Northern Ireland does not use the GB F-gas pages as its rulebook. DAERA states that the EU F-gas law which came into operation on 11 March 2024 applies directly in Northern Ireland, and that offences and penalties were still being considered after that. A sentence that is true for a job in England can be the wrong sentence in Belfast.
Same trade, different rulebook
Installers who work both sides of the Irish Sea sometimes carry one set of GOV.UK links for every quote. Those pages describe the GB regime. They are the right place to read about company certification for GB work. They are not the statute that DAERA is pointing at for Northern Ireland. If the outdoor unit will be installed at an address in Northern Ireland, the quote should say that the equipment and the certificate have been checked against the NI position, not against a page written for England.
What DAERA has already put in writing
DAERA's fluorinated greenhouse gases page says the European Union's new F-gas law came into operation on 11 March 2024 and applies directly in Northern Ireland. It also says DAERA was assessing that law and the legislation needed for offences and penalties. That is the opposite of a settled one-line ban you can paste from memory. Read the current DAERA page on the day you buy, because enforcement detail can move without the EU text itself changing.
A future date is not a ban yet
The EU regulation stages later restrictions. A date that has not arrived is not a rule you can quote as if the equipment were already prohibited, in Northern Ireland or in Great Britain. The annex for the product, read on the day, beats a forum summary. Great Britain has its own timetable. A later EU step does not automatically become GB law. Do not use an NI job to claim that a GB customer is already under that later EU date, and do not use a GB page to clear an NI purchase.
Servicing an old unit is not the same as selling a new one
Placing a new system on the market and working on an existing one are different acts. An older unit can often still be leak-checked and repaired under the rules that apply to servicing, by people and companies allowed to do that work. That is not permission to vent refrigerant, to top up a system by guess, or to import a new indoor and outdoor pair because the old one used a familiar refrigerant. Ask the company which certificate covers this address. An England company number is not a substitute for checking the NI duty.
Frequently asked questions
The installer is in England and the flat is in Belfast. Whose page do we follow?
The address of the job. DAERA is the Northern Ireland starting point for F-gas. A GOV.UK certification page is about the GB regime. The quote should show the check that matches the flat, not the depot.
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How this guide was prepared
This guide was written by the Local AC Installers Editorial Team. We compare official guidance, legislation and established consumer information, separate general information from project-specific advice, and show publication dates and sources. We do not accept installer accreditation claims at face value.