F-gas certificate: validity, refresher training and EU recognition

Short answer

Three sentences settle most questions about how long an F-gas certificate lasts.

• Existing certificates are not cancelled. Article 10(9), first sentence, of Regulation (EU) 2024/573: existing certificates and training attestations issued in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 shall remain valid, in accordance with the conditions under which they were originally issued.
• There is a refresher clock, not an expiry date. By 12 March 2027, Member States shall ensure that certified natural persons are required to participate in refreshment training courses or complete an evaluation process referred to in paragraph 3, at least every 7 years. Holders of documents issued under Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 must do so for the first time no later than 12 March 2029.
• The certificate travels. Article 10(10), second subparagraph: Member States shall recognise certificates and training attestations issued in another Member State and shall not restrict the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment because a certificate was issued in another Member State.

The practical condition attached to older certificates is in Article 10 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2215: holders of Categories I and II may continue using them only if they update their knowledge and skills to the level required for Certificates A1 and A2 respectively.

What makes a certificate valid on paper

A certificate is not an attendance note. Article 10(7) of the Regulation says that certificates under the certification programmes referred to in paragraph 3 are subject to the condition that the applicant has successfully completed an evaluation process. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 fills in the detail: Article 4(1) requires a theoretical and practical examination organised by an evaluation body, covering the minimum skills and knowledge set out in Annex I for the certificate concerned.

Article 4(2) of that Implementing Regulation lists what a natural person's certificate must contain at least:

• the name of the certification body, the full name of its holder, a certificate number and the date of expiry if any;
• the type of certificate specified in Article 3(2) and the specification of the activities the holder is entitled to carry out, as well as the type of equipment concerned;
• the issuing date and the issuer's signature.

Those three words, "if any", are the hinge of this whole page: Union law does not impose a period of validity. If your certificate carries an expiry date, it comes from national law or from the issuing body's own practice, not from the Regulation.

For legal persons, Article 6(1) requires the undertaking to employ enough certified natural persons to cover the expected volume of activities and to prove that the necessary tools and procedures are available. Article 6(2) requires the certificate to state the activities allowed and, where relevant, the charge size limit expressed in kilograms.

The certification body is independent and impartial, applies procedures for issuing, suspending and withdrawing certificates, and keeps records that allow the status of a holder to be verified for a minimum of five years (Article 7(1) to (3)). A certificate can therefore be suspended or withdrawn: validity is not something the passage of time alone protects.

Certificates issued under Regulation 517/2014

Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 was repealed by Article 37(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/573, and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2067 was repealed by Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215. Repealing the acts does not cancel the documents issued under them.

Article 10(9), first sentence, is explicit: existing certificates and training attestations remain valid in accordance with the conditions under which they were originally issued. A Category II certificate issued in 2019 therefore remains a valid certificate.

Article 10 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 attaches a condition about content. Member States must ensure that the refresher training courses or evaluation processes prove the practical skills and theoretical knowledge specified in Annex I to that Regulation, and for that purpose:

The text says holders are "only allowed to continue using those certificates if" they update their knowledge and skills to the level indicated. That update is not an administrative formality: the new content covers, among other things, safe handling of equipment containing flammable or toxic gases and measures for maintaining energy efficiency, listed in Article 10(5), points (e) and (f), of the Regulation.

What each of the six certificate types, A1, A2, B, C, D and E, actually allows is explained in the certificate categories guide. This page deals only with time and recognition.

The refresher clock: three dates

Article 10(9) contains three deadlines that are frequently confused. Here they are separated exactly as written.

Note who each duty is aimed at. The 2027 deadline is addressed to the Member State, not to the technician: by then the State must have put the rule in place. The 2029 deadline is addressed directly to the person who already holds an older document.

The text does not say "the certificate expires if you do not attend". It says Member States shall ensure that certified persons are required to participate. The consequence of not attending is therefore a matter of national law and of the certification body's decision, since that body operates suspension and withdrawal procedures under Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215. What can follow by way of penalties is set out in the penalties guide.

One more calendar marker, useful for understanding why national programmes have only recently changed: Article 10(8) required the Commission to lay down the minimum requirements by implementing acts by 12 March 2026. The act was adopted earlier, on 6 September 2024, published on 9 September 2024, and entered into force on the twentieth day following publication under Article 12 of that Regulation. Article 10(3), (4) and (10) then attach a one-year deadline to that entry into force: Member States establish or adapt their certification programmes and notify the Commission.

Working in another Member State

The rule sits in the Regulation and the conditions in the Implementing Regulation. The two have to be read together.

Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 adds three operative points:

• Paragraph 1 limits what is recognised. Mutual recognition applies only to certificates issued in accordance with Article 4 (natural persons) and Article 6 (legal persons), for the activities specified in those certificates. A certificate does not stretch to activities it does not name.
• Paragraph 2 blocks barriers. Member States shall not impose any evaluation or other type of assessment procedure, nor disproportionate administrative requirements, on holders of certificates issued in another Member State, either for recognition or for access to employment for the activities specified in the certificate.
• Paragraph 3 allows one formality. Member States may require holders of certificates issued in another Member State to provide a translation of the certificate into another official language of the Union. That is the only formality the text expressly permits.

