ShareNew Zealand: consultation on future licensing regime for refrigeration technicians
The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has launched a new consultation (1) in order to seek additional comments on the proposed refrigeration technicians licensing regime.
Following a previous consultation in November 2018, the New Zealand Government has decided to implement the option that had overwhelming support from submitters, which is to introduce a licensing regime under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSW Act) for individual technicians who work on commercial and industrial heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration systems that use flammable, toxic, or high operating pressure refrigerants. The licensing regime will include three classes: the heating and air-conditioning license, the refrigeration, heating and air conditioning licence (excluding ammonia), the refrigeration, heating and air conditioning licence (including ammonia). The licence will be valid for five years from the day of issue.
The objective of this new consultation is to get feedback on some additional matters to implement this licensing regime, such as fees and exclusions from the requirement to be licensed. Comments were to be submitted by heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration technicians and engineers, their employers, and industry bodies before January 17, 2020.
The very active New Zealand National Committee (NZNC) of the IIR, chaired by Richard Love, participated in these consultations.
(1) https://www.irhace.org.nz/uploads/FINAL_171219_Targeted_Consultation_document.pdf