Anyone handling fluorocarbon refrigerants, including CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs, must hold a refrigerant handling licence, and handling them without one is an offence. Natural refrigerants such as hydrocarbons need no refrigerant handling licence under the Commonwealth regulations, though some states set rules of their own for them.
General informationA summary of what the national regulator and the Australian Refrigeration Council publish: the National Environmental Protection Agency’s licensing page and the council’s licence types. Not legal or safety advice about any appliance or job.
Dotto is not a builder, tradesperson or property manager. Dotto holds no builder’s or trade licence. It does not do, offer, contract for or arrange any building, trade or maintenance work. This is general information, not advice.
Which gases the licence reaches
The line sits in the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations 1995, a Commonwealth law, and the Australian Refrigeration Council administers it. The national regulator states the scope by chemistry rather than by appliance: halocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and HFCs are in; natural refrigerants such as hydrocarbons are out.
For a household, that puts the common split system on the licensed side. Most new split systems are charged with HFC-32, a refrigerant with lower global warming potential, according to the Australian Government’s Your Home guide. HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer, but the national regulator describes them as powerful greenhouse gases that stay in the atmosphere for many years. It also reminds technicians that “even R32 is mildly flammable”.
Outside the Commonwealth licence is not the same as unregulated. The national regulator says strict standards apply to flammable refrigerants such as hydrocarbons, that they vary between states and territories, and that in some places using hydrocarbons for repairs or servicing on air conditioners may be forbidden without authorisation or a licence from the relevant authority.
Which licence fits which job
The Australian Refrigeration Council issues several kinds of refrigerant handling licence, and the one a technician needs depends on the equipment. Three of them, summarised:
| Licence | What it covers |
|---|---|
| RAC01, full refrigeration and air conditioning | Any refrigeration or air conditioning work, refrigerant handling included, except in the automotive industry |
| RDR04, restricted domestic appliances | Domestic refrigeration and air conditioning appliances, with a note that the definition does not take in split system air conditioners |
| AAC02, automotive | Air conditioning and refrigeration in the passenger cabin of a car or other motor vehicle |
The RDR04 note is the one a household is most likely to meet: a restricted domestic licence and a split system are, on the council’s own description, a mismatch.
When an old unit comes out
The gas does not stop being regulated when the appliance stops working. The steps the national regulator and the NSW Government describe, in order:
The refrigerant comes out first
At the end of a product’s life, the national regulator says its refrigerant should be removed by a licensed technician, for recycling or disposal.
Whoever removes it needs a licence
Any individual who removes, handles or substitutes an HFC, HCFC, CFC or halon from refrigeration and air conditioning equipment must be licensed, and the regulator spells out that this includes a repairer or a dismantler.
Swapping to a natural gas still starts with a licence
Someone who takes fluorocarbon refrigerant out of a system in order to refill it with a natural refrigerant must hold, at the least, a Restricted Refrigerant Recoverers Transitional Licence.
Replacing a unit in NSW
The NSW Government’s energy advice describes the licensed air conditioning or refrigeration technician from the installer safely disposing of or recycling the old air conditioner when a new one replaces it.
Plug-in or fixed
State licensing adds a second line on top of the refrigerant licence, and NSW shows where it falls. Its specialist work, licensed at any cost, includes air conditioning and refrigeration work, except plug-in appliances. A portable air conditioner is, in the national energy rating scheme’s words, a self-contained, freestanding unit for cooling a room or a small space.
The wiring is a separate trade again. In NSW, any electrical wiring work needs an electrical licence or certificate whatever it costs, and the electrical guide sets out how the states draw that line.
One more cover sits on the same footpath, and its first rule travels with every mention of it: on asbestos, the national Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in some places the law goes further: in the Australian Capital Territory any removal needs a licensed removalist, unless it is part of minor routine maintenance or other minor work, and in Queensland a home owner must be trained before taking out more than 10 square metres of non-friable material, and only a removalist holding a Class A licence may remove friable material. The agency adds that a professional is easier, safer and often cheaper. It also says asbestos waste may go only to a landfill site licensed to take it, and that a household rubbish bin is not that place: putting it there can bring a fine.