The R-410A install deadline — January 1, 2026 — is gone. It says so in the rule.

On July 27, EPA's reconsideration of the refrigerant Technology Transitions rule takes effect (40 CFR Part 84, docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0005, signed by the Administrator this spring). Buried in a list of nine amendments is the one that changes quoting season:

Verbatim, from the final rule

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.

Translation: the old rule gave pre-2025 R-410A equipment until January 1, 2026 to be installed before it became scrap. That cutoff is now removed entirely — inventory manufactured or imported before January 1, 2025 can continue to be installed, period.

Inventory

Pre-2025-manufactured R-410A systems in distributor and warehouse stock are legal to install with no deadline — the test is the manufacture/import date of all specified components, so verify dates on both sides of a split system.

Service

Nothing here restricts servicing, repairing, or recharging existing R-410A systems — that was never banned, and this rule doesn't change it.

New builds

The manufacturing transition to lower-GWP refrigerants (R-454B and kin) continues unchanged — this is inventory relief, not a reversal.

Customers

Replacement quotes can now legitimately offer two paths: closeout R-410A at friendlier prices, or new-refrigerant systems — with an honest conversation about long-term refrigerant supply on the old platform.

July 27

The rule takes effect. Worth a note to your supplier this week: what pre-2025 stock is on hand, and at what price — before everyone else asks.

One caveat that keeps you honest with customers: this is the federal EPA rule. State and local codes can be stricter — check your AHJ before making it a sales pitch.

Sources (primary, verified today): EPA final rule, "Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Reconsideration of Certain Regulatory Requirements Promulgated Under the Technology Transitions Provisions of the AIM Act" (40 CFR Part 84, Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0005) — amendment list item 8 and summary quoted verbatim from the rule text · effective date July 27, 2026 per the 60-day clock from Federal Register publication, cross-checked against NAHB and industry reporting (May 2026).

Meschelle Peterson

code63labs

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Eleven days from now, a line in an EPA rule quietly changes quoting season for every HVAC contractor in the country.

The old refrigerant transition rule gave pre-2025 R-410A equipment until January 1, 2026 to be installed before it became scrap metal. The reconsideration that takes effect July 27 removes that deadline entirely. Verbatim, from the rule:

"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."

What that means in practice:
— Pre-2025 R-410A stock is legal to install, no deadline. The test is the manufacture date of ALL components — check both sides of a split system.
— Servicing existing R-410A was never restricted and still isn't.
— The R-454B transition continues for new manufacturing. This is inventory relief, not a reversal.

The move this week: ask your supplier what pre-2025 stock they're sitting on and at what price — before everyone else asks.

(Federal rule — your state or local code can be stricter. Check your AHJ.)

Source: EPA, 40 CFR Part 84, Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0005. Read the rule, not the rumor.

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