How do you check an installer is F-Gas registered?
You check two things, because the law asks for two. The company needs an F-Gas company certificate from an approved body, and each engineer who handles refrigerant needs a personal F-Gas qualification. GOV.UK's page on company certification to work with F gas says a company, including a sole trader, must be certified to install, repair, maintain or decommission stationary air conditioning operated by others. Its page on qualifications to work with F gas, last updated on 3 March 2026, says you must hold your own qualification "even if you work for someone else".
So ask three questions before you accept a quote. What is your company F-Gas certificate number? Which body issued it? Can I see the F-Gas certificate of the engineer coming to my house? F gas means fluorinated greenhouse gas, and it covers both the R32 in most new split systems and the R410A in many older units around Leeds and Bradford.
The company certificate and the personal qualification
GOV.UK lists three approved bodies that can certify a company for stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump work: Refcom Certification Ltd, the F-Gas Register run by Quidos, and Bureau Veritas UK Ltd. A company only needs one of them. REFCOM's own F-Gas certification FAQs say dual registration is not required by law and offers no extra legal benefit. GOV.UK adds that company certification must be renewed every 3 years, and that the certification body may audit the firm.
The personal qualification comes in four categories, set out on the same GOV.UK qualifications page:
- Category 1 covers every activity on any size of system.
- Category 2 covers installing, maintaining, servicing and recovering refrigerant from systems holding less than 3kg of F gas, or less than 6kg if hermetically sealed.
- Category 3 covers recovering refrigerant only, on the same size limits as category 2.
- Category 4 covers leak checks that do not break into the refrigerant circuit.
A bedroom wall split holds well under 3kg, so a category 2 engineer can fit it. Category 3 or 4 alone is not enough. GOV.UK names City and Guilds, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) and LCL Awards as the qualifying bodies, and notes that CITB no longer issues new F-Gas qualifications.
Searching the REFCOM and F-Gas Register lookups
The REFCOM registered company search lets you search by company name, or by postcode with a distance. Results list company name, postcode, town and two columns, one for F-Gas certification and one for REFCOM Elite. Type LS6 for Headingley or BD1 for central Bradford to list the nearest certified firms. Open "View details" and compare the address with your quote.
The F-Gas Register's company directory embeds the Quidos public directory. Quidos Protect's F-Gas register lookup page says you can search by company name or certification number. The F-Gas Register's ID card page gives a useful shortcut: its registration numbers always begin with the letters FGAS and not REF. A number starting REF points you to REFCOM.
We found no public Bureau Veritas search. If an installer names Bureau Veritas, ask for the certificate and confirm it using the contact details on GOV.UK's company certification page.
A missing name is a reason to ask, not proof of guilt. The trading name on the van often differs from the legal name on the certificate. REFCOM's FAQs also say a business that has applied and met the standards appears in its public listing before the certificate is issued. Ask for the legal company name and search again.
What the certificate should actually say
A listing proves a company is registered. It does not prove it is registered for the job you want doing. REFCOM's guidance on delivery of pre-charged split systems warns that some companies are only certified for leak checks or for recovering gas at decommissioning. For an installation, it says the certificate should clearly state the company can carry out "installation, commissioning, repair, maintenance or servicing, decommissioning".
Other badges on vans around West Yorkshire are worth having, but none replaces the F-Gas company certificate.
- REFCOM Elite is voluntary. REFCOM's Elite FAQs say membership is entirely voluntary and does not cover F-Gas certification, which needs a separate application.
- An ACRIB SKILLcard is a wallet card holding a technician's qualifications, according to the REFCOM pre-charged guidance. Check it lists F-Gas category 1 or 2.
- BESCA, NICEIC and NAPIT are building regulations competent person schemes. They matter for the electrics and say nothing about refrigerant.
- Gas Safe covers gas appliances such as boilers, and an air conditioner has no gas supply.
- MCS certification is what a Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant needs. It sits alongside F-Gas certification.
Is it illegal to install air conditioning yourself?
For a split system filled with an F gas such as R32, yes. GOV.UK's qualifications page says that for refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems you must have qualifications to install new systems, and that it is against the law to work with F gas without them. That applies to the person doing the work, whoever owns the house. The company certificate rule is about equipment "operated by others", so a homeowner fitting their own unit does not need a company certificate. They still need the personal qualification, and almost no homeowner has one.
