New F-Gas Regulation

News

30 October 2019

Concerning the F-Gas Regulation 517/2014 and the DPR 146/2018, as of 25/09/2019, the new national database for the reporting of deployments involving fluorinated greenhouse gases has been activated. The Chamber of Commerce manages the database.

The legal provisions stipulate that any equipment containing or intended to contain refrigerants must be reported as soon as any installation, maintenance, legally required leakage check (based on CO2 equivalent), repair, or decommissioning of equipment is carried out.

According to Article 4(2) of Regulation 517/2014, the notifications must be made for the following equipment:

(a) Fixed refrigeration equipment
(b) Fixed air-conditioning systems
(c) Fixed heat pumps
(d) Fixed fire protection equipment
(e) Refrigeration systems in refrigerated trucks and trailers
(f) Electrical switchgear

DPR 146/2018 does not provide any exclusions to the reporting obligation based on the filling quantity.

The notifications must be made within 30 days from the date of use by the certified company (or, in the case of companies not required to be certified, by the certified specialist personnel):

  1. From the installation of the equipment
  2. From the first leakage check, maintenance, or repair of the already installed equipment.
  3. When a facility is decommissioned

A so-called "Codice univoco" is assigned to each facility and each operation by the database. A report is generated for each notification made.

The obligation to keep the F-Gas register is fulfilled by the telematic report to the database. Thus, the obligation to keep manual reports and the annual declaration to the ISPRA within 31 May of each year is omitted.

Operators can check the information on the reporting of their facilities via the database (https://operatori.fgas.it). By entering the "Codice univoco" of the facility and the operation, confirmation of the relevant information can be downloaded telematically. This is done for a fee of 5 € paid to the Chamber of Commerce.

The operator is understood to be the owner or other physical or legal person who exercises effective control over the facility's technical functioning. One speaks of effective control when the following conditions are met:

  • Free access to the facility, which makes it possible to monitor the components and their function and to allow access to third parties
  • Control over the functioning and the proper management.
  • The authority, including financial authority, to make technical decisions concerning changes in the level of flourished greenhouse gases in the facilities, as well as their inspections or repairs.