knowledge article/ f-gas

F-gas: what is banned in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2029.

Will R32 be banned in 2027? The refrigerant itself will not. What changes is which new units may be placed on the market with it. From 1 January 2027 an air-to-water split up to and including 12 kW may only be new with a refrigerant below GWP 150, and R32 is at 675. For the ordinary air conditioner, the air-to-air split, that date is 1 January 2029.

Below, per year, what changes for air conditioners, heat pumps and refrigeration, with the article and the point from Regulation (EU) 2024/573, the EU F-gas Regulation that applies in every member state. The explanations by IPLO and RVO, two Dutch government bodies, are alongside; you will find all sources at the bottom.

This is an explanation, not legal advice. What applies to your installation is in the regulation itself.

two kinds of ban/

New on the market, or refilling.

It helps to keep the two apart, because they work very differently.

Annex IV is about what is newly placed on the market (Article 11(1)). A unit that is already running at your customer's does not fall under it. You may also still supply parts for its repair after the date, as long as the capacity, the quantity of gas or the GWP does not go up as a result. And a unit that was already lawfully placed on the market before the date may still be supplied in the year after, if you can show that it is from before the date.

Article 13 is about refilling an existing installation during servicing or maintenance. There the GWP of the gas counts, and whether it is virgin gas. Recycled gas may only be used by the company that recovered it itself during maintenance, or by the company for which that was done, and it must come from the same type of equipment. Reclaimed gas comes in a container with the label from Article 12(7).

The GWP of R32 is in Annex I of the regulation: 675. For a blend you calculate it with Annex VI. How that works, and what the GWP does to your leak checks, you can read in the article on leak checks and CO2 equivalent.

per year/

What changes on 1 January.

Most points in Annex IV come with an exception for when the safety requirements at the site call for a different refrigerant. They are not listed with every point here; you will find them in the regulation.

2025 Refrigeration, and the small single split

placing on the market

A single split system with less than 3 kilograms of F-gas may no longer be placed on the market new if that gas has a GWP of 750 or more.

Annex IV, point 9(a)
placing on the market

Self-contained refrigeration equipment, except chillers, with a GWP of 150 or more. And other refrigeration equipment with a GWP of 2,500 or more, unless it cools products to below minus 50 degrees.

Annex IV, points 4 and 5(b)
refilling

Refilling refrigeration equipment with virgin gas with a GWP of 2,500 or more is no longer allowed. With reclaimed or recycled gas it is still allowed until 1 January 2030, under conditions.

Article 13(3)

2026 Refilling air conditioners and heat pumps

refilling

Refilling air conditioners and heat pumps with virgin gas with a GWP of 2,500 or more is no longer allowed. Reclaimed or recycled gas is still allowed until 1 January 2032, under conditions.

Article 13(4)
Dutch subsidy

In the Netherlands, your customer no longer gets the Dutch ISDE subsidy for a split air-to-water heat pump with a charge of less than 3 kilograms and a GWP higher than 750. RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, gives the European rules as the reason.

RVO, ISDE heat pump

2027 New heat pumps and monoblocks

placing on the market

An air-to-water split up to and including 12 kW is only placed on the market new with a refrigerant below GWP 150. With R32, GWP 675, that is therefore no longer possible.

Annex IV, point 9(b)
placing on the market

Monoblocks, plug-in air conditioners and other self-contained units and heat pumps up to and including 12 kW: also below 150. If the safety requirements at the site do not allow a refrigerant below 150, the limit is 750.

Annex IV, point 8(b)
placing on the market

Monoblocks and other self-contained units and heat pumps of more than 12 up to and including 50 kW: also below 150, with the same exception.

Annex IV, point 8(d)
placing on the market

Chillers up to and including 12 kW below 150, chillers above 12 kW below 750.

Annex IV, point 7(b) and (d)

2029 The ordinary air conditioner

placing on the market

An air-to-air split up to and including 12 kW, the ordinary air conditioner, is only placed on the market new with a refrigerant below GWP 150.

Annex IV, point 9(c)
placing on the market

A split above 12 kW only with a GWP below 750. R32 stays below that. From 2033 the limit is 150 here too.

Annex IV, point 9(e) and (f)

And after that

2030: Self-contained units and heat pumps above 50 kW below GWP 150 (Annex IV, point 8(e)), refrigeration equipment except chillers below 150 (point 5(c)). Refilling refrigeration with recycled or reclaimed gas of GWP 2,500 or more is then no longer allowed either (Article 13(3)).
2032: Self-contained units up to and including 12 kW and chillers up to and including 12 kW without F-gases (points 8(c) and 7(c)). Stationary refrigeration, except chillers, no longer refilled with virgin gas of GWP 750 or more (Article 13(5)). For air conditioners and heat pumps, the exception for recycled and reclaimed gas of GWP 2,500 or more ends (Article 13(4)).
2033: Splits above 12 kW below GWP 150 (point 9(f)).
2035: Splits up to and including 12 kW without F-gases (point 9(d)).

which unit/

Split or monoblock, air-to-water or air-to-air.

The regulation looks at how the unit is built. With a split system you connect parts of the refrigerant circuit on site (Article 3, point 39). A self-contained unit, such as a monoblock, comes ready-made from the factory; on site you do not connect any parts that contain gas (Article 3, point 38).

