How to choose an F-gas engineer
Ask for two things: the engineer's qualification and the firm's certificate.
What F-gas certification means
F-gas certification shows that a person or a firm is allowed to work on the refrigerant gases inside air conditioning. An F-gas certified installer needs two things: qualified engineers, and a company certificate for the firm itself.
Source: GOV.UK on working with F gas.
Why fitting needs a certified engineer
Fitting needs a certified engineer because the refrigerant in a split system is a greenhouse gas, and the law controls who can handle it. Poor pipework can also leak, which costs you cooling and costs the climate more.
The law reaches kits sold online too. A pre-charged split kit can’t be sold to you unless there’s evidence that a certified firm will fit it.
Source: the F-gas Regulation, Article 11.
Company and personal certificates
Company and personal certificates do different jobs, and a firm fitting your air con needs both:
- The engineer’s qualification: every engineer needs their own, even if employed. City & Guilds, LCL Awards and BESA award them.
- The company certificate: a firm that works on other people’s equipment needs one, and that includes sole traders. It has to be renewed every three years.
Company certificates come from three bodies: Refcom, the F-Gas Register and Bureau Veritas.
Sources: GOV.UK on company certification and the Regulated Professions Register.
How to check a certificate
A certificate takes a few minutes to check, before you pay a deposit:
- Ask the firm for its F-gas company certificate number, and which body issued it.
- Check the name and number with that body. Refcom’s register can be searched online.
- Make sure the name on the certificate matches the name on your quote.
- Ask to see the engineer’s own F-gas qualification.
A firm may not be on a public list, so ask the body if you can’t find it. If something looks wrong, GOV.UK says to report it to the Environment Agency.
What a certified engineer must do
A certified engineer has to keep the refrigerant in the system and out of the air. In practice, the rules mean:
- no deliberate release of refrigerant
- recovering the gas from an old system, before it’s removed
- repairing a leak without undue delay, once it’s found
- working to the firm’s written procedure for handling F gas
F-gas questions
Can I fit air con myself?
Not a split system, because its refrigerant has to be handled by a qualified engineer. A portable unit needs no fitting at all.
Do pre-charged units still need an engineer?
Yes. A pre-charged split kit can’t be sold to you unless there’s evidence that a certified firm will fit it.
Does F-gas apply to portable units?
A portable unit comes sealed from the factory, so setting it up needs no engineer. Opening its refrigerant circuit is different, and needs a qualified engineer.