In may 2019 the Government approved a Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) proposal to licence Refrigeration and Air Conditioning workers, who work with Toxic, Flammable and High Pressure  refrigerants. The licencing has been deemed necessary as a result of the phase down of HCFC's  which will see an increase in the use of Natural Refrigerants, all of which fall into on or more of the hazardous categories mentioned above. 

After the initial discussion document released in 2018, Individuals, company's and association were asked to submit there views on the subject. At this point, there were only 236 individual submissions made in an industry of approximately 7000 people. 

MBIE later released the documents below detailing there understanding of what is required. At this stage we understand the following has been approved and/or recommended:

• All persons working with Natural and Flammable Refrigerants will be required to hold a licence.
• The Licence structure will be similar to what we have seen completed in Australia
• It is likely that the Licencing system will be administered by Worksafe New Zealand
• There will be a demand for training and certification for each refrigerant class
• The training will be integrated into the existing Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Curriculum 
• Anhydrous Ammonia systems have also been included into this licencing document, it has been recommended that all plants be included in the Health and Safety (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017.