F-gas certificates and regulations for engineers

F-gas rules decide who can legally touch the refrigerant in an air conditioning unit, fridge or heat pump. This guide sets out the Great Britain rules from GOV.UK in plain English, flags where Northern Ireland differs since the 2024 EU changes, and shows the costs and record keeping, checked on 12 October 2026.

What are the F-gas rules in short?

F gases (fluorinated gases) are the refrigerants used in most air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pump systems, such as R410A, R32 and R404A. They are powerful greenhouse gases, so the law controls who can handle them and how leaks are found and recorded.

Personal certificate

Every person who works on F gas equipment needs their own qualification, even if they are employed.

Company certificate

Businesses, including sole traders, that install, repair, maintain or decommission F gas equipment for others need company certification, renewed every 3 years.

Leak checks

Required from 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent: every 12 months, 6 months or 3 months depending on size.

Records

Kept for 5 years for equipment of 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent or more.

Enforcement

Working without the right certificate "is against the law" and can lead to a civil penalty from the Environment Agency (GOV.UK).

Who needs an F-gas certificate?

GOV.UK splits the personal qualification by equipment type. Most trade readers will need the first one.

The four categories for air conditioning and heat pumps

• Category 1: all activities, any size of system. This is what most installers take.
• Category 2: installing, servicing and recovery on systems under 3 kg (under 6 kg if hermetically sealed).
• Category 3: recovery only, on those same smaller systems.
• Category 4: leak checking without breaking into the circuit.

CITB no longer issues new F-gas certificates, so new entrants go through City and Guilds, BESA or LCL Awards. Heat pump installers often need F-gas alongside MCS certification, which we cover in our guide to MCS certification.

Who does not need company certification

A business that only services its own equipment with its own staff does not need company certification (GOV.UK gives the example of a supermarket with an in-house refrigeration engineer). The engineer still needs a personal qualification. Company certification is also not needed for refrigerated trucks, high voltage switchgear and car air conditioning.

How do you get F-gas certified, step by step?

1. Pick the right category. For split air conditioning and heat pump installs, Category 1 avoids limits on system size.
2. Check you meet the entry rules. Training centres usually want practical skills. Cardiff and Vale College, for example, asks that you can braze, charge and recover refrigerant, and have a relevant qualification or 2 years' experience.
3. Book an approved course and assessment. Use a centre that offers City and Guilds, BESA or LCL Awards certification.
4. Pass the theory and practical tests and receive your personal certificate.
5. Apply for company certification if you work for customers. For refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps, apply to Refcom, F-Gas Register (Quidos) or Bureau Veritas. You need enough qualified staff and a written procedure for handling F gas.
6. Set up record keeping for every system of 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent or more you install or service.
7. Renew company certification every 3 years and expect possible audits from the certification body.

What does it cost, and what are the deadlines?

Automatic leak detection doubles the leak check interval. Hermetically sealed systems under 10 tonnes CO2 equivalent have no maximum interval.

What records must you keep?

GOV.UK says anyone who operates or services equipment of 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent or more must keep these records for 5 years:

• The type and quantity of gas when the equipment was installed
• The type and quantity of gas added during maintenance, such as after a leak repair
• The dates and results of every mandatory leak check
• Recovery and disposal details, such as the registered waste carrier used
• If gas was recycled or reclaimed: the quantity, and the name, address and certificate number of the facility

The equipment owner must also record the name, address and certificate number of every company that installed, serviced or decommissioned it. In practice, that means your customers will ask for your company certificate number, so keep it on every job sheet and invoice.

Worked example: do these systems need leak checks?

The size thresholds use tonnes of CO2 equivalent, not kilograms. GOV.UK's formula is: kilograms divided by 1,000, multiplied by the gas's global warming potential (GWP).

So an engineer with 40 maintenance customers, half on 6-month checks and half on 12-month checks, is doing 60 leak check visits a year. Every one needs a dated result in the 5-year record, and the customer's record must show the name, address and certificate number of the company that serviced it. That is a lot of paperwork to keep straight on paper.

What are the common F-gas mistakes?

1. Thinking a personal certificate is enough. If you work for customers, the business needs company certification too, even as a sole trader.
2. Letting company certification lapse. It runs for 3 years. Put the renewal in your diary.
3. Working out thresholds in kilograms. Always convert to CO2 equivalent. 3 kg of R410A is over the 5 tonne line.
4. Quoting EU 2024 rules for GB work, or GB rules for a job in Northern Ireland.
5. Assuming a UK certificate works in the Republic of Ireland. GOV.UK says UK certificates are not valid in the EU.
6. Patchy records. GOV.UK requires the gas added, every leak check date and result, and the recovery details. The Environment Agency can ask for them at an inspection.
7. Fitting banned kit. Check the GB bans list before you quote a small single split with a high GWP gas.

What software helps with F-gas compliance?

F-gas work is recurring by nature: leak checks every 6 or 12 months, 5-year records, and asset details per system. You want software that stores each system as an asset (gas type, charge, CO2e), schedules the next leak check automatically, and keeps the record with the job.

• Joblogic names F-gas compliance, planned maintenance and asset management among its strengths. Standard is from £45 per user per month billed annually, and most customers sign 24 or 36 month contracts. It suits air conditioning and refrigeration contractors with planned maintenance contracts. See the Joblogic website.
• Commusoft covers heating and renewables firms with 6 or more staff, with service contracts and asset maintenance. Prices are quote only.
• Smaller teams mixing heat pump installs with heating work should start with our guide to software for heating engineers.

For a wider comparison of scheduling, asset and maintenance tools, see our field service management software guide.