AREA, the European contractors' association, is calling for changes to the F-gas regulations to require all non-monobloc air conditioning and refrigeration systems to be installed by a certified professional. It also wants to see the F-gas threshold lowered from its present 3kg to just 100g and is backing a call for a mandatory register of acr professionals.
The association argues that while refrigerants in cylinders can only be sold to certified professionals, non-monobloc split systems pre-charged with refrigerant can be purchased by anybody and since installing this equipment necessitates interfering with the refrigerant circuit it should fall within the remit of the F-gas regulation. AREA maintains that these systems are usually installed by non-professionals, and practically never checked, which invariably results in bad leakage rates.

It suggests banning pre-charging of fluorinated gases in non-monobloc split systems to ensure that they are installed by a certified professional and switch the responsibility of selling fluorinated gases in containers to certified installers on wholesalers/distributors.

'For the sake of clarity,' says AREA, 'non-monobloc systems could be defined as systems 'where two or more pieces of equipment need to be connected together to enable the flow of the fluorinated gases into the refrigerating circuit'.'

In order to support the enforcement of the Regulation, AREA believes that the regulation should stipulate a mandatory registration of RACHP craftsmen. 'This would not only enable better assessment of compliance to the Regulation but also assist public authorities in the performance of their enforcement duties,' says AREA.

The 3kg F-gas threshold also comes under fire. AREA argues that recent technological progress, particularly with the introduction of R410A, has lowered the charge required for the same power capacity. It believes that the threshold should be lowered to 100g whilst excluding domestic refrigeration or portable refrigeration devices for practical reasons.