Commission Regulation (EC) No 304/2008 of 2 April 2008 establishing, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, minimum requirements and the conditions for mutual recognition for the certification of companies and personnel as regards stationary fire protection systems and fire extinguishers containing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (Text with EEA relevance)

• Published date: 03 April 2008
• Official Gazette Publication: Journal officiel de l’Union européenne, L 92, 03 avril 2008,Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione europea, L 92, 03 aprile 2008,Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 92, 03 de abril de 2008

3.4.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 92/12

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 304/2008

of 2 April 2008

establishing, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, minimum requirements and the conditions for mutual recognition for the certification of companies and personnel as regards stationary fire protection systems and fire extinguishers containing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (1), and in particular Article 5(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) For the purposes of the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 842/2006, it is necessary to lay down rules on the qualification of personnel carrying out activities, at the location of the operation of systems containing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases, which potentially affect their leakage.

(2) Personnel not yet certified but enrolled in a training course for the purpose of obtaining a certificate should be, for a limited time, allowed to undertake activities for which such certification is required to gain the practical skills needed for the examination, provided that they are supervised by certified personnel.

(3) A number of Member States do not currently have qualification or certification systems in place. A limited period should therefore be allowed for personnel and companies to obtain a certificate.

(4) For the purpose of avoiding undue administrative burden, it should be allowed to build a certification system on existing qualification schemes provided that the skills and knowledge covered and the relevant qualification system are equivalent to the minimum standards envisaged by this Regulation.

(5) Examination is an effective means of testing the ability of a candidate to carry out properly the actions which can directly cause leakage, as well as those that can indirectly cause leakage.

(6) To enable training and certification of personnel currently active in the areas covered by this Regulation without interrupting their professional activity, an adequate interim period is required during which certification should be based on existing qualification schemes and professional experience.

(7) Officially designated evaluation and certification bodies should ensure compliance with the minimum requirements set out in this Regulation and thereby contribute to the effective and efficient mutual recognition of certificates throughout the Community.

(8) Mutual recognition should not apply to interim certificates since the requirements for obtaining those certificates may be significantly lower than existing requirements in some Member States.

(9) Information on the certification system issuing certificates subject to mutual recognition should be notified to the Commission in the format established by Commission Regulation (EC) No 308/2008 of 2 April 2008 establishing, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, the format for notification of the training and certification programmes of the Member States (2). Information on interim certification systems should be notified to the Commission.

(10) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 18(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation establishes minimum requirements for the certification referred to in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 in relation to stationary fire protection systems and fire extinguishers containing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases as well as the conditions for mutual recognition of certificates issued in accordance with those requirements.

Article 2

Scope

1. This Regulation shall apply to personnel carrying out the following activities with regard to fire protection systems:

(a) leakage checking of applications containing three kilograms or more of fluorinated greenhouse gases;

(b) recovery, also with regard to fire extinguishers;

(c) installation;

(d) maintenance or servicing.

2. It shall also apply to companies carrying out the following activities with regard to fire protection systems:

(a) installation;

(b) maintenance or servicing.

3. This Regulation shall not apply to any manufacturing and repairing activity undertaken at manufacturers’ sites for containers or associated components of stationary fire protection systems containing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

1. ‘installation’ means connecting for the first time at the location in which they will operate, one or more containers containing or designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gas extinguishing agent with associated components, excluding those components which do not affect the containment of the extinguishing agent prior to its release for the purpose of fire extinguishing.

2. ‘maintenance or servicing’ means all activities that entail work on the containers containing or designed to contain fluorinated greenhouse gas extinguishing agent or on the associated components, excluding those components which do not affect the containment of the extinguishing agent prior to its release for the purpose of fire extinguishing.

Article 4

Certification of personnel

1. Personnel carrying out the activities referred to in Article 2(1) shall hold a certificate as referred to in Article 5 or Article 6.

2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply for a maximum period of...