Tools & GearUpdated July 2026

First-year HVAC and refrigeration apprentice tool list

Quick answer

In year one you mainly need good PPE, a solid set of hand tools, and a few pipework tools like a tube cutter and flaring set. The boss usually supplies the expensive gear (vacuum pump, gauges, recovery machine, brazing kit) while you build your own kit slowly. If you supply your own tools you get the full tool allowance under the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award, and the tools you buy can be claimed back at tax time.

Starting an air conditioning and refrigeration apprenticeship, the temptation is to spend big on a flash kit before you have swung a spanner in anger. Do not. First year is about turning up safe, having the basics in your bag, and learning what the work actually needs before you drop serious money. Here is what to buy, what to leave on the truck, and how the money side works.

What you actually need in year one

•PPE first: safety boots (rated to AS 2210), safety glasses, long leather gloves (AS 2161), 100% cotton drill long-sleeve shirt and trousers, and ear protection. TAFE will turn you away from a prac class without it.
•A solid hand tool set: screwdrivers (flat, Phillips and a stubby), adjustable shifters, pliers and side cutters, a nut driver set, hex keys, a good tape measure, a small spirit level and a hammer.
•Fridgie-specific hand tools: a quality tube cutter, a deburring and reaming tool, a flaring set (flaring blocks), and both imperial and metric spanners, since refrigeration fittings are still mostly imperial.
•A cordless drill or driver with a set of drill bits and hole saws.
•A decent tool bag or small rigid case, a head torch, and a notebook or phone for job notes.
•A basic multimeter is worth owning early, once you start touching the electrical side.

Budget vs good vs premium: where to spend

•Budget is fine for consumables and knockabout gear: tape, a deburrer, basic screwdrivers, a tool bag. If it gets lost or walks off site, you have not lost much.
•Good (mid-range) is where your everyday hand tools should sit. Brands like Kincrome, Sidchrome, Bahco, Irwin and Milwaukee will last the whole apprenticeship and beyond.
•Premium is for the precision gear you buy later: digital manifolds, a good meter (Testo or Fieldpiece), Knipex pliers, a quality flaring tool. Buy these when you know the work and can justify the spend.
•Rule of thumb: spend on the tools your hand is on all day, go cheap on the ones you rarely touch.

What the boss supplies vs what you buy

•Usually supplied by the employer or kept on the van: recovery machine, vacuum pump, manifold or digital gauges, nitrogen and regulator, brazing or oxy kit, refrigerant scales, leak detector, ladders, gas and consumables.
•Usually expected to be yours: PPE, hand tools, cordless drill, tube cutter, flaring tool, spanners and your own tool bag.
•Ask before you spend. Every shop is different, and a good employer will tell you exactly what to bring and what stays on the truck.
•You need an ARCtick Refrigerant Handling Licence to buy and handle refrigerant. As a first year you work under a trainee licence or direct supervision, so refrigerant and recovery gear is not your problem to buy yet.

What NOT to buy yet

•Vacuum pump, recovery machine and expensive digital manifolds. The boss has these, and you will not need your own for a long while.
•A full brazing or oxy-acetylene kit. It is pricey, and you will learn on the company's gear first.
•Refrigerant cylinders. You cannot legally buy or handle refrigerant without a licence.
•Big brand-name master tool chests full of gear you will never use. Buy tools as the job demands them, not in one hit.
•Anything you are unsure is imperial or metric specific until you see what fittings your shop actually works with.

Tool allowance, insurance and tax

•The trade sits under the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award 2020 (MA000025), which covers refrigeration and air conditioning work.
•If you supply and maintain your own tools you are entitled to a tool allowance. Under this award apprentices are paid the full tool allowance, not a reduced percentage like some other allowances. Check it is showing on your payslip.
•Insure your kit once it is worth real money. A tool insurance policy, or adding tools to your home and contents cover, protects you against theft from the van, which happens more than you would think.
•Tax: tools bought for work are deductible. As a PAYG employee, a tool costing $300 or less can be claimed in full in the year you buy it, and anything over $300 is depreciated over its effective life. The instant asset write-off is for businesses with an ABN, not for apprentices on wages.
•Keep every receipt (a photo is fine). PPE, sun protection and laundering of protective clothing can also be claimable, so hang on to those too.

How the kit changes: residential, commercial, industrial

•Residential (splits and small systems): a light, portable kit. A smaller vacuum pump (around 45 to 80 L/min is plenty), good flaring and swaging tools, a compact ladder, and clean gear for working inside people's homes.
•Commercial (rooftop packages, VRF/VRV, cool rooms): bigger vacuum pumps (140 L/min and up), longer gauge hoses, more brazing, torque wrenches for larger flares, and gear for working at height and on plant.
•Industrial (large refrigeration, ammonia, process cooling): heavier and more specialised again, with extra safety and measurement gear and often ammonia-specific equipment. Not first-year work, but it shows why you build the kit slowly.
•Whichever stream you land in, your first-year hand tools and PPE carry across all three. Buy those well and add the specialised gear as you go.

Sources and official links

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General guidance only

Answers here are general guidance to point you in the right direction - always check official sources and ask your supervisor for your specific situation.