Appliance Maintenance, Service, Repair

This section addresses the operating procedures, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements applicable to University staff, contractors, and vendors.  The University must only employ the services of contractors or vendors that adhere to the regulatory requirements of 40 CFR 82, Subpart F and this program.  The quantity of appliance refrigerant and type of refrigerant determines the level of applicable requirements.

Appliance categories are:

• Small appliances capacity equal to or less than 5 pounds and is fully manufactured, charged, and hermetically sealed in a factory.
• Mid-sized appliances capacity greater than 5 pounds but less than or equal to 50 pound per circuit.
• Large appliances capacity greater than 50 pounds per circuit.

Refrigerant types are:

• Ozone-depleting substance – Class I chlorofluorocarbons, referred to as CFCs
• Ozone-depleting substance – Class II hydrochlorofluorocarbons, referred to as HCFCs
• Substitute or Non-Exempt Substitute substance – Replaces an ozone-depleting substance

Small Appliance ≤ 5 pounds refrigerant

Maintenance, Service, Repair Completed by:

• In-House Main Campus Staff
• In-House University Staff located beyond Main Campus
• Contractor or Vendors at any University owned location
  • If opening an appliance, recover refrigerant using certified recover/recycle/reclaim equipment and recover to the percentage or vacuum level required in regulation.
  • Use of a certified technician is not required.

Mid-sized Appliance > 5 < 50 pounds refrigerant (per circuit)

Maintenance, Service, Repair Completed By:

• In-House Main Campus Staff
• In-House University Staff located beyond Main Campus
• Contractor or Vendors at any University owned location
  • If opening an appliance, recover refrigerant using certified recover/recycle/reclaim equipment and recover to the percentage or vacuum level required in regulation.
  • Use of a certified technician is required when work could reasonably expect to violate the integrity of the circuit.
  • System-dependent equipment may not be used with appliances with a full charge of more than 15 pounds of refrigerant, unless the system-dependent equipment is permanently attached to the appliance as a pump-out unit.
  • Appliances that contain pump-out units are exempt from the requirement to use certified, self-contained recovery and/or recycling equipment.

Large Appliance ≥ 50 pounds refrigerant (per circuit)

Maintenance, Service, Repair Completed By:

• In-House Main Campus Staff
• In-House University Staff located beyond Main Campus
  • If opening an appliance, recover refrigerant using certified recover/recycle/reclaim equipment and recover to the percentage or vacuum level required in regulation.
  • Use of a certified technician is required when work could reasonably expect to violate the integrity of the circuit.
  • System-dependent equipment may not be used with appliances with a full charge of more than 15 pounds of refrigerant, unless the system-dependent equipment is permanently attached to the appliance as a pump-out unit.
  • Appliances that contain pump-out units are exempt from the requirement to use certified, self-contained recovery and/or recycling equipment.
  • If a substitute or non-exempt refrigerant types is added or removed, complete form AQ-FORM-201, Section 1, excluding the leak rate portion and submit to Environmental Management, Air Quality Compliance.
  • If a class I, class II, or a blend of class I and class II refrigerant types is added or removed, complete form AQ-FORM-201, Section 1 and submit to Environmental Management, Air Quality Compliance.
    • If refrigerant is added immediately following a retrofit, installation of a new appliance, part of a seasonal variance, the leak rate calculation portion of Section I is not required. However, records of seasonal variance must be tracked to exclude from a leak rate calculation.
    • If the leak rate exceeds the allowable, complete the work associated with form AQ-FORM-201, Section II and submit to Environmental Management, Air Quality Compliance.  Additionally, an annual leak inspection must be performed and form AQ-FORM-301, Section I completed and submitted.
    • If appliance is being retired or retrofit due to a leak rate exceedance, complete the work associated with AQ-FORM-201, Section III and submit to Environmental Management, Air Quality Compliance.
  • Automatic Leak Detection Systems monitoring class I, class II, or a blend of class I and class II refrigerant types, must be audited or certified annually.  Complete form AQ-FORM-301, Section II and submit to Environmental Management, Air Quality Compliance.

Maintenance, Service, Repair Completed By:

• Contractor or Vendors at any University owned location
  • Follow UK HVAC Design Standard and submit the appropriate forms contained above to Environmental Management, Air Quality Compliance.  An equivalent company form may be substituted for the standard AQ-FORMs.

The Requirements at a Glance is used as a quick summary but does not replace the need to review the RMP or the specific operating procedures, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for appliance disposal.

To address the complexities of the operating procedures of 40 CFR 82, standardized procedures, work instructions and forms were developed for appliance disposal requirements to provide operational and administrative consistency and effectiveness.  The procedure provides a specified way to carry out an activity or task whereas the work instruction provides step-by-step instructions to be followed to complete a procedure.  The form standardizes consistent documentation of required regulation elements.

The purpose of monitoring maintenance, service, or repairs of large appliances is to demonstrate compliance with 40 CFR 82.156, Proper evacuation of refrigerant from appliances; 40 CFR 82.157, Appliance maintenance and leak repair; and 40 CFR 82.158, Standards for recovery and/or recycling equipment.  Annual leak inspections or annual audits/calibrations of automatic leak detection systems of appliances that exceeded the allowable leak rate threshold must be performed annually until the appliance is demonstrated to not exceed the leak rate for one year.

Records of appliance maintenance/service/repairs (including annual leak inspections and automatic leak detection system certifications) which contain 50 pounds or more of class I, class II, or a blend of class I and class II refrigerant and where refrigerant was added or deleted, must be kept for three years.  The required data collection is contained on form AQ-FORM-201 for maintenance/service/repairs and form AQ‑FORM-301 for annual leak inspections automatic leak detection system certifications.  The data collected is dependent on the type of work performed and not all sections of the form may need to be completed (§82.157).  Appliance maintenance/service/repairs must be entered in SAP (where available on Lexington campus) or submitted to the Air Quality Compliance Manager for submittal into a refrigerant system to maintain appliance performance records.  Records, including retirement/retrofit plans, are maintained by Environmental Management, Air Quality Compliance. 

EPA Notification Records:

Records submitted to EPA and responses from EPA regarding extension requests, retrofit/retirement plans, relief from retrofit/retirement plan, chronically leaking appliance report, or an initial leak rate exclusion of destructed purged refrigerant report are maintained by Environmental Management. 

The University must use recovery and/or recycling equipment that meets certification requirements of §82.158.  No person may alter the design of certified refrigerant recovery and/or recycling equipment in a way that would affect the equipment's ability to meet the certification standards of §82.158 without resubmitting the altered design for certification testing.

The University must only use in-house technicians, contractors, or vendors that have current and appropriate EPA technician certification. 

For appliances which contain 50 pounds or more of class I, class II, or a blend of class I and class II refrigerant, a report must be submitted to EPA  (§82.157) for an extension request to repair leaks or retire/retrofit an appliance; request of relief from an appliance retirement/retrofit plan; an appliance that leaks 125% or more refrigerant in a calendar year; or an initial leak rate exclusion of destructed purged refrigerant.