Compliance
F-Gas compliance and refrigerant records
Leak checking at the right frequency, an asset register that matches what is actually installed, and refrigerant logs you can produce on request rather than reconstruct.
What the records have to show
F-Gas obligations sit with the operator of the equipment. In practice that means the building owner, occupier or FM provider has to be able to show that each system has been leak checked at the correct frequency, and that any refrigerant added or recovered has been recorded.
The frequency is set per system by refrigerant charge, converted to tonnes of CO2 equivalent — so two units of the same physical size can fall into different check intervals depending on the gas they hold. Applying a single blanket interval across a site is a common and avoidable mistake.
- Asset register: make, model, serial, location and duty
- Refrigerant type and charge for every system
- Leak-check frequency calculated from charge, per system
- Dates and results of each check
- Refrigerant added or recovered, with quantities
- Records of repairs following a detected leak, and the follow-up check
- Details of any automatic leak detection fitted
- Decommissioning and recovery records when plant is removed
The state we usually find records in
This is not unusual and it is not a crisis — it is what happens when a site changes hands or a contractor was never asked for it.
No asset list, or three conflicting ones
Spreadsheets from different contractors, unit counts that do not match the building, and serials that were never captured.
Logs that stop several years ago
Checks continued informally, or stopped entirely, and nobody noticed because nobody asked to see them.
Charge figures copied from a catalogue
Nameplate charge ignored, so the check interval was calculated from the wrong number in the first place.
Gas added and never recorded
A system topped up repeatedly over years is a leak that was never actually repaired.
Putting it right starts with a condition survey so the register reflects the plant rather than the paperwork. From there the checks go onto a schedule and it becomes ordinary planned maintenance.
Common questions
- Who is legally responsible for F-Gas compliance — us or the contractor?
- The obligations sit with the operator of the equipment, which in practice is the party with day-to-day control of the plant — usually the building owner, occupier or FM provider. A contractor carries out the leak checks and keeps the records accurate, but the duty to have them done does not transfer to us.
- How often do systems need leak checking?
- Check frequency is driven by the refrigerant charge of each individual system, expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent rather than kilogrammes. Larger charges are checked more often, and fitting a compliant automatic leak detection system can extend the interval. We work the frequency out per system from the actual charge on the nameplate, not by applying one interval across a site.
- We have no records at all. Where do we start?
- With a survey. We walk the site, list what is actually installed, record make, model, serial, location, refrigerant type and charge, then set the leak-check frequency from that. Records start from the point they can be evidenced — nobody can honestly backfill years of checks that were never carried out.
- What happens to systems still running R22 or other phased-out refrigerants?
- R22 can no longer be used for servicing, so a leaking R22 system is effectively at end of life. Systems on high-GWP refrigerants such as R404A are also becoming expensive and harder to service as supply tightens. We flag those on the asset register so replacement can be budgeted rather than forced by a failure.
- Do you provide the records in a format we can hand to an auditor?
- Yes. Asset register, refrigerant charge per system, check frequency, dates of checks carried out, and records of any refrigerant added or recovered, plus service sheets from each visit.
Related commercial HVAC services
Need your F-Gas records brought up to date?
Tell us how many systems are involved and what records exist. If the answer is none, say so — it is the usual starting point.