A leading UK air conditioning distributor has threatened to name and shame suppliers selling product in contravention of the European F-gas regulations.
Concerns at the level of F-gas non-compliance, particularly within the supply chain, has prompted Karl Richardson, MD of Derby-based Logicool Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps, to speak out.
In the first of a promised series of articles posted on Linkedin, Richardson claims that so-called professional people in the industry are allowing the sale of products to homeowners or businesses and individuals without the necessary F-gas certificates or qualifications.
“An installer with no qualified engineers, tooling or personnel shouldn’t have company F-gas,” he writes. “An installer with no qualified engineers and no company F-gas certificate should not be purchasing equipment. It is in direct contravention of the F-gas regulation. It’s that simple.
“A homeowner can purchase a system but must provide evidence of the installer’s company F-gas certificate prior to the sale,” he adds.
Richardson has previously spoken out about abuses of the F-gas regulations within the industry. Last year, he organised two very successful seminars on the subject and was instrumental in raising the idea for Refcom’s Elite Supplier scheme.
A distributor of Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic air conditioning equipment and spares, Richardson maintains that his staff are well-versed in policing F-gas “to the point that we turn business away on a regular basis”.
“Every supplier and every manufacturer should be making a commitment to ensure that the regulations are followed,” he writes.
He fears that every potential order that Logicool turns away due to an absence of F-gas certification gets picked up by another supplier.
This policy has financial consequences for his business. “Being “Elite” cost us around £200k per annum in regular business. Standing up for what the industry believes in has had a negative impact in one way. Whilst our business continues to grow regardless of this, no company has ever approached us and stated they want to do business with Logicool because of our values and our moral stance to F-gas. Business rarely works that way.”
He also points the finger at the large number of online sellers advertising and selling well known manufacturers’ products.
“Manufacturers in general are inadvertently allowing their product to ultimately be sold outside of the regulation,” Richardson maintains.
He promises to “name and shame” in further revelations this week. The first part – F-Gas Double Standards – what price being “Elite”? – can be found here
