F-Gas and REFCOM: the accreditation for cooling installs

If you are adding air conditioning to cool an overheating home, the accreditation that matters is F-Gas - and REFCOM is the register that proves it. F-Gas regulations govern the fluorinated refrigerant gases inside cooling equipment, and any engineer installing or servicing a system that handles refrigerant must be F-Gas certified. REFCOM is the UK's largest F-Gas registration scheme, so "F-Gas / REFCOM-registered" is the shorthand you will see for a properly qualified air conditioning engineer.

When you need F-Gas / REFCOM, and when you need MCS

The accreditation follows the route, and the two do not overlap.

A pure cooling install (F-Gas / REFCOM). A single-split, multi-split, ducted or portable air conditioning unit that keeps your existing heating is a private-pay cooling job. It handles refrigerant, so it needs an F-Gas / REFCOM-registered engineer - not MCS.

The grant-eligible heat pump (MCS). If instead you replace your fossil-fuel or electric heating with an air-to-air heat pump via an MCS-certified installer, you are eligible for the £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. A cooling-only add-on that keeps your boiler is not eligible for the grant, whatever your heating type. (Grant rules as of August 2026 and subject to change.)

In short: F-Gas / REFCOM is the register for the cooling install itself; MCS is the extra accreditation the grant route requires.

Why it is worth checking

Around 71% of homes in dense inner-London boroughs are flats, where a badly-sited or badly-fitted outdoor unit causes real problems - noise complaints, planning trouble, and refrigerant handled by someone not qualified to do it. An F-Gas / REFCOM registration is your basic assurance that the refrigerant side of the job is done legally and safely.

Watch for the common mix-up: an installer promising an "MCS grant" on a split-AC unit that keeps your boiler has the routing wrong. That is an F-Gas / REFCOM job, and there is no grant on it.

Find the right engineer for your home

Whether your home needs the grant-eligible MCS route or a private-pay F-Gas / REFCOM install depends on your property and whether you replace your heating. Our free cooling checker works it out from your address and matches you to the correct accreditation - on screen, with no phone call and no cold-calling.

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