BRA to produce leak benchmarks

The British Refrigeration Association is working on the first industry benchmarks for leak containment, as it aims to drive up standards across the rac sector.

The BRA is planning to publish in the autumn a list of best practice levels of leakage for a range of applications and system capacities across the industry, enabling firms to see how their own leakage rates measure up.

ACRIB’s new chair David Bostock, who sits on the BRA board said: “I have been impressed at the willingness of end users to share their leakage information in a bid to help the industry improve.”

The move is one way in which the industry is aiming to drive up standards, which many now see as crucial if the UK is to meet the terms of the F-Gas Regulation, and to avoid the threat of punitive regulations from the EC.

At the same time, attention is focusing on engineers, Mr Bostock said. ACRIB is in advanced discussion with SummitSkills over vocational training for handling Carbon Dioxide.

He said: “I would love to be able to incorporate the qualification with F-Gas training, and going forward with hydrocarbons too. We were obviously disappointed that Defra didn’t back our call for individual registration, but the company registration has a requirement that all engineers are ‘properly qualified’, so I expect to see standards driven by the supply chain.”

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