Responsible Refrigeration
BARNEY RICHARDSON
Barney Richardson is the director of South African Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning Contractors Association (SARACCA) and sits on various other
boards within the HVAC industry, including the South African Qualifications
and Certifications Committee for Gas (SAQCC) Gas.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
RENEWING YOUR REGISTRATION
By Barney Richardson
The requirement in the Pressure Equipment Regulations that only authorised
persons who are registered with SAQCC Gas may work on systems under
pressure is very real and a legal requirement in the OHS Act.
B
ased on the latest registration numbers, the progress in
new registrations has been quite good and encouraging.
However, the renewal of registrations over the months
of February 2019 to March 2020 has been slow and is
disappointing. At the end of February there were 405 expired
registrations. In the same period there were 535 new first-time
registrations and only 337 renewals.
Some practitioners use the excuse that they are never
asked to show their registration card so why should they
bother to do the training and be assessed as competent and to
maintain their registration. That is not the point.
The reason for registration is to show your client and the
end user that you are competent and that the installation
or maintenance you do is safe and can be operated with
confidence. The client or user of an air conditioning or
refrigeration system does not need to ask for a practitioner’s
card. The cardholder should show his card with pride and give
the client confidence in his work and that of the installation,
repair or maintenance being carried out. The motivation of
the Pressure Equipment Regulations is to ensure that systems
under pressure are installed and maintained by competent
persons and no safety issues can occur. The motivation should
be that the registered person, be it a Category ‘A’ installer or a
Category ‘B’ artisan, be proud that they are qualified to legally
work on refrigeration equipment.
The training for a first-time practitioner is not onerous
(it’s less than a week and only two days for the refresher
course). The curriculum and course material and accreditation
www.hvacronline.co.za
of training providers is being reviewed and upgraded to
ensure a level standard of training across the country from all
recognised providers.
The phase-out of HCFCs is progressing ahead of the
scheduled plan from the Department of Environment Forestry
and Fisheries (DEFF). The refrigerants in commercial use are
slowly switching to HFCs namely R404 and R507 which, if
plans are promulgated, will also face phase-out in the years to
come. In Europe R404 availability is decreasing with users and
contractors being caught short and facing price increases. The
refrigerant of choice at present for air conditioners is R410a
which is also facing changes. We have seen a move to R32 by
some manufacturers and suggestions that R290 will be the
next refrigerant of choice.
With the changes in refrigerant use and design of air
conditioners and self-contained refrigeration units, it makes
good sense that practitioners do refresher courses and renew
their registrations as and when this becomes necessary.
With the changes and the adoption of natural refrigerants,
practitioners should keep up-to-date with developments.
Training providers are setting themselves up for training
in the hydrocarbon refrigerants where special care is required
due to working with flammable refrigerants. There is an
initiative by the Western Cape Provincial Government to
concentrate on R290 as a refrigerant in conjunction with GIZ
and the Bavarian state. A facility is in the planning stage to
carry out this skill training with the various parties including
SAIRAC and SARACCA. RACA
RACA Journal I May 2020
63