For splits, Annex IV distinguishes between air-to-water and air-to-air. For self-contained units it does not: there only the capacity counts. It is about the rated capacity, and the 12 kW limit keeps coming back. Fixed double-duct units count as splits for these rules.

unit	capacity	new on the market only with	from 1 january	annex iv, point
single split, less than 3 kilograms	any capacity	GWP below 750	2025	9(a)
air-to-water split	up to and including 12 kW	GWP below 150	2027	9(b)
air-to-air split	up to and including 12 kW	GWP below 150	2029	9(c)
any split	up to and including 12 kW	no F-gas	2035	9(d)
any split	more than 12 kW	GWP below 750, later below 150	2029 and 2033	9(e) and (f)
monoblock or other self-contained unit	up to and including 12 kW	GWP below 150, later no F-gas	2027 and 2032	8(b) and (c)
monoblock or other self-contained unit	more than 12 up to and including 50 kW	GWP below 150	2027	8(d)
other self-contained unit	more than 50 kW	GWP below 150	2030	8(e)

Regulation (EU) 2024/573, Annex IV, points 8 and 9 with the footnote to point 9. IPLO uses the same division: self-contained or split, and per capacity.

your register and your quotes/

What you can do with it now.

Your register knows what is installed at your customers. You get two things out of that.

Which installations run on a refrigerant of GWP 2,500 or more? You can only refill those with recycled or reclaimed gas. For refrigeration that stops too on 1 January 2030, for air conditioners and heat pumps on 1 January 2032. Those are the conversations about replacement you can already have now, with the date to hand.

And your quotes. If you quote an air-to-water split up to and including 12 kW or a monoblock with R32, check when the unit is placed on the market. From 1 January 2027 that is no longer allowed, unless it was already lawfully on the market before and you can show it. A quote that runs over the turn of the year therefore calls for a unit that is still allowed after the date. In the Netherlands, if your customer applies for the Dutch ISDE subsidy, also check the registration code list of RVO.

If you want to get your leak checks right straight away, the page about maintenance contracts and leak checks helps. If you mainly work in refrigeration, have a look at Fikst for air conditioning and refrigeration.

and Fikst/

What Fikst shows when refilling.

Fikst is software for air conditioning, heat pump and installation companies. The F-gas records are built in, next to your technician's work order. For the bans it is about refilling under Article 13.

Refrigerant and GWP per installation

Every installation has its refrigerant, the charge, the GWP and the CO2 equivalent. Fikst calculates with the GWP from the regulation, also for a blend.
The refilling ban on the installation

If you may no longer refill that refrigerant in that type of unit, the installation shows Refilling banned, with the article paragraph and the date. If the gas is recycled or reclaimed and the exception still runs, it shows Refilling only under conditions, with the condition.
A notice, not a block

Fikst does not stop the refilling; the technician makes the call. If Fikst does not know the refrigerant or the type of unit, it says that it cannot be determined, and why.
Exceptions you see yourself

Military equipment or cooling to below minus 50 degrees, Fikst cannot get from your data. Where such an exception counts, it is shown as a note with the ban.

What Fikst does not do

Fikst does not check the bans in Annex IV, about new units. Whether a unit you quote may still be placed on the market, you judge yourself.

The F-gas records are included in your subscription. If you work with refrigerant, we switch them on for you during the setup. Read what the F-gas records in Fikst do

Questions about the F-gas bans.

All frequently asked questions about Fikst

Is R32 banned in 2027?

The refrigerant itself is not. From 1 January 2027, air-to-water splits up to and including 12 kW and monoblocks up to and including 50 kW are only placed on the market new with a refrigerant below GWP 150. R32 has a GWP of 675 and so does not meet that limit. You may keep refilling an existing installation with R32: none of the refilling bans in Article 13 affects a GWP of 675.

Can I still install an R32 air conditioner after 2027?

An air-to-air split up to and including 12 kW with R32 may still be placed on the market new until 1 January 2029. A monoblock or a plug-in air conditioner up to and including 12 kW with R32 may no longer after 1 January 2027. For a split above 12 kW the limit from 2029 is a GWP of 750, and R32 stays below that; from 2033 it becomes 150.

Can I still refill R410A?

Yes. The refilling ban for air conditioners and heat pumps applies to gas with a GWP of 2,500 or more, and RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, lists R410A at a GWP of 2088 in its list of registration codes. However, a single split with less than 3 kilograms and a GWP of 750 or more may no longer be placed on the market new since 1 January 2025.

For these rules, what is the difference between a split and a monoblock?

With a split you connect parts of the refrigerant circuit on site. A monoblock is a self-contained unit: made in the factory, and on site you do not connect any parts that contain gas. For splits the regulation distinguishes between air-to-water and air-to-air. For self-contained units only the capacity counts.

Can an installation that is already in place keep running?

Yes. The bans in Annex IV are about units that are newly placed on the market. For an existing installation the question is what you may still refill it with, and that is in Article 13. Parts for the repair of an existing unit are also allowed after the date, as long as the capacity, the quantity of gas or the GWP does not go up as a result.

Does Fikst keep track of this for me?

The refilling, yes. On the installation you see the refrigerant with its GWP, and Fikst flags it when refilling with that refrigerant is banned or only allowed under conditions, with the article paragraph and the date. It blocks nothing. Fikst does not check the new unit you quote against Annex IV.

Sources.

Consulted on 11 October 2026, in the Dutch text of the regulation; the link below goes to the English text of the same regulation. The articles and points in the text are those of Regulation (EU) 2024/573.

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