COLUMBUS, Ohio — HARDI and AHRI are urging New York City to revise its A2L refrigerant requirements. The organizations submitted joint comments to the New York City Department of Buildings concerning its Local Law 77 rule.

The groups want the city to align its requirements with current industry safety standards. They argue that several provisions in the existing rule exceed national standards and could increase HVACR installation costs.

HARDI and AHRI recommended that New York City replace its references to the 2022 editions of ASHRAE Standards 15, 15.2 and 34 with the 2024 editions. Their recommendation also includes applicable addenda published through June 2026.

The updated standards incorporate revised safety data, technical corrections, and requirements more closely aligned with national model codes. According to the organizations, adopting these standards would provide manufacturers, distributors, engineers, and contractors with a more consistent compliance framework.

The joint comments also identify three provisions that the groups want the city to revise:

• A pipe-in-pipe requirement that could increase material, labor, design, and construction costs;
• Restrictions on refrigerant piping in public corridors that exceed current national standards; and
• A modified definition of air circulation that could limit commonly used system designs.

HARDI and AHRI are asking the department to replace these city-specific restrictions with requirements established in current ASHRAE standards. Those standards address A2L refrigerant characteristics while maintaining safety protections.

The organizations said the requirements could have significant implications for New York City's HVACR retrofit and equipment replacement market. Additional piping, shafts, construction, and system redesign could increase project costs and complexity.

The restrictions could also limit available equipment configurations, complicate installations and extend permitting and construction timelines. HARDI and AHRI further cited potential challenges involving product availability and distribution.

The groups said these requirements could delay building modernization projects, including upgrades intended to meet New York City's Local Law 97 emissions requirements.

HARDI and AHRI maintain that regulations should reflect commercially available equipment and established installation practices. They argue that city-specific requirements that differ from national standards could create uncertainty for manufacturers, distributors and contractors.

HARDI said it will continue working with AHRI and New York City officials to advocate for revised requirements that align with current safety standards.