsi.gov.uk.