F gas records: what your HVAC software has to carry

The duty sits on the equipment, not on the visit

gov.uk's guidance is explicit about the trigger: 'You must keep records about the following equipment you operate or service if it contains F gas equivalent to 5 tonnes or more of carbon dioxide', and the list runs through stationary refrigeration, stationary air conditioning, stationary heat pumps, stationary fire protection, refrigeration units of refrigerated trucks and trailers, electrical switchgear and organic Rankine cycle (gov.uk). Responsibility for stopping leaks is shared between the user of the equipment and the technicians who install, maintain or dispose of it (gov.uk).

What has to be in the record

• The quantity and type of gas in the equipment when it is installed.
• The quantity and type added during maintenance, for example in leak repairs.
• The dates and results of all mandatory leak checks.
• What you did to recover and dispose of gas, including the registered waste carrier used.
• If the gas was recycled or reclaimed, the quantity recovered and the name, address and certificate number of the facility.
• If you are the user or operator, the name, address and certificate number of any company used to install, service or decommission the equipment.

All six points are reproduced from the Environment Agency and Defra guidance on gov.uk, read on 15 August 2026. Records must be kept for 5 years and the Environment Agency may ask to see them during an inspection. This is a summary of guidance, not legal advice.

Three intervals, one site

The leak check frequency depends on the amount of gas and its global warming potential. gov.uk's table sets at least every 12 months for 5 to less than 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, at least every 6 months for 50 to less than 500, and at least every 3 months at 500 or more, with separate treatment where automatic leak detection is fitted and for switchgear and organic Rankine cycles installed before 1 January 2017. For common gases that means 2.4kg of HFC 410a takes you into the annual band and 24kg into the six-monthly one. A single customer with a plant room and a dozen splits will therefore be sitting on more than one interval at once.

What that rules in and out of a job system

An asset record, not a job record

An interval that lives on the asset

Structured fields on the form

Five years of retrievable documents

What we could not check

Naming a feature on a marketing page is not proof that it produces a record an inspector would accept. We have recorded which suppliers name F gas and what they say about it, because that is checkable. Whether the resulting form matches your obligations is a question for a demo with your own gas charges and your own sites, and it is the single best use of a demo hour you will get.