The penalty is a civil penalty from the regulator. In England the Environment Agency enforces the F-gas rules, including The Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015. GOV.UK does not publish a fixed fine for individuals, so treat forum figures with care.
The law also reaches the seller. GOV.UK's guidance on selling F gas in cylinders or equipment says that before selling non-hermetically sealed equipment containing F gas, the seller must ask the end user for the details of the qualified technician who will install it, in writing, and check those details are valid. A split system's pipes are joined on site, so it is not hermetically sealed. If a website sells you one without asking who will fit it, the seller has skipped a step. That does not make your DIY fit legal.
You can still do the non-refrigerant jobs, such as clearing the wall, agreeing the outdoor position with a neighbour or painting trunking afterwards. Most installers prefer to fix their own brackets and drill their own core hole, because they carry the warranty on the result.
Pre-charged and quick-connect DIY kits
In a pre-charged kit the outdoor unit already holds refrigerant, and the pipe set may come flared or fitted with quick connectors. It is still installation of a split system under GOV.UK's rules, and the pre-charge changes nothing about who may connect it.
The manufacturer paperwork shows why. Daikin's installer reference guide for its RXM-A R32 outdoor units is written for "authorised installers". After the pipes are connected it asks for a nitrogen pressure test of at least 2 bar, recommending 30 bar to find small leaks, then vacuum drying with a two-stage vacuum pump used for R32 only. The vacuum must reach -0.1 MPa (-1 bar), run for at least 2 hours if moisture shows, and hold for at least 1 hour with the pump off. Flare nuts on the 6.4mm liquid pipe go to 15 to 17 Nm with a torque wrench. Few garages in Pudsey or Morley hold that kit.
Pipe length is the other trap. The same Daikin guide says no extra refrigerant is needed up to 10m of liquid pipe. Beyond that, the extra charge is (length minus 10m) x 0.020kg per metre. A DIY kit with a fixed short pipe set cannot reach a back-to-back's only outside wall from a rear bedroom without either moving the unit or adding gas, and adding gas is F-Gas work.
Kits filled with R290 (propane) are a separate case. Propane is not on GOV.UK's list of F gases, so F-Gas certification rules do not apply, but it is highly flammable. BESA, which runs REFCOM, called online sales of R290 splits to DIY buyers "irresponsible" in 2020, as reported by Cooling Post. On 7 July 2026 it reported members getting installation enquiries from people who had already bought units online.
Worked example: the F-gas sums for a Leeds back-to-back
Leeds City Council's Leeds Housing Strategy puts the number of pre-1919 back-to-back houses still in use at 19,500. A back-to-back shares its rear wall, so the outdoor unit usually goes on the front wall, a gable end or the roof. Pipe runs get longer, as our terraced and back-to-back guide explains. Here are the sums for one common unit.
Take a Daikin Perfera RXM25A outdoor unit. Daikin's FTXM-A and RXM-A product flyer gives a factory charge of 0.95kg of R-32 with a GWP of 675, 10m of chargeless pipe and 0.02kg per metre beyond that. Say the indoor unit is in a back bedroom and the pipe has to run 14m to reach the front wall.
Extra charge: (14 - 10) x 0.02 = 0.08kg. Total charge: 0.95 + 0.08 = 1.03kg. GOV.UK's guidance on how to calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent is mass in tonnes times GWP, so 1.03 / 1,000 x 675 = 0.70 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Now compare it with the legal triggers. GOV.UK's page on checking F gas equipment for leaks sets mandatory leak checks at least every 12 months from 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent. For R32 that is 5 / 675 x 1,000 = about 7.4kg, so this system is roughly a tenth of the threshold and has no legal leak-check interval. An older R410A unit is different. GOV.UK's own table puts 5 tonnes of R410A at 2.4kg, because its GWP is 2,088. A large old R410A multi-split in a Roundhay house can cross it.
The sum also tells you what the label should say. Daikin's guide asks the installer to write the factory charge, the added charge, the total and the tonnes CO2 equivalent on the fluorinated gases label inside the outdoor unit. On this job the label would read 0.95kg, 0.08kg, 1.03kg and 0.70 tonnes. If the 0.08kg is missing on a 14m run, ask why.
What a DIY fit costs you in warranty, VAT and grants
Warranties lean on the installer's credentials. Daikin's UK residential end user warranty policy (July 2025) says the product must be installed, commissioned and maintained by an engineer who holds the relevant legislative qualifications, and that the warranty will be invalidated if it was not installed or commissioned correctly. Toshiba's 2025 warranty guidelines reserve the right to withdraw warranty for installation by "unqualified non-F-Gas registered" people. Our best air conditioning brands guide compares each brand's terms in more detail.
