Short answer
Last checked against the regulation text and EPA's pages: October 6, 2026. The change log is at the bottom of this page.
Federal law answers four different questions about R-410A, and most pages online blur them. Manufacture: making or importing a new self-contained residential or light commercial air conditioner or heat pump with a refrigerant of 700 GWP or higher has been barred since January 1, 2025. Split-system components are not under that bar. Installation: a new residential or light commercial system "may continue to be installed where all specified components of that system are manufactured or imported prior to January 1, 2025," with no end date. Sale: self-contained products can be sold until January 1, 2028, three years after the rule's January 1, 2025 manufacture bar; split-system components carry no federal sale cutoff. Service: EPA states that components used to repair existing systems are not subject to the restrictions.134
Two exceptions matter. Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems have their own, earlier clock. And a state can be stricter than the federal rule: Washington is the one this page has verified.
Timeline of the federal rules
Each row links to its own anchor, so a customer post or a supplier page can point at the exact date. Dates are the ones printed in the cited paragraph. Rows that describe a different refrigerant or a different equipment type are left out on purpose.
| Date | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 to 2028 | HFC production and consumption are capped at 60 percent of the baseline. | 40 CFR 84.7(a) |
| January 1, 2025 | Manufacture and import of new self-contained residential and light commercial air conditioners and heat pumps at 700 GWP or higher is barred. Installation of new systems at 700 GWP or higher is restricted unless every specified component predates this date. | 40 CFR 84.54(a), (c)(1) |
| January 1, 2026 | Leak repair rules begin for appliances with a full charge of 15 pounds or more of an HFC, or of a substitute with a GWP above 53. Residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps are excluded. | 40 CFR 84.106 |
| July 27, 2026 | EPA's reconsideration rule takes effect. It removes the installation deadline for residential and light commercial systems whose specified components were made or imported before January 1, 2025. | 91 FR 31284 |
| January 1, 2027 | Installation date for VRF systems at 700 GWP or higher. Transition terms apply to components made before January 1, 2026. | EPA sector table; 40 CFR 84.54(c)(2) |
| January 1, 2028 | Sale and distribution of self-contained residential and light commercial AC and heat pumps at 700 GWP or higher ends, three years after the January 1, 2025 manufacture bar. VRF systems covered by a building permit issued before October 5, 2023, whose specified components were all made or imported before January 1, 2026, have until this date to install. | 40 CFR 84.54(b), (c)(2) |
| 2029 to 2033 | HFC allowances step down to 30 percent of the baseline. | 40 CFR 84.7(a) |
| 2034 to 2035 | HFC allowances step down to 20 percent of the baseline. | 40 CFR 84.7(a) |
| 2036 and after | HFC allowances settle at 15 percent of the baseline. | 40 CFR 84.7(a) |
What you can install, service, and buy
The rows below separate the situations contractors meet. The word "install" is a defined term: it means "to complete a field-assembled system's circuit, including charging with a full charge, such that the system can function and is ready for use for its intended purpose."2 The person who completes and charges the circuit is the one who installs. Paragraph (c) also reaches anyone who has a system installed "through their position as a designer, owner, or operator of that system."1
| Situation | Federal answer |
|---|---|
| Split system, every specified component made before 2025 | May be installed. Paragraph (c)(1) sets no end date. EPA's sector table says the same: "No installation compliance date for systems where all specified components were manufactured or imported prior to January 1, 2025."3 |
| Pre-2025 outdoor unit with a 2025 or later coil | Fails the test. "Specified components" are condensing units, condensers, compressors, evaporator units, and evaporators, and the test covers every one of them.2 For how this plays out on a customer-supplied job, see should HVAC contractors install customer-supplied equipment. |
| Self-contained (packaged) unit | Manufacture and import at 700 GWP or higher ended January 1, 2025, and sale and distribution end January 1, 2028.1 Whether a specific packaged unit counts as a "system" for the installation paragraph is a question for the manufacturer or EPA. This page does not guess. |
| VRF system | Separate, earlier clock. Paragraph (c)(2) allows installation to continue until January 1, 2027 where every specified component was made or imported before January 1, 2026, and until January 1, 2028 where those components also come with a building permit issued before October 5, 2023 that specifies the restricted refrigerant. The reconsideration rule's relief is for residential and light commercial AC and heat pumps, not VRF.14 |
| New systems on lower-GWP refrigerants | Not caught by the 700 GWP test. See the refrigerant comparison below. |
| Servicing an existing R-410A system | EPA's sector page says "components used to repair existing systems are not subject to these restrictions." A like-for-like repair is not an installation. Increasing an existing system's cooling capacity is, under 40 CFR 84.54(e)(2), so an upsized replacement has to pass the date test.31 |
| Buying refrigerant in cylinders | Separate rule. Only Section 608 certified technicians and their employers may buy refrigerant sold in cylinders, cans, or drums for stationary equipment. The restriction does not cover equipment or components that contain refrigerant.6 |
Worked example: reading two nameplates
Example, with illustrative dates: a homeowner has a 3-ton R-410A condensing unit with a nameplate date of November 2024 and an evaporator coil with a nameplate date of February 2025. Both are R-410A parts. The unit passes the date test and the coil does not, and because the test covers every specified component, the pair cannot go in as a new system. Swap in a coil dated December 2024 and the pair passes, with no calendar deadline attached.
The practical step is to read both dates before the quote goes out. The date test works on the manufacture or import date of each part, so the nameplate or the distributor's paperwork is what you check, not the invoice date. If a date cannot be established, treat the part as failing and say so on the quote.
