Guidance

Record and report F gas and equipment pre-charged with F gas

How to record and report fluorinated gas (F gas) you produce, import, export or destroy in Great Britain.

From:
Environment Agency and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published
21 August 2019
Last updated
14 November 2022 — See all updates

You must record and report how much F gas you produce, import, export and destroy in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

Recording your F gas activities

You can use your own systems to keep records.

If you import or produce equipment pre-charged with F gas

You need to keep records of the:

  • type of equipment
  • number of units of each type of equipment you placed on the market in Great Britain
  • quantity of each type of F gas in the equipment
  • declarations of conformity and customs documents for F gas imports
  • delivery notes and invoices from your F gas suppliers, if you’re a producer

If the equipment has already been placed on the market

If you import equipment pre-charged with F gas that’s been placed on the market before in Great Britain and then exported, you must keep the:

  • delivery note or invoice from the organisation that placed the F gas on the market in Great Britain for the first time
  • declaration from the organisation that reported it was placed on the market
  • declarations of conformity

If you destroy F gas

You must keep records of:

  • how much of each F gas you destroy
  • the technology used to destroy the F gas
  • the quantity of each type of F gas that you have in stock at the end of the year that are waiting to be destroyed

If you use F gas as feedstock

You must keep records of how much of each F gas you use or supply to a third party to use as feedstock.

Reporting your F gas activities

You must report F gas activities if, in the previous calendar year, you:

  • produced, imported or exported 1 tonne of F gas, or F gas equivalent to 100 tonnes or more of carbon dioxide (CO2)
  • destroyed 1 tonne of F gas, or F gas equivalent to 1,000 tonnes or more of CO2
  • placed F gases equivalent to 500 tonnes or more of CO2 in products or equipment on the market in Great Britain
  • used F gases equivalent to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 as feedstock in the previous calendar year

Find out how to calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent quantity of an F gas.

Submit a verification document

You must also submit a verification document from an independent verifier if you’ve carried out any of these 3 activities.

1. You placed HFCs equivalent to 10,000 tonnes or more of CO2 on the market in Great Britain

The verifier will check your data on:

  • substances you produced, imported and exported
  • how the imported or produced F gas was used (main areas of application)
  • quantities you placed on the market in Great Britain
  • exempted uses of the HFCs
  • quantities you recycled, reclaimed or destroyed
  • stocks
  • authorisations you granted to equipment manufacturers and importers

2. You placed pre-charged refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) equipment with HFCs equivalent to 100 tonnes or more of CO2 on the market in Great Britain, and the HFCs contained in the equipment have not been placed on the market in Great Britain before

The verifier will check your data on:

  • the accuracy and consistency of your declarations of conformity and annual reports (if needed - check reporting your F gas activities)
  • if you had enough quota authorisations to import HFCs in the equipment

3. You supplied any quantity of HFCs directly to an exporter in the previous calendar year

The verifier will check proof of export.

How to get your verification document

To get your verification document, you can use a verifier accredited to verify greenhouse gas emission reports or tonne-kilometre reports under the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System.

Or, you can use a verifier that is accredited to verify financial statements. In the UK this is any firm or individual that is registered as a statutory auditor. They could be registered with a professional body, such as the:

They need to be independent of your company under the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard (Revised Ethical Standard 2019).

When to report your F gas activities

F gas activity reports

You must submit your annual activity report by 31 March for the previous calendar year.

For example, you have until 31 March 2023 to report your F gas activities during 2022.

Verification documents

You must submit verification documents for the previous year by:

  • 31 March - if you imported pre-charged RACHP equipment with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) equivalent to 100 tonnes or more of CO2, if the HFCs have not been placed on the market in Great Britain before
  • 30 June - if you placed or produced HFCs equivalent to 10,000 tonnes or more of CO2 on the market in Great Britain

You’re breaking the law if you do not report your F gas activities in time. See the Environment Agency enforcement sanctions policy.

How to submit your reports

F gas activity reports

  1. Register for a fluorinated gas (F gas) account (if you do not have an organisation ID already).
  2. Download, fill in and submit the annual report to the Environment Agency F gas support team at f-gassupport@environment-agency.gov.uk.
  3. Submit an independent verification document, if needed.

You must submit your F gas activity report for the previous calendar year by 31 March.

Verification documents

Submit your verification documents by the relevant deadline to the Environment Agency F gas support team at f-gassupport@environment-agency.gov.uk.

You can email us to get guidance and a verification document template, if needed.

You need to keep your verification documents for 5 years and be able to show them to your regulator.

Published 21 August 2019
Last updated 14 November 2022 + show all updates

  1. Updated page to make guidance on recording and reporting F gas activities clearer. Updated ‘verification report’ to ‘verification document’ and added more details on when and how to submit one. Provided a list with links to professional bodies.

  2. Link added to the annual reporting templates.

  3. Updated with guidance on reporting from 1 January 2021.

  4. First published.

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