New Ontario A/C regulations take effect

Ontario’s new environmental regulations took effect on January 1, affecting most ODP (ozone depletion prevention)cardholders. Carded technicians who took the test prior to June 30, 2001 must write a recertification exam. Recertification will be phased in over three years, and new cards will expire three years from the exam date. January 1 was also the date for final phase-out of R-12, and the requirement for technicians to follow the Environmental Code of Practice for the Elimination of Fluorocarbon Emissions from Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems for leak test procedures. Technicians who hold ODP cards are now required to keep records of refrigerant use. These records must contain:

All amounts and types of refrigerant purchased or obtained for the purpose of servicing or testing equipment;

The amount of and explanation for any discharge of a refrigerant, whether or not it occurs in the course of servicing or testing equipment;

The date of any work done servicing or testing equipment, the name of the company doing the work and the name of the individual doing the work; and

A description of the work done, the amount and type of refrigerant used in the work, the type of refrigerant recaptured in the course of the work and an estimate of the amount of refrigerant recaptured in the course of the work.

These records would be kept by each technician for a minimum of two years and must be made available to MOE staff upon request. For more information, visit www.ene.gov.on.ca