There is also a special case. Article 10(13) of the Regulation provides that where the certification and training obligations would impose disproportionate burdens on a Member State because of the small size of its population and the consequent lack of demand, compliance may be achieved through the recognition of certificates issued in other Member States. A Member State using that route informs the Commission, and the Commission then informs the other Member States.

Finally, Article 10(14) preserves the freedom of Member States to set up further certification and training programmes for other equipment and activities than those in paragraph 1. Those additional programmes do not enter the mutual recognition machinery of Article 9 of the Implementing Regulation, because that article covers only certificates issued under Articles 4 and 6.

What your certificate does not cover

A valid certificate is not a general licence. Its limits are written on the certificate itself and in the acts behind it.

• The activities listed. Article 4(2), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 requires the certificate to specify the activities allowed and the type of equipment concerned. Article 9(1) then limits recognition to those same activities.
• Charge size limits. Certificate A2 covers the activities in Article 2(1) for equipment with a charge size of less than 3 kilograms or, for hermetically sealed systems labelled as such, less than 6 kilograms, under Article 3(2), point (b). The same thresholds appear for Certificate D in Article 3(2), point (e).
• A certificate is not an attestation, and an attestation is not a certificate. Article 10(1), second subparagraph, of the Regulation requires only a training attestation for maintenance, servicing or repair of air-conditioning equipment in motor vehicles falling within the scope of Directive 2006/40/EC, for recovery from the equipment in Article 8(3), points (b) and (c), and for the mobile equipment in Article 5(3), point (c). Different documents, different coverage.
• Manufacturing is outside the scope. Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 states that the Regulation does not apply to any manufacturing activity undertaken at the site of the manufacturer of the equipment.
• Some work needs no certificate but does need supervision. Article 3(3), point (a), exempts brazing, soldering or welding of parts of a system where the person holds the qualification required under national legislation, provided they are supervised by a person holding a certificate covering the relevant activity who is fully responsible for the correct execution.
• Trainees have a time limit. Article 3(4) allows the activities to be carried out without a certificate where the person is enrolled in a training course for that certificate and works under the supervision of a certified person; the derogation applies for periods not exceeding 24 months in total.

For what the certificate lets you buy, see who may buy refrigerant gas.

Subcontracting, purchasing and records

The certificate matters in three places away from the job itself, and in all three its number has to be available.

• When you pass work on. Article 10(12) of the Regulation: an undertaking shall only assign an activity referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 to another undertaking after verification that the latter holds the necessary certificates for those activities. The verification is a duty of the party subcontracting, not a courtesy.
• When you buy gas. Article 11(6) allows the purchase of gases listed in Annex I or in Section 1 of Annex II only by natural persons holding the certificate required under Article 10(1), first subparagraph, point (a), or by undertakings employing such persons or persons holding a training attestation. Sellers shall sell or offer for sale, directly or indirectly, exclusively to those undertakings. The detail is in the guide for selling to service companies.
• When you fill in the equipment record. Article 7(1), point (e), requires the records to identify the undertaking which installed, serviced, maintained and, where applicable, recovered, repaired, checked for leaks or decommissioned the equipment, including, where applicable, the number of its certificate, and, where that undertaking is a legal person, both the identifying details of the undertaking and of the natural person performing the operations. The full content of the record is in the equipment records guide.

Article 7(2) requires the operator and the undertakings carrying out the operations to keep the records, or copies of them, for at least five years, unless they are stored in a database set up by the competent authorities. On the certification side, Article 7(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 requires the certification body to keep the records that allow a holder's status to be verified for a minimum of five years as well. The two periods are independent but overlap usefully when an authority looks back at an old job.

Checklist

• Read the certificate type, not just the nameArticle 4(2), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 requires the activities and the equipment type to be specified. That is where the scope is.
• Check whether an expiry date is printedArticle 4(2), point (a), requires one only 'if any'. If there is one, it comes from national law or the issuing body's practice.
• Mark 12 March 2029 for older documentsArticle 10(9): first attendance at refresher training or first completion of the evaluation process for holders of documents issued under Regulation (EU) No 517/2014.
• Plan the seven-year rhythmArticle 10(9): at least every seven years, under the rule each Member State must have in place by 12 March 2027.
• For Categories I to IV, confirm the upgrade levelArticle 10, points (a) to (c), of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215: A1, A2, D or E depending on the old category.
• Before working abroad, prepare a translationArticle 9(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 lets the host Member State ask for a translation into another official language of the Union.
• Refuse re-examination demandsArticle 9(2) forbids Member States from imposing evaluations or disproportionate administrative requirements on holders of certificates from other Member States.
• Check the subcontractor's certificate before signingArticle 10(12) of the Regulation requires verification in advance that the necessary certificates are held.
• Put the certificate number in the equipment recordArticle 7(1), point (e), of the Regulation.
• Keep the evidence for five yearsArticle 7(2) of the Regulation for equipment records; Article 7(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/2215 for the certification body's records.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

Article 10 of the Regulation was read in full, paragraph by paragraph, together with the implementing regulation on certification. The repealed acts are cited only because the acts in force refer back to them.

How current this page is, and the limits of our liability

General information prepared by EgoLog on the basis of Regulation (EU) 2024/573 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2215. It is not legal advice and does not replace written confirmation from your certification body.

Do not carry out work beyond the activities and equipment types written on your certificate. Handling refrigerants under pressure, or flammable or toxic refrigerants, carries risks that are only managed with the right competence and equipment.