Inspection of Heating and Air-conditioning Systems

In our company, we have two energy specialists with several years of experience in inspecting operated heating and air conditioning systems. Whether you need an inspection in Vsetín, Ostrava, or anywhere else, you will always meet only experts with us.

With the passage of Act No. 3/2020 on January 25, 2020, Act No. 406/2000 Coll. on Energy Management has been amended. If you are the owner of an operated building heating system or a combined building heating and ventilation system with a nominal output above 70 kW, you are required to ensure regular inspections of these devices.

On March 1, 2022, the Decree on the Inspection of Operated Heating Systems and Combined Heating and Ventilation Systems came into force, which is an implementing decree to § 6a, paragraph 6 of Act No. 406/2000 Coll. on Energy Management. From the perspective of Decree No. 38/2022 Coll., the law distinguishes:

Obligations of Owners

The owner of the building, the community of unit owners, or if the community of unit owners has not been established, the manager is required for the operated building heating system or combined building heating and ventilation system with a nominal output above 70 kW to:

• Ensure regular inspections of these combined heating systems and the relevant heat distribution, resulting in a written report,
• Submit the inspection reports of combined heating systems and the relevant heat distribution to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Energy Inspection, or the relevant control authority upon request,
• Notify the ministry about the inspection being carried out.

The decree defines new methodologies for determining the sizing of the heat source, assessing the efficiency of combustion heat sources, and verifying the quality of heating water.

Heat Sources:

• Heat source with combustion – all combustion boilers for solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels,
• Heat source with combustion – cogeneration,
• Heat pump,
• Heat source with direct conversion of electrical energy into heat – electric boilers, direct heaters,
• Thermal solar system for heating and hot water,
• Heat source outside the building – building transfer stations,
• Heat source through direct use of environmental energy – exchange transfer stations,
• Recovery of heat from technological processes – e.g., waste heat from compressors for heating and hot water.

 

Frequency of Inspections

A unified inspection period is newly introduced regardless of the type of heat source and its nominal output. For systems newly put into operation, the first inspection must be carried out within 3 years of commissioning. For already operated systems, the inspection must be carried out regularly every 5 years.

The first inspection must be carried out no later than March 1, 2023, for all systems except heating systems with combustion heat sources (boilers). For heating systems with combustion heat sources that were inspected under the old decree more than 5 years ago (counted from March 1, 2022), the first inspection must be carried out within 2 years from the effective date of the new decree. For other systems with combustion heat sources that were inspected under the old decree, the inspection according to the new decree must be carried out within 5 years from the last inspection.

Inspection is conducted by

For operated heating systems and the relevant heat distribution, under Act No. 406/2000 Coll., only a qualified energy specialist can conduct the inspection.

Exemption

The obligation does not apply to buildings equipped with an automation and control system. According to the law, this system consists of products, software, and engineering services that support the energy-efficient, economical, and safe operation of the building’s technical systems through automatic control and allow manual intervention to set some input parameters. Precise definitions of automation and control systems for residential buildings and non-residential buildings are defined in § 9 of the decree.