F-gas certificate for technicians: who needs it, the rules per region and keeping track
On Monday, a new technician starts who will help maintain heat pumps. They have an F-gas diploma from the Netherlands, but nobody knows whether that is enough in Flanders. And when does the colleague who has been installing air conditioners for years have to sit the exam again? That date is on a piece of paper in a folder.
Published by Abdelhay Rahou (opens in a new window)5 November 202610 min read
Who needs an F-gas certificate?
A technician needs an F-gas certificate as soon as they work on refrigeration installations, air conditioners or heat pumps containing fluorinated greenhouse gases and the refrigerant can escape: during installation, maintenance, repair, decommissioning, leak checks or recovery. The company also needs an approval or a registration, among other things for installation and maintenance. Each region regulates this itself.
That is what the pages of Flanders (in Dutch), Brussels Environment (in Dutch) and Wallonia (in French) say; we consulted them on 31 October 2026. The rules change: check your situation with the competent regional authority or your legal adviser.
Where it goes wrong
- A certificate from elsewhere. Anyone who obtained a European certificate outside Flanders must register with the Flemish government before they start working there.
- The wrong category. With category IV, a technician may do leak checks without opening the circuit, but no repairs.
- A different certificate. In Flanders, a RESCert certificate alone is not enough to work on a heat pump with F-gases if there is a risk of emissions.
- A forgotten date. In Flanders, the approval lapses automatically if the refrigeration technician does not pass the refresher exam on time.
- The company itself. Besides the technicians, the business also needs an approval or a registration.
What may a technician do with category I, II, III or IV?
The technician may only carry out the work stated on their certificate. According to vlaanderen.be (in Dutch):
| Category | What the technician may do |
|---|---|
| I | All work (installation, repair, maintenance, recovery, leak checks, decommissioning) on all refrigeration installations, regardless of the refrigerant charge |
| II | Installation, repair, maintenance, decommissioning and recovery on installations with less than 3 kg of refrigerant, or on hermetically sealed systems labelled as such with less than 6 kg; leak checks without opening the circuit |
| III | Recovery on installations with less than 3 kg of refrigerant, or on hermetically sealed systems labelled as such with less than 6 kg |
| IV | Leak checks without opening the refrigerant circuit |
So if you install and repair heat pumps and air conditioners, you look at category I or II, depending on the refrigerant charge of the units. Check that charge on the rating plate or in the manufacturer’s documentation.
F-gas certificate in Belgium: the rules per region
Flanders
- The technician needs a Flemish approval as a refrigeration technician (erkenning als koeltechnicus). Condition: a certificate of category I, II, III or IV.
- The company needs an approval as a refrigeration company (erkenning als koeltechnisch bedrijf) for installation, maintenance, repair and decommissioning. It employs at least one approved refrigeration technician, and enough for the expected work.
- Validity: the approval is valid for an indefinite period, with obligations (in Dutch). These include filling in the installation logbook correctly, civil liability insurance, an annual fee and passing a refresher exam every five years.
- A certificate from elsewhere: the technician registers with the Flemish government before they start. If the certificate is more than five years old, they must first pass the refresher exam.
- Company certificate: according to the page Erkenning als koeltechnisch bedrijf (approval as a refrigeration company, in Dutch), there is currently no longer an active accredited inspection body in Flanders that issues the European certificate for companies. A company can obtain it in Brussels, in Wallonia or in another EU member state, and then registers via the online approvals portal.
Brussels
Brussels Environment (Leefmilieu Brussel / Bruxelles Environnement; page dated 28 September 2020, in Dutch) states:
- every refrigeration company must be registered, and every exam centre approved;
- since 4 July 2011, refrigeration technicians must hold a certificate that complies with European legislation;
- there are four categories of certificate, depending on the work;
- technicians and companies with a valid certificate from outside the Brussels Region are mutually recognised.
The information sheet for refrigeration technicians offered on that page, a version from August 2012, states that the Brussels certificate is valid for five years and that a refresher exam gives a new certificate. Check whether that still applies to your technician.
Wallonia
The Agence wallonne de l’Air et du Climat (AwAC), the Walloon air and climate agency, grants the approval, for technicians and for companies (pages in French):
- The technician applies for their approval with an online form, with proof that they passed the exam at an approved training centre and proof that they work as self-employed or as an employee. Free of charge. The AwAC decides no later than 60 days after the application has been declared complete and admissible.
- The company applies for an approval with, among other things, proof that it has enough certified technicians and civil liability insurance. Also free of charge.
- A company with a certificate from outside Wallonia notifies the AwAC of its activity, with a form on the Frigoristes page (in French).
The Walloon pages mention a renewal, but no period of validity. Note the date on the approval itself.
How does a technician get an F-gas certificate?
In Flanders, it works like this:
- Exam at an approved training centre. The list is on vlaanderen.be. The first exam has four parts: refrigeration theory, legislation theory, a practical test with refrigerant and a brazing test. For categories III and IV, there is no brazing test.
- Passing: at least 60% on each part. The training centre registers the certificate in the Flemish government’s database of learning and experience certificates (Leer- en ervaringsbewijzendatabank, LED).
