It was may intention in my comment in response to this article to point out that there have been major changes in the Aircon & Heatpump markets which have created a requirement for adaptions to the existing regulations; now would be a good time to look at them closely.
The world market is being supplied with low cost domestic units about which suppliers assure customers that they are both able and legally entitled to fit.
Some changes have been made to allow kitchen companies to handle Natural Gas; there seems no reason why competent people shouldn't be able to demonstrate their abilities and have levels of F-Gas Certification restricted to evacuating, leak testing and fitting pre-flared piping on pre gassed low volume systems with higher levels for pipe make-up, and topping up systems using appropriate guages.
There is a ready & valuable market for established companies to service, repair, validate, leak test & otherwise assist domestic, installations. These services currently seem as non existent as training Centres for F-Gas.
I had some discussion with Training Organisations on Certification, but the trouble here is that the training organisations are bound to a single and exhaustive standard and are bound to test for all of it and enforce it. They may not adapt their courses. They reasonably point out that if there was any failure by any of their trainees, they would lose their licences to train; so the situation is locked by regulation.
Most of regulation is about leakage avoidance, and this at any cost.
Manuals for the equipment I have, say that gas should be released through the system while open at the end until a white cloud of condensing gas is emitted to ensure the system is flooded and all air expelled. I'm sure everyone has now died of fright, however this is today the manufacturer's manual is very real.
All the same, an entirely different set of regulations daily permit the release of R22 and R134A in 'Air Duster' aerosols and in various paint, BB and other guns which is equally bizzare. One would't like think of the quantities of R134A released due to car accidents!
Scientist argue that these refrigerant gasses are used because they are inert, environmentalists say they destroy ozone and curiously point at the solar sub-particle bombarded magnetic poles but not, apparently, at the equator nor anywhere else.
Germany has decided to have a 10 year moritorium on Climate Change action as the models have not been working out in practice. My pals in Particle Physics tell me the climate models were going wrong from the very early days but the politicians were on board and couldn't quit. Effects on Saturn, Jupiter and Mars show that the heat output from the sun is increasing to a predicted sunspot maximum in 2013 and we are aware that the polar ice caps have come and gone many times without human or the internal combustian engine's assistance.
My own interest stems form physics and the Carnot Cycle and how I can possibly take advantage of it. It is paramount to realise that Heatpumps do, as a practical reality create 3kW or better in heat delivery when supplied with 1kW of electrical power. This heat transport system doesn't break ths laws of Thermodynamics that Thompson (Kelvin) enumerated but in fairness he searched for Carnot's book in Paris to unravel the truth. The theromdynamic alternative is to lose 70% of power in conversion losses through devices like fan heaters which yield about 300W of real heat for the same 1kW of electricity.
The item I was designing revolved around extracting heat from the atmosphere at 5C-8C as the optimal point. Extraction efficiency falls off as temperatures depart from the point while freezing of the outdoor end equipmemt would take place in lower temperatures which has to be addressed. It all works out nicely on paper and I looked as the various gasses that I might employ. Ammonia looked nasty, Butane and Propane readily available, but are hydrocarbons and explosive if leaked (as already reported I see in the guise of R600A). Research led me to R134A which wasn't marvellously efficient while R410A was very good but required high pressures which are awkward to handle and looks impossible for open drives that I wanted to use. I reasoned that in winter 5C would be a good central point. It doesn't get much colder than -5C (for long) where efficiency wouldn't be too bad, nor is much heating required above +15C either. The best outcomes look like they would be achieved using two gasses in two cascaded stages, or perhaps the same gas in two stages using different pressures to obtain two optimum points, to step up temperatures. I believe Mitsubishi is developing units on this basis at present.
More research revealed that making up heating coils is not commonplace, is conducted on a volume basis, and one-offs would be more expensive than the cost-saving obtaianable from a prototype.
The good news turned out to be that there are plently of air conditioning units which include heat pumps that have become available recently that could be employed for practical evaulation.
At 9C ambient the system consistenly produces 55C. Now for the rest of the world would wake up.
Greece offers Eur 500 for anyone to throw out their aircon units and replace them with new ones with heatpumps. Here in the UK, no-one has even heard of a heatpump.
I have little doubt that the future of heating in Britain is in this technology and hope that my comments will filter back to the European Regulators
An unexpected downside to my endeavours is that I have accidentally and innocently acquired a posse. In the circumstances I've been compelled to change my name and can be contacted in future as Armin Sellafield.

Mr Duckett,
I suggest you read Mr Wright's comments again as you've got it all wrong!

I have fitted a couple of splits effectively and economically with standard 'engineers care' and ability.
Having enquired about obtaining F-Gas certificates I find there are no local training or certification centres.
For small splits I'll never braise anything, nor do anything more than evacuate, leak check and release pre-stored R410a.
There is no certificate that would cover this degree of involvement.
The training problem is that the certification people need to make a living at it, and for them, it isn't economic to do a 50 competence check on capable people.
Most people haven't heard of a Heat Pump, Ozone holes exists at the poles due to sub atomic bombardment down the magneic lines of force and have always been present; discovering them doesn't make them new and hazardous.
There is little CO2 in the seas and without carbon there is no life. Most carbon ends up at the bottom and so the only CO2 available is absorbed at the surface, and is in great demand.
Clouds cut out the sun effectively while heat produces them. Natural systems look homeostatic to me.