What the May 2026 rule changed and what it did not
The rule is "Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Reconsideration of Certain Regulatory Requirements Promulgated Under the Technology Transitions Provisions of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020," published at 91 FR 31284 on May 26, 2026, effective July 27, 2026. Its list of changes includes this item: it "removes the installation deadline for systems in the residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps (AC/HP) subsector, where all specified components of such systems were domestically manufactured or imported before January 1, 2025."4
The history explains the confusion. The 2023 rule set the installation cutoff at January 1, 2025, and a December 2023 interim final rule moved it to January 1, 2026 for systems whose components predated 2025. The 2026 rule took the end date out. What it did not do is extend the relief to newer equipment. Self-contained products at 700 GWP or higher still cannot be made or imported after January 1, 2025, under paragraph (a). Split-system components were never under that bar: the rule notes they "were not subject to the restrictions on manufacture, import, sale, distribution, or export," which is what keeps existing systems serviceable. A component made in 2025 or later can still be sold as a repair part, but it fails the date test in (c)(1), so it cannot go into a new system.14 The same rule also changed provisions for other sectors, such as supermarket systems and cold storage, which are outside the scope of a residential install question.4
R-410A, R-454B, and R-32 on the 700 line
The restriction is written as a global warming potential limit, not a refrigerant name. EPA's reference table lists R-410A at 2,088, R-454B at 465, and R-32 (listed as HFC-32) at 675.5 Against the 700 threshold in 40 CFR 84.54, R-410A is over the line, and the other two are under it. That arithmetic is why new residential systems are shipping on lower-GWP refrigerants. This page does not cover the charge limits, room-size rules, or technician requirements that come with those refrigerants, because they come from separate safety standards and codes, so read those before pricing a changeout.
Stricter state rules
A state can write its own HFC limits. Washington's rule, WAC 173-443-040, sets a limit of refrigerants with a GWP greater than 750 for other types of residential and nonresidential air conditioning equipment, with a new-equipment date of "January 1, 2026, if UL 60335-2-40 Edition 4 is adopted by the Washington state building code council by December 31, 2023; otherwise 24 months following adoption of the updated code." The rule text is also conditional, so confirm the date that applies with the state before you quote.7
ACHR News reports that Washington's 750 GWP limit, which catches R-410A, has applied to newly installed residential and nonresidential air conditioning equipment since January 1, 2026. It also reports that the state's fluorinated gas section manager told the publication that state law "will supersede the recent federal actions," and that the agency has no plans to align with the federal relief.8 That is a trade-press report of an agency statement, not a rule text, so treat it as a reason to call the agency, not as a substitute for doing so. Other states have their own HFC programs, and this page has not verified them. If you work in a state with its own refrigerant rules, check them before relying on the federal relief above.
Myths still online
| Claim you will see | What the text says |
|---|---|
| "R-410A systems cannot be installed after January 1, 2026." | Replaced. Since July 27, 2026, paragraph (c)(1) has no end date for systems whose specified components all predate 2025. For anything built later, there was never an extension to wait for. |
| "Any R-410A system is fine until the stock runs out." | Only if every specified component predates 2025. One newer coil changes the answer. |
| "You can no longer service R-410A systems." | EPA says components used to repair existing systems are not subject to these restrictions.3 |
| "The homeowner broke the law by buying the unit." | The sales restriction covers refrigerant in cylinders, not equipment that contains refrigerant.6 Installation is the step that carries the date test, and that test reaches an owner who has the system installed as well as the contractor who installs it.1 |
Pricing and customer conversations
This page states rules, not prices. If a refrigerant change is turning into a price conversation, the refrigerant line is covered in how much to charge per pound of refrigerant, the trip and diagnostic structure in how to set an HVAC service call fee, and the paperwork after the job in the HVAC invoicing guide. Warranty terms on a new install are in how long should an HVAC labor warranty be.
When a customer asks whether R-410A is "being banned," the accurate answer is no, with a date attached. A new system can still go in if every specified component was made before 2025, and an existing system can still be repaired with R-410A parts. Put the date test and the nameplate dates on the quote so the customer sees what was checked.
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Sources and change log
- 40 CFR 84.54, Technology transitions restrictions (paragraphs (a), (b), (c)(1), (c)(2); source note lists 91 FR 31329, May 26, 2026). Also on eCFR.
- 40 CFR 84.52, Definitions ("Install," "Specified component," "System").
- U.S. EPA, Technology Transitions HFC Restrictions by Sector (page modified August 28, 2026).
- Federal Register, Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Reconsideration of Certain Regulatory Requirements Promulgated Under the Technology Transitions Provisions of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, 91 FR 31284, May 26, 2026, docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0005, effective July 27, 2026 (list of changes, rule history, and section III.F on specified components).
- U.S. EPA, Technology Transitions GWP Reference Table (page modified April 2, 2026).
- U.S. EPA, Refrigerant Sales Restriction (updated March 23, 2026). Also on Cornell LII: 40 CFR 84.7(a) (phasedown schedule) and 40 CFR 84.106 (leak repair applicability).
- Washington Administrative Code, WAC 173-443-040, Table 3.
- ACHR News, Washington State HFC Rules Still Apply Despite EPA R-410A Extension.
Change log. October 6, 2026: first published. Next scheduled re-check: January 2027, or sooner if EPA amends 40 CFR 84.54.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Federal and state refrigerant rules change, and the paragraphs summarized here may be amended after the last-checked date above. Confirm the current regulation text, and your state's rules, before relying on this page to quote or install a system.