- Registering as a refrigeration technician in the self-service portal ‘Mijn VLAREL-erkenning’, with their eID. Without registration, the technician cannot start work.
- Approval number: they receive it by email.
In Wallonia, the technician follows a certifying training course at an approved centre and then applies to the AwAC for the approval. In Brussels, they sit the exam at an approved exam centre.
What does an F-gas certificate cost?
The price of the exam is set by the training centre; the government pages do not mention it. In Flanders, an approved refrigeration technician pays an annual fee of €36 in 2026, an approved refrigeration company €145. The technician’s invoice is in their name and sent to their home address, never to the employer’s. If you pay it as the employer, agree that they pass it on to you straight away. In Wallonia, applying for the approval is free.
Requesting or checking an F-gas certificate
- Flanders: the list of approved refrigeration technicians and the list of approved refrigeration companies are on vlaanderen.be. The deadline for the refresher exam is on the proof of approval. An approved technician who is not on the list reports this by email to the approvals team (team Erkenningen) of the Department of Environment (Departement Omgeving).
- Brussels: Brussels Environment publishes the list of registered refrigeration companies.
- Wallonia: the AwAC publishes the lists of approved technicians and companies.
An overview of who holds which certificate
An example to copy into a spreadsheet, with fictitious data:
| Technician | Category | Region | Approval number | Refresher exam deadline | Reminder on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technician A | I | Flanders | as on the proof | as on the proof, for example March 2028 | six months before |
| Technician B | II | Brussels | as on the certificate | as on the certificate | six months before |
| Technician C | none | n/a | n/a | n/a | plan training |
Add a line for your company’s approval or registration, for each region where you work. Agree who keeps the list up to date, and check it at every exam, every departure and every new hire (see onboarding a new technician). Which technicians can handle which work, you keep in a skills matrix; this list sits next to it.
An example: an installer adding heat pumps
A fictitious installation company in Flanders with five technicians has recently started installing heat pumps as well. The company is approved as a refrigeration company, and two technicians have category I. The new colleague has a three-year-old F-gas diploma from the Netherlands: they register in ‘Mijn VLAREL-erkenning’ and submit a copy of their certificate via the online approvals portal before working on a refrigerant circuit. A fourth technician only has a RESCert certificate. They do not work on the refrigerant circuit: a colleague with category I does that.
At the office, the list goes into a shared folder. The refresher exam deadline for technician A is a year and a half away; the person responsible sets a reminder six months ahead and schedules the exam in a quiet month. The planner checks the list before assigning a breakdown on a refrigerant circuit.
How it works in Digitalnatie Service Suite
- Skills: in the settings, the configuration tab holds the list of skills. The administrator or the manager adds skills there, for example one skill per certificate category. This list only appears if the function is active: ask Digitalnatie to switch it on.
- Levels: in the planning configuration, you set the skill levels, per skill and per technician.
- Per technician: their form shows their skills, which you adjust with a shortcut and the edit button. On the user form, the administrator also has a tab for skills and regions.
- Templates: an intervention template takes over the skills, together with the instructions, the standard duration in hours, the intervention type and the team.
- Scheduling per technician: on the planning board, you put an intervention on a technician’s row. While dragging, you see what is in the way: another intervention, leave, an hour outside working hours.
- Certificates with the installation: in an installation’s file, you keep certificates in its documents, with a switch that makes them visible to the customer or not.
Good to know:
- The user guide does not describe tracking certificates with their expiry date, nor a reminder for it: you keep that list separately.
- The schedule does not suggest a technician based on their skills and does not filter on them. The planner chooses, with your list beside them.
- The user guide does not describe an F-gas register, nor a form for the installation logbook that the Flemish rules require.
How to schedule technicians is explained on the planning and service orders page. What a maintenance visit to a heat pump involves is in heat pump maintenance, and how to organise recurring maintenance in preventive maintenance.
Frequently asked questions
Is an F-gas certificate mandatory for a heat pump?
Yes, for work on a heat pump with fluorinated greenhouse gases where the refrigerant can escape, such as installation, repair or recovery. According to vlaanderen.be, a RESCert certificate alone is not enough for this: the technician needs an approval as a refrigeration technician and the company an approval as a refrigeration company.
How long is an F-gas certificate valid in Flanders?
The Flemish approval as a refrigeration technician is valid for an indefinite period, but the technician must pass a refresher exam every five years. If they do not pass it on time, their approval lapses automatically. The deadline is on their proof of approval.
Is an F-gas diploma from the Netherlands valid in Belgium?
A European certificate from another country can be recognised. In Flanders, the technician registers with the Flemish government before they start working, and submits a copy of their certificate. If it is more than five years old, they must first pass the refresher exam.
What does an F-gas certificate cost?
The price of the exam is set by the training centre. In Flanders, there is also an annual fee: €36 in 2026 for an approved refrigeration technician and €145 for an approved refrigeration company, indexed every year. In Wallonia, applying for the approval is free.
Does Service Suite track when a certificate expires?
No, the user guide does not describe tracking certificates with their expiry date. You can record skills and skill levels per technician and keep certificates with the installation. You keep the list of certificates and their expiry dates separately.