Choosing a cold room installer: checklist and tender sheet

Who this guide is for, and who publishes it

This guide is for an operations, engineering or site manager who has to choose a firm to supply and install a walk-in cold room, a freezer room, a blast chiller or freezer, or a pallet cold store, and who wants quotes that can be compared fairly. It is a method and a list of questions, not a recommendation of any firm. Cold Storage Installers is an independent information site published by SEO Dons Ltd. We do not install, we have no engineers, we hold none of the accreditations mentioned below, and we do not visit sites or quote. Where a point depends on your site, your product or your insurer, the right answer comes from your own advisers and from the documents the installer gives you.

The method has three steps. First, write down what you need once, in a tender sheet, so every installer prices the same job. Second, verify each firm's credentials yourself rather than relying on a logo or a brochure. Third, compare the written quotes line by line against the sheet, using the table further down this page. If you are still setting a budget, the cold room cost guide explains what moves the price, and the pages on walk-in cold rooms and blast freezers and blast chillers cover the two most common project types.

Build your tender sheet

Step 1: write one brief and send it to every installer

Most quotes for cold rooms cannot be compared because each installer has priced a different job. One assumed a room inside a heated building, another an external unit in a yard. One priced standby refrigeration, another did not. One included the floor, another listed it as an exclusion. The fix is to describe the job once and send the same description to every firm, asking them to answer each point in writing.

A useful tender sheet covers the product and its incoming temperature, the room size or pallet capacity, the set temperature, daily throughput and door traffic, where the room and the condensing unit will go, the electricity supply, and the requirements you will not compromise on, such as temperature mapping, remote alarms or records for an audit. It then lists what each quote must state: the design basis, the refrigerant and charge, the building and electrical scope, commissioning and handover documents, credentials, service and warranty terms, and an itemised price with exclusions. The builder above writes that sheet from your answers; the sections below explain why each line is there.

Ask for answers by email so you keep a written record. A firm that will not put its design basis or its exclusions in writing has told you something useful before you have spent anything.

Step 2: verify credentials, not just ask about them

GOV.UK states that a company must be certified by an approved body to service stationary equipment containing F gas operated by others, which covers air conditioning and refrigeration, and that this applies to installing, repairing, maintaining and decommissioning. Individuals who handle F gas also need their own qualifications. So there are two separate things to check: the company and the people who will actually work on your plant.

• Company certificate. Ask for the certificate number and the name of the certification body. GOV.UK lists Refcom Certification Ltd, the F-Gas Register (Quidos) and Bureau Veritas UK Ltd as the approved bodies for refrigeration, stationary air conditioning and heat pumps.
• Look them up yourself. REFCOM publishes a public register with a company search, listing certified F-gas companies and registered engineers. The other bodies run their own registers. Checking takes minutes and does not depend on the installer's own brochure.
• Expiry. GOV.UK says company certification must be renewed every 3 years, so ask for the current certificate rather than a logo.
• Engineer qualifications. Ask for the names of the engineers who will handle refrigerant on your job and their individual F-gas qualifications. A company certificate alone does not tell you who turns up.
• Subcontractors. If refrigeration work is subcontracted, ask who the subcontractor is and ask for the same evidence.

One nuance from GOV.UK: a company that services only its own equipment does not need company certification, but if a business contracts out servicing, the contractor must be certified. As a buyer you are contracting out, so you should expect a certified company.

Step 3: compare the quotes line by line

When two or three written quotes come back, set them side by side against the same rows. A price is only comparable when the scope underneath it is the same. The table lists what to look for in each part of a cold room quote; anything a quote leaves blank should become a written question before you compare prices.

The cheapest quote is often the one with the longest list of exclusions. Ask each firm to price the items it left out, then compare again.

Insurance and contract basics

We are not giving legal advice, and what you need depends on your contract. These are practical questions to put to each installer and, for anything material, to your own solicitor or insurer.

• Ask which insurances the installer holds and for copies of the certificates. Check the cover relevant to your project and ask your own insurer whether it has any requirements for installed plant.
• Ask who is responsible for design, who is responsible for installation and who is responsible for the building work, electrical supply and drainage. Gaps between trades are a common source of disputes.
• Ask for a written scope with exclusions listed. If something you assumed is included (groundworks, power upgrades, floor insulation, alarm connection to your building system) it should appear in the quote.
• Ask what the payment schedule is tied to, and whether any stage is linked to completed commissioning rather than just delivery.
• Ask how changes to the scope will be priced and agreed before work starts.

