In today's competitive car manufacturing market, an increasing number of vehicles come fitted with air conditioning (A/C) as standard. Whilst the drivers are encouraged to have their A/C system checked regularly, to avoid expensive repair bills, the garages struggle to find skilled technicians.

This qualification aims to close that skills gap by offering units that are separately certified and thus can be taken individually. For the full qualification, the following three units are required:

• 301 - Refrigerant Handling for Mobile A/C Systems *
• 302 - Testing and Servicing Mobile A/C Systems
• 303 - Advanced Diagnostics for Mobile A/C systems

* This unit meets the criteria of the European legislation for handling fluorinated gases in mobile A/C Systems and can be taken on its own.

The certificate was developed in partnership with industry specialists such as Autoclimate & BAGMA.

Supplementary information for early adopters:

Some changes were introduced between the publishing of draft legislation and the incorporation of the EC Directives into UK law. City & Guilds has produced a free update for use by learners who took the 5101qualification before 1 October 2008 to close any gaps in knowledge. If you work with MAC systems you need to be aware of this supplementary information.