City & Guilds Information update on new F Gas Training - 23/5/2008
The following was extracted today from the City and Guilds website and will be of interest to all training providers:
A launch / briefing event will be held for current and prospective centres on the 3rd June in London. The event will provide an overview of the new F-Gas regulations, content of the qualification and detailing of assessment requirements. Please contact customer.events@cityandguilds.com for more information and to book.
City & Guilds qualifications help to meet the Kyoto Protocol requirements
City & Guilds is developing a new qualification to help refrigeration engineers meet new legal new legal requirements in relation to F Gas Regulations. These regulations are in place to help EC countries meet the Kyoto protocol in relation to Fluorinated Greenhouse Gasses, otherwise known as F-Gasses. The content has been agreed with key industry partners and a new qualification will be launched by City and Guilds this summer. The existing City & Guilds 2078 Handling Refrigerants qualification meets the current legal minimum requirement to handle refrigerants. The 2078-01 Handling Refrigerants qualification is likely to enable individuals to continue to practice until a yet-unconfirmed date in 2011 before achievement of the new F-Gas qualifications becomes mandatory for all individuals working with F-Gas. We strongly advise that the new 2079 qualification is undertaken as soon as possible as there will be limited training provision and a high demand from existing workers.
What will change?
The qualification is likely to be entitled the City & Guilds Level 2 Award in F Gas and ODS Regulations. There will be four different versions of the qualification to reflect the different work activities that relate to F Gas. These are:
- Category l – covers service, maintenance, installation, commissioning and leak checking of stationary RAC equipment
- Category ll – covers activities on equipment with a charge of less than 3kg (6kg if hermetically sealed and labelled)
- Category lll – recovery activity
- Category lV – leak checking.
Most engineers will require a Category l certificate, which will cover the activities assessed in all the other categories (e.g. if you successfully obtain the category I qualification you would not need to obtain category IV as well if you were undertaking leak checking).
Each qualification will require candidates to achieve both a theory and practical assessment. Assessment of the practical will be undertaken on a standard equipment rig. City & Guilds will make available the rig requirements and handbook as soon as possible to enable you to construct the rig and prepare for developing your courses.
The practical test will assess subject areas such as:
- Brazing pipe jointing as used to install components
- Pressure testing
- Refrigerant charging
- Inspecting for leaks, rectifying and re-checking
- Connecting and disconnecting gauges
- Refrigerant recovery
The theoretical assessment will cover subject areas such as:
- Basic thermodynamics
- Basic refrigeration cycle
- Identifying condition and state of refrigerant
- Determining operating conditions and efficiency
- Monitoring system performance for indications of refrigerant leakage
- Understanding of environmental impact of F gases
- Knowledge of equipment record keeping requirements
- Knowledge of key components and associated risk of leakage
The theory assessment will be undertaken on GOLA. City & Guilds strongly recommends Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning centres who wish to seek approval for the 2079 qualification, to apply for GOLA approval now, if you are not already approved. Our GOLA website provides more detail about how to seek approval.
All centres will have to apply for a new approval for the 2079 qualification. As well as having the capability to deliver the assessments detailed above, centres will need to have an occupationally competent assessor and internal verifier. This needs to be evidenced by achievement of existing qualifications, such as City & Guilds RAC NVQs and Technical Certificates. A full list of suitable qualifications will be detailed shortly. Please keep an eye on the City & Guilds website for more information.
A launch / briefing event will be held for current and prospective centres on the 3rd June in London. The event will provide an overview of the new F-Gas regulations, content of the qualification and detailing of assessment requirements.
Please contact customer.events@cityandguilds.com for more information and to book.