ARCtick Licence Types

A candidate tells you he's ARCtick licensed. Most employers write that down and move on.

It tells you almost nothing. There are twelve licence classes, and the gap between them is the difference between a technician who can legally do the job you're hiring for and one who cannot touch it.

Picture a shortlist of three technicians for a commercial refrigeration role. All three have "ARCtick licensed" on the CV. One holds RAC01, one holds RSS03, one holds RRR12. Only the first can legally do the job. The CVs look identical.

That is the problem in one paragraph, and it is why the class matters more than the licence.

Here's what the licence actually says.

Who needs one at all

Under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations, any person who handles fluorocarbon refrigerant or works on refrigeration and air conditioning equipment containing it must hold a Refrigerant Handling Licence.

That covers decanting refrigerant, installing, commissioning, servicing, maintaining and decommissioning. It is not limited to gas work in the narrow sense - if the equipment contains fluorocarbon refrigerant and your technician is working on it, the licence is required.

Handling it without one is an offence of strict liability. Strict liability means intention is irrelevant. "He didn't know his licence didn't cover it" is not a defence.

The licence classes, and what each one lets you hire for

• RAC01 — Name: Full Refrigeration and Air Conditioning · What it permits: All stationary RAC work outside automotive. This is the one most commercial and industrial roles need.
• RSS03 — Name: Restricted Heat Pump (Split Systems) · What it permits: Install and decommission single-head split systems, two-part heat pumps and pool heat pumps under 18kW. Nothing else.
• RDR04 — Name: Restricted Domestic Refrigeration · What it permits: Domestic appliances and stand-alone commercial equipment not permanently connected to premises power.
• AAC02 — Name: Automotive Air Conditioning · What it permits: Vehicle cabin air conditioning only.
• TRT07 — Name: Transport · What it permits: Mobile refrigeration systems, excluding vehicle cabin AC.
• MTL06 — Name: Marine · What it permits: Vessel refrigeration and AC.
• ATL05 — Name: Aviation · What it permits: Aircraft RAC equipment.
• RHTL09 — Name: Handler · What it permits: Decanting refrigerant from cylinders. Nothing else.
• RRR10 / RRR11 / RRR12 — Name: Recovery · What it permits: Recovery during decommissioning only - stationary, automotive, or RAC-specific.
• TL000 — Name: Trainee RAC · What it permits: Full-scope work under supervision while in training. Up to 1 year.
• CL000 — Name: Classroom Trainee · What it permits: Classroom only. No field refrigerant handling at all.

Full licences run two or three years. Trainee licences run up to one.

The three that catch employers out:

RSS03 is not a refrigeration licence. It is a split-system installer's licence with a hard 18kW cap. A candidate with RSS03 applying for a commercial refrigeration mechanic role is not qualified for it, no matter how many years he has.

TL000 means supervision is a legal requirement, not a preference. If you're hiring a trainee to run a van on his own, you have a compliance problem on day one.

RRR10, RRR11 and RRR12 are recovery only. These sometimes appear on CVs simply as "ARC recovery licence". The holder can pull gas out during decommissioning. He cannot install, service or commission.

The one employers miss entirely: your business needs its own authorisation

The licence belongs to the technician. The Refrigerant Trading Authorisation belongs to the business.

If your company acquires, possesses or disposes of bulk fluorocarbon refrigerant, the company needs a current RTA. Your technician's RHL does not cover the business, and the business's RTA does not cover the technician. You need both.

This is the single most common gap we see in smaller mechanical services companies - a fully licensed crew working for a business whose RTA lapsed and nobody noticed. RTAs run on a three-year cycle.

What it costs to get it wrong

The ARC's published penalty for handling RAC equipment containing fluorocarbon refrigerant without an RHL is up to $2,220. The penalty for acquiring, possessing or disposing of bulk refrigerant without an RTA is the same.

Two caveats worth knowing. That figure comes from the ARC's own fact sheet and Commonwealth penalty units are indexed periodically, so the current maximum is likely higher - check the source before you quote it to anyone. And the more material exposure usually isn't the fine. It's the insurance position, the client contract, and the conversation with a head contractor when unlicensed work is found on their site.

How to actually verify it

Do not accept a photograph of a licence card. Cards get renewed, downgraded and expire, and a photo tells you nothing about current status.

The ARC maintains a public licence check. Search the licence number and confirm three things:

1. The status is current - not expired, not suspended.
2. The class matches the work. RAC01 for commercial and industrial. Anything else, read the scope above and check it against your actual job.
3. The name matches the candidate.

Thirty seconds per candidate, and it is the cheapest compliance check available to you.

What this means for your next hire

If you're writing a job ad for a refrigeration or HVAC role, name the licence class you need. "ARCtick licensed" in a job ad attracts every one of the twelve classes and puts the sorting job on you.

Write RAC01 if that's what the work requires. You will get fewer applications and a shortlist you can actually interview.

And if you have a technician on RSS03 doing work that needs RAC01, that is fixable - the upgrade path runs through the relevant Certificate III units - but it needs to be a deliberate decision with a timeline, not something discovered during an audit.

HJ Recruitment places permanent HVAC/R, electrical, plumbing and fire technicians with Australian employers. If you're not sure which licence class your role actually needs, call us - we'll tell you, whether or not you're hiring through us.

Sources- ARC - Refrigerant Handling Licence types- ARC - Refrigerant Handling Licence FAQs- ARC - Refrigerant Trading Authorisation FAQs- ARC Fact Sheet 11 - Penalties under the Ozone legislation