New Air Conditioning Requirements

Update on European regulations relating to repair/maintenance of MAC (Mobile Air Conditioning) systems

DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) specified that from 4 July 2007 all individuals who handle air conditioning refrigerant need to have been trained and certificated to meet European regulations. The minimum requirements for technicians working on MAC systems are:

• From July 2007 all individuals who handle air conditioning refrigerant gases needed to have been trained and certificated. Minimum requirement for a MAC Technician is refrigerant handling ‘in-house’ training. Those who achieved an ‘in-house’ refrigerant handling qualification can work on MAC systems until July 2010 without further training and certification.
  
• After July 2010: all MAC technicians must have achieved, as a minimum requirement, a refrigerant handling qualification which meets EC Regulation 307-2008.

In April 2008, DEFRA sent out draft documents which outlined the minimum requirements a MAC technician needs to be competent at handling refrigerant.

A subsequent EC Regulation (EC/307/2008) expands on the qualification requirements, resulting in any qualification that meets the legislation requirements having the words ‘meets the minimum requirements of Regulation (EC) 307/2008’ on the certificate/ID Card.  This will show employers and regulatory bodies that the holder has achieved a recognisable qualification.

Company certification will only apply to organisations working with static air conditioning systems. Company certification will not apply to organisations working with MAC systems.