Do I need a TM44 inspection?
The legal test is whether an air-conditioning system in England or Wales has an effective rated output above 12 kW. A building can cross that threshold through several smaller units, even when no single unit is rated above 12 kW.
Check my situationCheck cooling, control and capacity
Identify equipment that provides air conditioning, decide which units are under the same control in the building, then total their effective rated output. If the total exceeds 12 kW, an accredited energy assessor must inspect the system no more than five years after the previous inspection.
- Does the building contain mechanical air conditioning rather than ventilation or heating alone?
- Do units under one control have a combined effective rated output above 12 kW?
- Is there a lodged report dated within the previous five years?
What to do next: Where labels or maintenance records do not establish the capacity, ask a competent HVAC maintainer or accredited energy assessor to verify the inventory. Do not treat unknown capacity as a confirmed breach or assume that small individual units are outside scope.
Several units can be one system
Official guidance treats one or more units in a building controlled by one person as an air-conditioning system. The threshold therefore requires an inventory and an explicit decision about common control.
Ask the provider to show which units were counted, their outputs and why they were grouped. That evidence makes the conclusion reviewable after additions or replacement.
Who holds the responsibility
The person who controls the technical functioning of the system is responsible for arranging inspection. This may be an owner, tenant or another party depending on the lease and operational control.
- Check the lease and service responsibilities
- Name the person controlling operation
- Record which buildings and systems they control
- Transfer the report when responsibility changes
What this finder cannot decide
The questionnaire cannot verify plant ratings, contractual control or the current accreditation of an assessor. It gives a procurement conclusion from the facts entered.
Use the result to locate missing evidence and obtain a scoped inspection. It is not a legal determination or the required inspection itself.