F-Gas and ODS Regulations: Scope, Numbers and Thresholds
Two regimes, one toolkit
Two legal regimes overlap on a refrigeration job. The F-gas Regulation (retained Regulation (EU) 517/2014 and its amendments) controls fluorinated greenhouse gases - HFCs, PFCs and SF6 - through a CO2-equivalent phase-down, placing-on-market bans, leak control, certification and labelling. The ODS Regulation (EC 1005/2009) controls ozone-depleting substances: CFCs such as R-12 and HCFCs such as R-22, including blends that contain an HCFC (for example R-408A and R-409A).
The one calculation you must own
Tonnes CO2e = charge (kg) × GWP ÷ 1000. Keep a small GWP table in your head: R-134a 1430, R-32 675, R-407C 1774, R-410A 2088, R-404A 3922, R-744 1. These are Fourth Assessment Report values; if a question supplies a different GWP, use the supplied one.
Traps that appear in questions
- Thresholds are always in tonnes CO2e, never in kilograms of charge.
- R-22 is an ODS, not an F-gas: it may not be used to service equipment, and recovered R-22 can only be destroyed.
- The phase-down is measured in CO2e placed on the market, not in cylinder numbers.
- Certification is required for both the individual technician and the company; they are separate obligations.
- A blend containing an HCFC stays under ODS rules even though part of it is an HFC.
Worked example
A split system holds 4.0 kg of R-410A. 4.0 × 2088 ÷ 1000 = 8.35 t CO2e. That exceeds 5 t but is below 50 t, so the operator needs leak checks at least every 12 months (24 months with a verified fixed leak detection system) and a written record for each check.