Regular commercial chiller maintenance is essential for efficient operation and ignoring servicing can lead to serious problems with your equipment. There may also be legal financial penalties for inadequate maintenance as well.
How can you be penalised for not taking care of your chiller?
You and your company may incur large fines for not following F-gas regulations. Water chiller systems containing F-gas refrigerants are subject to mandatory regular maintenance and inspections, failing to follow which could result in substantial fines.
Fines Up To £200,000
A company may be fined up to £200,000 if it intentionally causes an F-gas leak, fails to report it or attempts to avoid the recovery procedure. Intentionally harming an environment is a criminal offence. Proving this intention in court may not be easy. However, the Environment Agency is strict about such matters. If any intention is suspected, the owner of the commercial chiller may have a tough time dealing with the consequences. You could also face this fine for using banned refrigerants. For example, the widely used refrigerant R404A was banned in all new equipment starting 1st January 2020. Chillers need to be inspected at regular intervals based on the volume of refrigerants they use, and owners can face fines of up to £100,000 for failing to do so. Each inspection must be recorded by an F-Gas trained engineer and retained for 5 years. Failing to keep records and present them on request can result in an additional fine of up to £50,000. You could also face a large fine for failing to install a mandatory leak detection system for large chillers containing over 500 tonnes of CO2.
Fines Up To £50,000
You could face fines between £10,000 and £50,000 for the following violations:
- Improper labelling of commercial chillers – The chiller should be clearly labelled with the wording “fluorinated greenhouse gases”, and giving the quantity (in tonnes and kg) of the CO2 equivalent of the F-gas volume (e.g. the GWP of the refrigerant used x the quantity of refrigerant in the system (kg) = equivalent tonnes of CO2 per year).
- Not hiring professionals to inspect the equipment – All chillers containing a qualifying amount of refrigerant must be maintained by a qualified technician. Acceptable accrediting bodies include: City & Guilds, CITB (Construction Industry Training Board), BESA (Building Engineering Services Association), and Logic Certification.
Avoid Chiller Maintenance Penalties
At ACE Services, we can help you set up a commercial chiller maintenance schedule in order to avoid penalties and enjoy worry-free operation. All our technicians are fully certified to work with F-Gas refrigerant-containing systems. Call us today to discuss your requirements.
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