Guide · recordkeeping · 40 CFR 84.106(l)
The records the 15-pound rule keeps for three years
Published · 2026-09-08Published 2026-09-08 · by the Wuzler team · sections verified 2026-09-04
The leak repair section ends with a list of records, and the list is longer than the leak rate. This page is every record an owner or operator must keep under 84.106(l), what each one contains, and the paragraph it comes from, so the file can be checked against the rule rather than against memory.
The rule in one sentence
All records identified in the paragraph must be kept for at least three years in electronic or paper format, unless otherwise specified (84.106(l)). The paragraph then identifies thirteen kinds. The ones that apply to a restaurant with a walk-in or a contractor with fifty customers are below; the purge-and-destroy records and the method-change records apply to industrial sites and acquisitions and are on the sources page.
The records, one by one
the owner or operator, the address, the full charge and how it was determined, any revisions and their dates, the installation date. Determined by 1 January 2026 or on installation.
for each installation, service, repair or disposal: the appliance and its location, the date, the parts, the type of work, who did it, the refrigerant added or removed, the full charge, the leak rate and the method.
when someone other than the owner does the work, the record that person must provide: the appliance, the date, the parts, the work, who, and the refrigerant added or removed.
the date, the methods used, the location of each leak found, and a certification that all visible and accessible parts were inspected.
the dates and results of every initial and follow-up test, the location of the repaired leaks tested, the type of test, the result.
the plan itself, signed and dated, on site, and any extension request submitted to the EPA.
when an appliance was mothballed and when refrigerant was next added, since the clocks pause in between.
copies of any report submitted to the EPA and any response.
The one record most files lack
The full charge, with the method used to determine it (84.106(l)(1)). The rule gives four methods: the manufacturer's figure, a calculation from component sizes and piping, actual measurement of refrigerant added or evacuated, or an established range whose midpoint serves as the full charge (84.102). Every leak rate divides by this number, and every chronic-leak test compares against it, so a file without it has no arithmetic in it. The rule required it to be on file by 1 January 2026 for existing appliances.
How the ledger keeps them
One card per appliance holds the appliance record. One entry per visit holds the service record, with the leak rate and its method computed from the entries on the day the addition is logged (84.106(l)(2)). Inspections, repairs and verification tests are entries of their own kind on the same card, and the printed ticket for each visit is the hand-over (84.106(l)(4)). The three years run from each entry; the export carries them all. The product page shows a card and a ticket with the reference example.
What this page is not
A statement that any file is complete, or advice on what an inspector will accept. It is the rule's own list with the paragraphs attached; the ledger keeps records in that shape and certifies nothing.
Common questions
- Paper or electronic?
- Either. The rule says records must be kept for at least three years in electronic or paper format unless otherwise specified (84.106(l)). A paper file that an inspector can read is a record; so is a database that prints one.
- Who keeps them, the owner or the contractor?
- The owner or operator (84.106(l)). The contractor who does the work must provide the owner with the documentation that feeds the record (84.106(l)(4), (l)(5), (l)(7)), and a contractor who keeps a copy is being careful, not obliged.
- Three years from when?
- From the record. The appliance record itself is kept until three years after the appliance is retired (84.106(l)(1)), which for a walk-in that runs fifteen years is eighteen.
The tool that does the work
Leak rate calculator. Free, no signup, nothing stored.
What this page rests on
Each entry is from the rules library, with the section, the requirement in the library's words and the date the section text was read. The sources page lists them all.
All leak repair records must be kept for at least three years, in electronic or paper format. Appliance records are kept until three years after the appliance is retired.
By January 1, 2026, or on installation, the owner or operator must determine the full charge of every covered appliance and keep: the owner or operator, the address, the full charge and how it was determined, any revisions, and the installation date.
For each installation, service, repair or disposal: the appliance and its location, the date, the parts worked on, the type of work, the name of the person who did it, the amount and type of refrigerant added or removed, the full charge, and the leak rate and the method used.
If the work is done by someone other than the owner or operator, that person must provide the owner or operator with a record of the appliance, the date, the parts, the type of work, who did it, and the refrigerant added or removed.
Records of the dates and results of every initial and follow-up verification test, the repaired leaks tested, and the test methods; the technician provides this documentation on conclusion of the service.
One or a combination of: the manufacturer's determination; calculation from component sizes, refrigerant density and piping volume; actual measurement of refrigerant added or evacuated; or an established range, whose midpoint serves as the full charge.
84.106(l), (l)(1); 84.106(l)(1); 84.106(l)(2); 84.106(l)(4); 84.106(l)(7); 84.102 (full charge) · verified 2026-09-04 · information with its sources, never advice; the product records and computes and certifies nothing