The recast of the Directive published on 18 June 2010 (http://www.buildup.eu/publications/9631) brings significant changes to these requirements, through several new and longer articles:
- The regular inspection of air conditioning systems of an output greater than 12 kW is limited to their “accessible parts” (Art.15).
- The assessment of the air-conditioning system compared to the cooling requirements of the building does not have to be repeated if no changes were made to the system or to the cooling requirements of the building.
- A new paragraph asks Member States to take into account inspection costs and estimated energy cost savings when setting inspection frequencies. Inspection could be less frequent or lightened “where an electronic monitoring and control system is in place”.
- It is also asked to Member States to ensure, as far as economically and technically feasible, that inspections are carried out in accordance with the inspection of heating systems and other technical systems and the inspection of refrigerant leakages required by the “F-Gas” regulation.
- Member States may opt, as an alternative to regular inspection of air conditioning systems, “to take measures to ensure the provision of advice to users on the replacement of air-conditioning systems or on other modifications to the air-conditioning system which may include inspections to assess the efficiency and appropriate size of the air-conditioning system”. In such a case, the revised Directive (Art.15) explains what happens if the report of equivalence between implemented measures and regular inspection, that has to be provided by Member States, is not found convincing enough by the European Commission.
- One of the new recitals (26) encourages Member States to combine inspections and certifications “in order to minimise the administrative burden on building owners and tenants”.
- A new article (Art.16) describes the contents of the inspection report (inspection results + recommendations for the cost-effective improvement of the energy performance) and requires that it is given by the inspector to the owner or tenant.
- Concerning experts for heating systems inspection, Member States are required to make available to the public information on training and accreditations, as well as updated lists of qualified and/or accredited experts or accredited companies (Art.17).
- A new requirement asks that Member States set up an independent control system of issued inspection reports, based on a random selection and verifications (Art.18). All these requirements have to be transposed by Member States in national regulations before 9 July 2012. Requirements about experts (Art.17 and 18) have to be applied before 9 January 2013. Requirements about inspection and inspection reports (Art.15 and 16) have to be applied before 9 January 2013 for buildings occupied by public authorities and before 9 July 2013 for other buildings.
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