Assisting in the installation of refrigeration equipment
Overview
This standard identifies the competences you need to assist in the installation of refrigeration equipment, in accordance with approved procedures. You will be required to assist in the installation of a range of refrigeration equipment, which will include compression types using air cooled, water cooled condensers, and secondary refrigerants, also air conditioning cooling plants. This will also include motors, compressors, evaporative condensers, evaporators, safety control devices, valves, refrigerant metering devices, sensors, switches, thermostats, meters, thermocouples, timers, interlocks, electrical components and wiring, electronic boards and components, controller units, computer equipment and peripheral devices.
This standard does not involve maintenance/repair type activities, such as removal and replacement of existing equipment.
You will be required to use the appropriate tools and equipment throughout the installation activities, and to apply a range of installation methods and techniques to position, level and align the equipment, and to make connections to the required services. The installation activities will include making checks and adjustments, in line with your permitted authority, and assisting others to ensure that the installed equipment functions to the required specification.
Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy and procedures for the installation activities undertaken, and to report any problems with the activities, tools or equipment used that you cannot personally resolve, or are outside your permitted authority, to the relevant people. You must check that all tools, equipment and materials used in the installation activities are removed from the work area on completion of the work, and that all necessary job/task documentation is completed accurately and legibly. You will be expected to work to instructions, alone or in conjunction with others, taking personal responsibility for your own actions, and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out.
The installation activity may be carried out as a team effort, but you must demonstrate a significant personal contribution to the installation activities, in order to satisfy the requirements of the standard, and you must demonstrate competence in all the areas required by the standard.
Your underpinning knowledge will be sufficient to provide a sound basis for your work, and will enable you to adopt an informed approach to applying installation of refrigeration equipment procedures. You will have an understanding of the equipment being installed, and its installation requirements, in adequate depth to provide a sound basis for carrying out the installation process safely and effectively.
You will understand the safety precautions required when carrying out the installation activities, especially those for ensuring the safe isolation of services. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices throughout, and will understand your responsibility for taking the necessary safeguards to protect yourself and others in the workplace.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- work safely at all times, complying with health and safety and other relevant regulations, directives and guidelines
- follow all relevant instructions/documentation for the installation being carried out
- use the correct tools and equipment for the installation operations, and check that they are in a safe and usable condition
- assist in the installation, positioning and securing of the equipment, using appropriate methods and techniques
- carry out and/or assist in checking the installation, and make any adjustments in accordance with the specification
- assist in using fault location methods and techniques on the installed equipment
- deal promptly and effectively with problems within your control and report those that cannot be solved
- assist in the completion of installation documentation
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the specific safety practices and procedures that you need to observe when installing refrigeration equipment (including any specific legislation, regulations/codes of practice for the activities, equipment or materials)
- the isolation and lock-off procedure or permit-to-work procedure that applies
- the specific health and safety precautions to be applied during the installation procedure, and their effects on others
- the hazards associated with installing refrigeration equipment, and with the tools and equipment used, and how they can be minimised
- the importance of wearing protective clothing and other appropriate safety equipment (PPE) during the installation
- how to obtain and interpret information from job instructions and other documents needed in the installation process (such as drawings, specifications, manufacturers' manuals, regulations, symbols and terminology)
- the basic principles of how the equipment functions, and its operating sequence
- methods of marking out the site for positioning the equipment, and the tools and equipment used for this
- methods of securing to masonry, and the use of mechanical fasteners, joint compounds and adhesives
- the techniques, tools and instruments used to position, align, level, adjust and secure the equipment
- methods of lifting, handling and supporting the equipment during the installation activities
