About EPA 608 Certification

The Federal Government of the United States requires all individuals who open a system or container holding a controlled refrigerant to be certified. Persons who work on stationary equipment or use refrigerant designed for these systems can become certified by passing a proctored Section 608 examination. Candidates for this test can be certified in any of three equipment categories plus Universal.

• CORE - To pass any EPA type, a candidate must pass the CORE section of the test plus one of the technician types listed below. Once CORE is passed it need not be taken again and it may be used for additional EPA types.

• Type I - A Type I technician primarily works on small appliances such as domestic refrigerators, window air conditioners, PTAC's and vending machines.

• Type II – A Type II technician primarily works on equipment using high-pressure refrigerant such as HCFC-22. The equipment includes residential air conditioners and heat pumps, supermarket refrigeration and process refrigeration.

• Type III - A Type III technician primarily works on equipment using a low-pressure refrigerant such as HCFC-123 or CFC-11. The units are primarily chillers.

• Universal - Any candidate passing all three of these EPA types Type I, Type II or Type III is certified as UNIVERSAL.

The test is divided into four sections, CORE, Type I, Type II and Type III. Each test section has 25 multiple-choice questions drawn from a pool of test questions provided by the EPA. Questions regarding equipment regulations, safety, shipping and identifying refrigerants appear in every test section, so it is important to know these well. Multiple versions of the test are offered at the same time offering different questions.

A passing score of 70%, or 18 out of 25 correct, is required in order to be certified. For Type I certification tests using the mail-in or online format, passing score is 84%. Each section is graded independently, so a technician could pass CORE, Type I and Type III and fail Type II. In this case the technician would be certified as a Type I & Type III technician. CORE must be passed to receive any certification. All sections must be passed in order to achieve Universal Technician status

A technician may choose to take CORE plus any combination of Type I, Type II or Type III. It is not required to take all four sections on the examination, however, much of the content from section to section relates back to CORE content, so once the CORE content is mastered, reviewing for the other sections is much easier.

Overlap Between Sections 608 and 609

Section 608 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 directs EPA to establish requirements to prevent the release of ozone-depleting substances during the servicing, repair, or disposal of appliances and industrial process refrigeration. Section 609 of the Act establishes standards specifically for the service of motor vehicle air conditioners (MVACs). MVACs are included in the definition of appliances set forth in section 608; however, since their service and repair are regulated under section 609, they are not subject to the servicing requirements under section 608. Procedures involving MVACs that are not covered by section 609, such as the disposal of MVACs and the purchase of refrigerant for use in MVACs, are covered by section 608

Technicians are required to become certified under both regulations. Section 608 has four types of certification for technicians who service and repair appliances other than MVACs. Technicians become certified by passing a test in the appropriate area. The four categories of certification are:

• Type I = small appliances
• Type II = high-pressure applicances, except small appliances and MVACs
• Type III = low-pressure appliances
• Type IV = all appliances except MVACs

Technicians who service or repair MVAC-like appliances (e.g., farm equipment and other off-road vehicles) can choose to be certified under either the section 609 program or the section 608 Type II program. Because of the similarities between MVACs and MVAC-like appliances, EPA recommends that technicians servicing MVAC-like appliances consider certification under section 609. Buses using CFC-12 are MVACs, buses using HCFC-22 are not MVACs or MVAC-like appliances, but rather are high-pressure equipment covered under Type II of the section 608 test.

For more information on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) you can visit their web site at http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/608/technicians/certoutl.html