Refrigerants, pressure, leak tightness: provably under control.

The interval depends on the charge in tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The regulation defines it as the product of the weight of the gas in tonnes and its global warming potential. Ten kilograms of a refrigerant with a global warming potential of 2,000 is therefore 20 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. You find the global warming potential of the gases and mixtures in the annexes of the regulation.

Leak checks are required for equipment from 5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Hermetically sealed, correspondingly labeled equipment below 10 tonnes is excluded. For the intervals: below 50 tonnes at least every twelve months, or every 24 months with a leakage detection system. From 50 to under 500 tonnes every six months, or twelve with a system. From 500 tonnes every three months, or six with a system. Certified personnel carry out the check.

The typical trap is in the calendar. If the system is converted or the charge changes, the interval shifts, but the service company's schedule often stays at the old rhythm. Recalculate the CO2 equivalent after every conversion and record the calculation in the equipment log. vi calculates it from the refrigerant and charge in the equipment log and shows the calculation so you can check it.

For every system that has to be checked for leaks, you keep separate records. They contain the quantity and type of gases in the system, quantities added during maintenance or because of a leak, with the date, quantities recovered, for additions the information on whether the gas was recycled or reclaimed, the details of the company and the person who did the work including the certificate number, the dates and results of leak checks and repairs, and, at decommissioning, the measures for recovery and disposal.

You must keep the records for at least five years unless they are stored in an authority's database. The service company that does the work for you also keeps copies for five years. On request, you present the records to the authority.

In practice, the equipment log is what decides things at the first question about a leak. If a top-up is missing, the basis for spotting anomalies is missing too. So ask the service technician for an entry or a copy after every visit. If a few kilos are topped up at every service, that is a leak and not consumption. You only see it if the quantities are added up over the years. vi adds up top-ups over time and flags systems where they point to a leak.

If a leak is detected, operators must ensure that the equipment is repaired without undue delay. Topping up alone is not enough. The regulation also asks generally that all technically and economically feasible measures be taken to keep leakage to a minimum.

After a leak in equipment subject to leak checks has been repaired, another duty follows. A certified person must check the equipment to verify that the repair was effective. That happens at the earliest after 24 hours of operation and no later than one month after the repair. This follow-up check goes into the records with date and result.

In practice: order the leak location and the repair in writing for every leak found, agree the follow-up check at the same time and file all reports together. On every maintenance invoice where refrigerant was topped up, ask where the leak was. A top-up without a documented repair is a warning sign. The refrigerant keeps escaping, and for certain gases topping up is prohibited anyway. vi flags top-ups in service reports and equipment logs for which no repair is documented.

Since January 1, 2025, using fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential of 2,500 or more for the maintenance or servicing of refrigeration equipment of any kind has been prohibited. For systems with a charge of 40 tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more, that already applied earlier. For existing systems there is a transition rule: reclaimed and recycled gases may, under conditions, still be used for servicing until January 1, 2030. Recycled gases may only be used by the company that recovered them during servicing, or by the company for which that recovery was done. For air-conditioning equipment and heat pumps the prohibition has applied since January 1, 2026, with a corresponding transition rule until 2032. From January 1, 2032, a prohibition follows for stationary refrigeration equipment, except chillers, for gases with a global warming potential of 750 or more.

So plan the changeover before the next leak. Record the refrigerant, global warming potential, charge and leak history for each system. Systems with repeated top-ups come first. Compare quotes for conversion and replacement by the same criteria: refrigerant and its global warming potential, capacity, energy use, safety requirements of the new refrigerant and cost over the term. vi puts the quotes side by side.

Pressure vessels, piping and steam boilers are components of pressure systems under Annex 2 Section 4 of the Industrial Safety Ordinance. Whether an approved inspection body or a person qualified to inspect does the work depends on pressure, volume and fluid group. Tables 2 to 11 of the Section settle that. Vessels and piping of a refrigeration system or heat pump can also form a pressure system if they reach the thresholds. Whether that applies to you, you clarify from the manufacturer's documents and your risk assessment.

You set the inspection interval for the pressure system as a whole in the risk assessment. It must not exceed ten years and must be determined at the latest six months after commissioning. For components that an inspection body tests, maximum intervals apply: steam boilers 1, 3 and 9 years for external, internal and strength inspection, pressure vessels 2, 5 and 10 years, piping 5 years for the external and strength inspection. For some vessels the external inspection is not required. An inspection is also carried out before first commissioning and after changes that require inspection.

You keep records and inspection certificates at the place of operation for the entire period of use. The leak check under the F-gas Regulation and the inspection under the Industrial Safety Ordinance often run through different bodies. Coordinate the dates so the system is down only once.

Natural persons who carry out installation, maintenance, repair, leak checks or recovery on refrigeration systems, air-conditioning systems, heat pumps and other covered equipment must be certified under Article 10 of the F-gas Regulation. The service company as a legal person must also be certified for this work. A check by uncertified personnel does not fulfill your duty as an operator.

For you that means: before ordering, ask to see the certificate number of the company and of the technician, and put copies in the asset file. The regulation requires in any case that the equipment log names the company that did the work, for legal persons also the natural person who acted, and, where applicable, the certificate number. If that entry is missing, part of the proof is missing.

Keep two things apart. The F-gas certificate authorizes work on the refrigerant circuit. It does not replace the qualification to inspect pressure systems under the Industrial Safety Ordinance. If someone is to do both in one visit, they must prove both. At decommissioning, the duty applies again that certified personnel recover the gas. vi reads company data and certificate numbers from service reports and assigns them to the equipment log.

Operators of stationary refrigeration systems, air-conditioning systems, heat pumps and fire protection equipment with fluorinated greenhouse gases of 500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more must ensure that the equipment has a leakage detection system. The same applies from 100 kilograms for the gases in Annex II Section 1. The system must alert the operator or a service company to any leakage. The system itself must be checked at least once every twelve months to ensure that it works properly.

Below this threshold a system is voluntary, but not without benefit. With a built-in leakage detection system, the interval of the leak check doubles: from twelve to 24 months, from six to twelve and from three to six. For systems with short check intervals, that can pay off. Compare the cost of the system and the annual function check with the cost of the checks that no longer apply.

A system whose alerts nobody reads does not help. Set out in the maintenance contract who receives the alert, the operator or the service company, within what time someone responds and how events are logged. Record every alert with date and action in the equipment log. Then you have documented answers when someone asks about a leak.