ENGINEERS have been given an extra three months to obtain the necessary qualifications to handle ozone-depleting refrigerants under a new European regulation which came into force this month.
The Ozone Depleting Substances (Qualifications) Regulations, which came into force on July 10, requires all engineers involved with the servicing, maintenance and dismantling of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment operating on ozone depleting refrigerants to hold either a C&G 2078 certificate in handling refrigerants or the CITB Safe Handling of Refrigerants Certificate. It was originally proposed that engineers would have until the end of the year to obtain the necessary certification but this has now been extended until April 9th 2007.

While this law only applies to CFC and HCFCs at the moment, the forthcoming European F-gas regulations will also require engineers to seek similar certification for handling HFCs.