Refrigeration

What you must do

Ozone depleting substances

If the equipment you work with contains ozone depleting substances you must hold a minimum qualification if you want to carry out specific tasks on certain types of refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment. These are listed in schedule 1 of the Ozone-Depleting Substances (Qualifications) Regulations.

England, Scotland and Wales

Ozone-Depleting Substances (Qualifications) Regulations 2009 SI 216: Schedule 1

Northern Ireland

For further information see our ozone depleting substances guidance and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) website.

BIS: Guidance on CFC and HCFC phase-out and alternatives in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems (Adobe PDF - 359KB)

Ozone depleting substances

Fluorinated gases

If you work with fluorinated gases (F-gases) in stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning systems you must hold, or be supervised by someone that holds one of the following qualifications:

• City & Guilds Certificate in Handling Refrigerants Scheme 2078
• Construction Industry Training Board Safe Handling of Refrigerants Reference 206710.

City & Guilds Refrigeration and air conditioning courses

Approved Construction Industry Training Board refrigerants assessment

From July 2011, if you work with fluorinated gases in refrigeration you will need to obtain a new qualification that will be created to meet minimum requirements for specific tasks and equipment.

For further details contact F-gas Support.

F-gas Support

Other pollutants

If you discharge any effluent from your refrigerators to surface waters or groundwater you must obtain a discharge consent or other appropriate authorisation from your environmental regulator.

Water pollution

PPG 1 General guide to the prevention of pollution (Adobe PDF - 95KB)

If you discharge any effluent to a public sewer you must obtain a trade effluent consent from, or enter into a trade effluent agreement with, your statutory sewerage undertaker. In most cases the statutory sewerage undertaker will be your local water company in England and Wales, Scottish Water in Scotland, and the Water Service in Northern Ireland. You must ensure that your discharges comply with all conditions in your trade effluent consent or agreement.

Trade effluent - discharges to sewers

Ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and fluorinated gases (F-gases)

Compressors can be very noisy. If your operations result in a level of noise, dust or odour that could cause a nuisance to the surrounding community, your local authority can stop or impose restrictions on your operations.

Noise, odour and other nuisances

You should put compressors on a drip tray to collect any leaking oil. You will need to check and empty the drip tray regularly. You must treat water and oil in the drip tray as hazardous/special waste.

Hazardous/special waste

Good practice

Store all chemicals, including secondary refrigerants such as propylene glycol, in an area where spills will be contained. Ideally this will be within an impermeable bund, which will contain at least 110% of the volume of the largest tank or 25% of the total volume likely to be stored, whichever is greater. Remove any accumulated rainwater regularly, and if it is contaminated you may need to treat it as hazardous/special waste.

You should use competent specialist contractors when installing or decommissioning refrigeration plant. Supervise their work to ensure that leaks are prevented and that solutions containing the refrigerant do not enter watercourses or surface water drains.

Establish a regular maintenance and inspection schedule to ensure leaks do not occur.

Ammonia refrigerants are highly toxic. You should never allow them to enter watercourses or surface water drains.

If water contaminated with ammonia does enter a watercourse or surface water drain, report it immediately using the pollution hotline, tel: 0800 80 70 60.

If contaminated water enters a sewer, you should inform your statutory sewerage undertaker. This is normally your local water company in England and Wales, Scottish Water in Scotland and the Water Service in Northern Ireland.