VAT works against DIY as well. HMRC's VAT Notice 708/6 zero-rates the installation of energy-saving materials in homes until 31 March 2027, and HMRC says most air conditioning units are air source heat pumps. The notice says supplying materials without installing them is standard-rated. So on a kit advertised at £1,200 including VAT, £1,200 / 1.2 = £1,000, and £200 of the price is VAT you would not pay on the equipment in a zero-rated supply-and-fit job.
The grant goes too. GOV.UK's Boiler Upgrade Scheme page offers £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump in England and Wales, for systems replacing fossil fuel heating. Its how-to-apply page says you get quotes from MCS certified installers and the installer applies to Ofgem for you. A self-fitted system has no installer to apply. Our air-to-air heat pump guide covers who qualifies, and the cheap air conditioning units guide runs a three-year cost of a budget fitted split against a portable.
The electrics are a separate legal question
F-Gas law covers the refrigerant. The power supply falls under building regulations. Daikin's installer guide asks for a dedicated power circuit, with fuses or circuit breakers and an earth leakage protector. The Planning Portal's electrics page lists installing a complete new circuit as notifiable work in England and Wales.
A registered electrician can self-certify that work and arrange a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate within 30 days, and you can check them on the electrical competent person register. If the electrician is not registered, a building control body must be notified before work starts. In Leeds that means Leeds City Council building regulations and approval or a registered private approver. Ask for the scheme name and membership number.
After the install: paperwork, labels and leak checks
GOV.UK's guidance on labelling F gas equipment says anyone who installs a product containing regulated F gas must label it with the gas name, the mass in kg, the tonnes CO2 equivalent and the GWP. Check it with the installer before they leave.
GOV.UK's page on recording F gas in equipment only makes records compulsory from 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent, which most single home splits do not reach. Keep them anyway, because Daikin's warranty policy asks you to keep the signed commissioning sheet and annual maintenance records. For annual visits, see our page on air conditioning servicing in Leeds.
Landlords have one more question to settle. GOV.UK's leak-check guidance says that if you rent out equipment, the leak-check duty may fall on you instead of the end user, depending on the rental agreement. If you let a Headingley or Hyde Park house with a system fitted, put who books servicing and leak checks into the tenancy paperwork.
Questions to ask before you book
Send these to the installer and get the answers in writing.
- What is the legal name of the company, as shown on the F-Gas certificate?
- Which body issued the company certificate, what is the number, and when does it expire?
- Does the certificate cover installation and commissioning, or only leak checks or recovery?
- Who will connect the pipework, and can I see their F-Gas category 1 or 2 certificate or SKILLcard?
- How long is the liquid pipe run, and will you add refrigerant? If so, how much?
- Who does the electrics, which competent person scheme are they in, and will I get a compliance certificate?
- Will you register the warranty with the manufacturer, and what are the service conditions?
- Are you MCS certified, if I want to claim the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant?
Then run the register search yourself and match the details before you pay a deposit.
Reporting someone working without certification
GOV.UK gives one route. Its qualifications page asks anyone who sees someone working with F gas without the right qualifications to report it to the Environment Agency's F gas team at f-gassupport@environment-agency.gov.uk. Its ban on F gas in new products page, updated on 27 August 2026, uses the same address for banned products on sale. Include the company name, the job address and date, and a photo of the outdoor unit label.
The same bans page explains why R32 dominates new home systems. Since 2025, new single splits holding less than 3kg of refrigerant cannot use an F gas with a GWP of 750 or more, which rules out R410A (2,088) and leaves R32 (675). Defra consulted in late 2025 on a faster HFC phase-down, but its consultation page says it will not legislate in 2026 to change the steps that apply from 1 January 2027.
Getting a certified install in Leeds and West Yorkshire
Our partner installers are MCS certified and zero-rate VAT on domestic installs. They work across Leeds and its suburbs first, including Horsforth, Pudsey, Morley and Garforth, then Bradford, Wakefield, Harrogate and Huddersfield. Ask them every question on the list above. For a price breakdown first, see air conditioning installation cost in Leeds. When you are ready, request a free quote with your postcode, the room and where you think the outdoor unit could go, and we will pass it to an installer near you.