TM44 air conditioning inspections, arranged and followed through by the engineers who maintain the plant

A TM44 inspection is the air conditioning inspection that England and Wales law requires at least every five years for systems with an effective rated output over 12kW. An accredited energy assessor carries it out and lodges the report on the national register. Rossair arranges your TM44 inspection with an accredited air conditioning energy assessor, then carries out the repair and efficiency work the report recommends.

Arrange a TM44 inspection

01420 566822

What we deliver

One point of contact for the inspection and the work that follows

TM44 is CIBSE Technical Memorandum 44, the method used to inspect air conditioning systems. The inspection must be done by an accredited energy assessor, and we do not carry out the assessment ourselves. We arrange it with an accredited air conditioning energy assessor, give the assessor the plant details, maintenance records and access they need, and make sure the report is lodged and in your compliance pack. The inspection looks at efficiency, controls, maintenance and sizing, and then makes recommendations. There is no legal requirement to act on them, but they are usually where the savings are, and we carry out the work: servicing, controls adjustment and plant replacement.

TM44 inspections arranged with an accredited air conditioning energy assessor
Records and plant details gathered beforehand, which can reduce the scope of the inspection
Report lodged on the register and filed in your compliance pack, with the next inspection date tracked
Recommendations costed and carried out by the same engineers who maintain the plant
Multiple split and VRF units counted together where they are under one person’s control
Inspections for single buildings and multi-site estates, planned around occupancy
Air conditioning maintenance, so the next inspection finds a well-kept system

Rossair engineer servicing an external air-source unit

In detail

What TM44 means for your building

The duty sits with whoever controls the technical operation of the system, which is usually the owner. These are the points that decide whether you need an inspection.

Does your system need a TM44 inspection?

The rules apply to air conditioning systems with an effective rated output of more than 12kW. Where you control the temperature of several separate units in a building, they count as one system, so a set of small split units can add up to more than 12kW. Check the combined output on the manufacturer’s data plates before assuming you are below the threshold.

What the inspection looks at

The assessor inspects the accessible parts of the system: the refrigeration equipment and heat exchangers, air-moving plant such as filters and fans, and the controls, including setpoints, operating hours and zones. They review maintenance records, and the report assesses efficiency and sizing compared with the building’s cooling needs, with advice on cost-effective improvements.

What happens after the report

You keep the most recent report and pass it to whoever takes over the system. The recommendations cover maintenance, controls and oversized or ageing plant. We cost them, agree priorities with you and carry them out, with the same servicing visits kept on your PPM.

Air conditioning maintenance

In schools and colleges

A school or college with classroom cooling, IT rooms and staff areas can pass 12kW easily, and the inspection has to be planned around term dates. We coordinate the assessor’s access and keep the report with the rest of the estate’s compliance records.

Air conditioning for schools

Compliance that sits inside your maintenance programme

12kW

Effective rated output above which inspection applies

5 years

Maximum gap between inspections

£300

Penalty charge for a breach of the inspection duty

1973

Building services contractor since

A TM44 inspection works best when the plant is already well documented. Rossair keeps service records for every unit under PPM, so the assessor has the information on day one, and the report’s recommendations go straight into the next maintenance visit. Chichester College Group has run on that model across 11 campuses for over 20 years, under one PPM contract.

Compliance

The rules behind TM44

EPB Regulations 2012Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, Part 4: air conditioning systems over 12kW must be inspected by an energy assessor at intervals not exceeding five years.
Accredited assessorThe assessor must belong to an approved accreditation scheme, and the report is only valid when lodged on the register.
RecordsThe person in control keeps the latest report, hands it on when control changes, and must produce it within seven days if an enforcement officer asks.
PenaltyA penalty charge of £300 applies to a breach of the inspection duty. Local weights and measures authorities, usually Trading Standards, enforce.
CIBSE TM44Inspection of air conditioning systems. The technical method the assessor follows.
REFCOM F-GasREFCOM F-Gas registered, for refrigerant work on air conditioning plant.

5 sectors

Sectors we serve

EducationClassroom, IT room and hall cooling, inspected outside term time CommercialOffice floors and tenant units with combined cooling above 12kW NHS HealthcareAir conditioning records kept with the wider compliance file Facilities ManagementInspection dates tracked across a portfolio Data CentresCooling plant maintained and documented for inspection

Related services

HVAC maintenancePlanned and reactive maintenance for air conditioning and wider HVAC.PPM contractsSFG20-scheduled PPM with inspection dates tracked.Server room air conditioningCooling for IT rooms and comms rooms.Building management systemsControls that cut run hours and over-cooling.DecarbonisationEfficiency upgrades that follow from the report.Air conditioning for schoolsClassroom cooling, IT rooms and TM44 in schools.

Frequently asked

Questions about TM44 air conditioning inspections

What is a TM44 inspection?

A TM44 inspection is a legally required inspection of air conditioning systems with an effective rated output over 12kW, based on CIBSE Technical Memorandum 44. An accredited energy assessor looks at the accessible parts of the system - the refrigeration equipment, air-moving plant and controls - and reviews maintenance records. The report assesses efficiency and sizing and recommends improvements, and the assessor lodges it on the national register.

Who needs a TM44 inspection?

The duty falls on the person who controls the technical operation of the system, which is usually the owner, although a landlord, occupier or managing contractor may take it on under a lease or contract. It applies in England and Wales to air conditioning systems with an effective rated output over 12kW. Separate units that you control in the same building count together, so several small units can take you over the threshold.

How often is a TM44 inspection required?

At intervals not exceeding five years. A system first put into service has to have its first inspection within five years of that date. If control of a system changes hands without a report being passed on, the new operator is expected to arrange an inspection within three months. Reports produced on or after 6 April 2012 only count when the assessor has lodged them on the register.

Can Rossair carry out the TM44 inspection?

We arrange your TM44 inspection with an accredited air conditioning energy assessor rather than carrying out the assessment ourselves, because the law requires an accredited assessor to do it. We prepare the plant information and access, make sure the report is lodged and filed, and then carry out the maintenance, controls and efficiency work the report recommends.

What happens if I do not have a TM44 report?

A breach of the inspection duty carries a penalty charge of £300. Enforcement is by local weights and measures authorities, usually Trading Standards, which can require you to produce the report. If they ask, you must provide it within seven days. The penalty does not remove the duty: you still need the inspection.

Do I have to act on the TM44 recommendations?

There is no legal requirement to carry out the recommendations. They are advice on cost-effective improvement, covering maintenance, controls, sizing and replacement. They are still worth costing, because inefficiency in cooling plant shows up in energy bills. We price them with you, and you decide what to take forward.

How much does a TM44 inspection cost?

The cost of the inspection depends on the number of systems and units, their output, how many buildings are involved and how easy the plant is to reach, and an accredited assessor sets it. We arrange the inspection after surveying the site, so you have the scope and price before it goes ahead. Any follow-on work is quoted separately once the report is complete.

If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you who is

Arrange a TM44 inspection

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