Periodic inspection of refrigeration installations

Types of inspection

• Periodic inspection
• Documentary review and Pre-commissioning Inspection (EICI)

Periodicity of Periodic Inspections of Refrigeration Installations

The legislation establishes that level 2 refrigeration installations shall be inspected every ten years. Regardless of the level of the installations, those using fluorinated refrigerants shall be inspected if their refrigerant charge is equal to or greater than 50 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. In refrigeration installations that must undergo periodic inspections, it will be checked, as a minimum, that the mandatory inspections and controls of refrigerant leaks, waste management, mandatory documentation, compliance with the health and hygiene criteria for the prevention and control of legionellosis and the inspection of pressure equipment of refrigeration installations that correspond to category I of the Pressure Equipment Regulation are carried out.

Level 2 refrigeration installations are understood to be those installations made up of one or several independent refrigeration systems with an electrical power installed in the compressors exceeding 30 kW in any of the systems, or where the total electrical power installed in the refrigeration compressors exceeds 100 kW, or which cool artificial atmosphere chambers, or which use medium and low safety refrigerants (L2 and L3).

The frequency of inspections is as follows:

• Installations in general: 10 years
• Installations using fluorinated refrigerants with a charge equal to or greater than 5000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent: annual
• Installations using fluorinated gases with a charge of less than 5000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent but equal to or greater than 500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent: 2 years
• Installations using fluorinated gases with a charge of more than 50 tonnes of CO2 equivalent but less than 500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent: 5 years