Start with the applicable requirement
For federal appliance leak repair, review 40 CFR 82.157 and 40 CFR 84.106. Covered ODS appliances generally have a full charge of at least 50 pounds. Part 84 covers qualifying HFC/HFC-substitute appliances with at least 15 pounds, but excludes residential and light-commercial AC and heat pumps. Separate certification, recovery and venting duties can still apply outside these leak-repair thresholds.
Keep a traceable service record
For covered work, retain the appliance identity and location, full-charge determination, refrigerant identity, service dates and amounts added or removed, the calculation method and inputs, applicable category and threshold, and relevant technician and owner/operator documentation. Record exceptions and supporting facts when they apply. The detailed required fields and who must provide or retain them are in paragraph (l) of each rule.
For covered appliances, the current thresholds are 10% comfort cooling, 20% commercial refrigeration and 30% industrial process refrigeration. When a calculation exceeds the threshold, preserve the triggering event and associated leak inspection, repair, verification, extension and retrofit/retirement evidence.
The ordinary repair period is 30 days. The 120-day period applies when an industrial process shutdown is required, not to all industrial equipment. Both rules generally require follow-up verification within 10 days of successful initial verification, or of reaching normal operating conditions after evacuation for repair; review the detailed timing and exceptions in paragraph (e).
Retention and reports are separate duties
Most required records must be retained for at least three years. Full-charge and certain other appliance records have longer event-based retention, including until three years after retirement. Preserve originals and document corrections so the sequence remains reviewable.
The chronic-leaker reporting provision concerns losses of 125% or more of the appliance’s full charge in a calendar year, not 125% of its 10%, 20% or 30% repair threshold. Review paragraph (j) and the reporting provisions of the applicable rule for the report contents, deadline and submission route.
Using FieldPad records
Keep source evidence with the relevant equipment and service history, and check exported records for completeness before relying on them. An export or reminder is a recordkeeping aid; it does not establish that every required action or submission occurred. Follow the current rule and applicable state/local requirements for the particular work.
This article intentionally does not state a universal penalty amount, predict enforcement frequency, or claim that a generic checklist establishes compliance.
