Contribution to the EN 378 Safety Standard Revision
The current edition of the standard is EN 378: 2016. It comprises four parts and prescribes requirements for design, testing, installation and operation of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems, ranging from small to large sizes. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) has now released an enquiry version for vote and comments by national standardisation committees and other stakeholders.
There are four parts:
prEN 378-1 – general, definitions, charge limits
prEN 378-2 – system design, construction and testing
prEN 378-3 – installations
prEN 378-5 – refrigerant data
Note that Part 4 on operation, maintenance, repair and recovery is being replaced by ISO 5149-4.
Safe application of natural refrigerants is crucial for their successful and wider application. In particular, R717 has higher toxicity and lower flammability, R744 has higher pressures that conventional fluorinated refrigerants and hydrocarbons (R290, R1270, R600a, etc.) have higher flammability. EN 378 should provide requirements that ensure safe systems, but at the same time are flexible enough to allow for cost-effective designs with natural refrigerants and that enable innovation of new systems in applications hitherto dominated by other refrigerants.
With substantial changes introduced in the draft prEN 378: 2025, especially in Part 1, eurammon welcomes the standard’s more flexible and risk-based design approach, which could better accommodate the unique properties of natural refrigerants such as R717 (ammonia), R744 (CO₂), and hydrocarbons. However, some constraints still remain. Eurammon is urging further improvements - particularly to charge limit restrictions and overly prescriptive safety caps that still pose barriers to wider application of natural refrigerants.
eurammon urges all members and supporters of natural refrigerants in the CEN member countries to support the revised standard by voicing expressions of approval to national standardisation committees. Join us in advocating for natural refrigerants across Europe!