- types of primary and secondary refrigerants, and methods of purging and charging the system
- methods of testing equipment and systems for leaks
- how to check that tools and equipment are free from damage or defects, are in a safe and usable condition, and are configured correctly for their intended purpose
- how to make adjustments to components to ensure that they function correctly
- methods of connecting equipment to service supplies (such as electrical, fluid, compressed air, oil and fuel supplies)
- why electrical bonding is critical, and why it must be both mechanically and electrically secure
- the procedure for the safe disposal of waste materials
- how to recognise installation defects (such as leaks, poor seals, misalignment, ineffective fasteners, foreign object damage or contamination)
- the importance of ensuring that the completed installation is free from dirt, swarf and foreign object damage, and of ensuring that any exposed components or pipe ends are correctly covered/protected
- the problems that can occur with the installation operations, and how these can be overcome
- the fault finding techniques to be used if the equipment fails to operate correctly
- the recording documentation to be completed for the activities undertaken
- the extent of your own responsibility and to whom you should report if you have problems that you cannot resolve
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Carry out all of the following during the installation of the refrigeration equipment:
- adhere to procedures or systems in place for risk assessment, COSHH, personal protective equipment and other relevant safety regulations
- confirm that authorisation to carry out the installation activities has been given
- check that safe access and working arrangements for the installation area have been provided
- confirm that services have been safely isolated, ready for the installation (such as mechanical, electricity, gas, air or fluids)
- check that all required installation consumables are available
- leave the work area in a safe condition and free from foreign object debris
Assist in the installation of equipment for one of the following types of refrigeration equipment:
- compression types using air cooled condensers
- compression types using secondary refrigerants
- compression types using water cooled condensers
- air conditioning cooling plant
Assist with the fitting of eight of the following components/equipment during the installation:
- pipework
- interlocks
- hoses and connectors
- motors
- vents/diffusers
- gaskets and seals
- evaporative condensers
- monitoring equipment
- computer peripheral devices
- evaporators
- safety devices
- electrical wiring and connections
- compressors
- uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)
- software
- sensors and actuators
- gauges and indicators (such as temperature, humidity, pressure)
- electronic modules/components
Apply installation methods and techniques, to include five of the following:
- marking out of locating and securing positions
- installing wiring conduit and enclosures
- drilling and hole preparation
- securing by using mechanical fixings
- positioning of equipment
- securing by using masonry fixings
- aligning and securing pipes, hoses ducting and equipment
- applying screw fastener locking devices
- levelling of equipment
- making installation connections (such as mechanical, electrical, fluid power, utilities)
Assist with the movement and positioning of equipment, using two of the following:
- slings
- portable lifting devices
- hoists
- cranes
- block and tackle
- jacks
- fork lift
- rollers
- manual handling and moving loads
Use three of the following instruments during the installation activities:
- alignment devices
- leak testing devices
- pressure testing devices
- multimeter
- temperature measuring devices
- filling and bleeding devices
Assist in carrying out eight of the following, as appropriate to the equipment being installed:
- purging the equipment of all air (such as with dry nitrogen)
- adding refrigeration lubricants
- making sensory checks (sight, sound, smell, touch)
- pumping down a system
- making visual checks for completeness and freedom from damage
- liquid charging of a system
- using flushing lines and equipment
- setting pressure cut-outs
- vapour charging of a system
- setting expansion valves
- functionally testing that the equipment operates correctly
- setting thermostats and controls
- carrying out pressure leak test
Assist in dealing with two of the following conditions during the installation process:
- installations with no faults
- partial equipment malfunction
- complete malfunction of equipment
Assist in using fault location methods and techniques on the installed equipment, to include one of the following:
- diagnostic aids (such as company records/history, manufacturers' manuals, fault analysis charts, troubleshooting guides)
- fault finding techniques (such as half-split, input-to-output, unit substitution)
- function testing the installation/running equipment self-diagnostics
Produce installations which comply with one of the following:
- company standards and procedures
- equipment manufacturer's operation range
- customer (contractual) standards and requirements
- BS, ISO and/or BSEN standards
Complete the relevant paperwork, to include one of the following, and pass it to the appropriate people:
- installation records
- company-specific documentation
- job card