One of the most important changes is that it will be mandatory for car maintenance and repair companies to check the technical equipment of these systems before filling the vehicle’s air conditioning system with F-gas, and if a violation is detected, it will be prohibited to fill it without repair. In addition, it is established that only natural or legal persons with a certificate of competence can perform the above-mentioned works.
Requirements have been set for a new form of service provision – technical assistance, which is provided when a vehicle breaks down on the road and a specialist is called to repair it.
When reducing environmental air pollution with pollutants hazardous to health, the service provider, who has repaired or adjusted vehicle systems and parts that affect exhaust gases, will have to ensure that the exhaust gases of the repaired vehicle meet the standards set for them. Compliance of the measured parameters with the norms will have to be indicated in the documents issued to the vehicle owner.
It will be prohibited to install systems of parts, equipment, components that compromise the operation or effectiveness of exhaust gas neutralization equipment in vehicles.
Before the start of service provision, the declaration of the vehicle maintenance and repair service provider will have to be submitted in the Unified Products, Packaging and Waste Accounting Information System (GPAIS). In the declaration, it will be possible to mark the activities carried out accordingly.
Information about service providers providing maintenance and repair services will be publicly available on the GPAIS website. Here it will be possible to sort the service providers according to the vehicle maintenance and repair activities carried out and the beginning and end of the activity.
It is expected that this will facilitate the search for business entities performing technical maintenance, repair and technical assistance of vehicles, both for their potential customers and for the authorities controlling the activity.
Also, as a separate document, it will not be necessary to fill in the act of transfer and acceptance of vehicle parts, as the related information will be provided in the service order application.
The new requirements are regulated by the 2023 Decree of the Ministers of Environment and Transport. April 13 the description of the procedure for the provision of technical maintenance, repair, technical assistance and recycling services of vehicles, the requirements for the persons performing these works and the environmental protection requirements for these works has been approved.
After the entry into force of the description and ensuring the implementation of its requirements, conditions will be created for effective control of the provision of vehicle maintenance, repair, technical assistance and recycling services. This will help to identify business entities illegally providing such services and apply sanctions to them, so the quality of services will improve and procedures will be clearer.
New requirements for environmental air protection will help to reduce air pollution by volatile organic compounds, solid particles, nitrogen oxides and to control the illegal dismantling of catalysts, solid particle filters that affect exhaust gases, and the installation of equipment that adjusts the operation or effectiveness of pollution control devices.
Tightened requirements for adding F-gas to vehicle air conditioning systems will help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases and ensure that this service is provided only by qualified specialists for a technically sound vehicle.
All vehicle maintenance, repair or technical assistance and recycling service providers must re-fill and submit the declaration of Vehicle maintenance, repair and technical assistance service provider to GPAIS within two months from the date of entry into force of the order, i.e. by June 30.