Design questions to put in writing

A good quote will state the design basis rather than just a price and a room size. Ask the installer to set out the following in writing.

1. Refrigeration duty basis. What product, in what quantity and at what incoming temperature, was the cooling or freezing duty calculated for? Include door openings, people and forklift traffic, ambient design temperature, and any pull-down time you need. For a blast freezer, ask what throughput and cycle time the duty assumes. A duty sized for an empty room will struggle on a busy day.
2. Refrigerant choice. Ask which refrigerant is proposed and why, and what its availability looks like over the plant's life. GOV.UK states that Great Britain is phasing down HFCs by 79% by 2030 from the average use between 2009 and 2012, with quota measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. That is a supply-side limit, so ask how the proposed refrigerant fits that direction and what the plan is if servicing gas becomes harder to source. Our HFC phase-down guide goes into more detail.
3. Redundancy. If a compressor or condensing unit fails, what happens to your stock? Ask whether the design includes N+1 (one more unit than the duty needs), a standby arrangement, or neither, and what each option adds to the price. The right answer depends on the value of the stock and how long you can tolerate a failure.
4. Defrost. Ask which defrost method is proposed (for example electric, hot gas or off-cycle), how often it runs, how the temperature is protected during defrost, and where the defrost water goes.
5. Doors and air movement. Ask about door type, strip curtains or air curtains, and how the layout reduces warm air ingress and frost build-up at the door. Ask where the evaporator is placed relative to racking and product.
6. Standards. Ask which design standards the system is built to. BSI lists BS EN 378-2 as the current standard for the design, construction, testing, marking and documentation of refrigerating systems and heat pumps, so ask whether and how the installer works to it.

Commissioning, validation and handover

The handover is where a lot of problems either get caught or get buried. Ask for the commissioning plan before you sign, not after the plant is running.

• Performance proof. Ask how the installer will demonstrate that the room holds its set temperature at design conditions, and what pull-down time will be recorded.
• Temperature mapping. If your product or customers need documented temperature uniformity, ask whether mapping is included, who carries it out, how many sensor positions are used and whether the report is part of the handover. If it is not included, ask for it to be priced as an option rather than assuming.
• Alarms. Ask what is monitored (room temperature, door open, plant fault), who receives alarms out of hours and how they are tested at commissioning. Ask who is responsible for the alarm settings after handover.
• Handover documents. Ask for a list in advance. A good one will include as-built drawings, electrical test records, controller settings, operating and maintenance instructions, commissioning sheets, pressure and leak test records, and the refrigerant charge.
• F-gas records. GOV.UK says anyone who operates or services stationary refrigeration containing F gas equivalent to 5 tonnes of CO2 or more must keep records for 5 years, including the quantity and type of gas at installation, gas added during servicing, and the dates and results of mandatory leak checks. It also says operators should record the name, address and certificate number of any company that installed or serviced the equipment. Ask the installer to give you the installation record at handover.
• Training. Ask whether your staff will be shown how to read alarms, manage defrost and handle door discipline.

Leak checks and the maintenance contract

Leak checking is a legal duty that falls on the equipment user, so it belongs in your service conversation from day one. GOV.UK sets the frequency by tonnes of CO2 equivalent: at least once every 12 months for 5 to under 50 tonnes, and at least once every 6 months for 50 to under 500 tonnes. A leak detection system can double the interval for most equipment, and a detection system must alert you or a service company if it finds a leak. If a check finds a leak, GOV.UK says to repair it as soon as possible and repeat the test within a month.

Ask each installer to tell you the CO2 equivalent of the proposed charge (refrigerant quantity multiplied by its global warming potential), which band your plant falls in, and whether the service quote includes the required checks and the record keeping. The equipment user is responsible for getting checks done, so do not assume the installer will schedule them unless the contract says so.

Food-safety context

If you store food, the cold room is part of your food safety system. GOV.UK says a food safety management system must meet HACCP principles: identify critical control points, set limits, monitor them, put things right when there is a problem, and keep records. Cold storage temperature is often one of those control points, but which limits apply is for your own HACCP plan, your customers and your auditor to decide, not the installer.

