Mark Vender
After signs that air conditioning and refrigeration technicians in New South Wales could be excluded from key work when the new mechanical services licence goes live in March 2023, the government has confirmed that the scope of work for air conditioning and refrigeration technicians will not change with the introduction of the new licence.
It has been a difficult wait for air conditioning and refrigeration stakeholders in NSW, since industry first became aware of the new mechanical services licence. Despite positive meetings between NSW Fair Trading and industry bodies including AIRAH, AMCA Australia, the ARC and RACCA, it appeared that the installation, maintenance and repair of all pipework on hydronic HVAC&R systems would be made the exclusive domain of mechanical services licence holders. This would have excluded air conditioning and refrigeration licence holders from doing such work, as a Certificate III in Plumbing (Mechanical Services) is required to obtain a mechanical services licence.
AIRAH CEO Tony Gleeson, M.AIRAH, says that through consultation with members, it was clear that HVAC&R contractors would be severely affected.
“When we communicated the situation to our members, a number stepped forward to tell us what the changes would mean for their businesses,” he says. “Across those companies, job losses could have been in the hundreds. It would have also driven up costs for customers.”
Now, the NSW government has moved away from defining detailed scopes of work for each licence class and has confirmed that section 15A of the Home Building Act allows a person who holds an air conditioning and refrigeration licence to do work that falls within the definition of mechanical services and medical gas work where that work is authorised within the scope of their existing licence.
Gleeson says that although the clarification from NSW Fair Trading comes as welcome news, the underlying issue has not been rectified.
“Unfortunately, the problematic amendment to the Home Building Act is still there,” he says. “AIRAH will be advocating for this to be changed as part of the NSW government’s longer-term review of building regulations.
“Moreover, we are disappointed that the regulations behind the new licence were developed without any consultation with the HVAC&R industry. We believe that only through collaboration between all trades can we truly strengthen the building and construction industry.”
For more information on the mechanical services and air conditioning and refrigeration licences, see the NSW Fair Trading website.
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