National Certification Schemes for Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Service Technicians: Examples of Strategies and Requirements for their Establishment and Operation

It is expected that in the near future there will be a considerably higher uptake around the world, and particular in developing countries of ‘alternative refrigerants’, such as hydrocarbons, ammonia, carbon dioxide, unsaturated hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) –or hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) and HFOs mixtures. The refrigeration and air-conditioning industry will have to adapt to both the technical and safety issues concerning these refrigerants. In particular, many of the alternative refrigerants have specific characteristics regarding toxicity, flammability and high pressure which are different from those used previously such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). During the installation, maintenance, repair and dismantling of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment containing or relying of such alternatives, safety and technical issues need to be carefully evaluated and considered. Certification is the best practical method to verify the competence of personnel handling refrigerants and to ensure the correct installation, maintenance, repair and dismantling of a refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump systems. This is all the more important when servicing technicians have to deal with refrigerants with properties that they were previously not familiar with, particularly related to safety.