The short answer
If an HFC appliance holds 15 lbs or more, its annual leak rate is regulated. Cross your trigger — 10% for comfort cooling, 20% for commercial refrigeration, 30% for industrial process — and a 30-day repair clock starts. Leak 125% of full charge in a calendar year and the appliance is a chronic leaker you must report to EPA by March 1. Keep the records for 3 years.
1. Does the rule cover this appliance?
15 lb — under the AIM Act rules (40 CFR § 84.106, effective January 1, 2026), leak-repair requirements apply to appliances charged with 15 lbs or more of an HFC (or HFC substitute with GWP over 53). That replaced the old 50 lb threshold for HFCs. Older ozone-depleting refrigerants like R-22 still sit under the classic Section 608 rule at 50 lbs. Residential and light-commercial AC and heat pumps are carved out of the leak-repair requirement — venting, certification, and recovery rules still apply to them.
2. The trigger rates
The leak rate is annualized at every refrigerant addition: pounds added ÷ full charge, scaled to a year. Cross the trigger for the appliance type and the repair clock starts.
| Appliance type | Trigger leak rate |
|---|---|
| Comfort cooling | 10% per year |
| Commercial refrigeration | 20% per year |
| Industrial process refrigeration | 30% per year |
| All other appliances | 10% per year |
3. The 30-day repair clock
- 30 days from the addition that showed the exceedance to repair the leak — or 120 days if the repair requires an industrial process shutdown.
- Alternative: develop a retrofit-or-retire plan within 30 days, and complete it within 1 year.
- Verification tests — an initial test and a follow-up test — are required after the repair.
- After an exceedance, the appliance goes on a leak-inspection cycle (annual for most; quarterly for large commercial / industrial systems) until it stays under the trigger.
4. Chronic leakers — the March 1 report
An appliance that leaks 125% or more of its full charge in one calendar year is a chronic leaker. It must be reported to EPA by March 1 of the following year. This is the one techs miss: it isn't about a single big leak, it's the year's total additions adding up past the full charge — one more reason every top-up gets logged.
5. Records — keep them 3 years
Federal minimum retention is 3 years. For each service event, record: the date, technician name and certification number, refrigerant added or recovered, the leak check performed and method, what was found and repaired, and verification test dates. Heads-up: these are federal minimums — some states are tighter (for example, California and New York require 5-year records and shorter repair windows), so verify your state's overlay.
Let the log do this math
The free Refrigerant Log tracks every addition, computes the annualized leak rate at each one, starts the repair clock when you cross a trigger, and keeps printable 3-year histories. Before a job, the EPA Job Briefing gives you the do's and don'ts for that specific system.
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