Statutory courses
When should a system be checked, who may do it and what should be documented
Behind the Word 'Legally Required Inspection' Hides a Concrete Set of Rules that Determines How Often You Must Go Out and Check a System and What You Must Write Down When You Have Done So. The Rules are Found Partly in the European Standard DS/EN 378, Which is the Main Standard for Safety and Environmental Requirements for Refrigeration Systems, and Partly in the EU's F-Gas Regulation, Which Places Specific Requirements on Leak Inspection of Systems With Fluorinated Refrigerants.
§When is requirement for leak control triggered
The F-gas regulation requires that systems with a charge of 5 tons CO2-equivalent or more must be leak-tested regularly—the limit is raised to 10 tons CO2-equivalent for hermetically sealed systems, which are less prone to leaks. CO2-equivalents are calculated from the charged amount of refrigerant multiplied by its GWP, so a system with a high-GWP refrigerant triggers the requirement at far less physical refrigerant than a system with a low-GWP refrigerant like CO2 or ammonia.
§Annual inspections based on refrigerant quantity
Beyond the leak inspection itself, the rules require periodic inspections of safety equipment staggered according to how much refrigerant the system contains. Systems with a filling above a set minimum threshold must have their safety equipment checked at least once a year and the larger the filling the stricter the requirements for who may carry out the inspection — for smaller fillings it can be a person with relevant professional training while larger systems require that the inspection is carried out by a refrigeration technician or company meeting the requirements for inspecting that specific system type.
§Automatic Leak Detection on Large Systems
Facilities with the largest refrigerant charges must have an automatic leak detection system installed that continuously monitors for leaks and alarms if anything escapes. It reduces the need for equally frequent manual inspections but does not exempt the facility from periodic inspections – it supplements them because an automatic system can detect a leak between two scheduled visits.
§Documentation — proof that the rules have been followed
All of this is based on documentation. For each facility above a certain size, a register (often called a facility register or logbook) must be kept with information about which refrigerant and how much has been charged to the facility, when it was inspected, what the inspection showed, and what repairs have been made. This documentation is not just for the authorities – it is also what makes it possible for the next technician who comes to the facility to quickly get up to speed on its history instead of starting over.
| Requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| PLACEHOLDER_111 | Regular monitoring for leaks, frequency depends on the size of the fill |
| Annual inspection of safety equipment | Applies to systems above a set minimum refrigerant quantity |
| Automatic Leak Detection | Required on the largest installations as a supplement to manual inspection |
| Installation register/logbook | Documents refrigerant, inspections and repairs over the system's lifetime |
§Why it is not bureaucracy for its own sake
The purpose of the entire set of rules is to ensure that refrigerants — which are often potent greenhouse gases or otherwise environmentally and health harmful — are discovered and repaired if they start to leak instead of quietly disappearing into the atmosphere over months or years. As a cooling technician you are the one who in practice carries out the checks and fills in the documentation and your thoroughness here is what makes the whole system work.
“An inspection that is not documented is in the authorities' eyes as if it never happened.”