Guide
TM44 regulations: what the law actually requires in England and Wales
Updated
People say TM44 when they mean a statutory inspection. Worth separating the two, because the duty comes from regulations and the methodology comes from a CIBSE publication, and only one of them can fine you.
Where the name comes from
The statutory duty sits in the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, as amended in 2020. The government's guide to air conditioning inspections explains those regulations and states that it incorporates extracts from the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers publication TM44: Inspection of air conditioning systems: a guide to EPBD compliance, with CIBSE's permission, which describes the appropriate assessment methodology (gov.uk). So the industry shorthand is a document title, and the enforceable requirement is the regulations.
The scope test, in the order an assessor applies it
- Is there refrigeration providing cooling? Gov.uk defines an air conditioning system as a combination of all components required to provide a form of air treatment in which the temperature is controlled or can be lowered, including systems combining that with control of ventilation, humidity and air cleanliness.
- Add the units up. Gov.uk states that one or more units within a building controlled by a single person are considered to comprise a single system, and that the regulations catch systems consisting of individual units each under 12kW whose combined effective rated output is more than 12kW.
- Compare the total against 12kW. Gov.uk defines effective rated output as the maximum calorific output in kW stated by the manufacturer of the system, as delivered during continuous operation while complying with the useful efficiency indicated by the manufacturer.
- Check the date of the last report. Gov.uk states inspections must be no more than five years apart.
Where the boundary of the regime sits
- England and Wales only. The guidance draws its own border: Scottish and Northern Irish buildings sit under separate regulatory requirements that gov.uk states are neither covered by nor referred to in it.
- Not the F gas regime. The same guide puts inspection under the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gas Regulations outside its remit entirely. F gas is a separate duty on a separate clock driven by refrigerant charge, and a maintenance contract may service neither.
- Process cooling is a grey edge. Gov.uk states there is no exemption restricting inspection to systems purely for occupant comfort and that refrigeration for process applications such as cold stores can be inspected, while adding that the guidance is not intended to cover dedicated process cooling systems.
- Interpretation is on you. The guide is explicit that any interpretation of the regulations is offered only as a guide, that MHCLG cannot provide legal advice, and that in cases of doubt independent legal advice should be sought.
The original deadlines, which still matter
Gov.uk sets out the first inspection timetable: for systems first put into service on or after 1 January 2008, within five years of the date the system was first put into service; for other systems with an effective rated output of more than 250kW, by 4 January 2009; and for other systems of more than 12kW, by 4 January 2011. Those dates are long past, which is the point. If a building in scope has never had an inspection, the duty was not deferred, it was missed.
Not sure whether your kit adds up past 12kW? That is the most common reason people put this off. Put the building through the quote form and accredited assessors will tell you what is in scope before they price it.