What you can reasonably ask the installer is whether the monitoring and alarm set-up will let you produce the temperature records your system needs, and whether the handover pack supports your audit file. If your customers require third-party certification of your storage site, check their requirements first and give the installer those requirements in writing before the design is fixed.

Service and warranty terms to get in writing

• Warranty scope. Which parts and labour are covered, for how long, and from what date (delivery, commissioning or handover)?
• Exclusions. What voids the warranty, for example missed servicing or third-party work on the system?
• Service schedule. How many visits a year, what each visit covers and whether leak checks are included.
• Call-out terms. Ask for the call-out arrangements in writing, including how out-of-hours faults are handled. Treat a verbal assurance as no assurance at all.
• Spare parts. Are critical spares held, and who pays for them?
• Ownership of records. Confirm that leak-check and service records come to you in a usable form.

Red flags in a quote

• No certificate number, or a number that does not match a register search.
• A single lump sum with no scope, exclusions or design basis.
• No mention of refrigerant type, charge size or leak-check obligations.
• A price far below the others with no explanation. Ask what has been left out.
• Commissioning described only as "tested and working", with no records listed.
• No named engineers, or reluctance to answer questions in writing.
• Pressure to sign quickly to "hold" a price.
• Redundancy, alarms or temperature mapping missing without being listed as options.

When you have replies from two or three firms, compare them against this list. If you have a question about your project, use the enquiry form or send the tender sheet above; we reply by email.

See also the F-gas rules for cold rooms and cold stores.

How this site works and who receives your enquiry

Cold Storage Installers is published by SEO Dons Ltd, a company registered in England (company number 16766013). It is an information site, not an installer: it does not design, supply, install, survey or quote, and it does not hold F-gas certification or any other accreditation. If you send the tender sheet or a question through a form on this site, SEO Dons Ltd receives it and we reply by email. No installer is sent your details by this site. The checklist on this page is general information, not legal, insurance or engineering advice.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check that a cold room installer is F-gas certified?

Ask for the company certificate number and certification body, then search the body's public register yourself. REFCOM publishes a company search. Also ask for the individual F-gas qualifications of the engineers who will work on your plant.

Does the installer or the owner do the leak checks?

GOV.UK says the equipment user is responsible for getting the equipment checked, and that rental agreements can allocate this. Put it in the service contract in writing so it is clear who arranges the checks and keeps the records.

How long do F-gas records have to be kept?

GOV.UK says records for stationary refrigeration containing F gas equivalent to 5 tonnes of CO2 or more must be kept for 5 years, covering gas quantity at installation, gas added and leak check dates and results.

What should a cold room quote include?

A good quote will state the design basis, refrigerant type, redundancy approach, defrost method, scope and exclusions, commissioning records, warranty terms and service terms, rather than only a price.

Is a cheaper quote a red flag?

Not by itself, but ask what is excluded. Differences often come from missing scope, such as alarms, temperature mapping, groundworks or redundancy, so compare quotes line by line.

What should a cold room tender include?

The product and its incoming temperature, room size or pallet capacity, set temperature, throughput and door traffic, location and electricity supply, and the requirements you will not compromise on. Ask every installer to state the design basis, refrigerant and charge, scope and exclusions, commissioning documents, credentials and an itemised price.

Does this site recommend or pass enquiries to installers?

No. Cold Storage Installers is an information site published by SEO Dons Ltd. It does not recommend firms, pass your details to installers, visit sites or quote. If you send a question, we reply by email.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Certification for companies working on equipment containing F gas (checked 2026-10-25)
• GOV.UK: Checking F gas equipment for leaks (checked 2026-10-25)
• GOV.UK: Record F gas in equipment you own or service (checked 2026-10-25)
• GOV.UK: Applying for quota to produce or import F gas (checked 2026-10-25)
• REFCOM (checked 2026-10-20)
• GOV.UK: Food safety management systems (HACCP) (checked 2026-10-20)
• BSI Knowledge: BS EN 378-2 (checked 2026-10-20)

Questions about a specific project? Use the enquiry form; we reply by email. This guide is information only: SEO Dons Ltd is not an installer and does not quote.