F.A.Q

The purpose of a TM44 air conditioning inspection is to provide a report to business owners and managers on how energy efficient their air-conditioning is. While following the advice is not imperative, having a TM44 inspection every five years is.

A TM44 air conditioning inspection involves a visit by an accredited energy assessor. They will undertake a full review of all of your air-conditioning systems, including the control settings. It includes an appraisal of whether the system is adequate and effective for the square footage.

The report will also make recommendations on how your cooling systems could be more energy efficient, which may include tweaking controls that involve no financial outlay. They may also recommend replacement or alternative cooling solutions.

The recommendations can be as simple and inexpensive as washing the filters, or very costly like replacing the unit. In our recommendations, we seek to suggest cost-effective and feasible solutions to save money, reduce energy consumption, and eliminate dangerous old refrigerants.

As TM44 air conditioning inspectors, we have a duty to comply with relevant health and safety legislation. This includes the duty to draw the attention of the owner or manager of the building to obvious cases of inadequate maintenance or negligence, where these may have implications for the health and safety of building occupants or the public.

TM44 inspection is, to the extent possible, performed by visual observations of a representative sample of the air conditioning equipment and other visual indicators such as refrigerant sight glasses, pressure, temperature or filter, although when these are not available the inspector may take test readings.

Aside from avoiding the fines and the negative reputation that could be perceived by failure to comply with legislation, commercial building owners are actually saving more than their company’s reputation by investing in the TM44 Air Conditioning Inspection.

An energy efficient site with effective air conditioning systems could save more on maintenance and break down repair costs as well as perform on a much lower energy consumption. Lower energy consumption equals lower energy bills.

Our communities’ growing concerns over climate change and the exhaustion of our world’s limited natural resources is a huge reason why companies should have all their equipment assessed, air conditioning or otherwise. Savings on energy consumption has become more than just about saving money, we need to do more to help save our planet.

The fine for uninspected sites with air conditioning systems providing an overall output of more than 12kw has a set fee of £300 and an additional £200 upon failure to provide the outstanding report within 7 days of request. The Air Conditioning Inspection Reports are lodged on the Landmark Registry Government database. Enforcement Officers can check at any time whether a commercial premise is compliant with the legislation.

Inspections timings are relevant here since each mandatory inspection must take place within five years of the previous one. According to TM44 guidance, the initial inspection must satisfy the following criteria:

• Any system that began service on or after 1st January 2008, must have undergone an initial inspection within five years of the date service began.
• Systems whose output exceeds 250kW must have undergone inspection no later than 4th January 2009.
• Systems with a service start date prior to 1st January 2008 and whose output exceeds 12kW must have received inspection by 4th January 2011.

From 6 April 2012, all TM44 air-conditioning inspection reports have been required to be lodged on the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government Energy Performance of Buildings Register where a report and certificate are generated. Accredited assessors and members of the public may access this site to view and download their TM44 certificates and reports.

Only air-conditioning systems with an effective rated output of more than 12kw are affected by the EPBD regulations. However this 12kw is counted as the sum of the air-conditioning systems in a building controlled by one person. As an example in a building with three tenants, who each have a single 6kw system. If the tenants are responsible for their own systems (maintenance and control) then no inspection is required. However if the landowner maintains the air conditioning systems then a report would be required.

An air-conditioning system refers to any AC system where refrigeration is used to provide for the comfort cooling of the occupants of the space. Separate refrigeration which is not for the comfort of the occupants such as process applications, Computer servers, cold stores, beer cellars in pubs, refrigerated counters etc. will not need a TM44 report.

The aim of the air conditioning inspection is to provide you with a report on the performance of the air conditioning system in respect of its energy consumption. The inspection is also there to advise you of actions you could take to reduce your carbon footprint.

Your report will include information about the efficiency of your air conditioning systems with advice on how to improve the energy of your system. The report will also highlight areas to save energy and reduce operating costs. Here are some more specific areas that are also covered:

• An estimate of how efficient your system is and how this can be improved
• Faults that have been found during the inspection and recommended actions 
• The adequacy of maintenance carried out on equipment and recommendations for improvement
• The sufficiency of installed controls and control settings along with possible suggestions for improvement
• The suitability of size of the installed system in relation to the cooling load and any suggestions for improvement.